Adopting DevSecOps can help IT teams improve software security, a top priority for many organizations. DevSecOps, the latest evolution of DevOps, shifts security left in the software development lifecycle and reimagines security as a shared responsibility between development, operations and security professionals. But before teams adopt DevSecOps, establishing a clearly defined vision and understanding how existing operations need to change is paramount.
With DevSecOps, developers get feedback on the code they’re building as they work, eliminating the need to start from scratch once a threat is identified at the end of the cycle. An integrated approach to security with DevSecOps also helps security professionals stay focused on monitoring and solving vulnerabilities that developers aren’t equipped to handle. As a result, organizations can continue to produce a steady output of software at a rapid pace, while also reducing the risk of security threats, which have become more costly than ever, as financial consequences of being hacked grew by nearly 15% last year.
Many teams have embarked on a recent organization-wide change, but not everyone is successful: According to Gartner research, half of change initiatives fail and just 34% are considered a success. Executing a change initiative like adopting DevSecOps requires thoughtful planning, including a readiness and security analysis to succeed. For lasting benefits, organizations can leverage support from a DevSecOps partner, who can provide expert guidance during a team's plan to transition, and offer even more support throughout implementation.
Preparing for a Culture Shift
As it stands, roughly 30% of surveyed security professionals believe they’re responsible for application security, while almost the same amount believe everyone is responsible. And many developers also shared they lack enough guidance to execute security protocols. Because DevSecOps incorporates security as a shared responsibility between developers, IT operations and security professionals, organizations must prepare for a culture shift that replaces siloed working conditions with a collaborative environment.
To get team members on board with this shift, leaders initiating the transition to DevSecOps should provide a motivating vision statement that outlines measurable goals for success and offers clear implementation guidelines. This way, all parties (dev, IT ops, security and leadership) are aligned on upcoming changes and can see the benefits of adoption while working toward one common goal. A clearly defined vision also strengthens teammates' trust in each other and helps groups from assuming the responsibility for handling security lies with another team.
Anticipating Operational Changes
Guided by a unified vision toward DevSecOps adoption, the next step in planning for transition is evaluating the maturity of existing coding practices through a security analysis. Conducting a security analysis helps teams identify areas within their code that could become entry points for malicious activity and impact other parts of their IT infrastructure where the code is replicated.
Teams can execute a security analysis by using a combination of code security scanners. Traditional options range from static (SAST), dynamic (DAST), and hybrid (IAST) testing, and feedback-based application security testing (FAST) and RASP, which block attacks in-real time, are available as well. Combined, these tools help prepare teams to initiate DevSecOps processes on a secure foundation and avoid spending resources like time and money to patch security threats further along in development.
Teams can enlist development, automation, testing and monitoring tools to continue to scan for vulnerabilities throughout the development cycle, which makes it possible for developers to identify threats with a click of a button. Developers can then easily communicate these security risks with IT ops and security professionals as they build code, who in response can ensure security policies are applied correctly.
Gain Guidance from a DevSecOps Partner
Initiating a transition to DevSecOps hinges on a well-executed plan, yet setting out to spark a culture shift and introducing change to existing processes is a tough feat to undergo independently. With help from a DevSecOps partner, like Contegix, IT teams can move confidently in their transition with expert advice.
Contegix’s team of DevSecOps specialists can offer organizations educational support in planning for DevSecOps adoption, assist with governance guidance and provide technical support integrating the necessary tools for adoption from Atlassian’s portfolio of DevSecOps tools or GitLab. Contegix can also help configure these tools to work seamlessly within an organization’s unique environment, helping to take the burden off of developers, who can instead focus on writing code.
Contegix also partners with marketplace tools, such as Anchor, Twistlock, Splunk and New Relic, which help monitor and control applications after they’re deployed. If security risks are discovered, Contegix can help organizations in their decision-making on whether new code or functionality needs to be developed to ensure security. Because Contegix offers support from planning all the way through the rest of the development life cycle, IT teams that partner with Contegix can be rest assured their DevSecOps adoption will be a success, even as they adjust to new processes.
Learn more about how Contegix can help your team plan to transition to DevSecOps.