The increase demand for agility and security in modern application deployment necessitates DevSecOps integration into a software development lifecycle to ensure robust application security. However, integrating security with DevOps often proves disjointed, leaving vulnerabilities slip through the crack and into application and application deployment process. Thus organizations must strive to balance security and speed by prioritizing security and implementing standardized DevSecOps practices.
Traditionally, the responsibility for application security rests with dedicated security teams, leading to issues being identified primarily during the testing phase. This reactive approach fails to keep pace with the continuous releases, resulting in interruptions to the development process. Consequently, time-to-market delays, underutilization of developer resources, and a backlog of vulnerabilities ensue.
Recognizing the imperative to reconcile DevOps with security imperatives, progressive enterprises are embracing DevSecOps integration methodologies. By seamlessly incorporating security into the application development lifecycle, DevSecOps mitigates risks and fosters a culture of proactive security measures.
Strengthening Application Security Through DevSecOps Integration
Modern application security practices such as DevSecOps integration into software deployment have revolutionized application security, fostering a continuous security approach throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
By strategically embedding security measures at each stage of the SDLC, DevSecOps empowers organizations with proactive ‘shift-left’ practices. This proactive approach enables the early detection of application security flaws, allowing DevOps teams to promptly address software vulnerabilities.
Now, let’s explore the intricacies of incorporating security into the application development lifecycle:
DevSecOps & Continuous Improvement of Application Security
Incorporating security seamlessly across the application development lifecycle, spanning development, testing, and production stages, is crucial for modern organizations. However, this integration must be smooth to avoid hindering the flow of DevOps workflows and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) processes.
Here are six essential considerations for effectively integrating automated security testing throughout the development lifecycle:
- Security Integration from the Start: Involve security teams during the initial stages of drafting business objectives, backlogs, and sprints to ensure security considerations are ingrained from the outset.
- Empowering Development and Operations Teams: Provide training and resources on security aspects to both development and operations teams. Establish secure coding guidelines/templates to assist developers in identifying and addressing common security issues.
- Pre-commit or Pull Requests: Implement Static Application Security Testing (SAST) and Software Composition Analysis (SCA) during pre-commit or pull requests to identify code issues early on.
- QA Integration: Incorporate SAST and SCA processes, along with Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), during the QA stage to detect high-certainty and high-severity vulnerabilities.
- Production Acceptance: Deploy DAST to uncover potential production vulnerabilities at this stage, alongside continued utilization of SAST and SCA processes.
- Ongoing Testing in Production: Maintain testing processes in production with production-safe DAST to identify vulnerabilities without impacting application performance. Additionally, implement protective technologies such as web application firewalls (WAF) and runtime application self-protection (RASP) to secure running applications.
Integrating SAST into the application development lifecycle yields significant benefits. According to a WhiteHat survey, enterprises experienced a 25 percent reduction in time-to-fix after implementing SAST. Furthermore, integrating SAST with DAST led to a 50 percent decrease in new production vulnerabilities compared to implementing DAST alone. To establish a cost-effective application security program, automating all six integration points is advisable — in other words, implementing DevSecOps integration with DevOps using best practices.
While building DevSecOps capabilities internally is an option, a quicker and more cost-effective approach is to collaborate with a third-party DevSecOps service provider such as OpsBee Technology. Partnering with OpsBee Technology facilitates the establishment of a comprehensive security framework by leveraging cutting-edge innovations and technology trends.
OpsBee Technology’ DevSecOps framework fosters a culture of shared responsibility among development, operations, and security teams. Our DevSecOps strategy seamlessly integrates security processes and tools, enhancing visibility, fostering collaboration, automating tasks, and promoting agility across every stage of the DevOps pipeline.
Get in touch with us and let’s collaborate to develop, deploy, and continuously refine applications securely across all platforms and environments.