Key Practices for Optimizing DevSecOps in the Software Development Cycle

By:- Maksim Bogdanov

In today's development environment, DevSecOps by JFrog is increasingly becoming the go-to approach for guaranteeing the security of software development projects. This is due to the introduction of more sophisticated cybersecurity attacks, as well as the trend among development teams towards shorter and more frequent software revisions.

As such, we will outline the essential practices you should follow throughout the software development cycle to get the most out of DevSecOps.

Automate All Security Scanning

DevOps teams have adopted the approach of automating as much as possible concerning continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines. A similar concept may be applied to the process of developing secure applications utilizing DevSecOps practices. It is essential to study each step in great depth when considering whether components of the procedure for secure application distribution may be automated. Following that, you will be able to prioritize your list based on its relevancy and the quantity of effort required. Continue working your way down the list until you've automated everything when possible.

Employ Role-Based Access Control

Businesses must guarantee that the right people have access to the appropriate information at the right moment. A security approach known as role-based access control, or RBAC, may be used to help in achieving this goal. RBAC is a tool that may be used to regulate who in an organization is granted access to which resources.

As it may assist in preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data and systems, RBAC is an essential component of the best practices that are recommended for DevSecOps. It may also help guarantee that only authorized users can make modifications to the system and the data.

Use Obfuscation Techniques

One of the most effective ways to prevent someone from understanding your program's source code is to use obfuscation techniques. Obfuscation is the process of making code difficult to understand or obscuring the meaning of the code. This makes it more difficult for attackers to understand the code and find faults in it.

Obfuscation may be done in several ways, including, to mention a few, the use of code encryption and code compression.

Incorporate Threat Modelling 

Before implementing the DevSecOps framework, it is critical to document all known security risks and develop a systematic approach to addressing them. This must be completed as quickly as possible. It will help you acquire a better understanding of the current security risks presented by your application as well as the security steps that must be automated.

 Other approaches such as antivirus software may not detect all of the security issues in your open-source program's infrastructure and design, but threat modeling can.

Train Your Development Team

Let's face it: anyone, even developers, may make errors when developing an application. The majority of coding faults are caused by humans. These coding issues are to blame for the incidence of code vulnerabilities. This is why security training for developers is so important.

 Most developers are unaware of common software flaws. The simplest method to address this is to train your developers weekly.

 By testing their code against the coding standard, the developer may write safely and learn from their mistakes.

Iterate Quickly and Constantly

When iteration is implemented continuously, the DevSecOps approach produces the best results. Include all of the new information and experience you obtained through the gap analysis process, as well as the knowledge and competence you previously had, in your code pipeline. It is highly recommended that your team incorporate the necessary platform-based cloud security measures into your SecDevOps strategy. Furthermore, it is recommended that your team quickly learn which components of the process and foundation must be removed. If it means getting rid of certain items that impact your productivity and make it difficult to get things done, then so be it.

The major goal is to establish dependable communication channels between developers and IT operations personnel so that critical security-based processes and platforms may be incorporated into the areas of your development pipeline that create the least amount of disturbance.

Recognize Security as a Shared Responsibility

Implementing security training courses may help foster a security culture within the development team. Instead of relying only on security professionals, the DevSecOps technique encourages developers to take responsibility for the system's security. When developers include security testing in their daily workflow, they gain knowledge of security best practices and raise the probability that they will write secure code. Having a security advocate on the development team who is in charge of ensuring that security is prioritized throughout the development process may also help to guarantee that the team remains informed and up-to-date on DevSecOps best practices. (GP/NJ)