Our dependance on software is undeniable. The average person interacts with 9.4 apps each day at work, and most companies have 172 - 255 apps in their tech stack. We obviously need quality Software as a Service (SaaS) products. To meet demand, efficient, secure, and cost-effective development measures are a must. This is where the discussion between DevSecOps vs. DevOps begins.
DevOps and DevSecOps are software development methodologies fast becoming the preferred method among IT teams. Currently, 47% of software development teams use these methods, a notable increase from their 35.9% adoption rate in 2021.
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“By incorporating DevSecOps, teams can roll out secure product faster and in a more cost effective way, rather than spending significant time and expense for remediation on the live application.” -Lauro Chavez, Managing Partner, Silent Sector |
However, these two methods have noticeable differences that impact how teams approach software development and security integration. In this article, we’ll dig into these differences and explore which one is better suited to your software development processes.
What you can expect from today’s article:
DevOps is a set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to shorten the development lifecycle and deliver high-quality software continuously. By fostering a culture of collaboration between developers and operations teams, DevOps aims to automate and streamline processes, ensuring rapid and reliable software deployment.
Key components of DevOps include:
About 50% of software development teams use an Agile methodology, focusing on iterative development and customer feedback early and often. While this approach improves development speed and adaptability, it does not inherently include a focus on how the software gets deployed for internal testing, external testing, or use by end-users.
By adopting DevOps, the same company can integrate development and operations into their software development lifecycle by including automated deployment (e.g. CI/CD pipelines) and continuous project performance monitoring. This approach enhances Agile's benefits, leading to faster releases, improved software quality, and a seamless collaboration between development and operations teams.
DevSecOps is an evolution of DevOps that integrates security practices into the DevOps process. It aims to make security and compliance a shared responsibility throughout the entire IT lifecycle, from development to operations.
By embedding security and compliance into the DevOps workflow, DevSecOps ensures that security measures are applied continuously, rather than as an afterthought, ensuring solutions are as secure as possible upon launch and meet trusted compliance regulations such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2.
Key components of DevSecOps include:
Imagine a tech company using DevOps to streamline development and operations, resulting in faster releases and improved efficiency. However, security issues are often found late in the process, meaning adhering to compliance requirements may require major changes requiring additional time and resources to accomplish.
By adopting DevSecOps, the company can integrate security into every stage of development, automating security tests and ensuring compliance from the start. This proactive approach reduces risks, enhances software quality, and maintains the rapid deployment benefits of DevOps while adding a crucial layer of security.
While both DevOps and DevSecOps aim to enhance efficiency and collaboration, they do so with distinct focuses and strategies. Recognizing these differences can help organizations implement the right practices to ensure their software is not only delivered quickly but also meet desired security requirements.
5 key differences between DevSecOps and DevOps include:
Focus
DevOps primarily focuses on streamlining the software development and delivery process to achieve faster and more efficient releases. It emphasizes collaboration between development and operations teams to automate and optimize workflows thereby reducing time-to-market, development costs, and a user’s ROI. However, security and compliance aren’t a top priority.
In contrast, DevSecOps addresses risk management in the development phase of a project. It ensures security practices are integrated into every stage of a software project’s development cycle. Its focus is on ensuring that security is not an afterthought but an integral part of the process, which is increasingly required by potential clients and regulatory bodies.
Security Integration
In DevOps, security is often treated as a separate process, typically addressed towards the end of the development cycle. This can lead to security issues being discovered late, requiring costly and time-consuming fixes.
DevSecOps, on the other hand, integrates security practices from the very beginning. Security measures are embedded throughout the development process, with continuous automated testing for vulnerabilities and compliance in the CI/CD pipeline.
This proactive approach ensures that security is a shared responsibility and that potential threats are identified and addressed early, leading to more secure software releases.
Responsibility
In DevOps, the primary responsibility for the development and deployment process lies with the development and operations teams. Security is often handled by a separate team, leading to potential gaps and delays.
In DevSecOps, responsibility is shared among development, operations, and security teams. This collaborative approach ensures that security is integrated into every phase of the development lifecycle.
Key responsibilities in DevSecOps:
Collaboration: All teams work together to maintain continuous security.
Partner with compliance experts to ensure every project meets security requirements.
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DevOps relies on automation tools in a CI/CD pipeline to establish repeatable builds, monitoring, and logging These tools streamline the development and deployment process, enhancing efficiency and speed.
DevSecOps extends this toolkit by incorporating security-focused tools into the CI/CD pipeline. These include automated security testing tools, vulnerability scanners, and compliance checkers.
By integrating these security tools, DevSecOps ensures that security checks are part of the automated workflow, identifying and addressing vulnerabilities continuously throughout the development process.
Compliance and Governance
DevOps primarily focuses on streamlining development and operations, often addressing compliance and governance separately. This can lead to challenges in meeting regulatory requirements and ensuring governance standards are consistently applied.
DevSecOps integrates compliance and governance into the development process from the start. Security and compliance checks are automated within the CI/CD pipeline, ensuring that software meets regulatory standards continuously. This approach helps organizations adhere to regulations like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and HIPAA, reducing the risk of non-compliance.
By embedding these practices, DevSecOps not only enhances security but also ensures that all governance and compliance requirements are met throughout the software development lifecycle.
Both DevOps and DevSecOps have their merits and can be highly effective depending on the specific needs of a project. However, with the current volume and severity of cyber attacks these days, a DevSecOps program is preferable for a company developing software.
However, that’s not always the reality for companies and it may be necessary to choose between DevOps processes or DevSecOps processes.
“I believe security should always be a priority in the software development life cycle but a fully defined DevSecOps program may not always be achievable for smaller organizations struggling to balance resources. Understanding which methodology to adopt can greatly impact your development process and overall project success.” says Zach Fuller.
Where DevOps May Be Suitable
When speed and efficiency are top priorities. If a project’s primary goal is to speed up the development and deployment processes, DevOps can be ideal. It enhances collaboration between development and operations teams, leading to faster releases and improved efficiency.
Mature security practices are already in place. An organization with mature and effective security and risk management practices in place may find greater efficiencies with a DevOps approach.
For smaller teams and projects: DevOps may be suitable for smaller teams or projects where the complexity of integrating extensive security measures might outweigh the benefits. DevOps can provide the necessary efficiency without the additional overhead
In non-regulated Industries: In industries with less stringent regulatory requirements, the focus can remain on rapid development and deployment, making DevOps a suitable choice. However, any non-regulated industry that wants to do business with a customer in a regulated industry will need to incorporate the customer’s security requirements into their own processes.
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Learn more on how risk management processes impact company growth: |
Where DevSecOps May Be Best
When security is a top priority: DevSecOps is ideal when security needs to be integrated into every phase of the development process. By embedding security measures from the start, organizations can proactively address vulnerabilities and ensure robust protection against threats.
For cloud development projects: Cloud environments often involve dynamic and scalable infrastructures that require robust security measures.
DevSecOps ensures that security is continuously integrated and automated in these rapidly changing environments, addressing the unique challenges of cloud security such as multi-tenancy, data privacy, and regulatory compliance.
For highly regulated industries: Industries such as finance, healthcare, and government require strict adherence to regulatory standards like ISO 27001 and HIPAA. DevSecOps ensures continuous compliance by automating security and compliance checks within the CI/CD pipeline.
In large and complex projects: For large-scale projects where the potential impact of security breaches is significant, DevSecOps provides a structured approach to incorporating security measures at every stage, reducing the risk of costly incidents.
When continuous improvement in security is essential: Organizations committed to continuously enhancing their security posture benefit from DevSecOps. This approach ensures that security practices evolve alongside development processes, keeping pace with emerging threats and ensuring long-term protection.
As cloud dependency increases, so does the need for effective, reliable, risk management processes in software development. Understanding how and where to implement a strong security focus into software development requires in-depth understanding and knowledge that our team can help companies develop.
At Silent Sector, we help companies build risk management processes and programs that help them meet compliance requirements and enable them to successfully work with the organizations and customers they strive for.
To learn more about our services, and how to make risk assessment a part of your software development processes, contact us today.