DevSecOps- Part1

What is DevSecOps ?

DevSecOps evolved to address the need to build in security continuously across the SDLC so that DevOps teams could deliver secure applications with speed and quality. Incorporating testing, triage, and risk mitigation earlier in the CI/CD workflow prevents the time-intensive, and often costly, repercussions of making a fix post production. This concept is part of “shifting left,” which moves security testing toward developers, enabling them to fix security issues in their code in near real time rather than “bolting on security” at the end of the SDLC. DevSecOps spans the entire SDLC, from planning and design to coding, building, testing, and release, with real-time continuous feedback loops and insights.

DevOps is an approach to software development that centers on three pillars — organizational culture, process, and technology and tools. All three are geared toward helping development and IT operations teams work collaboratively to build, test, and release software in a faster, more agile, and more iterative manner than traditional software development processes.

According to The DevOps Handbook, “In the DevOps ideal, developers receive fast, constant feedback on their work, which enables them to quickly and independently implement, integrate, and validate their code, and have the code deployed into the production environment.”

In simple terms, DevOps is about removing the barriers between two traditionally siloed teams. In a DevOps model, development and operations teams work together across the entire software application life cycle, from development and testing through deployment and operations.

DevSecOps vs. DevOps

• Integration of Security: DevOps typically focuses on the development and operations merge, whereas DevSecOps adds a security dimension to every step.
• Team Responsibilities: In a DevOps model, security is often a separate process that comes after the build phase. DevSecOps treats security as everyone’s responsibility, integral to all phases of the pipeline.
• Tools and Practices: While both DevOps and DevSecOps utilize automation and tool integration, DevSecOps incorporates security-focused tools and practices such as dynamic code analysis, threat modeling, and compliance monitoring.
• Business Goals: DevOps aims at fast and reliable delivery of software, and DevSecOps adds the constraint of doing so without compromising security.

The ultimate goal of DevSecOps is to ensure that security is not just an add-on but an inherent part of the development and deployment processes, addressing potential security issues as they occur, rather than after a threat or breach has been detected. This proactive stance on security fits well with the agile and responsive nature of DevOps practices.

DevSecOps vs. SecDevOps

DevSecOps:

SecDevOps:

Why DevSecOps?

1. DevSecOps is the standard in implementing application security

2. DevSecOps provides high visibility for security threats

3. DevSecOps makes cloud computing more secure

4. DevSecOps shortens development cycles

5. DevSecOps benefits your client

DevSecOps Software Lifecycle

DevSecOps More Focused on?

• Security Integration: DevSecOps integrates security at every stage of the software development lifecycle, from initial design through development, testing, deployment, and software delivery.
• “Shifting Left”: This is a practice in DevSecOps where security is brought earlier into the development process (“shift left” refers to moving a step to an earlier point in a process timeline). The goal is to detect vulnerabilities and security issues as early as possible when they are usually less expensive and easier to address.
• Continuous Security: Security is a continuous concern and is addressed by ongoing activities such as threat modeling, risk assessment, and automated security testing within the development pipeline.
• Automation of Security Tasks: Security processes are automated and embedded in the continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines. Automated security checks are performed at multiple stages of the pipeline to ensure that security is consistent and not reliant on manual oversight.
• Collaboration and Culture: Encouraging a collaborative culture where security is a shared responsibility across all teams involved in the software development lifecycle, including developers, operations, and security personnel.
• Education and Training: Proactive efforts to educate team members about security best practices and empower them to implement security measures effectively.
• Compliance and Governance: Ensuring that all code, infrastructure, and processes comply with relevant laws, regulations, and security standards throughout the development process.
• Security Tool Integration: Utilizing various security tools to automate the scanning of vulnerabilities, compliance checks, and security posture assessments. These tools are integrated into the version control systems, build servers, and deployment processes.
• Incident Management and Response: Establishing and practicing security incident response procedures that allow for quick and effective action when security incidents occur.
• Feedback Loops: Implementing strong feedback mechanisms to continuously improve security practices based on operational data, security testing results, and real-world incident response.
• Configuration Management: Controlling changes to the system configuration, and using infrastructure as code (IaC) to manage and provision infrastructure in a consistent and repeatable manner, ensuring security configurations are applied universally.
• Securing the Supply Chain: DevSecOps extends beyond the immediate development environment to encompass the broader supply chain, including third-party libraries, tools, and other components that contribute to the end product.

DevSecOps Each Team Responsibilities

Development Team

• Secure Coding: Writing code with security best practices in mind to prevent vulnerabilities.
• Code Analysis: Utilizing static and dynamic analysis tools to check the code for security issues.
• Collaboration: Working closely with security and operations teams to understand security requirements and standards.
• Education and Training: Continually learning about new security threats and integrating security-focused sessions into development practices.

Security Team

• Integration: Embedding security practices into the CI/CD pipeline.
• Tool Selection and Management: Choosing and maintaining the security tools used in the development lifecycle.
• Vulnerability Management: Identifying, classifying, prioritizing, remediating, and mitigating software vulnerabilities.
• Security Training: Providing training to development and operations teams to enhance their security skills.
• Incident Response: Leading the response to security incidents and ensuring lessons learned are fed back into the development process.

Operations Team

• Secure Deployment: Ensuring that the deployment pipeline is secure and that configurations do not introduce vulnerabilities.
• Environment Management: Keeping the production, testing, and development environments secure.
• Monitoring and Response: Implementing tools and practices for the real-time monitoring of systems and applications to detect and respond to security threats.
• Access Control: Managing access to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to certain resources, particularly in production environments.

Quality Assurance (QA) Team

• Security Testing: Incorporating security-focused testing into the quality assurance processes.
• Test Automation: Including security test cases in the automated testing suite to catch vulnerabilities before deployment.

DevSecOps Summary

In summary, DevSecOps is an organizational strategy that requires a blend of shared responsibility, process integration, and continuous improvement to succeed. It transforms the way organizations think about and manage security, making it a fundamental component of systems and software from the start.

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