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Improve Your Cybersecurity: 3 Key Considerations for DevSecOps Implementation
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By Gilad David Maayan, Founder & CEO at Agile SEO
DevSecOps increases the scope of collaboration during the software development process. This means you have collaborators working together, simultaneously, on three main aspects – development, security, and operations. This workflow enables teams to ensure software is released quickly, while maintaining security standards and eliminating bottlenecks.
The promises of DevSecOps are tempting, but not all implementations are successful. This article covers three key challenges that can turn a DevSecOps into a nightmare.
DevOps is a software development strategy that was developed to adapt to increasing demands for speed and efficiency in development processes. It involves the collaboration of development and operations teams and incorporates agile practices to enable frequent, high-quality releases of product features and improvements.
DevOps is in contrast to traditional development methods which involve a linear development process and siloed teams. In DevOps, development and operations processes are performed simultaneously with the help of DevOps pipelines . These pipelines are collections of tools that DevOps teams can use to automate the various processes required through the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
Unfortunately, the speed of DevOps operations can create a problem for security teams. These teams often struggle to sufficiently test and identify security issues in time. Additionally, when issues are found, any time savings may be lost since otherwise finished products must be sent back to developers for changes.
Another issue is the location of applications created by DevOps teams. Often, these applications are designed to be internet accessible. This accessibility opens applications to cybersecurity threats that previously weren’t an issue.
To address this flaw in the strategy, teams have begun to incorporate security members and cybersecurity practices into the mix. This incorporation has resulted in the , creationcreatoning of DevSecOps.
DevSecOps integrates security processes from the start of the development process and uses the same iterative methods that have worked so well for DevOps. When security is included earlier in the SDLC, vulnerabilities are uncovered sooner and changes can be made faster and easier since not as much code is affected.
DevSecOps helps ensure that products ready for release are as protected from cybersecurity threats as possible. When products are secure from the start, teams do not have to waste time correcting previous issues. Instead, they can focus on developing and releasing additional features or new products.
While DevSecOps can provide significant benefits and improvements to the way you create and distribute applications it can also be a challenge to implement. Below are a few of the biggest challenges that teams face when implementing DevSecOps.
The integration of security teams and processes into every stage of the SDLC can be a significant change for many organizations. This is particularly true if you are trying to transition directly from traditional, siloed methods of development.
Team members suddenly have to collaborate and communicate in ways that they previously didn’t. Additionally, members often have to adapt processes and learn new skills that they previously weren’t responsible for. For many teams, this can create a lot of resistance. This is particularly true if teams don’t understand the potential impacts of poor cybersecurity.
To ease this resistance it’s vital that you carefully plan your transition and gain the buy-in of both team members and management. You should take the time to clearly identify your goals for transitioning and evaluate the positive impacts that the change can have on your current operations.
When planning your changes, you should make sure to include key members from each department that you are planning to combine. This ensures that the current processes, goals, and tooling of each team are clearly communicated. It also helps ensure that changes are performed in a way that doesn’t obstruct the workflow of your various departments.
When teams work in silos they often adopt specialized tools and processes to meet their goals. When you combine teams, you also need to combine these tools and processes into a coherent system. Unfortunately, compatibility can often be an issue.
DevSecOps teams need to be able to work from an integrated pipeline to ensure that processes are performed uniformly and enable automation. While you may be able to easily adapt processes to fit these pipelines, you are less likely to be able to easily adapt tools. This typically means either having to find comparable replacements that are compatible or finding new tools and changing processes.
If you find yourself in the position of having to adopt new tools or adapt old ones, keep in mind the effect of those changes on your current processes. New tools should integrate as seamlessly as possible and should help streamline workflows, not impede them.
Tools should also enable you to increase automation and visibility of your processes. The more workflow steps you can automate the smoother your processes are. Likewise, the greater visibility you have, the easier it is to identify and fix any issues that arise.
While there may be some skills overlap between development and operations teams there tends to be less between these teams and security. This is because, in the past, these teams have relied on security members to handle issues.
Often non-security members have had minimal general security or cybersecurity training. This is in contrast to security teams who typically need to know quite a lot about operations and programming practices to perform their jobs.
When you implement a DevSecOps strategy, suddenly everyone must share responsibility for security. This means training development and operations teams on at least the basics of cybersecurity practices and procedures. For example, training developers to implement secure coding practices or operations to configure sufficiently secure access controls.
At first, developing these skills can significantly decrease productivity and frustrate team members. However, once teams become more familiar with the requirements and skill sets of each subgroup, productivity will resume. Additionally, workflows should become more efficient as collaboration becomes easier once members can better understand each other.
Yes, agile methodologies like DevOps and DevSecOps can break through the typical bottlenecks of siloed operations. Yes, adding Sec to DevOps enables teams to deliver more secure software. However, it is critical to remember that agile methodologies rely heavily on automation, integration, communication, and human beings.
An agile pipeline is often complex, and can turn into a cumbersome process if implemented poorly. The simpler your tooling stack and process, the easier it will be for systems to integrate and humans to cooperate. Remember that most people tend to resist change, and go easy on your talent. Make this a collaborative process and continuously work with feedback.
Author Bio: Gilad David Maayan
Gilad David Maayan is a technology writer who has worked with over 150 technology companies including SAP, Imperva, Samsung NEXT, NetApp and Ixia, producing technical and thought leadership content that elucidates technical solutions for developers and IT leadership. Today he heads Agile SEO , the leading marketing agency in the technology industry.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladdavidmaayan/
