DevSecOps: Explaining Best Practices, Benefits and Tools

Many sectors have adopted a more agile approach to development life cycles thanks to the widespread adoption of DevOps methodology and the resulting rapid product delivery and deployment.

It has always been a problem for modern IT companies to design secure software while satisfying market speed and scale requirements. As a result, more than 52 percent of organizations forego security due to the concern of falling behind in terms of speed to market.

Delays in production releases have also occurred due to security vulnerabilities under conventional techniques. As a result, several businesses have adopted the DevSecOps methodology to solve this problem.

Adopting DevSecOps and integrating security into software is an obvious answer. Sooner or later, this method will conquer the software development field.

However, when firms shift from DevOps to DevSecOps, they frequently face a standard set of barriers.

On the other hand, following DevSecOps recommended practices can quickly alleviate such concerns.

The question is, "How much do you know about DevSecOps?" DevSecOps is a hybrid of DevOps and Security. 

What Is DevSecOps?

DevSecOps is the term that describes the integration of development, security, and operations. It is a cultural, automation, and platform design strategy that stresses safety as a shared responsibility throughout the IT lifecycle.

This is the practice of creating applications and infrastructure with security in mind from the outset. It also involves automating some security checkpoints not to slow down the present DevOps process.

Additionally, it can be referred to as a way of securing apps and infrastructure based on the DevOps process, which indicates that the application has been guaranteed and is ready for use.

Everything is automated from the beginning of the application's pipelines, and security checks are performed.

Selecting the proper tools for Continuous Integration security meets security goals, but the selection of tools alone is insufficient; security teams must also be equipped with the right tools to meet the requisite protection. 

How Does DevSecOps Work?

DevSecOps is an inevitable and natural progression in how development organizations address security. Previously, protection was added to software at the end of the development cycle (almost as an afterthought) by a separate security team and tested by an independent quality assurance (QA) team.

This was workable when software upgrades were provided annually or less frequently.

Traditional "tacked-on" approaches to security became an unsustainable bottleneck as software engineers shifted to Agile and DevOps to reduce software development cycles by weeks or even days.

DevSecOps combines application and infrastructure security into Agile and DevOps processes and tools seamlessly.

It takes care of security holes as soon as they are discovered, when fixing them is easier, faster, and cheaper (and before they are put into production). 

In addition, DevSecOps makes the application and infrastructure security a joint responsibility of the development, security, and IT operations teams, as opposed to the primary responsibility of a security silo.

DevSecOps provides "software, safer, sooner" by automating secure software delivery without slowing the software development process. 

Benefits of DevSecOps

Integrating security at every step of the software development lifecycle has several benefits. Here are the most crucial ones:

• With immutable infrastructure, businesses may manage the dismantling of infrastructure in response to known attack vectors. When a node is compromised, it is quickly replaced with a new one with fresh credentials. Having no bugs in the code is ideal; however, having no deviations is necessary.
• Overall security is enhanced by immutable infrastructure due to its decreased vulnerability, increased code coverage, and increased automation.
• It promotes the shift to cloud computing as an alternative to relying on aging and increasingly susceptible technology.
• Managed and implemented security auditing, monitoring, and alerting systems that are constantly improved to match the lightning-fast pace of invention inherent in cybercrime.
• Supports the secure-by-design idea with tools for automated code review and testing, as well as training and tools to encourage developers' use of safe design patterns.
• Utilizing templates and the pet/cattle methodology increases the recovery rate in the event of a security incident.
• Enhanced monitoring and auditing improve threat hunting, decrease the risk of a security breach, and minimize negative publicity and reputational harm (to say nothing of regulator fines).
• Delivers secure, rapid, and scalable innovation to a select group of customers, hence creating value for those customers.
• As a result of the federation, security is no longer the purview of a select few experts but all users.
• DevSecOps promotes an honest and forthright atmosphere right from the start of the design process. Sales growth, as it's far simpler to market a product that's been proven to be secure.
• The development phases reduce costs by identifying and resolving security vulnerabilities.
• Delivery velocity increases as security risks are reduced or removed.
• Managed and implemented security auditing, monitoring, and alerting systems that are constantly improved to match the lightning-fast pace of invention inherent in cybercrime. 

Uses of DevSecOps

Here are the uses of DevSecOps listed below:

• Embed security into the DevOps process as a whole.
• To educate about secure coding.
• Select the proper equipment for the security check.
• To utilize Git as the sole source of truth.
• To know code dependencies.
• Use a SIEM platform driven by analytics.
• Automate the entire Continuous Integration to Continuous Deployment pipeline. 

Best DevSecOps Practices

DevSecOps's integration with the rest of the firm is a critical feature that differs from the approach taken by traditional security teams.

Following some of these best practices will ease the pain of the challenging process of changing behaviors and increasing knowledge across all firm levels.

Develop a DevSecOps Culture

It is not sufficient to have the necessary DevSecOps practices and capabilities if the corporate culture – comprised of individuals from all facets of the business – prohibits these practices and capabilities from being used effectively.

The security team has historically been a bottleneck in the release process.

They become the "Department of "No," and as a result, they are gradually sidelined, continuing a downward spiral of team disintegration.

DevSecOps seeks to dismantle these barriers and prevent security from becoming its echo chamber, developing policies and infrastructure without jeopardizing the entire organization. 

When DevSecOps is completely deployed, there is no longer a single "Security Team" but a constantly evolving company-wide security mindset.

Shift Left

A common motto in DevSecOps is "shift left," which advocates for software security to be integrated earlier in the development cycle. In a DevSecOps setting, security measures are taken a right from the start of the project.

In DevSecOps, the cybersecurity architects and engineers are integrated into the core development group. They are responsible for applying patches to all necessary components and configuring the stack to prevent unauthorized access and keep sensitive data safe.

Moving to the left, the DevSecOps team may find and fix security holes before they become significant problems. The development team is not only concerned with developing the product effectively but also with ensuring its safety.

Training for Safety

Compliance and engineering work hand in hand to provide a secure environment.

To ensure that all employees are on the same page regarding the company's security posture and practices, businesses should forge an alliance between their development engineers, operations teams, and compliance teams.

The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) top 10 and other application security testing and security engineering methods should be well-known to everyone involved in the delivery process.

In addition, developers need a firm grasp on thread models, compliance checks, risk and exposure measurement, and control implementation.

Culture

Modes of interaction, people, procedures, and tools make a culture unique.

A positive organizational culture that encourages transformation directly results from solid leadership.

DevSecOps relies heavily on open lines of communication on who is responsible for what to ensure the safety of processes and products. Once that happens, developers and engineers can truly own their operations and be held accountable for their output.

Teams tasked with DevSecOps operations should devise a system that meets their needs, tailoring the technologies and protocols used to the specifics of their organization and the nature of the project.

When given the freedom to design their ideal process, teams are likelier to feel they have a hand in the final product. 

Auditability, Visibility, and Traceability

A DevSecOps process that incorporates traceability, auditability, and visibility leads to improved understanding and a safer environment:

Traceability enables tracking configuration items throughout the development lifecycle to the point when requirements are realized in code.

This can be a vital component of your organization's control architecture, as it facilitates compliance, reduces defects, ensures secure code in application development, and improves code maintainability.

Essential for ensuring compliance with security controls is auditability. All team members must abide by auditable, well-documented technical, procedural, and administrative security controls.

Visibility is an essential management strategy in a DevSecOps context. This indicates that the business has a robust monitoring system to measure the operation's pulse, send alerts, raise awareness of changes and cyberattacks as they occur, and ensure accountability throughout the project's lifecycle.

Automation Is Crucial

Automation is crucial to strike a good balance between security integrations and the need for speed and scale. The adoption of DevOps already emphasizes automation, and the adoption of DevSecOps does.

Adopting DevSecOps best practices is facilitated by developing security tools and procedures. By automating, you can rest assured that your equipment and techniques will be used in the same, dependable way every time.

Next, determine which security tasks and processes can be carried out without human involvement.

While some security tasks, like executing a SAST tool within a pipeline, can be fully automated, others, like threat modeling and penetration testing, require human involvement and hence cannot be automated. Similar remarks apply to methods.

For example, automating input transmission to stakeholders in a pipeline is possible, but obtaining necessary security sign-offs would require human intervention.

Auditing Before Deployment Is Required

Pre-deployment auditing is required during the software development life cycle to achieve the necessary level of security.

The verification is event-driven and triggered anytime the target code is modified. Given that this is the final opportunity before the exit, validations should be restricted and required to be incorporated into a CD pipeline.

This concept can be applied to infrastructure-as-code to enhance compliance by ensuring that the software and the infrastructure on which it is deployed are compliant by default.

In this situation, terraform-compliance and HashiCorp Sentinel are helpful.

This auditing technique also benefits integrating security teams early in the software development process instead of waiting until the end to declare their requirements.

Post-Deployment Auditing Is Crucial

Post-deployment auditing is crucial because, like pre-deployment auditing, it is triggered by events; however, in this case, the possibilities are changes to policy and code.

A check is triggered when there is a shift in the required infrastructure or the standards (rules) that that required infrastructure must meet.

Post-Deployment Auditing is conducted to ensure the continued viability of the certified security level obtained during Pre-Deployment Auditing.

Because of this, Post-Deployment tests often end up being more numerous than Pre-Deployment ones.

Scan External Vulnerabilities

There are many benefits to scanning from the outside. First, you are adopting a proactive approach to network security by performing these scans.

External scans expose network vulnerabilities that could lead to a security breach.

By examining your network from this angle, you may rapidly identify the issue that poses the greatest threat.

Additionally, you may determine whether any new services or servers have been deployed since the last scan and whether they offer any new hazards to your organization.

DevSecOps Implementation

DevSecOps is a lengthy process to implement. Despite the lack of a definitive plan for achieving the best possible DevSecOps deployment, we have identified the critical phases necessary to introduce the methodology successfully.

Creating a Strategy and Laying Out a Blueprint

Implementation success begins with careful planning. The expert groups must coordinate to develop acceptance test criteria, security threat models, and user designs. Data based solely on features is insufficient.

Creating the actual product follows the planning stage. It's a reliable approach for aggregating information from numerous resources to steer groups on the proper path.

As consistency is a key component of DevSecOps, a code review system may prove helpful. 

The Construction and Evaluation Process

Now that we have the materials, we can start constructing. In this case, a build script is used with automated tools to convert the source code into machine code. On the other hand, many options are available in building automation software.

For example, they can select from various add-ons, libraries, and user interfaces. In addition, programmers can automatically define and replace insecure libraries with fresh ones. 

Testing 

Again, the rigorous automated testing framework permeates the pipeline, ensuring high-quality testing practices.

Setup and Functioning

As a result of their usefulness in facilitating the automation of processes and the expedited delivery of software, Infrastructure as Code tools is frequently utilized for product deployment.

One other critical phase of DevSecOps implementation is operations. Upkeep of this facility is the duty of the operations staff. Moreover, they have a terrible time dealing with zero-day exploits. This means they need timely monitoring.

By utilizing IaC solutions, DevSecOps teams may more effectively safeguard the company's apps and infrastructure while reducing the likelihood of human error.

Scaling and Observation

Tools for continuous monitoring are crucial in software development because they guarantee the integrity of safety measures.

The ability to scale is crucial to the success of any company procedure. Since the advent of virtualization, businesses have been able to save money formerly spent on data center upkeep. Instead, they can strengthen the existing IT infrastructure to deal with potential threats.

To deploy DevSecOps, you need to stick to some essential practices. The scope and complexity of your project will determine how many extra steps your brainstorming process will entail.

DevSecOps Integration Tools

Some DevSecOps tools that should be included across the DevOps Pipeline are:

• ThreatModeler
• Comparing Security
• Continuum Protection
• Elastalert
• Kibana and Grafana 

Challenges of DevSecOps

The following are the challenges of DevSecOps:

Tools Combat

Due to the fact the three teams have been operating independently, they have utilized distinct measurements and resources.

Therefore, it is challenging for them to agree on where it makes sense to integrate the technologies and where it does not.

In addition, it is challenging to merge the tools of multiple departments onto a single platform.

Finally, to build, deploy, and test software continuously, it is challenging to select the appropriate tools and integrate them effectively.

CI/CD Security Implementation

Traditionally, security has been considered something that occurs after the development process. However, with DevSecOps, security is incorporated into continuous integration and development (CI/CD).

Teams cannot expect DevOps processes and technologies to adapt to antiquated security practices for DevSecOps to be successful.

Organizations are adopting the new DevSecOps methodology to leverage the full potential of CI/CD by incorporating security controls into DevOps.

When firms adopt security or access control solutions from the outset, they ensure that these measures adhere to a CI/CD process.

Teams Oppose Integration

The primary aim of DevSecOps is the integration of groups so they may work together rather than independently. However, not everyone is prepared to make the changeover, as they are acclimated to the present development procedures.

Conclusion

The process of converting your business to a DevSecOps environment is a significant undertaking that is fraught with both anticipated and unanticipated challenges.

DevSecOps is neither a one-size-fits-all solution nor a golden pipeline; this must be kept in mind.

Businesses that want to make DevSecOps a reality must develop a strategy first.

By sticking to the aforementioned advised guidelines, it is without a doubt possible to make considerable development.