Having a secure development process has never been more critical. We are rapidly building new systems and software used by millions of people. At the same time, the whole development process is quickly changing with various integrations and automation.
Modern developers can create a whole system architecture using code and connect it to tooling for automated deployment and testing. Many capabilities are improving, but these strengths bring many new risks concerning security. Development teams need to make security their top priority.
Yes, setting the proper security practices and technologies in place can slow down your project, but it can help you deliver a robust product without any vulnerabilities.
1. Make security a top priority from the start
The whole team needs to have a strategic approach to security and consider it from the planning stages for the project. That’s why companies are adopting new methods like DevSecOps and technologies like JFrog that enable organizations to monitor security throughout development and deployment.
Another valuable method is the SDLC or Secure software development lifecycle, which considers all the security risks throughout the development lifecycle.
2. Learning about security isn’t a waste of time
All your developers must understand what they’re dealing with and how insecure software can affect users and your organization. They should know what the current common attacks and vulnerabilities of products are.
Invest in security awareness training that will help your team members learn about all the essential aspects of security. Who knows, some of them might even be interested in this development.
3. Perform code reviews
Core views allow you to identify and deal with any security vulnerabilities to avoid more significant issues in the future. Always write code defensively, write unit tests, and test code regularly. All changes you make should be checked for security vulnerabilities before being introduced.
On top of that, review all your security requirements and update them regularly to ensure you’re sticking to the plan.
4. Perform penetration testing
This is an automated testing method for recognizing security issues. You can hire specialized testing teams that focus on software security so they can check how your product handles some of the most common threats. Security experts know what tools hackers use and can instantly tell you if your product will be secure in the current landscape.
5. Adopt the correct security standards and guidelines
A security expert should set and review your security standards and guidelines. These standards help you use the correct design principles to reduce security vulnerabilities when you launch your software.
At the same time, with the proper restrictions and roles on what kind of code is written and how teams can perform more reliable testing methods throughout the lifecycle. Software developers can also use the threat modeling technique to recognize threats by looking at data flows and identifying harmful patterns.
6. Automate business processes
One of the core elements of DevOps is speed. Automating security is always a good idea because enterprises deliver new code versions within their production multiple times daily. Automate testing and security controls early throughout the development lifecycle to save resources for core development tasks while ensuring safety.
Automation also lets you use processes and tools consistently and continuously. It’s essential to determine what processes and operations you can automate, and which ones require manual work.
7. Create a DevSecOps culture in your team
DevSecOps can be defined in many ways, but some core elements include security, sharing, measuring, training, automation, and cooperation. DevSecOps methodology works well in an environment where cross-functional teams work towards the same goals while keeping in mind security.
The strategic initiatives must guide all your teams as they grow the DevSecOps culture within their daily tasks while ensuring speed, scale, and security.
8. Secure your repository
Your code repository is the centralized platform where all the code is managed and stored. That’s why it’s imperative to secure your repository. Compromising or losing access credentials or getting an underlying service breach can expose your repository and allow hackers to modify your code base.
Find a repository you can trust, protect credentials with access management, add secret credentials away from source code, and review all code changes to ensure security.
Conclusion
The security principles mentioned today are fundamental and affect your development results. Even though implementing all these things on your own might sound like a good idea, it’s best to reach out to security experts and let them help you with vital elements of your overall security infrastructure.
