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The continuous integration of development and operations, or DevOps, teams provides numerous benefits to businesses, only properly safeguarding DevOps security has proven to be a major challenge. That'due south partly considering DevOps presents a number of unique security challenges that traditional security approaches are ill-equipped to handle.

That doesn't mean enterprises are hopeless. Continue reading to learn more near the main challenges facing DevOps security as well as what organizations can do to overcome them and derive the maximum value from their DevOps team.

The main DevOps security challenges

Many of the advantages of DevOps actually create some of its primary security challenges. DevOps enables organizations to rapidly develop and configure new technologies to stay active in the confront of rapid change, but that besides means security infrastructure has a harder time keeping upward with irresolute security needs.

This problem is compounded past the fact that many security teams are unable to keep pace in a DevOps-kickoff surround, where development and operations are equipped with the latest technological advancements while security is oftentimes ill-equipped to handle specific DevOps security challenges. That leaves teams heavily reliant on legacy tools and systems, making it increasingly difficult to handle the increasingly sophisticated demands of the DevOps team. Those gaps in capabilities create security vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.

DevOps is based on fast-paced collaboration between teams. While that helps spur innovation and drastically reduce time-to-market for new products, it as well means mistakes are more likely to occur (and less likely to be caught early on). Attackers look for coding vulnerabilities in item to breach systems.

The business benefits of DevOps security

Implementing the appropriate security procedures, processes and systems to go along DevOps safe and secure brings a number of business organisation benefits to the enterprise. These include:

• Better protection against threats: Tacking security on at the end of the development process can make programs and applications ill-equipped to handle relevant threats. Incorporating security into the primeval development phases tin can assistance ensure applications are improve able to place vulnerabilities before they're exploited.
• Ensures compliance: Working at a faster pace means at that place are opportunities for compliance issues to arise. Implementing proper security protocols throughout evolution and operations helps ensure applications and products are compliant throughout the process.
• More agile in the face of change: DevOps enables organizations to comprehend modify and face up new challenges by more efficiently introducing new technologies that respond to pressing customer needs. Providing proper DevOps security helps enterprises take maximum reward of the value created by DevOps.

The 4 secure DevOps principles

These are the four core principles that should form the foundation of modern DevOps security approaches:

• Collaboration: DevOps security is a collaborative process. All primal stakeholders should be encouraged to contribute to conversations nearly security requirements to ensure security is designed with everyone in heed. It'due south also disquisitional that intelligence nearly any potential security threats is shared with the wider squad to ensure an optimal response.
• Built-in security: I of the core advantages of the right DevOps security approach is that information technology builds security into the earliest blueprint and development phases to aid ensure maximum security. Fifty-fifty after technology is developed, enterprises should continuously test and revamp their security to ensure they're prepared for the latest threats.
• Stay future-focused: Security threats are constantly evolving, but developers are creating more advanced applied science to protect confronting them. It'due south critical that enterprises stay ahead of the latest threats by investing in the latest security software, enabling them to identify new threat trends every bit they sally.
• Automation: Using tools that automate central aspects of DevOps security helps streamline cumbersome processes, reducing the amount of time and resources devoted to transmission tasks while besides minimizing the risk of plush mistakes.

10 practical tips for DevOps security

1. Architecture and blueprint

DevOps security needs to start during the compages and pattern phase. Security teams should understand the telescopic of the DevOps infrastructure and which elements will need protection. An understanding of the shared security model is critical; the line between IaaS and PaaS is becoming increasingly blurred, and each ane has a different security paradigm.

Threat modeling can exist done during this stage. This will allow security teams to define the threats facing each component to uncover vulnerabilities and determine what responses volition be needed to secure them farther up the DevOps pipeline.

2. Static code analysis and code reviews

Code reviews are a mutual part of DevOps. Security squad members should empathise what the current lawmaking review procedure is and learn secure coding techniques to include in their security reviews. It's also worth investigating Static Code Assay tools, every bit they can bank check the source code for potential vulnerabilities. If any are detected at this point, developers can quickly change coding techniques to meet security requirements.

3. Audit of chef cookbooks/CloudFormation scripts

"Infrastructure-as-code" is a popular concept within DevOps. Rather than manually configuring hardware and systems, organizations use scripts and configuration files to build infrastructure. This method ensures consistent configurations on all servers, automates repeated tasks and enables faster software deployments, among other benefits.

Security teams can leverage infrastructure-every bit-code to run automated checks against these scripts. For example, if a developer creates a script for a storage bucket with public access to the internet, it tin can cause an fault. Automated checks in combination with threat modeling are a powerful tool to validate the infrastructure every time a developer makes a change.

4. DevOps security testing post-build

A core DevOps practise is to run automated builds and unit tests subsequently check-in. Security teams can add security testing tools to automate the validation of the build. This will allow whatever vulnerabilities or other issues to exist identified within minutes of a developer checking the code, enabling them to fix them without the delay associated with postal service-project testing.

5. Secure and harden the operating organization

Applying OS hardening at the commencement of a project rather than at the end allows teams to recognize bug before and reduces the take chances of the application not working. If hardening must be relaxed, the security team tin collaborate with the developer to detect some other way of performing the part. They can use resources like SANS Linux Security Checklist or CIS Benchmark to review the automation scripts to ensure that the OS is being deployed deeply and whatever changes to this standard are controlled.

vi. Harden cloud deployment

Deject services are double-edged swords. If done correctly, they can evangelize incredibly secure infrastructures. If not, they can open significant security holes. That makes it imperative that companies review how they're using the cloud. They should review everything from the development environment through to production and understand how teams are accessing the console and what permissions they have.

Every bit a general rule, people should just have the permissions needed to practise their chore. Any significant permissions crave 2-factor authentication.

7. Deployment of security tools

Companies have to go along up with multiple teams deploying multiple applications to production. They should script the deployment of security tools to ensure they are deployed at the same fourth dimension so that all environments have baseline coverage. It's besides important to include network detection for threats on their network, monitoring of HTTP for attacks, and monitoring log files. With a Managed Detection and Response solution, enterprises can assess these dissimilar feeds at the same time and have a 24/7 SOC investigate the threats and escalate if required.

8. Run regular vulnerability scans of Os and applications

Cyber attackers love to target vulnerabilities in the OS or applications running on servers. Companies can run scans on servers in the DevOps pipeline to ensure they ever know what state they are in and remediate any vulnerabilities they find.

Additionally, with Warning Logic MDR, this information is fed into our analytics engine, allowing potential attacks to be rated with the boosted data from whatever software companies are using. This will assist reduce imitation positives.

9. Use Phoenix Upgrades to patch security issues

Phoenix Upgrades are a process where enterprises end an existing server and build a fresh one, using Apache Phoenix, each time they deploy an update. This increases their ability to quickly patch whatever security issue and their agility to scroll them out. A Phoenix Upgrade strategy allows enterprises to deploy a new patched version beyond their entire cloud environment quickly and safely, while too reducing the risk of technical debt and configuration drift.

10. Ongoing and real-fourth dimension audit of the production environment

Once all of these elements are in place, companies can survey production to understand its country at any given time and brand corrections if production has drifted from its defined security profile. They should take standard auditing levels beyond different server roles and applications, and for each, attempt to achieve an auditing level that tin exist fed into a security tool to provide the data that'due south needed without swamping their servers. Simply as developers can employ the cloud to create big IT systems in very short time frames, they can leverage its power to audit these systems multiple times a day.

Speed and security are essential for businesses to maintain their competitive border. By building security into the evolution pipeline, companies tin ensure they do not sacrifice one for the other.

Partnering with the correct security experts

As DevOps continues to become necessary for success in the digital economy, enterprises are increasingly looking for tools, techniques and processes to accelerate the integration of their development and operations teams to power their future growth.

That all starts with having the right team of experts on their side. Alert Logic collaborates with enterprises to learn everything almost our partners' businesses, including their product, motivations and mission. Nosotros help provide 24/7 protection to enterprises to ensure they take the most appropriate response plan to face up whatever new challenges arise.

Download our white paper to learn more tips for integrating security throughout the development lifecycle.

DevOps Security Checklist

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Source: https://www.alertlogic.com/blog/how-to-enhance-devops-security/

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