Ran Nahmias, the CBO of Tamnoon, highlights the common issue of development and security teams operating in silos, leading to systemic problems in many organizations. The DevSecOps approach aims to solve this by integrating security into the development process and using DevOps practices for security operations. This shift towards proactive collaboration between development and security teams is crucial for building secure cloud configurations, but it requires significant organizational and tooling changes.
The traditional gap between development and security teams can be observed even from a high-level perspective, with each team focusing narrowly on their objectives. However, in cases of urgent executive-level escalations, these teams collaborate to resolve critical issues quickly. This reactive approach is inefficient but shows that the capability for collaboration exists and needs to be formalized to improve overall security.
Drawing lessons from the DevOps movement, which integrated development and operations teams, the DevSecOps framework aims to bring security into the fold. By implementing security in the DevOps process and using DevOps practices for security operations, organizations can achieve a more secure and seamless approach to managing cloud infrastructure. This involves “shifting left” by implementing security early in the development lifecycle and using tools like IaC scanning and CSPM to enforce security policies.
DevOps tools and processes can also be leveraged for security operations to enhance agility and control over threat detection and response. By using CI/CD, version control, and infrastructure-as-code tools, security operations teams can improve their efficiency and customization. For example, SIEM tools can have detection rules created and managed like development projects, enhancing their effectiveness.
Implementing DevSecOps requires both organizational and tooling changes. This includes redefining team structures to encourage shared ownership and responsibility for security, as well as adopting a unified toolset and common version control for development and security teams. This iterative process of improving DevSecOps practices, tools, and team dynamics is essential for building a culture of effective collaboration between dev and sec teams.
In conclusion, as cloud infrastructure becomes more complex, organizations must prioritize security through DevSecOps practices to avoid the majority of cloud security failures predicted by 2025. By integrating security into the development process and applying DevOps practices to security operations, organizations can build a more secure and resilient cloud infrastructure delivered at the speed of business. Adopting a DevSecOps approach requires significant changes but offers long-term benefits for organizations looking to enhance their security posture in an evolving cloud environment.
