HackMD
Personal notes and extracts from a conversation with PerplexityAI
PerplexityAI. (March, 2024). Perplexity [Large language model]. https://www.perplexity.ai
DevOps
DevOps Loop by Atlassian
- DevOps Overview: DevOps is a practice that integrates development, quality assurance, and operations into a continuous set of processes, aiming to improve product delivery and foster a collaborative culture.
- Core Advantages: By adopting DevOps, companies can achieve faster product releases, quicker responsiveness to customer needs, and a better working environment.
- Principles and Practices: The CAMS model (Culture, Automation, Measurement, Sharing) outlines the key values of DevOps, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, automation, and sharing within teams.
- DevOps Engineer Role: A DevOps engineer facilitates continuous delivery and integration workflows, requiring knowledge of automation tools, programming, and strong communication skills.
DevSecOps
DevSecOps represents a significant evolution in the approach to software development, integrating security practices directly into the DevOps workflow. This methodology emphasizes the importance of security in every phase of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), from initial design through to deployment.
The core objective of DevSecOps is to ensure that security considerations are not an afterthought but are embedded within the development process, thereby enhancing the security posture of the final product without compromising on speed or efficiency.
DevSecOps and the Shift-Left Strategy
What is the Shift-Left Strategy?
The "shift-left" strategy is a fundamental component of DevSecOps, advocating for the integration of security measures early in the SDLC. Traditionally, security checks and audits were conducted towards the end of the development process, often leading to the discovery of vulnerabilities at a stage when they were more difficult and costly to address. The shift-left approach seeks to change this by moving security considerations to the left on the project timeline, which is a metaphor for incorporating these practices at the earliest stages of development.
Benefits of the Shift-Left Strategy
- Early Detection of Vulnerabilities: By integrating security practices early in the development process, vulnerabilities can be identified and remediated sooner, reducing the risk of security breaches.
- Cost Efficiency: Addressing security issues in the initial phases of development is significantly less expensive than fixing them post-deployment.
- Improved Compliance: Early integration of security measures ensures that the software complies with relevant regulations and standards throughout its development.
- Enhanced Collaboration: The shift-left strategy fosters a culture of collaboration between development, operations, and security teams, promoting shared responsibility for security.
- Faster Time to Market: With security issues being addressed early, there are fewer delays in the development process, enabling faster deployment of secure software.
Implementing the Shift-Left Strategy
Implementing the shift-left strategy involves several key practices:
- Security as Code: Security policies and practices are integrated into the development and deployment pipelines, automating security checks and enforcement.
- Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): Security tests are incorporated into the CI/CD pipeline, ensuring that every code commit is automatically scanned for vulnerabilities.
- Developer Training: Developers are trained in secure coding practices, enabling them to write code that is secure by design.
- Tool Integration: Security tools are integrated into the development environment, providing developers with immediate feedback on potential security issues.
- Collaboration and Communication: Regular communication between development, operations, and security teams ensures that security considerations are understood and addressed by all stakeholders.
Challenges and Considerations
While the shift-left strategy offers numerous benefits, its implementation is not without challenges. These include the need for cultural change within organizations, the integration of new tools and practices into existing workflows, and ensuring that security measures do not impede development speed. Successful implementation requires a commitment to continuous learning, adaptation, and collaboration across all teams involved in the software development process.
In conclusion, the shift-left strategy in DevSecOps represents a proactive approach to software security, emphasizing the importance of integrating security practices throughout the SDLC. By adopting this strategy, organizations can enhance the security of their software products, reduce development costs, and achieve faster time to market.
Timeline of DevSecOps
Ref: https://www.devopsinstitute.com/the-history-of-devsecops/ [32]
- 1976: The concept of software quality begins to take shape with a paper describing the attributes of quality, laying the groundwork for integrating quality and security into software development.
- 1978: Further papers on software quality factors are published, but security is not yet a critical consideration.
- Late 1990s to Early 2000s: The Agile movement begins, emphasizing rapid and iterative software development, which would later influence the DevOps and DevSecOps movements.
- 2009: The term "DevOps" is coined, focusing on improving collaboration between development and operations teams.
- Mid-2010s: As DevOps practices become more widespread, the need for integrating security becomes apparent, leading to the emergence of DevSecOps.
- 2014: The term "DevSecOps" starts gaining traction, emphasizing the need to "shift left" and integrate security early in the development process.
- 2020s: DevSecOps is recognized as a critical practice for modern software development, with a focus on automation, continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), and proactive security measures.
References
[1] https://www.software.com/devops-guides/shift-left-devsecops-guide
[2] https://blog.gitguardian.com/devsecops-introduction-accelerating-software-development/
[3] https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/5-ways-to-automate-security-testing-in-DevSecOps
[4] https://www.checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/cloud-security/what-is-runtime-application-self-protection-rasp/
[5] https://www.aquasec.com/cloud-native-academy/devsecops/shift-left-devops/
[6] https://devops.com/what-is-devsecops-and-how-to-enable-it-on-your-sdlc/
[7] https://www.invicti.com/blog/web-security/shaping-future-devsecops-with-automated-security-testing/
[8] https://www.trendmicro.com/en_za/devops/21/i/introduction-to-runtime-application-self-protection-rasp.html
[9] https://owasp.org/www-project-devsecops-guideline/latest/00a-Overview
[10] https://www.synopsys.com/glossary/what-is-devsecops.html
[11] https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/devsecops/
[12] https://www.contrastsecurity.com/glossary/rasp-security
[13] https://snyk.io/learn/shift-left-security/
[14] https://www.mayhem.security/blog/the-devsecops-lifecycle-how-to-automate-security-in-software-development
[15] https://www.atlassian.com/devops/devops-tools/devsecops-tools
[16] https://www.crowdstrike.com/cybersecurity-101/cloud-security/runtime-application-self-protection-rasp/
[17] https://www.tigera.io/learn/guides/devsecops/shift-left-security/
[18] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/devsecops-ensuring-security-modern-software-lifecycle-mohit-sehgal
[19] https://copperdigital.com/blog/devsecops-best-practices-secure-software-delivery/
[20] https://pcidssguide.com/what-is-runtime-application-self-protection-rasp/
[21] https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/shift-left-security
[22] https://cycode.com/blog/mastering-sdlc-security-best-practices/
[23] https://www.opsmx.com/secured-software-delivery/
[24] https://advance.biz-tech-insights.com/whitepaper/Q4-Imperva-Guide-To-RASP.pdf
[25] https://www.eccouncil.org/cybersecurity-exchange/devsecops/devops-to-devsecops/
[26] https://www.finoit.com/blog/devsecops-integrating-security-into-sdlc/
[27] https://services.global.ntt/en-us/insights/blog/what-is-devsecops-placing-security-at-the-heart-of-software-development
[28] https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/runtime-application-self-protection-rasp
[29] https://www.checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/cloud-security/what-is-shift-left-security/
[30] https://www.code-intelligence.com/blog/devsecops-best-practice-for-secure-software-development
[31] https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/devops/what-is-devsecops
[32] https://www.devopsinstitute.com/the-history-of-devsecops/
[33] https://www.csoonline.com/article/567759/3-devsecops-success-stories.html
[34] https://www.sei.cmu.edu/our-work/devsecops/
[35] https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/devsecops
[36] https://www.synopsys.com/glossary/what-is-devsecops.html
[37] https://www.guardrails.io/blog/the-origins-and-future-of-devsecops-the-new-era-of-cybersecurity/
[38] https://snyk.io/series/devsecops/share-the-journey/
[39] https://www.dynatrace.com/news/blog/what-is-devsecops/
[40] https://www.checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/cloud-security/devsecops/
[41] https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/DevSecOps
[42] https://eforensicsmag.com/history-of-devsecops/
[43] https://devsecopsguides.com/stories
[44] https://about.gitlab.com/topics/devsecops/
[45] https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2021/9/devsecops-explained-plain-english
[46] https://p1.dso.mil/services/cybersecurity/DSOPTimeline
[47] https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/16x/presentations/divine-and-felonious-nature-cyber-security-devsecops-story
[48] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/security-101/what-is-devsecops
[49] https://hackernoon.com/the-evolution-of-devops-to-devsecops-integrating-security-into-the-software-development-lifecycle
[50] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unicorn-project-enjoyable-lesson-value-devsecops-katie-sloan
[51] https://www.vmware.com/topics/glossary/content/devsecops.html
[52] https://www.software.com/devops-guides/shift-left-devsecops-guide
[53] https://tryhackme.com/r/resources/blog/interview-with-devsecops-engineer
[54] https://www.rapid7.com/fundamentals/devsecops/
[55] https://wabbisoft.com/the-history-of-devsecops-and-beyond/
[56] https://www.ibm.com/topics/devsecops
[57] https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/devops-to-devsecops
