Overview of DevSecOps : Integrated Security Approach

Hello , I am Utkarsh Sharma and I hope you would be doing good. Today we are here to discuss about DevSecOps , as it is an emerging method of application security (AppSec) that involves incorporating protection earlier in the process of creating applications (SDLC). Incorporating security teams within the software delivery cycle further broadens the scope of the engagement between the development and operations teams. So, we will talk here about

What is DevSecOps?

The evolution of how development organizations address security is represented by DevSecOps. In the past, a separate security team would "tack on" security to software at the end of the development cycle (almost as an afterthought), and a separate quality assurance (QA) team would test it.

When software updates were only made available once or twice a year, this was workable. However, the conventional 'tacked-on' approach to security created an unacceptable bottleneck as software engineers adopted Agile and DevOps approaches, hoping to cut software development cycles to weeks or even days.

Agile and DevOps techniques and tools are easily integrated with application and infrastructure security using DevSecOps. When security problems first arise, they are simpler, quicker, and less expensive to fix (and before they are put into production). DevSecOps also transforms application and infrastructure security from being the primary duty of a security silo to being a shared responsibility of development, security, and IT operations teams. By automating the supply of secure software without delaying the software development cycle, it makes it possible for "software, safer, sooner," the DevSecOps credo.

Benefits Of DevSecOps:-

The two main benefits of DevSecOps are security and speed. The cost of writing code decreases as it is produced more quickly and securely by development teams.

The "DevSecOps Manifesto," co-authored by Shannon Lietz, states that "The purpose and intent of DevSecOps is to build on the mindset that everyone is responsible for security with the goal of safely distributing security decisions at speed and scale to those who hold the highest level of context without sacrificing the required safety.” Benefits are:

Quick, economical software delivery :-

Software developed in a non-DevSecOps environment may have considerable time delays due to security vulnerabilities. Fixing the coding and security issues may cost time and money. DevSecOps' rapid, secure delivery reduces time and costs by limiting the need to repeat a method to address security flaws after the fact.

Integrating security reduces needless rebuilds and repetitive reviews, resulting in more secure code being generated, boosting productivity and cutting costs.

Enhanced, proactive security :-

DevSecOps introduces cybersecurity practises beginning with the design phase. Throughout the development cycle, security problems are checked, audited, scanned for, and tested in the code. When these issues are discovered, they are immediately fixed. Security issues are fixed before adding further dependencies. The cost of resolving security threats decreases when protecting technology is identified and implemented early in the cycle.

The ability of the development, security, and operations teams to communicate better also improves an organization's ability to respond to crises and other problems as they occur. DevSecOps approaches allow security teams to focus on tasks with higher value by expediting the vulnerability patching process. Additionally, these methods avoid the requirement for security upgrades in application development projects by ensuring compliance and making it simpler.

Security vulnerability patching at a faster pace :-

A significant benefit of DevSecOps is how quickly it responds to newly identified security vulnerabilities. As vulnerability screening and patching are included into the release cycle by DevSecOps, the ability to identify and address common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE) declines. As a result, threat actors have a smaller window of time to take advantage of faults in publicly accessible production systems.

Compatible with contemporary development is automation :-

If a company employs a continuous integration/continuous delivery pipeline to deploy its product, cybersecurity testing can be added to an automated test suite for operations teams.

The project and organizational goals have a big impact on how security checks are automated. Automated testing can verify that software passes security unit testing and that incorporated software dependencies are at the proper patch levels. Before the final update is promoted to production, it can also test and secure code with static and dynamic analysis.

A technique that is scalable and adaptable :-

Businesses also change their security postures over time. DevSecOps is the best option because of its repetitious and adaptable nature. This ensures that security is applied uniformly across the board in a setting that is always adjusting to new requirements. Serverless computing environments, immutable infrastructure, containers, configuration management, orchestration, and automation are all essential components of a comprehensive DevSecOps solution.

Why is DevSecOps important?

The significance of DevSecOps is derived from the inclusion of security throughout each stage of the software development lifecycle. Earlier development cycles, in which security was implemented by an isolated team and completed at the end, did not work like this. In the modern world, development includes a step for security. DevSecOps is a natural and essential reaction to the bottleneck effect that more traditional security approaches have on the current continuous delivery pipeline. Providing quick, secure code delivery while bridging the conventional boundaries between IT and security is the aim. Increased communication and shared accountability for security tasks are used to replace silo thinking across the whole delivery process.

• Government: Malicious cyber-attacks frequently target applications that handle extremely sensitive government data. These programmed are strengthened using a security-first development methodology, considerably reducing the possibility of vulnerabilities being discovered and used for nefarious purposes.
• Healthcare: DevSecOps is quickly taking over as the industry standard for developing applications. It is becoming more and more obvious that a security-first approach dramatically decreases the possibility of patient PII being disclosed or misused as firms are compelled to comply with HIPAA.
• Financial Services: DevSecOps supports development methods in the financial services sector. As finance is currently a key target for cyber-attacks, development companies are setting the standard with a DevSecOps strategy to reduce the likelihood that sensitive data would be made available to cybercriminals.

How does DevSecOps Work?

The goal of VMware's DevSecOps strategy is to give development teams access to the entire security stack. This is accomplished through establishing ongoing communication between the organization's security team, release management, & operations teams, & by highlighting this communication at each stage of the CI/CD pipeline.

The six stages of the CI/DI pipeline are called Code, Build, Store, Prep, Deploy, and Run.

• Code- Coding in secure and trusted segments is the first step in a development strategy that adheres to DevSecOps.
• Build- A safe mechanism is needed to accept code and produce comprehensive container images that include a core OS, application dependencies, and additional run-time services.
• Store- In the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape of today, any off-the-shelf technology stack needs to be viewed as a risk. Each commercial app or back-end service should now be regularly checked.
• Prep- Before deployment, organizations need to ensure their application complies with security policies.
• Deploy- Organizations have a thorough picture of the application's security strength thanks to the scans delivered in earlier rounds. Here, detected vulnerabilities or configuration errors in the development process are openly displayed, enabling enterprises to address problems and establish more stringent security standards to support a stronger security posture.
• Run- SecOps teams can use active deployment analytics, monitoring, and automation as deployments go to ensure ongoing compliance and reduce the risk of vulnerabilities that appear after deployment.