DevSecOps: Building Secure Software, Faster

Software development has come a long way, but traditional approaches often left security as an afterthought. This is where DevSecOps steps in. It's a collaborative culture that integrates security practices throughout the entire software development process (SDLC).

What is DevSecOps and how does it differ from traditional DevOps?

DevSecOps stands for development, security, and operations. It's an approach to culture, automation, and platform design that integrates security as a shared responsibility throughout the entire IT lifecycle.

• Development: Development is the process of planning, coding, building, and testing the application.
• Security: Security means introducing security earlier in the software development cycle. For example, programmers ensure that the code is free of security vulnerabilities, and security practitioners test the software further before the company releases it.
• Operations: The operations team releases, monitors, and fixes any issues that arise from the software.

DevSecOps is an extension of DevOps in the sense that DevSecOps has taken the DevOps model and wrapped security as an additional layer to the continual development and operations process. Instead of looking at security as an afterthought, DevSecOps pulls in Application Security teams early to fortify the development process from a security and vulnerability mitigation perspective.

Why DevSecOps?

Traditional development processes often treat security as a separate step, leading to delays and bottlenecks. Vulnerabilities identified late in the development cycle can be expensive and time-consuming to fix.

By implementing security initiatives early and often, applications in an array of industries achieve the following benefits.

• Government: Applications that manage highly sensitive government information are a constant target for malicious cyber-attacks. By hardening these applications with a security-first development approach, the chance of malicious entities finding and exploiting vulnerabilities is greatly reduced.
• Healthcare: DevSecOps is becoming the go-to standard for application design in the healthcare space. As organizations are required to abide by HIPAA, it’s becoming increasingly clear that a security-first approach greatly reduces the likelihood of patient PII becoming exposed or exploited.
• Finance: DevSecOps also helps development practices in the finance industry. Today, finance is a major target for cyber-attacks, so development firms are leading with a DevSecOps model to limit the possibility of sensitive data becoming accessible to cybercriminals.

Benefits of DevSecOps

DevSecOps can improve the overall security of software with benefits such as:?

• Enhanced security: By integrating security throughout the development lifecycle, DevSecOps proactively identifies and addresses vulnerabilities, leading to more secure software.
• Improved efficiency and faster delivery: Automation of security checks and scans streamlines development, reducing time to market.
• Stronger compliance: Automated processes ensure adherence to security regulations, simplifying compliance efforts.
• Reduced risks and costs: Early detection of security weaknesses minimizes the risk of breaches and associated financial losses.
• Increased collaboration: A shared focus on security fosters better communication and collaboration between development, operations, and security teams.
• Improved quality: Catching vulnerabilities early leads to higher quality software and increased customer satisfaction.
• Enhanced visibility: DevSecOps provides greater insight into your security posture, allowing for quicker identification and mitigation of risks.

Getting Started with DevSecOps

To implement DevSecOps, software teams must first implement DevOps and continuous integration. DevOps culture is a software development practice that brings development and operations teams together. It uses tools and automation to promote greater collaboration, communication, and transparency between the two teams. As a result, companies reduce software development time while remaining flexible to changes.

There are several steps organizations can take to implement DevSecOps:

• Cultural Shift: Building a culture of security awareness and shared responsibility is essential for DevSecOps success.
• Automation: Invest in tools that automate security testing and vulnerability scanning throughout the SDLC.
• Training: Provide developers, security professionals, and operations teams with training on DevSecOps principles and tools.

Choosing the right tools

DevSecOps relies on a variety of tools to automate security checks and integrate security throughout the development lifecycle. Here's a breakdown of some key categories:

• Security scanners can be programmed to identify certain kinds of vulnerabilities automatically. DevSecOps scanners come in two flavors:

o?? SAST (Static Application Security Testing) scanners examine the source code, binary, or byte code of an application.

o?? DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) scanners examine the application from the outside when it is running.

• Software composition analysis (SCA) is the process of automating visibility into open-source software (OSS) use for the purpose of risk management, security, and license compliance.
• Penetration tests simulate cyberattacks to uncover security weaknesses in applications and infrastructure. These tests help identify exploitable vulnerabilities before they can be used by malicious actors.
• Threat modeling is a type of design-level security assessment that proactively analyzes an application's design to pinpoint security vulnerabilities.

By embracing DevSecOps, organizations can deliver secure software faster and more efficiently.? By working together and prioritizing security from the outset, development teams can build trust with users and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

References

• https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/devops/what-is-devsecops
• https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/devsecops/
• https://www.vmware.com/topics/glossary/content/devsecops.html?resource=cat-531270708#cat-531270708
• https://www.ibm.com/topics/devsecops

Author: Mohamed El Mehdi BATRONE