Is It Worth Implementing DevSecOps Within Your Workflows?

 

Increasingly sophisticated and ever-evolving cyber threats require advanced security integrations. The enhanced security should be embedded across phases and elements of application development. 

This imperative requirement for security integration in every step paved the way for a new DevSecOps environment. DevSecOps is an evolved variation of DevOps with an added security feature. 

So, what exactly is DevSecOps?

Understanding The Concept Of DevSecOps

Previously, security checks and quality analyses were performed at the final stages of SDLC. This resulted in long, complex iterations. 

As a result, the cost of app development also increased. In fact, several accumulated security issues that were discovered only until the final stages of the delivery cycle delayed-release timelines and pushed back time to market. 

DevSecOps focuses on creating active collaboration among IT security, application development, and business operations teams. DevSecOPs make it mandatory to inject security from the initial phases of the application life cycle to reduce potential vulnerabilities. 

The fundamental goal is to bridge the gap between security practices and IT operations and business objectives. DevSecOps involves the utilisation of IT management tools, testing tools, Agile methodology, automation, and certain best practices to improve your application quality and security. 

If your organisation has already implemented the DevOps culture, migrating to DevSecOps becomes much simpler.

Why DevSecOps Is Necessary?

Failure to identify any crucial security vulnerability, compliance breach, or design glitches can have devastating effects on an organisation. Security shortfalls not just attract substantial financial burden but also tarnish your brand image and limit the future scope to acquire high-value projects. 

Thus, following the DevOps pattern complemented with security best practices are necessary.

DevSecOps matter for the following reasons: 

• Safe-code delivery within a short time span: Documented workflows combined with automated security assessment testing reduce the chance of manual labour and ensure delivering safe code in the shortest amount of time. 

• Reduce Risk: When you focus on security details and compliance concerns during the design and development phase of a new app or feature update, then you get the opportunity to reduce the downstream vulnerabilities and expected breaches. 

• Deliver Impact: in most cases, missed security vulnerabilities occur because of a gap between the development team and business/product owner expectations or in the form of missed expectations. When the development team establishes a consistent communication channel from the beginning until release, the expectation gaps can substantially be minimised. This you can deliver Impact, value, quality, and performance.

DevSecOps Vs. Agile 

While Agile methodology increases speed and flexibility in SDLC, the DevSecOps environment mostly focuses on increasing security. In fact, DevSecOps leverages Agile methodology to ensure quality and faster delivery. 

However, many individuals and organisations use the terms Agile and DevSecOps interchangeably. It is crucial to understand that while these two approaches function collaboratively, they are completely exclusive concepts. 

• The agile approach focuses on iterative development cycles. Here continuous feedback integration into ongoing software development is leveraged. 
• However, even in most-advanced agile development processes, security is still added to the application as an afterthought. 
• This is mostly due to the siloed culture and conventional work structure followed by many businesses. Under such settings, the developers aren’t responsible for looking after cybersecurity. 
• It is the sole responsibility of the security when the application codebase will be forwarded to the security team before deployment. 
• DevSecOps takes security and integrates it in the CI/CD pipeline. DevSecOps makes security a crucial part of the overall software development process. 

Conclusion

As the technology continues to evolve, security breaches will also become advanced. Therefore to avoid becoming a victim to these attacks and incur expensive damages, DevSecOps can be a viable solution.