The web and software have changed the world, the people, and the Corporation. From dining, shopping, banking, travel and so many other ways.
Today, software no longer merely supports a business but has become an integral part of business and life in general.
Companies engage with customers through software delivered as a service or an application. It could also transact across all sorts of devices. Software is used to increase scale and efficiency across every part of the value chain. This could be through sales, customer service, supply chain, and operations.
Hence, it’s important that a business can design, build, and deliver IT products by using the latest technologies, insights, and best practices.
The concept of DevOps has brought about a transformation in how organizations use and maintain systems, applications, and IT infrastructure. This is pertinent to on-site and cloud systems.
DevOps brings about consistency. You standardize the infrastructure provision. The software release process also translates into consistency across the DevOps environment. And DevOps helps increase the quality and reliability of new software and application launches.
Managing Security Issues for DevOps
As with all new technologies, doubts crop up. And a perennial question in consideration is security. DevOps security refers to the process and practice of securing the DevOps environment.
This includes policies as well as processes and technology. Security needs to be incorporated into every part of the product lifecycle. Starting from conceptualization and design down to the last mile.
Though DevOps answers many problems in the software development process, it also introduces new challenges.
A lot of IT security professionals are bypassing DevOps security protocols at the planning and design stage.
The result is that these environments end up with an unprepared and unstructured approach to incident management. And more often than not, the lack of coordination doesn’t surface till there is an incident or possibly a breach in the system.
It’s a fact that apart from a temporary jolt to business, a security breach can make quite a mess. The Uber case is one example. And the basic cause was a developer who threw caution to the wind. This made it easy for hackers to breach Uber systems and create an impactful blip onto the systems.
DevOps environments that are secure run on multiple processes and policies that enable secure releases. Like a final security scan that ensures no credentials reside embedded within the code.
Another key point in the DevOps program is a hindrance within the organization. Security is sometimes viewed as an impediment to progress. When that happens, the time needed to do security checks before the release gets crunched. This could create a few exposures in the system.
Firewalls alone is not a foolproof tool. Processes used in securing DevOps also depend on cloud-based resources.
DevSecOps is the term for development, security, and operations. It is the coming together of people, processes, and technology on a combined mission.
The objective of DevSecOps is to facilitate security decisions at the same level as development and operations teams would as earlier. However, everyone in the lifecycle phase should be held accountable for security.
The purpose of DevSecOps is a modern substitute for any traditional security arrangement. To ensure transparent collaboration and process during development. Here, security is built into the system at the genesis and not just at the last and final stages. All this helps in cost reduction and faster turnaround time.
Many companies are still using legacy systems. That leaves many of them running a hybrid option using the cloud system along with traditional legacy systems. Security requirements of a legacy system can create difficulties in a Cloud DevOps environment.
Managing Security Issues for Cloud Migration
Migrating infrastructures, applications, or services to the cloud without increasing security measures requires careful groundwork. This starts by considering any cloud-based deployment. When developing new infrastructure or applications, communication is key between lines of business and all involved teams. Such communication is important otherwise organizations may open themselves to a whole range of risk and attack.
It’s been observed that a lot of IT and security professionals are opting to secure cloud storage by deploying a zero-trust security model. Password policies need to be set in place. Multi-factor authentication can be made obligatory. Admin or IT teams can control what apps are allowed permissions based on business needs. Email phishing is quite an external threat to take note of. Anti-phishing protection can be put in place. Set up message encryption rules. An external sharing policy can be created. An organization must run a security health audit at periodic intervals.
The constant fear and events of data breaches are a reminder that unwarranted hacking of cloud security services is always looming. We need to be equipped with a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of cloud security. We need to be or hire experts.
Resources who understand principles across environments of Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
It’s common knowledge that cloud computing has progressed at an extremely quick pace. Its growth has impacted how work is now done. Be it across a business or the government. The widespread adoption of hybrid systems has affected our processes. It has changed the way we act on our data. It has also forced many businesses to move out of the traditional on-site systems and cloud options.
Migration to the cloud has created opportunities. It has brought in cost benefits and efficiency. But it also has its own set of challenges. The most important is security and the protection of business data and information. The security policies, protocols, and processes need to be well defined. And robust to meet all kinds of security challenges.
Hence security and effective data protection are a strict and crucial factor for cloud system success. So, companies must be aware of best practices in cloud security. Businesses with applications and data in the cloud must be poised to manage the security of these services, networks, and architectures.
