DevSecOps

DevSecOps is a philosophy and set of practices that integrate security into every stage of the software delivery process, from planning and coding to deployment and operations. It expands the DevOps mindset to treat security as a shared responsibility of developers, security professionals, and IT operations, rather than a separate gate at the end of the cycle.

Core principles of DevSecOps include shift-left security, automation, and policy as code. Security considerations are embedded into the development workflow through automated testing and validation, secure design reviews, and threat modeling. Common practices involve security in continuous integration/continuous delivery pipelines, automated vulnerability scanning, and ongoing governance. Tools and techniques cover static application security testing (SAST), dynamic application security testing (DAST), software composition analysis (SCA), infrastructure as code (IaC) security, secret management, container and image scanning, and provenance and secure software supply chain measures.

In practice, DevSecOps aims to provide fast feedback to developers, enabling secure changes to be deployed rapidly. This is achieved by integrating security tests into CI/CD pipelines, enforcing security policies as code, and maintaining traceability for audits and compliance. Examples of tooling include Snyk, Checkmarx, SonarQube, Fortify, Aqua Security, and various security scanners for IaC, containers, and secrets, though tool choice varies by organization.

Benefits of DevSecOps include earlier detection of vulnerabilities, reduced remediation costs, safer and faster releases, and improved compliance posture. Challenges can include cultural resistance, managing false positives, integrating a diverse toolchain, balancing speed with risk, and ensuring skill alignment across teams.