What is DevSecOps?

The problem of the traditional approach to security

In traditional software development models, security issues were often not addressed until late in the lifecycle, just before or even after deployment. This led to a situation where discovered security vulnerabilities were difficult and costly to fix, and security processes slowed down the rapid pace of change delivery characteristic of DevOps. DevSecOps aims to break this security “silo” and integrate it seamlessly and automatically into the overall workflow.

Key DevSecOps principles and practices

The DevSecOps approach is based on several key principles and practices:

• Security automation: Integrating automated security tools and tests into CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous delivery) pipelines. This includes static code analysis for security (SAST), dynamic application security analysis (DAST), dependency and open source component analysis (SCA – Software Composition Analysis), or scanning containers and infrastructure as code (IaC) for vulnerabilities.
• Security as Code: Defining security policies, rules and controls in the form of code that can be versioned, tested and automatically deployed with the infrastructure and application.
• Continuous Security Monitoring: Implement tools and processes to continuously monitor the production environment for threats, anomalies and security incidents.
• A culture of shared responsibility: Building awareness and responsibility for security among all team members, not just security specialists. Promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• Threat Modeling (Threat Modeling): Proactively identify potential threats and vulnerabilities in application architecture and design at early stages of development.
• Fast Feedback Loops: Provide developers with quick feedback on potential security issues detected by automated tools.

Benefits of implementing DevSecOps

There are many benefits to integrating security into the DevOps process:

• Earlier vulnerability detection and remediation: Finding and remediating security vulnerabilities at earlier, cheaper-to-repair stages of the lifecycle.
• Enhanced application and infrastructure security: Systematic incorporation of security controls leads to more resilient systems.
• Accelerate the delivery of secure software: Automating security testing allows you to maintain a rapid pace of releases without compromising on security.
• Improving collaboration: Breaking down silos between development, operations and security teams leads to better communication and collaboration.
• Compliance: Facilitate compliance with regulatory requirements and safety standards.

The role of security professionals in DevSecOps

In the DevSecOps model, the role of security professionals is evolving. Instead of being “gatekeepers” at the end of the process, they are becoming advisors, educators and tool developers who support development teams in implementing secure practices and automating security controls.

Summary

DevSecOps is a modern approach that integrates security into the entire software development lifecycle as part of DevOps culture and practices. By automating, collaborating and building shared responsibility, DevSecOps allows software to be developed and delivered not only quickly and reliably, but also securely, which is critical in the face of growing cyber threats.