DevSecOps explained: Secure every phase of the development process

The DevSecOps framework is designed to automate security into every aspect of the software development lifecycle. This includes initial design, coding, testing, management, deployment, and software delivery.

DevSecOps pipeline

As software development processes become more complex, often spanning teams and companies, the need to streamline processes becomes more considerable. Security vulnerabilities lead to many problems, from performance issues and user frustration to compliance failures and exposure to cyber threats.

Traditionally, software updates and delivery took place only once or twice a year. Today, rapid development cycles increase the pressure on teams to deliver and iterate everything from mobile apps to major enterprise applications frequently, sometimes in a matter of days.

By making security a shared responsibility across development, security, and IT operations teams, DevSecOps helps eliminate silos and reduce friction. Rather than viewing security as a discrete process — or worse, an afterthought — DevSecOps addresses issues preemptively and as they emerge before they impact the business.

The result? Fewer vulnerabilities, lower severity of security issues, and reduced costs.

DevSecOps process: How does it work?

DevSecOps isn’t just a set of tools. It’s a strategic framework that extends to all aspects of software development, including areas such as application programming interfaces (APIs), cloud containers, and microservices. It requires tight integration and strong collaboration among teams, which may work separately and even be scattered across different parts of the world. Consequently, DevSecOps is all about automation.

It's essential to have systems and tools in place to address all the various components within a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline, which includes building, testing, and deploying code. This typically incorporates tasks such as compiling code, unit tests, static and dynamic code analysis, security, and the creation of binaries. It can also involve code packaging in containers and in microservices.

Typical focus areas include standardization, authentication, encryption, reducing API exposures, and isolating containers running microservices. CI/CD process security focus areas typically revolve around security scanners for containers, automating testing in CI, establishing a mechanism to manage updates and patches, and developing controls for configuration management.

A DevSecOps framework requires multiple tools and solutions from different vendors. An organization must integrate these tools into the DevSecOps framework and ensure that teams use them consistently and correctly in every phase of the development process.

DevSecOps vs DevOps: Understanding the difference

Although DevOps and DevSecOps share similar principles, they are not the same thing.

DevOps is designed to facilitate agile development, introducing the idea that development processes are a shared responsibility. By incorporating continuous monitoring, rapid automation, and other process improvements, DevOps makes it possible to connect teams so that they can work more effectively in a collaborative setting.

DevSecOps adds security to the mix. It extends DevOps beyond development and operations teams, broadening processes to include applications and infrastructure in the entire development lifecycle.

The goal of DevSecOps is to:

1. Improve code quality through best practice security methods
2. Include security testing in all phases of the development pipeline
3. Automate testing
4. Establish standardized processes to respond to incidents.

What are the benefits of DevSecOps?

DevSecOps delivers a powerful combination of speed and security, making it an essential framework for modern software delivery. The key DevSecOps benefits include:

• Faster delivery cycles: Organizations that rely on conventional software development methodologies often encounter time delays as teams wait for code to be fixed. This slows development and escalates costs. Instead, DevSecOps removes manual processes, eliminates redundant reviews and processes, and builds a framework for integrating changes across the organization.
• Reduced vulnerabilities and risk exposure: Since security is baked into processes and extends across the development lifecycle, there’s a consistent framework for reviewing, auditing, code scanning, testing, and deploying software. This improved collaboration contributes to a more consistent and streamlined approach to software development and patching.
• Lower development and maintenance costs: DevSecOps enables a high-quality delivery while reducing rework, delays, and manual effort. This not only accelerates the rollout of new projects, but it also ensures they kick off on the right track, and when changes are needed, organizations can shift quickly and consistently across different teams.
• Stronger collaboration across teams: Because it fosters a shared responsibility model, DevSecOps breaks down silos between development, security, and operations teams. This alignment ensures that teams are ready for better decision-making, faster iteration cycles, and consistent governance across the entire pipeline.

DevSecOps best practices

Implementing DevSecOps successfully goes beyond adopting the right tools. It requires a cultural and procedural shift that embeds security into every development phase. There are three key requirements for a successful DevSecOps framework:

• A shift-left orientation. The term shift left refers to adjusting and adapting security tasks and processes so that they take place earlier in the software development cycle. Embedding secure coding practices and automated testing into the CI/CD pipeline makes it possible to spot coding problems and security vulnerabilities earlier and correct them before they spread. This proactive approach reduces rework, shortens feedback loops, and cuts the cost of remediation.
• A robust monitoring and management framework. A successful DevSecOps initiative relies on continuous integration and delivery pipelines that incorporate real-time code analysis, automated security scanning, and anomaly detection. This improves traceability, auditability, and visibility across the development lifecycle and teams.
• Security training and education. Security is a shared responsibility, and that starts with awareness. Developers must be equipped with the right knowledge to identify risks and follow security and governance best practices. Successful DevSecOps initiatives offer training and awareness of basic principles promoted by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) and others. This ensures security becomes second nature, not an afterthought.

Implementing a DevSecOps practice with low-code

As organizations look to build a faster and more efficient pipeline for software development, DevSecOps is critical. It integrates security into all aspects of the development and software delivery processes and across teams. A shift-left approach that includes automated testing and other controls integrates security deeper into the fabric of the enterprise. It helps an organization ensure that it is producing the highest quality code at the lowest possible cost.

As we saw, a successful DevSecOps practice requires changing mindsets, training, and the right technology. And that’s where OutSystems' low-code development platform can help.

Here’s why:

• Unlike other low-code platforms, OutSystems generates code that can be scanned by security testing tools.
• Apps built with OutSystems are protected by default from the top security threats identified by OWASP (both OWASP Top 10 Most Critical Web Application Security Risks, and the OWASP Top 10 Mobile Threats).
• The OutSystems low-code platform automatically applies more than 200 (and growing) risk and security controls.
• OutSystems performs dynamic and static code analysis for 100% of the applications created, thanks to the implemented DevSecOps principles, including a decoupled architecture supported by a compiler mentality instead of an interpreter mentality.
• For cloud users, the platform offers Sentry with extra security, risk management, and monitoring for SOC2 Type II.
• For mobile, OutSystems offers AppShield, an add-on that automatically adds additional layers of security during deployment to make applications more resistant to intrusion, tampering, and reverse engineering.
• Finally, OutSystems undergoes regular verification of security and compliance controls.

Explore all OutSystems platform security capabilities and what makes it the CSOs/CISOs’ choice in our Security and Compliance page.

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