DevOps, since its inception, has significantly changed traditional development methods, establishing as an effective approach to bringing teams together. DevOps practices help speed up the process of creating, testing, and deploying of digital products. However, with the rise in cyber attacks, it has become clear that DevOps alone is not enough to ensure data reliability and protection.
In response to the intensive development of cyber threats, DevSecOps is a logical continuation of DevOps, aimed at integrating security at all stages of the development life cycle.
In this article, we’ll look at the key differences between DevSecOps and DevOps, explain why security should be built into the development process from the very beginning, and how it impacts the overall success of the project.
What is DevSecOps?
DevSecOps is a methodology that adds security practices to the development and deployment process to ensure apps and infrastructure are protected at every stage of their lifecycle. Essentially, the main difference with DevSecOps is that it treats security as an integral part of the DevOps process, rather than as a separate feature that is added at the end of the development cycle.
How did the transition to DevSecOps happen?
In the early 2000s, DevOps emerged as a way to improve collaboration between developers and operations teams, speed up software delivery, and improve software quality. DevOps focuses on automating processes, improving team coordination, and speeding up development and deployment. The rapid development of technology and the increase in the number of security threats have exposed the vulnerabilities of the DevOps methodology.
DevOps is an approach that combines collaboration, automation of development, testing and deployment, and continuous monitoring. You can read more about DevOps in the article DevOps as a service.
Reasons for increased attention to safety:
- The number of cyber attacks and security incidents has increased dramatically in recent years. Attackers have begun to use more sophisticated methods to compromise systems and steal data, making the need for active protection more pronounced.
- Modern applications have become more complex due to microservices, cloud technologies and containerization. The introduction of these technologies has led to an increase in the number of potential points of vulnerability that require constant monitoring and protection.
- Increasing requirements for data protection and compliance with regulatory standards (e.g. GDPR, HIPAA) require greater security controls at all levels of development and operation.
- Cyber attacks and data breaches cause significant damage to companies, including financial losses, damage to reputation and breach of customer trust.
By 2025, the global annual cost of cybercrime is expected to reach $10.5 trillion. In 2021, the cost of data breaches reached a record high of $4.24 million per incident. On average, it takes a company about 277 days to cope with the consequences of a cyberattack (according to Parachute).
Not all companies have taken the global development of cybercrime seriously, which has caused many serious leaks and, as a result, tarnished reputations.
Target Hack – 2013
More than 40 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen in an attack on retailer Target. The incident occurred due to a vulnerability in the security system, which was discovered too late.
The attack began with the compromise of the credentials of a third-party HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) service provider.
The attackers gained access to his network credentials, which they used to connect to the Target network. Their goal was to find point of sale (POS) and other vulnerable systems.
Hackers installed malware on a POS terminal to steal data from the magnetic stripes of credit cards as they were swiped through the terminals. The malware collected card data and temporarily stored it on Target’s systems in order to then transfer it to remote servers controlled by the attackers.
The first signs of the attack were noticed by Target’s security monitoring systems, but the warnings were ignored. Over time, FireEye (an external security monitoring company) also noticed the anomalous activity and alerted Target. Only after the attack was confirmed, the company began an internal investigation to determine the extent of the data leak and find the source of the problem. Measures have been taken to disconnect infected systems and terminals from the network to prevent further data theft.
Following the attack, Target significantly strengthened its security monitoring systems and implemented more stringent threat detection procedures.
Additional security measures have been implemented, such as data encryption and network segmentation. However, Target faced multimillion-dollar fines and settlements to compensate affected customers and banks. The company’s reputation was seriously damaged – the trust of regular consumers decreased and, as a result, profits fell. However, Target today is a successful retail company showing steady growth in the market. Target employs approximately 415,000 people and has a return on equity (ROE) of 31.90%, according to 2023 Stock Analysis.
This hack was an important lesson for the company, demonstrating the importance of a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity and the need to constantly update and test security systems.
Steps in the DevSecOps Cycle
In the DevSecOps cycle, development, security, and operations processes are integrated continuously and interconnected. First comes the planning phase, which defines security and integration requirements. Threat modeling tools such as ThreatModeler are used to identify potential risks early in development.
Once the code is ready, it goes through the build and test phase, where automated security tests are performed. These tests allow us to identify vulnerabilities before the code is integrated into the main branch.
After successful testing, the code moves into the deployment phase. During this phase, it is important to maintain constant monitoring of the system to identify and respond to potential threats in real time.
The final stage is monitoring and feedback. During this phase, there is constant monitoring of system status, analysis of logs and security data. The cycle then begins again, taking into account the data and experience gained – contributing to continuous improvements in the safety and efficiency of product development and operation.
Cloud providers AWS, Azure and Google Cloud offer built-in security tools and services. These services integrate with DevSecOps processes to provide identity and access management (IAM), monitoring, and automated incident response.
Key differences between DevSecOps and DevOps
DevOps and DevSecOps, while similar in their desire to improve development processes, have different goals and priorities.
At the heart of DevOps is a culture of collaboration. Teams come together to remove barriers, improve communication, and speed up software delivery. Close collaboration helps create a smooth workflow, which in turn increases efficiency and reduces development time. Using Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes helps automate tasks while minimizing the likelihood of human errors.
DevSecOps continues DevOps practices by integrating security throughout all stages of development and deployment. The Shift-Left Security approach involves implementing security practices from the very beginning of development. Early detection and elimination of vulnerabilities reduces risks and significantly reduces the cost of fixing them.
Static (SAST), dynamic (DAST) code security analysis, and software composition analysis (SCA) tools automatically check code for vulnerabilities. This allows for safety without the need for constant human intervention.
How to move to DevSecOps?
The transition from DevOps to DevSecOps requires a strategic approach that includes changing culture, changing processes, and implementing new tools. Here are the basic steps to develop a DevSecOps approach in your team:
- Inclusion of security specialists in the development team.
- Integration of security processes at early stages of development (static and dynamic code analysis, dependency analysis and other security checks).
- Continuous training of developers and engineers on secure coding principles.
- Implementation of automated tools for security verification at each stage of CI/CD.
- Setting up systems for security monitoring and vulnerability management.
- Implementation of feedback systems.
- Regular reviews and testing of security processes to optimize them.
DevSecOps Tools
- Jenkins
Security plugins: OWASP Dependency-Check, Jenkins Security Plugin. - Docker
Container vulnerability scanners: Aqua Security, Clair.
Setting up security policies for containers and their images. - Kubernetes
Security solutions: OPA (Open Policy Agent), Istio.
Monitoring and securing clusters: Twistlock, Sysdig Secure. - SAST (Static Application Security Testing)
SonarQube, Checkmarx, Veracode. - DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)
OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite, Acunetix. - SCA (Software Composition Analysis)
Black Duck, Snyk, WhiteSource. - Secrets management
HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault. - Monitoring and logging
ELK Stack, Splunk, Prometheus.
Successful DevSecOps implementation examples
Netflix
Netflix is known for its DevOps and DevSecOps best practices. For example, the company has developed Security Monkey, which automatically scans and tracks changes to AWS security settings. This tool identifies potential risks and violated policies – greatly speeding up the team’s response to the threat. Netflix uses LEMUR to manage certificates, automating the issuance, distribution, and renewal of TLS certificates.
The company actively conducts internal training on secure coding, raising awareness among developers and engineers.
Adopting DevSecOps allowed Netflix to quickly detect and fix vulnerabilities, increasing the overall security of the platform and reducing the risks of data leaks.
Adobe
Adobe, with its extensive product portfolio, required security to be integrated into its development processes to protect user data and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
The team uses Checkmarx and Veracode (static analysis tools) to identify vulnerabilities early in development. Black Duck, in turn, is used to analyze open libraries and components for vulnerabilities, ensuring the security of the dependencies used. As a result of using security tools, Adobe has significantly reduced the time it takes to detect and patch vulnerabilities.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS, one of the largest cloud service providers, is committed to ensuring the security of its services and helping customers implement DevSecOps practices.
What solutions were used? AWS has integrated security tools into its CodePipeline service, allowing you to automate security checks across all stages of CI/CD. AWS Secrets Manager was also implemented to manage secrets and encryption keys, ensuring the secure storage and use of sensitive data.
As a result, AWS has ensured that its services are highly secure and has helped thousands of customers successfully implement DevSecOps practices, thereby improving the overall security level of the cloud ecosystem.
