DevSecOps vs DevOps & How to Systematize Security into Pipelines

DevOps 

DevOps integrates software development(Dev) and IT operations(Ops). It offers a wide range of methods, tools, and technologies to reduce the overall software delivery time and enhance the velocity of its execution. One of the major goals for DevOps teams is to accelerate the process of sending the code into production by automating the process. To put it in other words, DevOps offers a range of tools and services that helps organizations streamline the software release processes and further improve software quality and scalability. With the increase in agile methodology, software deployment has become fast and more efficient, leaving behind security concerns until the end of the CI/CD pipeline.

DevSecOps

DevSecOps is a relatively new concept that originated with the need for security within DevOps. It is a combination of software development (Dev), Security(Sec), and IT operations(Ops). With DevSecOps security is ensured at each phase of the Software Development Life Cycle from development to testing till deployment. For faster delivery of projects, security should not be compromised. With DevOps, security is generally performed at the later stages when the project is in the deployment stage, which can cause unnecessary delays and increased costs if vulnerabilities are detected, and recoding is needed. To resolve this issue, DevSecOps came into action as it embeds security features at every step of software development.  

Differences Between DevOps and DevSecOps

DevOps	DevSecOps
DevOps is a set of procedures that helps automate and enhance software development activities, ensuring fast and efficient delivery.	DevSecOps is a more holistic approach as it includes security at each phase of the software development. It helps in mitigating the risks and improves software quality.
DevOps builds effective communication and integration between software developers and operations teams.	DevSecOps builds collaboration between software development, security, and operations teams.
DevOps aims to improve software quality and delivery speed by continuously and frequently releasing software updates.	DevSecOps aims to provide secure software products.
DevOps teams ensure consistent development and automated delivery process. They also ensure the delivery remains efficient, predictable, and secure.	DevSecOps teams ensure that security is embedded in each step of the development lifecycle and that the responsibility to build a secure product is shared among each team member. It reduces the chances of detecting vulnerabilities due to bottlenecks in security practices.
In DevOps, developers have more control and a better understanding of the product infrastructure and its environment. Team members have the freedom to develop, validate and deploy products.	In DevSecOps, development and operations teams have more control over tools and processes for adding a security element to support an agile environment.
The major work of DevOps is to build an application, detect and fix bugs, deploy system updates and optimize infrastructure to develop the best product quickly and efficiently.	DevSecOps’s major work is to provide security at each step of SDLC (Software Development Life cycle) by active monitoring and automation. DevSecOps fixes vulnerability issues as soon as they are detected.
DevOps includes automation and active monitoring to build efficient products with reduced development life cycles. This activity is often referred to as scrum by developers. Scrum sets each team member’s roles and responsibilities and defines how they can work together for a common goal.	DevSecOps works along a CI/CD pipeline, as each step needs security procedures to be applied. Various run-time checks are executed, such as commit time, build time, test time, and deploy time checks.
In DevOps, security issues are handled at the end of the development process	DevSecOps security practices are followed throughout the development process.
DevOps team members must be skilled at using various DevOps tools and technologies.	DevSecOps team members must be skilled at detecting vulnerabilities using automated tools. They must possess a good knowledge of cloud security and provide infrastructure support.
DevOps practices include building microservices, CI/CD(Continuous Integration/ Continuous delivery), and using infrastructure as code.	DevSecOps practices include vulnerability testing, threat modeling, and incident management.

Systematizing security into the DevOps Pipeline

Integrating security into DevOps reduces the overall delivery time by focusing on the major concern for any development process from the start rather than checking it during the testing phase. There are several ways in which DevOps and security teams complement one another. Some of them are  

Quick resolution to vulnerability detection

When a vulnerability is detected when a project is in the production phase, the DevOps team resolves it there itself as it may exploit other features in an application, thereby increasing the overall cost of software project development. Testing source code for security issues during software development phases ensures a more secure product rather than performing security checks at the end of the development cycle. 

Collaboration between Development, Operations, and Security teams

DevSecOps bring the culture of working together for different teams by collaborating with development, operations, and security teams so that the concerns raised by each team can be worked upon from the planning phase onwards. This enables better communication between the DevOps team and the security experts as they can guide us about the latest tools to prevent vulnerabilities and apply security best practices. 

Iterative releases and constant improvement

To systematize security into CI/CD pipeline, DevOps has shifted its approach from reactive to proactive, where there is a constant improvement in software performance by incorporating the latest features and technologies. The strategy focuses on iterative releases seeking constant improvement and addressing the threats as soon as they are detected. 

Cost and time Effective

As the DevSecOps model emphasizes testing at each phase of software development, it naturally adds security, thus making the source code stronger and more resilient to vulnerabilities. This reduces the chances of threats after the deployment stage, making the development process cost and time effective. 

By Following the above-mentioned practices to systematize security into the DevOps pipeline, the performance of DevOps teams also gets enhanced by delivering a more secure product and safeguarding their development process and applications.

DevOps Concepts for Non-Developers

DevOps, as the name suggests, is a combination of software development and IT operations. When combined together, it enhances the company’s ability to deliver software projects and services at a very good speed.

IT professionals often come across development applications, processes, and terms and find it difficult to catch up with them. The DevOps model combines different teams to work closely with each other as a single team on each phase of the software development life cycle, starting from the development to testing and deployment.

With the increase in system vulnerabilities, quality assurance and security teams are also merging with operations and development teams to ensure security practices are being followed throughout the software development at each phase of SDLC(Software Development Life Cycle). DevOps combined with security procedures is often referred to as DevSecOps.

DevSecOps is more focused on creating a ‘Security as Code’ custom by integrating the security tools and applications with an ongoing CI/CD pipeline. It collaborates with developers, operations, testing, and security teams to enhance productivity.

Building a project from scratch is a challenging task as it involves integrating tools and applications from numerous vendors to deploy a final valuable product for an organization. Collecting data, making compatible applications, and adding a security feature requires the DevOps team to ensure that the software infrastructure is intact without any damage from new updates or system vulnerabilities. For this purpose, DevOps is secured with AWS services and tools for a secure and consistent CI/CD pipeline. AWS virtual infrastructure contains tools that apply security checks at each phase of automated code development and quality check process.

Introduction to DevSecOps with AWS

AWS offers a set of flexible tools and services that enables organizations to deliver reliable and secure products using DevOps practices. These AWS tools help automate manual tasks, manage complex codes, and keep track of the velocity of project deployment.

How AWS supports DevSecOps implementation?

• To start using AWS with DevOps, only account creation is required. There is no need to set up or install any software to use its resources and services.
• AWS provides managed services with easy access to its resources so that you can fully concentrate on the core product without worrying about setting up an infrastructure.
• With AWS, it is possible to manage a single instance and build multiple instances by using flexible compute resources that help in configuration and scaling.
• Each AWS service can be used through Command Line Interface (CLI) or through SDKs and APIs. AWS infrastructure and resources can be modeled using AWS CloudFormation templates.
• AWS helps in the automation of manual processes such as development, testing, deployment, container, and configuration management. With AWS, DevSecOps processes become fast and efficient.
• With AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), user policies and permissions can be defined, providing control over the resources to restricted users.
• AWS supports large partner ecosystems to integrate and extend AWS services. Third-party and open-source applications and tools can be used in combination with AWS to build end-to-end applications as per the organization’s needs.
• With AWS’s flexible payment options, one can choose to pay for the services as per the plan to use them. There are no long-term commitments, unnecessary penalties, or termination fees.

DevSecOps tools with AWS

AWS developer tools help store the source code and automatically execute the applications on AWS. These AWS services and tools automate manual tasks, manage complex company environments, and keep track of the high-velocity deployments enabled by the DevOps team. AWS complies with the latest DevSecOps practices so that teams can automate their process, applications’ security, and data protection.

AWS supports DevSecOps implementation by using Amazon Inspector for automated threat management, AWS CodeCommit to make incremental changes to the application and manage source control, and AWS Secrets Manager to retrieve, rotate and manage database credentials and API keys throughout their lifecycle.

AWS Services for DevSecOps

1. Creating a secure CI/CD pipeline

Security can be integrated into CI/CD pipeline by using these AWS tools and services.

AWS CodeBuild is a service that composes source code and executes run-time tests.

AWS CodeCommit is a source code control service that hosts GIT repositories. The DevSecOps team is required to configure the GIT client to use it with the AWS CodeCommit repository.

AWS CodeDeploy — It is a service used to automatically deploy code to AWS and third-party applications and computing services.

AWS CodePipeline is a service that helps DevOps swiftly and securely deploy projects and software upgrades.  

AWS CloudFormation — It is a service that helps DevSecOps teams to build a template of the CI/CD pipeline. It helps in describing and provisioning resources securely and automatically.

AWS Lambda — It is a service that automatically executes source code when an alert is generated in response to triggers. It can conduct static and dynamic code analysis and validation. 

AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store — This service helps make AWS infrastructure transparent for DevOps teams. It can securely manage secrets and store configurations.

2. Applying Security Mechanisms:

Protecting confidential data when uploaded to the cloud becomes the utmost priority. Some AWS tools mentioned below help apply security mechanisms for implementing DevSecOps.

AWS Identity and Access Management – It verifies the person responsible for accessing and implementing alterations to a product.

AWS Key Management Services – It helps manage and create the encryption keys required to protect sensitive data.

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud – It helps in the creation of a private cloud network inside the AWS public cloud network.

3. Automating Security Activities:

Automation is the prime feature in DevSecOps and automation tools play a major role in providing security at each phase of the Software Development Life Cycle. Some of the automated security services include Amazon’s simple notification service that automates person-to-person and person-to-application services.
AWS security hub provides comprehensive security alerts and checks. AWS cloud watch is a resource monitoring tool that gathers logs from AWS accounts and infrastructures. AWS cloud trail monitors call that are made to Cloud Watch API in the AWS account.