1. DevSecOps is the standard in implementing application security
About a decade ago, it made sense to isolate application delivery from security. Code bases were much simpler and the development process was vastly different than it is today. Each application was part of a great monolithic architecture and took long development processes to get from development to testing to deployment. Putting security at the end of the development cycle was a natural stage in these types of projects so security could give each deployment one final check.
When cloud computing became popular in the early 2010s and applications began migrating to the cloud, software engineers faced tough challenges to meet delivery demands and maintain communication between teams. The DevOps model was created to meet these changing needs. However, the DevOps model still puts security at the end of a project.
DevSecOps is the new DevOps
Since its inception, countless developers have adopted DevOps to speed up the software delivery process and increase communication between developers and IT Ops teams. In today’s world, software development is holistic and iterative, making the siloed approach to security work contrary to the DevOps model, causing delays.
Applying security throughout the entire application lifecycle is the only way to properly secure an application in today’s world. However, switching to DevSecOps requires a mindset shift in several areas. Software engineers need to be on board with continuous updates. For SaaS providers hosting applications in the cloud, having continuously updated software is critical.
The DevOps model isn’t bad, it’s just incomplete. DevOps without integrated security is no longer compatible with modern software development and deployment. In order to prioritize security throughout the entire app life cycle, DevOps has been transformed into a new model called DevSecOps.
2. DevSecOps provides high visibility for security threats
To increase threat visibility, individual teams need to share the responsibility of securing an application. For example, your security team should be responsible for detecting and responding to security breaches; your operations team needs to be ready to maintain performance and stability if a breach occurs; and your development team needs to fix security defects discovered in libraries and other components.
Security should be a team effort integrated from the beginning and throughout the entire app lifecycle. Without integrating security into the entire application lifecycle, security threats can go unnoticed.
3. DevSecOps shortens development cycles
One of the most important things DevSecOps does is create shorter and more frequent development cycles. Short development cycles minimize disruptions while fostering close collaboration between teams that would otherwise be isolated from one another.
Shorter development cycles allow teams to respond to and fix problems faster, increase efficiency, test new features, and keep users happy.
Shorter development cycles also help to strengthen your team and improve their efficiency.
4. DevSecOps benefits your client
When you’re developing an application for a client, using DevSecOps benefits your client directly in several ways. You’ll be able to respond quickly to bugs, make small changes frequently, and your client will have more opportunities to provide important feedback.
You’ll also have fewer major code rewrites because you won’t have time to get too far before your client reviews the next version of the application.
5. DevSecOps makes cloud computing more secure
Large organizations often own hundreds of cloud accounts and put their development teams in charge of maintenance and security. Most of these cloud accounts are either public or hybrid. Understanding and managing cloud security configurations is challenging, but it’s up to the customer to implement security in the cloud. Cloud providers only guarantee security of the cloud, not in the cloud.
Utilizing DevSecOps is crucial for every team that hosts applications in the cloud. An important part of DevSecOps is automating as much security as possible.
While many businesses are increasing their investment and implementation of DevSecOps, only 59% of businesses say they’re building more security automation into their pipeline. These statistics indicate that the majority of businesses understand the importance of security automation, but it has yet to become the standard.
Are you ready to automate your cloud security management services? We can help
There are plenty of tools available to automate security in the cloud. For example, our CloudGuard Posture Management automatically verifies whether compliance standards (like HIPAA or PCI-DSS) are being met across Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). We also offer next generation firewalls, public and private cloud security, SaaS application security, serverless security, and more.
To learn more about securing your cloud environment, request a free demo for Check Point cloud security management services. Our security software will identify potential threats before they impact your business and make security management easier.
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