diff --git a/config/settings/development.py b/config/settings/development.py
index 64ff093..9997f35 100644
--- a/config/settings/development.py
+++ b/config/settings/development.py
@@ -5,21 +5,25 @@ Use this for local development.
 """
 
 import os
+import sys
+from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key
 from .base import *
 
 # SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
-SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get(
-    'SECRET_KEY',
-    'django-insecure-dev-key-change-this-in-production-abc123xyz'
-)
+# Generate a random key for development on each startup if not provided
+SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY')
+if not SECRET_KEY:
+    SECRET_KEY = get_random_secret_key()
+    print(f"WARNING: Using auto-generated SECRET_KEY for development. Set SECRET_KEY env var to persist sessions.", file=sys.stderr)
 
 # SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
 DEBUG = True
 
-ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '[::1]', '10.0.2.2', '192.168.1.241', 'tasks.firebugit.com']
+# Development-only hosts - production domains should NOT be here
+ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '[::1]', '10.0.2.2', '192.168.1.241']
 
-# CSRF - trust HTTPS origin
-CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS = ['https://tasks.firebugit.com']
+# CSRF - for development testing only
+CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS = os.environ.get('CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS', '').split(',') if os.environ.get('CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS') else []
 
 # Database - SQLite for development
 DATABASES = {
diff --git a/config/settings/selfhosted.py b/config/settings/selfhosted.py
index 781b7da..d43d4a1 100644
--- a/config/settings/selfhosted.py
+++ b/config/settings/selfhosted.py
@@ -5,11 +5,27 @@ Use this for users running their own instance.
 """
 
 import os
+import sys
 from .base import *
 
 # Security
-SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY', 'change-this-secret-key-in-production')
+SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY')
+if not SECRET_KEY:
+    raise ValueError(
+        "SECRET_KEY environment variable is required for self-hosted deployment. "
+        "Generate one with: python -c \"from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())\""
+    )
+
+# Validate SECRET_KEY strength
+if len(SECRET_KEY) < 50:
+    print("WARNING: SECRET_KEY is too short. Use at least 50 characters for security.", file=sys.stderr)
+
 DEBUG = os.environ.get('DEBUG', 'False').lower() == 'true'
+
+# Force DEBUG to False in self-hosted mode for security
+if DEBUG:
+    print("WARNING: DEBUG=True in self-hosted mode is a security risk!", file=sys.stderr)
+
 ALLOWED_HOSTS = os.environ.get('ALLOWED_HOSTS', 'localhost,127.0.0.1').split(',')
 
 # Database - PostgreSQL for self-hosted