DevSecOps: Integrating Security into DevOps Course

DevOps is a philosophy and a practice that empowers businesses to deliver applications and services quickly and efficiently. While it’s safe to say DevOps has revolutionized modern app development, security concerns have often taken a backseat to rapid deployment. Multiple studies of DevOps organizations show that security can become an afterthought as company leaders insist that nothing slows business down (Zhou et al., 2023). At the same time, information security has become one of the critical issues of the modern era. Critical data like trade secrets, customer information, and financial records are all online at most companies today. New technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and generative AI further increase companies’ dependence on digital systems. This data must be protected from malware, hackers, and cybercriminals. Students should be learning how to address security in any DevOps course so that the next generation of professionals doesn’t overlook the same issues.

Now is the time to secure the DevOps pipeline. If you’ve been looking for a DevOps course to learn more and earn a certification, choose one that places an adequate emphasis on security matters. Integrating security into the DevOps stages has become critical, and a DevOps course should also incorporate security into its materials.

DevOps Pipeline, Its Stages, and Key Components

A DevOps pipeline comprises several automated processes that enable continuous integration/delivery (CI/CD) of software. The different DevOps stages are meant to foster optimized collaboration between application developers and IT operations groups. To meet that goal, DevOps is as much of a philosophy as it is a methodology.

Although the CI/CD moniker is often used to describe a DevOps pipeline, continuous integration and continuous delivery are just the first two of several DevOps stages. Here is a quick overview of the components and stages of a DevOps pipeline.

Continuous integration is the practice of integrating code from multiple contributors into a single, unified codebase. This is ideally done every day, but in some highly automated and fine-tuned DevOps organizations, it could be done several times a day. Software version control systems like Git and code repositories like GitHub are key to this stage.

Continuous delivery automates the steps required to turn a codebase into a completed application. One of the main goals of CD is to eliminate the wait between software delivery cycles by automating testing, bug fixing, and other maintenance phases.

Continuous deployment is concerned with automating how software reaches its users. This could be as simple as preparing and posting an application package for download or as complex as deploying the app directly to users’ workstations.

Continuous testing ensures that application testing doesn’t just happen in isolated phases. In traditional application development, testing may be limited to alpha and beta stages before the initial deployment. With continuous testing, multiple tests are done consistently with the help of automated tools to help identify bugs and security issues.

Continuous operations concern the infrastructure used to develop and deploy applications. The overall goals are to increase stability, reduce downtime, and maximize the performance of enterprise IT hardware. Automated configuration tools such as Chef and Ansible help bring consistency and automation to the continuous operations stage.

Why Is There a Need for Security Integration at Each Stage

As cybersecurity experts have noted, the emphasis on speed, efficiency, and automated tools for DevOps pipeline implementations has too often made security an afterthought. Integrating security into each stage of the DevOps pipeline is necessary to protect a company’s digital assets, secure user data, and save time patching security holes later.

Integrating security into all DevOps pipeline stages ensures potential vulnerabilities can be addressed early on. This requires organizations to adopt the “Shift Left” mentality or address security issues and catch vulnerabilities earlier rather than later. Reducing the time to security remediation prevents flaws from progressing into later DevOps stages, which can become more complex.

Incorporating security into all stages of the DevOps pipeline also helps with regulatory compliance. It’s much more difficult to address security flaws in a deployed version of an application than fixing them early on. Additional DevOps stages, such as continuous monitoring, can be added to the pipeline to ensure potential threats are addressed promptly.

Essential Security Principles and Best Practices for Each Stage of the DevOps Pipeline

In recent years, industry experts have pointed out many ways that security principles can be incorporated into each stage of the DevOps pipeline. A modern and up-to-date DevOps course will include at least some of these approaches to help those learning the practice make security a primary component from the beginning.

For example, Microsoft has resources on secure coding practices. In the programming learning materials they make available online, they promote the creation of a security development lifecycle, effectively bringing an organization’s security team into the DevOps model (Microsoft, 2023).

In other corners of the DevOps world, vulnerability management tools are being incorporated into a continuous monitoring stage. These tools are usually highly automated; some even use generative AI to identify potential threats in code and deployed applications.

On the operations side of DevOps, secure configuration management tools are becoming the standard. Security teams can verify a configuration profile developed in Ansible or Chef before itbecomes the default configuration for enterprise hardware. Similarly, secure deployment strategies can help eliminate the potential for vulnerabilities to creep into apps in later development and deployment stages.

As you look for a DevOps course, make sure the one you choose covers these approaches to security. With cybersecurity becoming a top priority in large and small organizations, the next generation of DevOps professionals will need a solid understanding of integrating security.

Security Tools and Technologies That Can Be Integrated into the DevOps Pipeline to Enhance Security

Some of the tools and technologies that can be integrated into any DevOps pipeline include:

• Vulnerability scanning tools: These apps can automate the detection of security issues in the development, testing, deployment, and monitoring stages.
• Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST): DAST tools automatically perform security testing on finished applications, making them well-suited for testing and deployment stages.
• Image scanning: As containerized platforms like Docker become the standard in DevOps pipelines, image scanning tools help keep them secure. Container images and their base images can be scanned in an automated fashion for potential security holes.
• Infrastructure automation tools: These tools can perform automated auctions based on infrastructure events. For example, if hardware security was breached or a misconfiguration issue was found in a cloud environment, infrastructure automation tools can alert security teams or even automate incident response.

How the E|CDE Helps

The DevOps course you choose should cover all the benefits of fast and efficient application deployment while also integrating security into every stage. The EC-Council Certified DevSecOps Engineer (E|CDE) certification course is a hands-on, comprehensive DevSecOps certification program that covers everything from secure to efficient deployments. The E|CDE covers automation and integration of all DevOps’s most widely used tools and processes today. With a DevSecOps focus, you also learn the methodologies that help businesses rapidly build and deploy secure apps. To learn more about the E|CDE, visit EC-Councilcourse overviewcourse overview.

References

Microsoft. (2023, September 26). Secure development best practices on Azure. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/develop/secure-dev-overview

Zhou, X., Mao, R., Zhang, H., Dai, Q., Huang, H., Shen, H., Li, J., & Rong, G. (2023, July 26). h (2023). Revisit security in the era of DevOps: An evidence-based inquiry into DevSecOps industry. Wiley. https://ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1049/sfw2.12132

About the Author

Leaman Crews is a former newspaper reporter, publisher, and editor with over 25 years of professional writing experience. He is also a former IT director specializing in writing about tech in an enjoyable way.