Why Embrace DevSecOps

Embracing DevOps and DevSecOps is essential for successful Java legacy application modernization in the cloud. By shifting left to include security at every step of the journey, you can prioritize security, maintain quality, and instill agility in your team. But what exactly is DevSecOps, and how do you adopt it?

What is DevSecOps?

DevSecOps is an approach that integrates security into your DevOps process, from development to deployment. It's about making security a part of your culture and mindset, not just an afterthought. This approach helps ensure security vulnerabilities are caught early in the development process and resolved automatically, reducing costs and risks associated with cyber incidents.

Shifting Left with DevSecOps

Before diving into DevSecOps, it's important to understand the basics of DevOps. DevOps is a cultural shift that brings software development teams and IT operations teams together by breaking down silos, collaborating iteratively during software development and delivery. DevOps complements Agile software development, providing continuous delivery with high software quality.

To shift left with DevSecOps, you prioritize security at every step of the development process. You can achieve this by using automated security tools, like CodeQL, Dependabot, Sonarcloud, Mend, Synk and secret scanning, to catch vulnerabilities early in the development cycle. By doing so, you can check your work as you go and resolve security issues before they become major problems.

How to Achieve Robust Security Across Your Organization

Even with a DevOps culture in place, security is often overlooked until the end of the development cycle, when it is too late to integrate it seamlessly into the application. Bolting on security as an afterthought can lead to a host of issues and vulnerabilities that are costly to fix. A DevSecOps approach bakes security into the development process from day one, ensuring that organizational standards are maintained throughout the development process, even in an Agile environment.
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To achieve robust security across your organization, you should adopt the following steps:

1. Shift left with security

‍DevSecOps is a culture shift that helps you check your work as you go, so that vulnerabilities can be detected and addressed before they become bigger problems. By shifting left with security, you can ensure that all developed code and configurations follow organizational and industry standard security protocols.

2. Use automated security tools

‍Implement automated security tools to catch vulnerabilities earlier in the development process. CodeQL, for example, scans source code repositories regularly to seek out vulnerabilities. Dependabot can be used to find vulnerabilities in the dependencies used in a project, and vulnerabilities can be resolved automatically with an upgrade to the dependency library version. Secret scanning can automatically find any tokens or secrets checked in as part of the code.

3. Educate and train your team

‍Provide regular training to your development, operations, and security teams to keep them up-to-date with the latest security practices and tools. Encourage them to prioritize security at every step of the development process. And get the help of an experienced technology partner to provide your team with the latest best practices and frameworks in Java application development.

4. Integrate security into your CI/CD pipeline

‍Integrate security into your continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline so that security is automated, and vulnerabilities are caught earlier in the development process. This ensures that security measures and policies are applied across all IT programs.

5. Perform regular security audits

‍Perform regular security audits to ensure that your security measures and policies are up-to-date and effective. This can help you catch vulnerabilities that may have been missed in the development process and address them before they become bigger problems.

Why Implement DevSecOps

By prioritizing security from the outset and implementing a DevSecOps approach, organizations can reduce the risk of vulnerabilities, ensure robust security, and create a culture of collaboration and innovation. Remember to involve all teams in the modernization process, adopt automation tools for code verification, and implement continuous testing to catch security issues early. At Architech, our experts can guide you on your journey towards modernizing your legacy Java applications with a DevSecOps approach.

Schedule a call with us today to connect with our DevSecOps experts.