Security Integration – A Secret of Successful Secure DevOps

Security has become a key aspect for many organizations in the digital race. Firms have managed to drive innovation and fast-paced delivery through technology but have failed to achieve full-level security.

Though the advent of technologies like DevOps and the cloud, among others, has eased typical IT processes, many firms still report a lack of security as a major challenge.

DevOps is one of the hottest technology trends. It addresses organizations’ security concerns through ‘DevSecOps’ while enhancing their productivity.

Though ‘DevSecOps’, ‘Secure DevOps’, or ‘SecDevOps’ proved successful regarding security integration across the process chain, firms reported some bottlenecks in fully implementing DevSecOps practices.

SecDevOps or Secure DevOps

When many firms raised security concerns in DevOps implementation, SecDevOps appeared as a boon to many of them, who termed it effective for its robustness in facilitating faster development cycles security assurance.

Eventually, with SecDevOps integration, most could see a decline in the rate of their code vulnerabilities by more than 40 percent.

However, things didn’t remain the same for everyone! Some firms have also reported difficulties implementing Secure DevOps.

Key gaps they reported as part of Secure DevOps implementation, as reported by surveys, include:

• Consistency: Consistent practice of SecDevOps culture remained a challenge
• Application Security Testing: Only 50 percent of firms reported integration of application security testing elements in their Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) workflows
• Lack of Security Testing: There is a lack of security testing mechanisms and automated security testing tools that ensure a smooth CI/CD pipeline
• Weak Testing Methods: Respondents reported false positive results out of their testing solutions
• Technology: Smart technologies that fit in the existing CI/CD workflows were a missing case for many firms
• Pace of Implementation: Focusing on fast-paced delivery with security and testing at a later stage can compromise security in some cases. That doesn’t mean slowing down the pace! Experts suggest a well-designed CI/CD pipeline can manage both parallelly.

Lack of the presence of the aspects have reportedly posed challenges to firms in implementing ‘Secure DevOps’.

So, what is the right ‘Secure DevOps’ approach?
The most common challenge reported in failing to implement the ‘Secure DevOps’ approach is ‘considering security and testing as an afterthought with the only delivery speed in focus.’

Most traditional CI/CD pipelines had security operations separated from the software delivery chain.

Lacking due attention to security integration across the process chain might result in key vulnerabilities being missed during the development and testing phases, which can reflect in the final production stage.

So, fast-paced software delivery with security throughout the process makes DevOps successful.

This can be achieved by:

• Automating Security: Integrating manual security tools into the CI/CD pipeline might slow the process. A solution to that is using automation to automate security processes using relevant tools.
• Integration: Integrating security across the pipeline means implementing security at all stages rather than at the end of a few points.
• Continuous Feedback: Implementing security for a single process is not a complete solution to security concerns. Continuous feedback about implemented security features and their compatibility or updates for future applications is the right approach.
• Multiple Security Processes: A single security solution might not be sufficient to meet the ever-changing security threats, which need all the possible security solutions to tackle any possible risk

Overall, the right ‘Secure DevOps’ approach improves security by applying DevOps services and practices across security workflows.

Implementing Secure DevOps & Advantages:

Six steps best describe the successful implementation of security in DevOps methodology, i.e., ‘Secure DevOps’. These include:

• Analyzing Code: Break down the code delivery process into small and frequent releases, which makes it easy to check back for any vulnerabilities
• Flexibility in Change: Let the developer take freedom in recommending the proper security integration as and when required and make the needed changes
• Compliance: Coding with the proper knowledge of compliance brings in a continuous state of compliance across the process chain
• Risk Monitoring: Monitor and address the vulnerabilities arising from your newly delivered code. This facilitates the early resolution of risks for future applications.
• Assessment: It is essential to keep the assessment process on in the form of code revisits, periodic scans, and penetration tests, even after code delivery and relevant vulnerability checks
• Training Personnel: Empowering the staff with the right knowledge is key to any organization’s success. Enhance your engineers’ skill set by offering them security-based coding knowledge or encouraging them to pursue relevant certifications.

What are you waiting for? Security can no longer be a concern for you in your DevOps path!