Is it possible to mitigate Cybersecurity risks by employing DevSecOps?

DevSecOps solutions

 

 

The growing threats to cybersecurity from hackers and cyber criminals have made companies to sit up and take notice. It is no longer about thinking or assuming, ‘I am not at risk and so, I need not worry’ as trojans, viruses, bots, and malware are swirling around on the internet. With digital transformation striking deep roots across the spectrum, individuals, businesses, industries and organizations have invested in building IT infrastructure with a vengeance. This is due to the fact that no one wants to lose out on a large slice of customers on the go, besides, of course, leveraging the other spinoffs.

These include developing and delivering quality products, establishing a seamless communication, and achieving greater efficiency and ROI. The dependence of entities and customers worldwide on the internet has lured cyber criminals to steal data and information for making a quick buck. Moreover, given the reach of these fraudsters and the fact that the law enforcement agencies find it difficult to catch up with them, these more or less seem to operate with impunity.

Here, small businesses are more at risk, as their digital infrastructure often lacks the requisite cybersecurity measures. This is not to state that bigger organizations with a better security paraphernalia do not fall foul of such activities but the odds are certainly stacked high against smaller businesses.

As cyber criminals are getting smarter by the day and finding out new ways to exploit the vulnerabilities and breach the security of a system, the task is cut out for companies to secure their systems and networks. This calls for implementing new methodologies, models and protocols such as DevOps or DevSecOps. The imperative for adopting this approach has become pronounced due to the interface online systems share with the cloud, mobility, social media, and big data.

Why DevSecOps?

Since strengthening cybersecurity is about plugging the vulnerabilities and developing robust applications, it needs a concerted effort from all quarters. This is where DevOps (Development and Operations) comes with its emphasis on Continuous Improvement and Delivery across the SDLC. The cybersecurity strategy should have involvement from both the technical and business sides.

Remember! The DevOps approach is not only about enabling business agility through accelerated development, testing and deployment, but involves creating a collaborative quality culture across the organization as well.

It is this culture or ecosystem that acts as a bulwark against cybersecurity threats, for everyone in the organization will be responsible to enforce security measures. These include steps such as not sharing passwords or accessing emails from suspected sources, logging out after every session, etc. The focus should be to align data security goals with business objectives early on in the development of an application. Since DevSecOps solutions are hinged on running test automation, validating applications in terms of security (and others) becomes easy and comprehensive.

Mitigation of cybersecurity threats courtesy DevOps security testing

Security audit: If a business does not employ DevSecOps solutions as a part of its development strategy, it is high time to implement the same. During implementation, DevOps specialists should audit the devices that are connected to the central information network. These can range from the remotely connected devices like WiFi routers, mobiles, and tablets to laptops or dumb terminals that are part of the intranet. The audit identifies the resident vulnerabilities in the entire system network and provides for an extra layer of security.

Security integration: Security should ideally be built into the development process and not as an afterthought for the quality assurance team to deal with. The CI/CD approach of DevOps software testing should integrate security into the whole matrix, thus strengthening cybersecurity.

Automation: The process of conducting a security audit for the entire IT network of a business should incorporate test automation. This has been necessitated due to the release or update of more number of software, which makes it virtually impossible to identify and plug the security vulnerabilities. Remember, Continuous Improvement and Delivery must feature Continuous Security Controls as well.

Conclusion

The strengthening of cybersecurity measures in the development cum testing sprint should be proactive, which even saves time and money by a large measure. The collaborative approach of DevSecOpssoftware testing is best suited to identify and plug security related vulnerabilities, leading to securing businesses and customers from the growing threats of cyber criminals.

                          

This Article is originally published at Medium.com; Can you mitigate Cybersecurity risks with DevSecOps?