A culture of security unites employees on a common path to business stability and modernization.
Organizations that are migrating to the cloud as a step toward modernizing must adopt an entirely new mindset around security and start to better leverage modern technologies and operational models, such as DevOps.
DevOps—bringing together formerly siloed development and operations teams—is a combination of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that merges software development with information technology (IT) operations. DevOps enables companies to accelerate delivery of new application features and improved services to customers.
DevSecOps integrates security processes into the DevOps model. With DevSecOps, businesses can rapidly deliver secure and compliant application changes while running operations consistently with automation. This starts with developing operating tenets they can apply when shaping their vision for security as their business evolves.
Start the DevSecOps journey with this step-by-step guide.
1. Undergo threat modeling
Define any threat vectors:
- What will move to the cloud in the next 18 months?
- How many points of entry are there?
- How does the business secure data in transit and data at rest?
Outcome:
An established point-in-time state of the state. It’s important to note that the business will continually add variables during the transformation.
2. Upskill, enable, and empower all teams
Having an excellent security posture means having teams that are constantly on top of all threats across the infrastructure with a focus on continuing education. Security is a constantly moving target and a shared responsibility among all teams: developer, operations, security, and non-IT.
Outcome:
A detailed plan to upskill teams and shape the culture around collaboration to meet the organization’s ever-changing security needs.
3. Implement a continuous security feedback loop across all stages of the delivery lifecycle
Establish and evangelize best practices around security coding standards, integrated security testing models for all pipelines, application security testing (AST), and vulnerability management.
Outcome:
Issue identification during code development and feedback loops, which helps accelerate remediation and reduce costs.
4. Establish policies and governance
It’s critical to ensure the business follows their policy and governance guardrails. Automate security policies to notify and remediate any violations or abnormalities.
Outcome
Well-defined policy, governance, and automated remediation across the infrastructure and applications.
5. Gamify security and make it fun!
Consider implementing bug bounties for development, operations, and security teams. It’s a fun way to drive education and collaboration and to incentivize a security mindset—and help meet education and upskilling goals.
Outcome:
An engaged, always-on security focus with an element of fun.
Want to start the DevSecOps journey, but you think it’s too much for your IT team? Our certified and experienced team is ready to help you. Contact us!
