What is DevSecOps?

DevSecOps is the practice of integrating security into every phase of the software development lifecycle, from planning and development to testing and deployment. It is crucial because it ensures that security is not an afterthought but a core component of the development process, reducing vulnerabilities and improving overall security posture.

How does DevSecOps reduce cost?

Reworking application code is difficult, and a level of understanding needs to be built up before accurate changes can be made. A developer new to an applications is much more likely to implement bugs and defects because they are simply not familiar with the nuances of the application. This same problem is true for experienced developers when they revisit code changes they made months ago. The result is more time spent learning and understanding the code itself, and less time spent fixing the problem.

The solution to this problem is to detect bugs early, and fix them whilst the developer who made the change is still familiar with the code. This is the ideal of DevSecOps, which you will see referred to as “Shifting left”. We want to find security defects as early as possible, so they can be fixed as quickly and cheaply as possible.

How can we help?

DevSecOps is more than just implementing tools. You may recognise the pattern that most businesses follow:

• Purchase one or more tools
• Implement the tools across the business and block development if issues are found
• Thousands of issues are raised, development stops and the tools are turned off

This is unfortunately most organisations experience of DevSecOps, and the promised ideal is never realised. We’ve seen this plenty of times before, and we can help you avoid it. We achieve this through hollisitc auditing, sensible advice, direct engineering support, and targeted training to raise engagement levels.

We can fully implement and manage your DevSecOps program in place of a dedicated DevSecOps function, or we can break our services out into discrete components and advise which offers the most immediate value to you. Typically this begins with one of our senior consultants assessing your maturity against the OWASP SAMM and DSOMM frameworks.

Is DevSecOps better than DevOps?

The two ideals go hand-in-hand and there is a lot of overlap!

We can implement DevSecOps tooling into conventional git-based software development processes without any DevOps maturity at all, but DevSecOps tooling and processes also allow us to secure the automation businesses rely on the build and deploy software.

Do you need to be Agile to implement DevSecOps?

Not at all. DevSecOps is an ideal, and methodology, for identifying security issues earlier and enabling development teams to fix defects at the earliest and cheapest opportunity. If you are not developing in sprint cycles, you are still very likely developing in small units of work which are perfect for providing quick feedback.

Is DevSecOps a Cybersecurity function?

Ultimately, yes. The responsibility to manage an organisations risk, and apply appropriate controls falls under the security team and typically the security function will fund the DevSecOps effort. Unfortunately, security teams rarely understand what the development teams are doing, and a language barrier forms which prevents useful discussions and leads to a growing sense of unease.

The development functions are motivated to produce value quicker, by prioritising and shipping features that bring the most value to the customer and therefore the company. The goal of DevSecOps is to introduce security without compromising their ability to develop at the pace they need to.

Does DevSecOps need coding?

All of our experts are seasoned developers, trained and experienced in Cyber Security. One of the major problems with implementing DevSecOps into an organisation is the language barrier between the development and security teams. Security teams are typically risk and vulnerability-focused, and they understand the dangers of SQL injections and poor IAM controls. Conversely, developers have a deep understanding of their codebases and the libraries, tools, services which make them work. A DevSecOps engineer must be able to understand and explain issues to both parties, ensuring frictionless collaboration.