DevSecOps And GDPR: Can DevSecOps Help Companies Comply With GDPR?

Data security is the multi-billion dollar question which needs our attention at present.

The existence of GDPR and recent CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) announcement made people think about their data privacy in a serious manner.

On one side, we are receiving constant updates on the "Brexit" delay which is causing uncertainty, and on the other side, we are trying to gauge the impact of Brexit on Europe, UK, world, and on every business sector including IT. Along with Brexit deal, the software development industry is experiencing a bigger change in the policy and that change is GDPR. 

We have recognized that data is the new asset of the 21st century. It is as valuable as currency these days following the need to have a business-critical decision-making process.

The laws such as GDPR and CCPA have changed the way people are approaching data security.

Here, in this post, we are addressing some general questions related to GDPR and also help you understand how DevSecOps will be the best fit for security-driven software development.

If you’re wondering why we are talking about GDPR and data security, it’s because data security has become immensely important and this is the right time we consider security as a strategic aspect rather implementing as a part of the software development process. To do so, DevSecOps seems to be the appropriate model that can fulfill security requirements right from the start of the software development life cycle.

What Is GDPR?

GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation.

It aims to reshape the entire framework for data collection and processing within the European Union. This data protection rule empowers people to take control of their personal data.

This rule is considered one of the biggest changes in data protection and data security in years. Under this regulation, people can take control over how data is collected and processed along with their consents.

How Does GDPR Affect Software Development?

Over recent time, we have observed that software evolved to a greater extent in terms of scalability, stability, agility, and security. IT industry is moving ahead at pace empowering businesses to scale faster with secure, reliable, and feature-rich software solutions.

GDPR compliance is a top priority for software development companies as they often interact with the personal data of customers around the world. It becomes a major concern for them to keep up with data regulation because it requires additional investment to observe overseas data transfers, adequately comply with GDPR and other regulations, and consider the need to hire a data processing officer(DPO).

Some Key Takeaways For Software Development Companies

• You can’t overlook GDPR as a software development company

• Carefully read and understand what standards GDPR have for your business/services about security.

• Think about security as one of the major factors in successful software development.

• Changing your software development model to DevSecOps will save you time, money, and help you meet regulatory standards.

• Security-driven infrastructure can give you a competitive advantage.

• The violation of any GDPR terms may subject you to fines.

• Treat software security as a shared responsibility.

Moreover, the software is built with more iterations and deployments at present, making software developers pay extra attention to the security aspects.

Does This Data Protection Rule Apply To Every Company?

This is one of the most important questions.

According to the official European Commission website, the law applies to:

1. A company or entity which processes personal data as part of the activities of one of its branches established in the EU, regardless of where the data is processed; or

2. A company established outside the EU offering goods/services (paid or for free) or monitoring the behavior of individuals in the EU.

In the simplest terms, the law applies to any company/organization/individual who offers services/products to EU individual or getting involved in the monitoring of data of an EU individual.

In short, this law applies to every company regardless of where they are operating (inside or outside of the EU) and associated with any data processing (storing, monitoring, generating, collecting, and altering, removing, using, and so on) of an EU individual.

If you are a small or larger business enterprise dealing with any personal data (any information about an individual including name, identity, date of birth, place, biometric records, or any educational, financial, medical, employment-related information), you must comply with GDPR standards.

How DevSecOps Can Help You Comply With Security Standards

Security no longer applies to only one phase of development.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, called GDPR a “very positive step for the Internet,” while there are some other leaders who found GDPR unclear and ambiguous.

GDPR has raised some important questions and discussions about data security. One must need to act in accordance with data security standards that protect visitors’ and users’ data.

However, For IT professionals, it looks like more of a problem to obey the terms of such privacy acts and it’s now challenging for them to design their software in a way that must fulfill data security requirement. To do so, one must consider DevSecOps for not only GDPR compliance but, for any other protection acts across the world.

Is There Any Need To Revisit The Software Development Methodologies?

The answer of the question is subjective and depends on your requirement like what your project type is, how you use data, how major your database is, how you process and collect data, and so on.

However, data protection became essential for every company and organization to protect their users’ data and ensure there are no vulnerabilities and breach. People become aware of their data safety and they’re often more concerned while providing their personal data to any company.

Why Use DevSecOps To Address Data Security Needs?

• It suits data protection laws like GDPR, CCPA, and many more.

• It ensures your software meets all the data security standards.

• It helps design security-leading software solutions.

• It promotes security as a collective responsibility for everyone in the organization.

• It focuses on faster delivery of the software with maximum attention on security.

• It streamlines data storage, processing, and collection that can guarantee proper compliance.

• A logical, strategic and potential approach to software development with security as a key component.

Apart from that, DevOps has the ability to produce great results when it comes to building modern software with maximum quality and agility. By implementing "Security-as-Code" in the software development process, any organization can leverage this powerful combination of security and agility to foster collaboration and transparency.

DevSecOps puts security at every stage to ensure a secure and smooth flow throughout the development process. DevSecOps enforces security as a shared responsibility that can measure applications’ security from the starting phase of software creation.

The IT world has embraced DevOps not only as a software development model, but as DevOps-As-A-Philosophy to bring changes via continuous integration and continuous delivery.

Be it a DevOps or DevSecOps, security is a must. Moving further, DevSecOps emerged as one of the major practices in the IT industry due to its potential to overcome revolutionary data protection acts such as GDPR.

Applying high-level security on software while maintaining agility is very crucial in order to create next-gen software solutions.

Which Other Countries Have Moved Toward Data Security Across The World?

It is not only the EU and UK who have taken serious steps against data security violations. There are many countries that are planning to set up their own data protection acts, such as:

• California Consumer Privacy Act(CCPA) – effective from January 1, 2020

• Brazil – General Data Protection will come into effect from February 2020

• Serbia and Jersey – align with GDPR standards

• Ukraine, Monaco, Malaysia, Switzerland, Bosnia will pass their data security amendments in 2020

• Hong Kong established a “New Ethical Accountability Framework” which takes control of security in business operation

Have You Implemented DevSecOps In Your Organization?

If you haven’t considered or taken GDPR and data security into account, you’re missing an important part of software development. As data security is considered more than a just strategy, it’s the right time to think in that direction.

Implementing DevSecOps in your organization does make sense and help you gain ultimate success.
Is your company ready for DevSecOps implementation? What can be the best model for the security-driven software development process?

DevSecOps is the best model to implement security from the start. It doesn’t only help you comply with GDPR, but it supports almost all types of data protection laws around the world.

What are your thoughts on the intersection of DevSecOps And GDPR? Let us know via comments.