Implementing DevSecOps: Everything You Need To Know

Over the years, the idea of software development has witnessed an evolution, with the development practices inclining more towards Quality Assurance. First, the industry went for a shift of methodology from Waterfall to Agile, and now things are transforming with DevOps. However, the most recent introduction is DevSecOps.   

In case you are not familiar with the concept of DevSecOps, the definition of the term could be found hidden in the term itself.   

“Development, Security, and Operations.”   

Inferring from the term, DevSecOps is a practice of meeting the goals related to development, security, and operations while ensuring continuous integration of the three during the entire software development life cycle. Furthermore, DevSecOps is meant to secure the software technologies by automating the security for every phase of SDLC, beginning from the initial integration to testing, deployment, and releases. Overall, the goal of DevSecOps is to drive Security with DevOps striving for rapid software delivery without compromising on efficiency, speed, and reliability.  

DevSecOps has emerged as a part of natural and much more necessary evolution that has made QA Services Providers to experience security and development at the same time while aiming for improved and safer services for end-users. Besides, DevSecOps can also be considered as a cultural shift of approach that has brought security parallel to the development, unlike the traditional practice of working on security at the end of development.   

Such practices simply led to delayed testing that happened at the very end of the development lifecycle, and any error found called for extensive backtracking. Nevertheless, the introduction of Agile and DevOps technology helped reduced the entire process of SDLC, cutting off any congestion and delays. Also, DevSecOps encourage improved infrastructure security and seamless integration addressing security before production and that too in a cost-effective manner.  

For now, let us dig into the challenges and benefits that a software testing services provider needs to witness when aiming for DevSecOps goals.  

The Challenges  

Though DevSecOps is a practice usually followed by QA and testing services providers to ensure rapid software deliveries, the implementation process involves so many different challenges. And these are not only about friction or misalignment of the development operations and security, which indeed is already a big task to overcome.   

Moreover, the launch of unsafe and not so secure technology into the market could simply call production issues for the organization leading to severe implications such as compliance issues, data breaches, soaring security budget, and most importantly, loss of customers, reputation, and revenue. Here are some of the most important challenges that DevSecOps brings to the development company as well as the software testing service providers.   

Pipeline Friction Generated Through Knowledge Gap  

Though it may seem to be an odd practice, secure coding practices are part of evolution and not a natural component of the development process. This is because most software developers and engineers didn’t have enough knowledge to undertake security concerns related to the code. No doubt, the trend for application security has made all the developers more aware of the application security practices. The standard practices back then prevented developers from incentivizing the security process parallel to the development.  

This simply made them aim at driving agility and flow in the development process, complementing the pipeline. Moreover, the traditional app security practices were alone, not capable enough to meet the desired dynamics of security needed to improve the SDLC. This made the QA testing services intervene in the development process automating the SAST, SCA, and other security tools for improved workflow, zero or least risk, and embed integrity into the process.   

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AppSec Integrations Was Nothing Less Than A Task  

The notion of digital transformation called for advanced AppSec tools made to work on code testing and asset scanning throughout the development lifecycle. However, most of these tools offered compatibility issues since some of them were open source while others lack consolidation, ultimately leading to a restricted view of security.   

On the other hand, software security testing required a combined effect of Static Application Security Testing, Software Composition Analysis, along Dynamic Application Security Testing. But meeting such objectives needed a tool that can pull all the required insights into actionable data that can be brought to implementation. All in all, using different tools with a lack of integration capabilities blocked any chances of deciphering vulnerability data since the results from these tools tend to come with varying taxonomies and formats.  

Cultural Disorientation  

When we talk about DevSecOps, the success of the operations lies in the unity between the QA and Testing Services provider as well as teams working on Development and Security. Though bringing all these people in sync was not an easy task to foster, bridging the cultural disorientation between the teams can help explore unfamiliar yet effective methods into the software development lifecycle to meet the productivity goals.   

Thus, yielding maximum benefits of DevSecOps need a transformation in the fundamental approach to security and success, making Application Security a shared effort and responsibility.   

The Benefits  

Achieving the objectives related to DevSecOps is a shared responsibility of development, security, and operations teams while taking on a siloed process by each of these entities could cause delays and damages to the project. However, a collaborative effort could help the development companies and QA service providers to offer better solutions to end customers, offering greater reliability and security. Some of the key benefits that DevSecOps has the potential to unravel include:  

Speed, Agility, & Reliability  

The poor focus on DevSecOps could cause errors and delays, while a healthy approach to identifying code issues and fixing errors could offer extensive business benefits. Though it may seem an expensive practice, DevSecOps has the potential to reduce the time for development and cut off the overall investment made on the development project. Moreover, an integrated approach to security cuts any chances of duplicity in the work resulting in better and safer product releases.  

Improved Response To Security   

DevSecOps is an evolutionary practice that is meant to work on code review and audits, integrating security into the software development lifecycle. This approach cuts off any vulnerabilities to the system, allowing the system to function better. Also, the compatibility between modern development practices and automated security testing opens the door to a continuous integration process allowing more frequent analysis of code.   

Moreover, DevSecOps is an adaptive process that allows software testing companies to evolve and mature their operations for improved security outcomes complementing the mature implementation strategy that DevSecOps initiates through active automation and process configuration.  

Enhanced Communication  

As we are talking from the very beginning, DevSecOps is more of a philosophical approach that brings DevOps and Security teams to work together in collaboration with QA teams. Since the goal of all these teams is common, I.e., to empower the development project with the highest focus on quality and security, DevSecOps allows more innovative and stable builds that flow through effective communication and collaboration.  

Cost-effectiveness & Better ROI  

The sooner you get on to any errors or security issues with your development project, the more quickly you can launch your product to the market while getting assured of the least downtime and maximum cost-effectiveness. Since remediation often leads to extensive backtracking, efforts, and investment, fixing errors along with development through DevSecOps prevents any negative impact on the revenue but rather stimulates ROI.   

The Crux: How BugRaptors Could Help You With DevSecOps?  

At BugRaptors, we have been embedding AppSec into the existing as well as unfamiliar DevOps chains to ensure security flows naturally into the development process through automation. Being one of the best software testing companies in India, we practice orchestration practices that can help overcome the complexity of integrating AppSec into DevOps.   

The primary objective of leading the DevSecOps process is to help developers have a clear view of the risks involved in the functionalities that need to fetch critical data. And therefore, we help developers to quickly identify any vulnerabilities while aiming for the necessary key points like:  

1. Ready to run capabilities to support the embedding of professional code scanning tools.   

2. To allow development teams to overcome any complexity through centralized management of all the security and QA tools integrated into the process  

3. To practice compression, correlation, and ingestion of the risk data to streamline development  

4. Effective remediation support to developers with the rapid trail back on code errors.  

When the world is experiencing a digital transformation, making a choice between speed and security is something that could make you fall behind in the competition. At BugRaptors, we help you lead transparent operations cutting down any friction between development, security, and testing teams while practicing innovation.   

And if you, too, are looking to improve on your security expectations and software development standards, we can help you redefine your workflows and grapple with advanced tools leading successful business journeys through DevSecOps.   

For more information, connect with our tech experts at BugRaptors!