Continuous Security – DevSecOps
Continuous security monitoring is the natural evolution of security. Modern software development is moving towards a continuous-everything model, from integration to delivery/deployment. Traditional security approaches focus on testing software releases post-production, but this approach creates bottlenecks to development and potentially pushes vulnerabilities into production. Continuous security instead integrates security with the development process, which reduces risk and removes bottlenecks for faster releases.
What are the benefits of using continuous security?
Modern software development is characterized by complex architecture and infrastructure layers, with approaches like cloud native applications, microservices. and containerization allowing developers to test and deliver code faster. Releases are typically small and fast. Environments can see production deployments several times a day.
DevOps security requires a new approach to handle this rapid increase in the rate of change of software. Legacy security methods tested software at the end of the development cycle, or once it went into production. External teams often were responsible for testing, which created friction between developers and security professionals.
On top of this, legacy security approaches are not well-adapted for modern software architectures and infrastructure. Cloud infrastructure can be spun up in minutes. The architecture is not well defined. This is attractive for modern developers, but it creates a broader attack surface that’s more difficult to secure. Legacy security approaches are not well equipped to test these environments.
Continuous security is a natural extension of DevOps practices that integrates security into the CI/CD pipeline. It aligns closely with the DevSecOps concept and the shift left approach to security. Development teams gain ownership and responsibility for code security so issues are detected and fixed as early as possible in the development process. Ultimately, continuous security accelerates the delivery of features, while automating security requirements, leading to better governance and security.
