DevSecOps: Build Security at Every Step of the Process
The demands of modern work put pressure on professionals and engineers to deliver quick and proficient solutions. That expectation is growing as technologies, mandates, and cybercriminals get more complex and sophisticated.
Case in point: Federal agencies have until September 30, 2023, to report at least 80 percent of their IT systems through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, according to an OMB Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) guidance issued on Dec. 2. Notable in the latest guidance is the shift away from manual reporting to automated means of tracking cybersecurity metrics across government.
As cybercrime becomes more common, so does cybersecurity automation. Automation not only allows offloading of a variety of repetitive and mundane tasks but also helps streamline a variety of processes. For example, by simplifying change through automation, teams gain the time and energy to focus on innovation. But automation can only be successful when backed by a strategy.
To meet OMB’s September deadline, you’ll need to nail down your strategy soon. Are you ready to automate?
Lining up your strategy for effective DevSecOps.
Automation with a strategy will add value to your efforts. Part of that strategy should include optimizing processes before automation, aligning expectations and goals, and determining the costs and associated risks and challenges.
Business and technological factors are driving the adoption of DevOps and DevSecOps solutions. DevSecOps grew out of the DevOps movement and builds upon that same framework, but the two practices have different goals. DevOps has a focus on efficiency while DevSecOps focuses on security, integrating security throughout the software development lifecycle. DevSecOps is highly effective addressing vulnerability in the cloud.
In the application development process, automation is all about using technology to perform tasks with reduced human assistance. Automation in DevOps and DevSecOps helps with continuous integration, continuous delivery, and continuous deployment workflows. Specifically, DevSecOps automation provides secure processes automatically, reducing overhead and human error and focusing on security. Automation exists to improve the process and provide efficiency.
As the adoption of DevSecOps increases, organizations understand the need to evolve their business landscape to keep up with technological development and new cybersecurity mandates. A survey of 500 engineering and software development professionals in the U.S. suggests, more than ever, DevOps teams need to embrace automation at a deeper level in the new year. In addition to eliminating human error, improving processes and reducing overhead, automation improves operational efficiency, positively impacts the bottom line of an organization, and enables sustainable, improved, and quicker ways to service customers.
Keeping security strong on an ongoing basis.
Just because you secure an application or a network doesn’t mean it will stay that way in perpetuity. Continuous diagnostics and mitigation (CDM) helps you identify and resolve cybersecurity risks on an ongoing basis, prioritize those risk based on potential impact, and enable your people to address the most significant problems first.
The CDM program provides Federal agencies with tools to monitor vulnerabilities and threats in IT systems in near real-time. It also provides a dashboard for tracking IT data, while also feeding agencies into a Federal Dashboard that gives CISA and OMB visibility across agency networks.
Besides simplifying the process of identifying vulnerabilities, sophisticated CDM automation helps:
- Identify root causes using SIEM to determine human process failures
- Reduce time spent monitoring, detecting, and maintaining the enterprise’s DISA STIG/CIS Benchmark infrastructure hardening compliance
- Save the time, money, and human resources needed to perform CDM processes manually
- Identify issues for upper management
- Avoid drift and maintain a secure baseline indefinitely
Meet your cybersecurity deadlines quickly and easily.
Traditionally, developers for government systems developers will wait until the end of a project to ensure security, retrofitting where needed and accepting certain risks. But why not build security at every step of the process? Better yet, why not automate that process?
Continuous diagnostics and mitigation of STIG and CIS benchmarks and controls is essential to securing the data that is critical to our nation. The process is complex, and the job may be imposing, but with automation vulnerabilities will be addressed in real-time.
From assessing system security to CDM, automation can save time, minimize risks, protect the integrity of your systems and enable you to serve your client better. Your September deadline is looming. To learn how to make short work of a continual process, download our eBook Securing Our Nation’s Infrastructure: Decoding STIG, CIS and CDM.
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