To better understand SecDevOps, it is important to know DevOps.
DevOps is methodology for improving the performance of software development operations by involving the development team and the operations team in one process. This helps to increase the frequency of deployments, which helps to service the customers faster. DevOps have been increasingly adopted in development circles for many years.
However, the ability to deploy changes more quickly is a double-edged sword.
If we’re not careful and don’t have systems and practices in place to guard against bugs and vulnerabilities, there is high chance of systems and applications going down more quickly. While DevOps clearly deliver benefits, security is important element, which must be an integral part of the development and deployment process. This situation brings in the concept of SecDevOps
SecDevOps is the process of integrating secure development best practices and methodologies into development and deployment processes which DevOps makes possible. It seeks to embed security inside the development process as deeply as DevOps has done with operations.
Unpacking that, to implement SecDevOps we need to revisit our existing DevOps pipelines, processes, and culture and ensure that security is integrated just as deeply and tightly as any other development consideration. Most importantly, we need to ensure that security is not considered as an afterthought and, benefits of implementing a security is well understood across an entire organization.
Implementing SecDevOps
With the description of what SecDevOps is and the motivations for it out of the way, to apply it correctly, changes to tooling, processes, and organizational culture are necessary.
Tools
- Use scripts, static and dynamic analysis and integration of testing within existing tools
- Detect security flaws as soon as possible
- Ensure that tools can spot and flag security flaws which result in broken builds
- Ensure that reports of security flaws are accurate
- Use automated tools for validation
- Ensure that infrastructure, not just code, can be verified as working and secure
- Ensure that production applications are protected against vulnerabilities that weren’t caught earlier
Process
- Engender the ability to provide reliable feedback
- Perform regular code audits
- Benchmark and review your performance
- Have documented procedures for dealing with problems
Culture
- Ensure maximum transparency within the teams during the development stages
- Ensure that information is rapidly delivered via discussion and feedback
- Ensure reinforcement of security awareness and a security culture
- Ensure your teams can make the relevant decisions necessary to improve consistently
SecDevOps is the practice of implanting security deep at the heart of DevOps development and deployment processes. Ensure that security is considered as important as any other modern development best practice.
By:- Sapan Talwar