By collaborating with IT Operations and Development, DevOps aims to automate and routinely deliver software. DevOps allows the company to deliver services and software applications more quickly. The full version of the term is “DevOps,” which combines “Development” and “Operations.”
Why Do We Need DevOps?
- The development and operations teams operated in complete isolation before DevOps.
- After design-build, separate tasks like testing and deployment were carried out. Therefore, they took longer to complete than actual build cycles.
- Team members would be spending more time testing, deploying, and designing without the use of DevOps than actually building the project.
- Human error in production is caused by manual code deployment.
- Teams working on coding and operations have different schedules and are out of sync, which adds to the delays.
The three foundational tenets of DevOps are efficiency, adaptability, and cooperation. However, DevOps teams frequently encounter particular difficulties when it comes to security. DevOps and DevSecOps teams need to be aware of several potential security concerns, from safeguarding the application development process to safeguarding production settings.
We’ve put together a list of 10 DevSecOps best practices and challenges to help you keep on top of the game.
- Your application development process securely
Securing your DevOps pipeline begins with making sure that your application development process is secure. One technique to achieve this is to make sure that only authorised developers have access to your code repositories and that all code modifications are reviewed and approved by a competent reviewer before being merged into the main branch. Working with developers whose work you can trust to be done correctly and at all times follow cybersecurity best practices is also helpful. Utilising online resources like rightpeoplegroup.com makes it much easier to find these types of specialists.
- Protect the setting where you conduct business
The final deployment and consumer use of your application will take place in your production environment. Given this, it is critical to ensure that the environment is as secure as possible.
One option is to separate your production environment into tiers, each with a different level of access and security constraints. This ensures that even if one tier is compromised, the others are secure.
- Put least-privilege ideas into practice
When granting access to your DevOps resources, it is generally suggested to use the least privilege notion. In other words, users should only be provided the rights required to carry out their tasks. Your employees are your most dangerous cybersecurity threat, which is why following these guidelines is critical. This is typically due to a lack of knowledge or understanding rather than malicious intent, as they are unable to keep your company’s digital assets secure at all times.
- Implement role-based access control (RBAC)
Role-based access control is a type of access control that restricts access to DevOps resources based on the duties of users (RBAC). You could, for example, assign a role named “testing” access to your staging environment and a position called “development” access to your code repository. You can reduce the damage that an insider threat might be able to cause by deploying RBAC.
- Secure sensitive information
Encryption should be utilised for both storage and transit of any information that could be used to identify or harm a person. This contains information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, and medical records.
PGP encryption is one method for securing data. To safeguard your data, PGP employs both symmetric and public key cryptography.
- Put two-factor authentication to use
Two-factor authentication is a further level of security that can be used to protect access to DevOps resources (2FA). For two-factor authentication (2FA), a user must provide two distinct pieces of identification. The first element is something people are conscious of, like a password, and the second element is something they own, like a phone.
Even if a user’s password is compromised, using 2FA can help stop unauthorised access to resources and systems.
- Utilise techniques for managing secrets
An API key or password are two instances of sensitive information that must be kept hidden and is regarded as a secret. Secrets management is the practice of safely storing and maintaining secrets.
These technologies provide central secret management capabilities together with features for access control and auditing.
- Educate your staff on security awareness
One of the most effective ways to improve DevOps security is to educate your team about security. With this support, they can recognize and decrease hazards, as well as appreciate the value of security.
The SANS Security Awareness Program is just one of many security awareness training courses available. Alternatively, you might tailor your programme to the needs of your organisation.
- Conduct routine security audits
An essential element of DevOps security is routine security audits. You might be able to use them to find systemic flaws and confirm that your security protocols are working properly.
Two examples of the numerous kinds of security audits are code reviews and penetration testing. To satisfy your needs, the appropriate audit type must be selected. If you’re unsure, you can consult a trained professional.
- Regularly perform vulnerability scans
Penetration testing, also referred to as pen-testing, is a security test that simulates an attack on your system. The purpose of pentesting is to locate security flaws that a potential attacker might exploit.
Penetration tests may be conducted both internally and outside. External penetration testing is a common practice for third-party security firms. Both your staff and a tool like Metasploit can be used to conduct internal penetration tests.
Read Also: Transfection Technology: a Geneticist’s Best Friend to Save Time & Money
Conclusion:
There are several risks associated with DevOps and DevSecOps, but there are also many best practices that may be used to improve DevSecOps. Put these recommended procedures into action to help defend your system against attack.
Organisational requirements are shifting from years to weeks and months. It will soon be obvious that DevOps engineers have the most access to and control over end users within the organisation. However, DevOps will not become widespread for another 5 to 10 years.
Leave a Reply