Modern software development practice is almost only possible with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD). Ensuring the safety of this process is key to the success and viability of the entire business. This complex undertaking includes securing the development environment, code repository, build system, deployment pipeline and delivered software.
In our article, we will explain how to do this correctly and which specialist should handle this issue, outlining the areas of responsibility of DevOps, DevSec, and SRE.
First, remember a clear definition of CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment). It is a practice aimed at improving and automating the processes of software development, testing, and deployment. CI is responsible for the frequency of code integration by developers into the main branch of the repository. Moreover, every change made is automatically tested, which allows you to quickly detect and eliminate errors. CD, in turn, is the process of automatically deploying already tested code to the production environment. If all tests pass, the new code is automatically sent to users.
This process not only improves the efficiency of the development process but also provides several other advantages:
So, how does CI/CD work in the development cycle?
A short explanation can be found in this diagram:
The tools for implementing CI/CD today are quite impressive and depend on the professionalism and/or preferences of the specialist. But it can be roughly divided into categories according to stages:
Depending on the type of work expected, CI/CD may have a different implementation format. Understanding these aspects is important in order to attract specialists with the necessary skills and experience to the project. Let's look at some examples.
Thus, each individual case has its specifications and budgets for implementation, so it is necessary to take them into account when choosing and further using it.
Since the CI/CD process has several components, a security issue can arise at any stage. And the specialist’s task is to ensure high-security measures.
CI/CD security components include:
So, what are the dangers of violating the CI/CD security policy?
Timely identification and mitigation of vulnerabilities throughout the development cycle ensures that code changes are thoroughly tested and meet security standards before deployment to production.
Creating a DevSecOps culture within your development process is the smartest decision you can make. DevSecOps (Development, Security, and Operations) is an approach to culture, automation, and platform design that integrates security as a shared responsibility throughout the IT lifecycle. It is this specialist who is responsible for implementing a secure CI/CD pipeline.
The practice of DevSecOps has much in common with DevOps, but the approach is more global since it is responsible for the entire system. Constant monitoring and feedback regarding potential vulnerabilities act as an alarm for any possible and/or potential problems.
The concept of "shift left" is a fundamental principle in CI/CD and DevSecOps. It refers to moving certain security-focused tasks and activities earlier in the software development process.
There are several steps you should take to protect your CI/CD pipeline. Let's look at them in more detail:
Thus, in CI/CD, dangers and threats can be literally at every turn. It is important to constantly check and monitor the system to eliminate all problems at the initial stage, not when the threat has already caused consequences.
Since several key specialists are allocated at once when working and supporting project infrastructure today, we decided to pay a little attention to this and explain who exactly your project needs for certain purposes. To begin with, the differences between DevOps, DevSecOps, and SRE can be segmented into three main areas: scope, roles, and goals.
Let's start in order.
DevOps aims to increase the speed of software release by automating processes and optimizing collaboration between development and operations teams. Essentially, he organizes CI/CD from A to Z, helping developers be more efficient and focus on their own tasks.
DevSecOps goes further by adding to the DevOps practice the issue of ensuring the security of all processes from the very beginning of the development process. They immediately begin deployment, constantly monitor and ensure compliance with security requirements, and, if necessary, train developers.
SRE still focuses more on ensuring a consistent user experience across different products. The work of SRE is based on a quick response to the needs of the client and the creation of automation processes with a focus on this.
Thus, all three approaches pursue similar goals—ensuring reliability, speeding up the software delivery process, and securing user data. However, they use different strategies to achieve these goals.
Each can significantly contribute when implemented correctly into any organization's workflow, depending on its specific needs.
We consider it necessary to also explain Compliance as Code (CaC). In short, it is a technique that helps automate and manage compliance with standards and security requirements using program code. CaC development is carried out by DevOps teams, cloud engineers, and security specialists. The main goal of such teams is to integrate compliance and security requirements directly into the development and operation of the infrastructure.
The methodology aims to comply with security measures to protect the code from the beginning of development. It fits well with the concept of ensuring the security of the entire infrastructure in the future, with the transition to automation, minimizing the risk of human errors, and speeding up compliance verification processes. Using CaC increases transparency, improves manageability, and ensures ongoing compliance with security requirements and regulations.
By viewing infrastructure security from a global perspective, you have the opportunity to improve the development process and, more importantly, predict and prevent risks before they arise.
If you want to be efficient and offer users only high-quality solutions without restrictions, you need to use CI/CD, regardless of the size of your business. But you must also understand that, just like at the coding level, you are responsible for the safety and security of your client’s data. Not only the financial component is at stake, but also the reputational one. Before we start selecting an engineer according to our client’s request, we always conduct a thorough analysis of the project and formulate a request for it.
Both DevOps and DevSecOps profiles require CI/CD automation to deliver superior systems quality at greater speed. On the other hand, SRE also seeks to automate the CI/CD pipeline but for a completely different reason: to reduce the cost of failure. By involving an automation specialist (let's summarize this profile with this name), you relieve the team of the burden of operations such as deployment, application backup, and restarts. All this becomes automated and accelerated.
The trio of DevOps, DevSecOps, and SRE methodologies have the same goal, so they should be viewed as something other than competing positions. Using this expertise, you will notice a significant improvement in the processes within the team responsible for developing and launching your product.
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