DevSecOps: Do you Need to Choose Speed or Security?

DevOps is about speed and agility. Security is about slowing things down and making sure your code is safe. Both are priorities: no company wants to fall behind while their competitors disrupt the market, but neither does any company want a vulnerability in their product to be the target of the next big cyber attack.

There is a general opinion among engineers that security slows down development, but it’s not necessarily the case.

Baking security into the development process doesn't mean you have to pay in agility. In fact it can be just the opposite. The faster you can find a bug, the cheaper it is to fix it. So when security isn't part of your software development lifecycle you're not only paying in agility, you're paying in money, time and frustration.

DevSecOps describes the integration of security into every stage of the DevOps lifecycle, ensuring that applications and infrastructure are secure by design and continuously monitored for threats. It includes the following core principles:
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‍Security as Code: Security checks are automated and embedded in CI/CD pipelines.

Shift Left Security: Security testing starts early in development, not just before deployment.


Continuous Security Monitoring: Real-time threat detection and response.

Collaboration: Developers, security teams, and operations work together.
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Secure Code Review: Security tools scan code, dependencies, infrastructure, and runtime environments.

The integration of security with development also means that security is everyone’s job. Rather than the traditional approach to security in development, which left testing to the end of the process, security is owned by the security team and the development team. It’s an approach that has been increasingly embraced by developers and security teams alike. According to a recent survey, developers were more likely to say that they were responsible for security, while in previous years, developers said it was the security team’s responsibility.

Does DevSecOps really slow down development?

DevSecOps shouldn’t slow the development process, but it can if the integration of security and DevOps isn’t well thought-out. There are a few ways this can happen:

‍Too many security checks: If security checks require manual intervention at several stages, that can delay development.

‍Late-stage security testing: If security checks are done only at the end of SDLC, this may lead to rework.

Too much noise: Using too many security tools, or having overly aggressive tools can create too many false positives and other noise.

‍Untrained developers: If teams haven’t been trained in secure coding, this can slow down the team. 

An agile, effective approach to DevSecOps requires planning, as well as a thoughtful choice of tools. The goal is to embed security into every step of the development process.

‍Build a security-first culture: Security is everyone’s job. While it’s important to break down the silos between development and security, you need to go beyond that. Developers need to be trained in secure coding best practices. It’s also important to embrace a Shift Left— or Shift Everywhere — approach to testing.

‍Embrace automation: Automate security in CI/CD pipelines, using SAST tools to scan code for vulnerabilities, SCA to check dependencies for security flaws, and DAST to check running applications for threats. Continuously scan for misconfigurations.

‍Tune your tools: Too much noise slows down development. Avoid alert fatigue by tuning your tools to filter out irrelevant information.

‍Manage access: Not everyone needs access to everything. Secure your environment by granting only the necessary permissions to your team members.

‍Measure and continuously improve: Set benchmarks, and improve your processes based on your observations. 

DevSecOps and proactive security

One of the key aspects of DevSecOps is that it’s proactive rather than reactive. Security analysts on DevSecOps teams design security mechanisms while apps are being developed, putting in the work to make those applications secure before there's an opportunity for a breach, making sure that everything from encryption to hashing is being done well, making sure servers are properly patched, and that everyone has the right amount of access to what they need.

And, because security works with developers and operations on a daily basis, they're constantly educating the rest of the team about security and monitoring the process for potential risks. Security is top of mind because an analyst is on the team.

It’s also critical to choose the right tools. That’s where Apona comes in. Our intelligent suite of testing  tools let you build security right into product development, so that you can create secure code fast. Streamline your security testing with Apona and gain clarity in your AST results today.