Today’s predominantly remote workforce means that security is more important than ever. Follow these essential guidelines to grow your DevSecOps mindset throughout your organisation.
The DevSecOps move is driving a “shift left” approach. With this approach, the security scan starts with the first commit and continues for the entire pipeline and beyond. Developers are currently responsible for writing, building, protecting, deploying, and potentially operating their code. Boosted by a two-year pandemic, today’s remote workforce is increasing the need to raise security awareness in all aspects of its business. This is true for people working in the technology industry. The new tools give you less control and more complexity in your remote work environment. It would help if you had DevSecOps more than ever. While active automation can solve some of these challenges, it cannot fully realise the benefits of DevSecOps without adopting the principles of DevSecOps.
The human side of DevSecOps
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The “safety is the responsibility of everyone” mantra needs to be supported by cultural changes in collaboration, communication, mentoring by safety professionals, and training to enable people to participate. Thriving DevSecOps culture requires cooperation, not competition. Teams need to coordinate their understanding using the same vocabulary and practises. Cyber hygiene policies in remote environments need to be supported by standard behavioural procedures that can balance the risk of data breaches and malware. DevSecOps principles need to be communicated and visualised so that people feel and empower them to be part of the solution. Thriving DevSecOps culture requires collaboration, not competition.
Build security at all stages
We can resolve most discussions about whether we should make security part of the application development process or not. So, we should discuss where a company should include security. For some organisations, security is a part of life from the beginning. For example, in the early stages, a security team assesses risk. In some organisations, companies bring in security personnel during the development phase. In some other organisations, companies bring them in only during deployment. Conclusion: The more security is shifted to the left (for example, in design), the lower the risks and weaknesses of customers and enterprises later.
It depends on a competent development team but includes security specialists.
An essential element of empowerment is the ability (the other parts are control, clarity and modification). They are allowing development teams to take ownership of different security teams. However, it’s essential to ensure that your development team knows what security issues are. Who can the manager assign to the team to add knowledge and the skills they need? It is also essential to ensure that the authorised section effectively covers the required security aspects. Adding a security expert to a competent development team is a great way to add value.
Implement features more safely than security features
Following these guidelines is a complex but very effective compromise. The desire for innovation within organisations must focus on embedding security within DevOps. So, the result is a good software development process that achieves secure applications. While security features (e.g., authentication, access control) are essential, other topics, such as safeguarding data from threats, are just as important.
Use tools as feedback for learning more than the end of phase stage gates
Automation tools allow for improvements around tasks, processes, and decisions within the application lifecycle – for all stakeholders. However, one key aspect of automation tools is that a company should leverage them towards continuous improvement or feedback for learning. For example, constant monitoring tools provide input into performance issues. Tools in continuous testing need to improve test plans or test scenarios. Simply put, learning is essential because it enhances an individual’s skills.
Build on cultural changes, not policy enforcement
Culture is difficult to define, and implementing cultural changes is even more challenging. Applying policies is one way to ensure compliance with a security framework, but organisations and security cultures often conflict with each other, so it’s best to understand them first. Most importantly, DevOps reminds people that they have value and need to enhance the enterprise’s security. These cultural changes are significant for remote, hybrid, or distributed teams organisations. So, Software Development Services are key for progress.