The DevSecOps methodology (that is, Development, Security and Operations) ensures agile application and update development and reduces the risks that the company may be exposed to cyber attacks. Applying the dictates of DevSecOps means realizing the vision of development that involves security aspects from the beginning and, subsequently, in all subsequent phases that lead to deployment.
Implementing new layers of security or checking for vulnerabilities only at the end of the software development cycle means we are in a condition where development is slowed down. Organizations now frequently apply agile development to reduce application time to market and ensure new features are added quickly.
If development and security do not go hand in hand – that is, if they are not integrated and speak two different languages – the organization emerges weakened.
You shouldn’t think of DevSecOps as a product or a result: it must be a process metabolized by the company at various levels to optimize integration between departments and improve the quality of its software.
Why people talk about DevSecOps
DevSecOps are an evolution of the DevOps methodology, daughter of cloud and agile development. As businesses realized that the software development cycle could – and should – be accelerated, they reorganized their strategies to leverage DevOps to optimize software and make updates faster; indeed, it has become a precise expectation of the market. Anyone who doesn’t do it stays behind.
At the same time, if DevOps are not accompanied by a rethinking of the role of security, it risks creating a bottleneck: software development is faster, but before being implemented and distributed another team must take care of verifying that they are not easy vulnerabilities to exploit or that the software is not easily attackable from the outside, maybe after social engineering operations (i.e. misleading employees, for example).
DevSecOps are therefore the natural evolution of an optimization path aimed at transforming software development into a multi-departmental process that integrates the skills of the various departments so that the development process includes security from the first moment. This is why we talk about “shift left”, that is, an approach whereby the evaluation and testing of software security are moved to the left, i.e. at the beginning of the development cycle.
Interpret DevSecOps as a process
Integrating a DevSecOps approach means, therefore, grafting operational dynamics that take into consideration security and assess its adherence to corporate policies at each stage of the development cycle. This concretizes the vision of reliable, high-performance and secure software, but also engages a shared responsibility among all the teams involved. rather than delegating the security component to a single team that may not have visibility into the software design and development process.
In other words, DevSecOps are a process, not a product.
Security can no longer be interpreted as a simple optional added value of an application: it is the very essence of any software offer that can be defined in step with modern development standards. Among the different implications of the DevSecOps method, companies must integrate processes aimed at improving the traceability of operations and the visibility of the various process phases. In doing so, organizations can more easily identify the underlying causes of a bug or security issue.
DevSecOps benefits
There are many advantages to applying the DevSecOps methodology:
- Anticipating the identification of vulnerabilities early in development takes companies less time and less cost to remediate;
- By optimizing the security verification process, organizations can accelerate time to market, fueling virtuous dynamics that improve the perceived quality of the application
- Security becomes knowledge (and responsibility) shared between various departments, creating a more coherent and productive development environment where all the actors involved follow company standards
- The “shift left” approach reduces security issues
The DevSecOps methodology is now inevitable. Businesses have realized that the cyber threat can no longer be underestimated: applying a more agile, smarter, and more integrated approach to software development is the best way to prevent rather than cure.