Introduction
DevOps is a term for a group of concepts that, when brought together, improve the flow of work between software developers and IT professionals. The demand for DevOps is rising and is only going to continue to grow in the years to come. DevOps and security have always had a tenuous relationship which made it difficult to achieve Managed DevOps services.
Security has traditionally been a process that happens at the end of the software development cycle, after all the features have been added. This led to tension between developers, who wanted to move quickly and add features, and security professionals, who were often seen as slowing down the process. Therefore, the integration of security into the Devops pipeline has become one of the crucial aspects.
In this article we will learn about the steps to integrate security into the DevOps pipeline.
Now, let us understand what a DevOps pipeline is..
A DevOps pipeline is a collection of technology and practices that enables the teams to quickly design, test, and release software. This also simplifies software upgrades and maintenance. A DevOps pipeline makes it easier to incorporate code changes into an upstream repository, automate tests and builds, and resolve code conflicts while also identifying problems and vulnerabilities. As a result, DevOps methodologies reduce time to market (TTM) and allow for agile software development.
Need to integrate security into your DevOps pipeline
Security has always been a crucial concern for organizations. There are many reasons why it is a must to integrate security into the DevOps pipeline.
Let us look into a few of them.
- One of the major reasons why it is a must to integrate security into the devOps pipeline is to achieve Managed DevOps services.
- Many businesses still employ traditional security measures, which are incompatible with DevOps. These approaches have several disadvantages:
- Rather than having a built-in feature, security is generally introduced once the software is created.
- The slow feedback cycle of traditional security measures is incompatible with the high-speed DevOps pipeline.
- The changing environments in which modern apps operate are ignored by traditional security techniques (e.g., cloud services, containers, and container management systems like Kubernetes).
Security teams are traditionally separated from DevOps groups, reporting to a separate team leader and working in silos. Insecure apps are shipped as a result of the specialists remaining outside of the information flow and lacking the information they require.When security teams intervene to audit, delivery is slowed, negating the intended business goal. Worse, security teams are usually understaffed, a problem compounded by the cybersecurity industry’s chronic skills shortage.
Security teams fail to handle security flaws and other threats on their own when they uncover them. The development team is tasked with finding a solution, and the risk remains until those concerns are prioritized and addressed. Another security patch bottleneck has been formed.
Traditional security approaches have limitations that make integrating security into a modern DevOps architecture built on automation and CI/CD instrumentation difficult. Security is still an afterthought in software development, and it is only used as a precaution once the product is delivered. However, there are ways to address this problem.
Dev-First Security & DevSecOps
In this digitally transformed world of cloud and DevOps a new approach to security is much needed. The new DevSecOps paradigm, which incorporates security from the ground up, must be embedded in these new technologies and processes. It must promote self-sufficient teams and speed up rather than slow down the company. To put it another way, developers must be prioritized.
Dev-First Security is an approach to security that puts the developer first. It recognizes that developers are the best people to write secure code, and that security should be integrated into the development process from the beginning. Dev-First Security is also known as DevSecOps, which is short for Development, Security, and Operations. Dev-First Security and DevSecOps are both ways of thinking about security that can be applied to any organization, regardless of size or industry. They both emphasize the importance of integrating security into the development process at the beginning, and they both recognize the importance of the developer in achieving more secured and Managed DevOps services.
Benefits of DevSecOps:
The goal of DevSecOps is to ensure the security of applications from the time they are conceived to when they are in production.
There are many benefits to implementing DevSecOps in your organization.
Some of these benefits include:
- Reduced vulnerability: Applications that are developed and tested using DevSecOps practices are inherently more secure than those that are not. This is because DevSecOps encourages collaboration between developers and security professionals, which leads to a more holistic and secure application.
- Faster delivery: Early detection and correction of defects and vulnerabilities enhances software delivery speed, allowing developers to concentrate on developing desirable features.
- Cost Reduction: One of the major benefits that DevSecOps offers is cost reduction.
Conclusion
Therefore, to create a secure DevOps pipeline, it is essential to integrate security into the process. We have learnt the steps involved in this process, the key benefits and how to achieve managed DevOps services. By integrating security into the DevOps pipeline, organizations can improve the safety of their systems and protect their data.