The goal of DevSecOps is to bring security into the development and release process, with rapid and secure code delivery.
DevOps brings Developers and Operations teams together, and implements the right processes and technology to deliver software quicker. Currently many organizations focus on speed to market, emphasizing collaboration between developers and operations, but overlook security. At that point, the code is almost fully developed, so security measures are usually retrofitted or tacked on as an afterthought later in the deployment process. If a security threat is discovered at that late stage, engineers will have to rework countless lines of code, further delaying the release, or create a patch.
DevSecOps emphasizes security at all stages of the software lifecycle, from planning, design, development, QA/testing, release and when operating on a production environment. By bringing the security team into the loop at all stages of the development process, they can actually find and resolve vulnerabilities sooner and cheaper, without delaying time to market.
Each year, there are more security risks, like cybertheft, data leakage, phishing, ransomware, and denial of service attacks. As platforms become more connected, the cost of each incident (and the potential liability to software companies) increases exponentially. The costs of these cyberthreats are simply too high to leave until the end of the development process.
“The time to market is shorter every year and older security practices slow down development. Teams had to find a way to speed up without compromising security. This is how DevSecOps started. The ultimate goal is to unite security teams and developers while ensuring fast, safe delivery of code.”
DevSecOps was created “to bring individuals of all abilities to a high level of proficiency in security in a short period of time,” ensuring that all collaborators who work on the application are responsible for the security of their contribution. As a result, code is more secure as it’s being written, the application is continuously validated for common security threats, and possible breach points are detected as part of the application deployment. When all collaborators incorporate security principles throughout the process, the organization can ultimately deliver a better, more secure product, which has many benefits for the entire organization. Ultimately, this will require some additional implementation and training on the front end, but will save the organization time and money in the long term, and even increase employee satisfaction. According to Sonatype’s 2020 DevSecOps Community Survey, “developers who receive training on how to code securely are 5x more likely to enjoy their work.”
The benefits of DevSecOps include the same advantages of DevOps, while delivering even more value:
So how do you implement DevSecOps in your software development lifecycle?
The good news is, if you are already using DevOps, you are already most of the way there. The biggest difference is shifting security to the left.