Shifting to DevSecOps, with Software Security Testing Built In

Many organizations today are in the process of transitioning to a DevOps-centric approach, but don’t want to leave security behind. In order to build security in from the beginning of their software development process, it’s essential to enhance your security posture by integrating application security testing solutions into the software development life cycle at your organization. Essentially, shifting to DevSecOps.

Choose the Right SAST Solution

When evaluating SAST solutions to find their perfect fit, many organizations look to the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Application Security Testing. It’s important to evaluate these solutions before making a selection. Make sure you understand which vendors have solutions that adapt well to the changing application security landscape. Several key requirements that many organizations look for include the ability to:

• Perform both full scans and incremental code scans of new code changes.
• Deliver rapid, consistent results with low false-positive rates.
• Provide key CI/CD integration features.
• Provide integrated on-demand training to developers.

Deliver on DevSecOps for Agile Development

It’s important to find application security testing (AST) solutions that developers can use. If not, the product becomes something the development team avoids rather than embraces. You simply can’t build security into your software development lifecycle (SDLC) if the developers can’t or won’t use the AST solutions in place. Automating and integrating a solution into the CI/CD pipeline, and more importantly, into the solutions your organization is already using, makes building security into the DevOps processes simple and straight forward, rather than creating a roadblock. Requiring the full scan of a built application also slows down the SDLC, especially if the scan results are filled with false positives. It takes time, attention, and ultimately costs money to resolve coding issues only after the application has been built. To truly code in an agile environment, choose a solution that allows incremental scans of pure source code. Any organization seeking to rapidly develop and deploy software can’t wait until the end of the SDLC to test code. Incremental scans help with the shift to DevSecOps.

Provide Integrated Developer Education

Software security is a moving target, and staying up to date with developer training can be a challenge in any organization. On-demand training, integrated into the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) solution helps developers by showing them coding vulnerabilities found as they code. In-context and on-demand insight into their code early in the development process helps developers to build more secure code while continuously refreshing their application security skills. As you choose a secure developer training solution, it’s important to find one that is engaging and relevant. Periodic training via static videos are unlikely to engage modern development teams, and are therefore ineffective. The goal is to help your developers learn how to fix errors as they code, avoid making them in the future, and understand why coding securely is a crucial part of building secure applications.

Deliver Security in a DevOps Culture

Technology plays a pivotal role in any organization, particularly if your business develops and supports multiple applications. Many organizations find DevOps to be an obvious step, because in a fast-paced environment, you need to deliver your solutions to the market rapidly. DevOps solutions and processes help these organizations move faster and stay competitive. Today there are many regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, PIPEDA, and more, that require attention to the security of the application, particularly as it pertains to data security and privacy. Risk mitigation and compliance make bringing security into the DevOps environment an essential step. Position your team and organization as a leader in adopting DevSecOps by integrating and automating application security testing solutions and developer education into the software development life cycle.