What is DevSecOps and why is it important?
Software is everywhere. And this software is continuously changing as new features are requested and added by in-house development teams, or by commercial software development companies and open-source projects. The footprint of software is still expanding, and there is no indication that this trend will change any time soon.
As a result, the attack surface available to cybercriminals is also growing and evolving in real-time. Ensuring security is front and centre in all software development and deployment processes is now a core part of every company's operations. Even if they don't write software themselves, they will use third-party and open-source software to run their business or organisation. Making sure all software is designed and built to be secure is just as important as delivering any features the software implements.
DevOps (a portmanteau of Development + Operations) has become a popular way for development and IT operations teams to work together to create and deploy new software builds - often by releasing new builds many times a day. As successful as DevOps is, it has become apparent that security planning needs to be a part of all software development, from the initial design phase to final build and deployment. If security is to be done right, it can't be added later by a security team separated from development and operations. Security must be embedded throughout the development ecosystem.
DevSecOps is the New Normal
As a result of this realisation, many (hopefully all!) organisations that develop software have incorporated security experts and planning into their DevOps processes. The term DevSecOps is the name used for the modernised security focus. DevSecOps embeds security into all aspects of the development lifecycle: specification, design, development, automated source code scanning, continuous unit testing, build processes, test deployments, user testing, sign-off, production deployment, and BAU operation. As an adjunct to the DevSecOps process that makes the applications, there should be comprehensive security training for people in all roles, including programmer training at the code level to help them spot typical security issues in their code and any third-party libraries in use.
Today, development teams use third-party open source libraries and other off-the-shelf components to make their development projects more manageable. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel for every project and code reuse is a core principle of modern application development. Similarly, embedding security processes into DevOps can be achieved more rapidly and with better outcomes using an already tested third-party framework and toolset.
Checkmarx Deliver DevSecOps
Checkmarx provides just such a DevSecOps framework and toolset. They are the global leader in software security solutions for modern enterprise software development, with the most comprehensive Software Security Platform that unifies with DevOps to provide static and interactive application security testing, software composition analysis, and developer AppSec awareness training in real-time within the tooling developers use daily. Over 40 percent of the Fortune 100, and half of the Fortune 50, including leading organisations like SAP, Samsung, and Salesforce, use and rely on Checkmarx to deliver the Sec in their DevSecOps processes.
Download the DevSecOps eBook
Checkmarx have produced a comprehensive eBook that outlines how to embed security into your development processes. It is called An Integrated Approach to Embedding Security into DevOps - A Best Practices Guide, and you can download it here.
Renaissance and Checkmarx are partners in the Ireland marketplace. If you have any questions after reading the Checkmarx DevSecOps eBook, then Renaissance are here to answer them. As well as any other security-related questions you may have.