Software development

Difference Between DevOps and DevSecOps Agile Methodology

2022年10月01日

If security remains at the end of the development pipeline, organizations adopting DevOps can find themselves back to the long development cycles they were trying to avoid in the first place. DevSecOps is a methodology that integrates security assessments and considerations into the development and operations processes, improving overall efficiency and reducing potential vulnerabilities. By reducing silos and involving all team members in the security process, DevSecOps helps to prevent errors and ensure that digital systems are secure. In an increasingly digital world, DevSecOps offers a solution to the growing threat of cyber-attacks and data breaches.

However, effective DevOps security requires more than new tools—it builds on the cultural changes of DevOps to integrate the work of security teams sooner rather than later. The best way to transition from DevOps to DevSecOps is by increasing your knowledge and understanding of security practices and integrating them into your workflow. This can include implementing security measures during each stage of the development process, as well as conducting regular security audits and vulnerability testing. In the field of software development, there are various approaches and methodologies. DevOps primarily focuses on streamlining communication and collaboration between different departments, with an emphasis on agility and speed.

What is DevOps?

It emerged because DevOps teams understood that the conventional DevOps approach was inefficient without incorporating security processes into the pipeline. Rather than applying security at the end of the build, DevSecOps integrates security management early in the development and deployment process. DevSecOps is a software development management approach introducing security to the DevOps equation.

It creates an automated Continuous Delivery (CD) pipeline by combining development, operations, security, and infrastructure as code (IaaS). The DevOps philosophy promotes closer collaboration and constant communication between the different teams within an organization. In its narrowest sense, DevOps refers to iterative processes involved in application development, automation, and the deployment and maintenance of programmable infrastructure. DevOps combines “development” and “operations” to describe a collaborative or shared-responsibility model for building applications. It views the work performed by the software development and IT operations teams as a single process. In the past, the role of security was isolated to a specific team in the final stage of development.

What’s the Difference Between DevOps and DevSecOps?

Both approaches have their advantages, but for companies handling sensitive data or operating in regulated industries, the added security of DevSecOps may be worth the extra effort. DevOps teams are responsible for developing and maintaining the software that makes up an organization’s IT infrastructure. In contrast, DevSecOps teams are responsible for ensuring the security of that same software. DevOps and DevSecOps are two strategies businesses use to achieve agile software development and streamline software pipelines.

BrowserStack provides several integrations with popular CI/CD tools that help implement DevOps. This includes tools such as Jira, Jenkins, TeamCity, Travis CI, and more. It also provides a cloud Selenium grid of 3000+ real browsers and devices for testing purposes. Additionally, in-built debugging tools let testers identify and resolve bugs immediately. Agile was focused on developer speed, and it succeeded, however, the conversation was always around the development, with operations and security being an afterthought. If fully embraced, DevOps leads to faster deployment times, fewer failures, and quicker recoveries.

DevOps vs. DevSecOps: Understanding the DifferenceRequest CNAPP Demo

Another aspect of transitioning to DevSecOps is to set up protections for applications running across distributed infrastructure rather than relying on a security perimeter. This implicit approach to security is easier to maintain in fast-growing and changing environments. A successful DevSecOps strategy requires teams to embrace new security tools and techniques rather than trying to combine traditional security methods with modern DevOps pipelines. The DevOps process must include security tools and controls from the beginning, adapting security to the CI/CD workflow.

Incorporating processes like testing and risk mitigation earlier in the workflow prevents the time-intensive and expensive consequences of addressing security breaches post-launch. DevOps focuses on improving the speed of releasing software by automating processes and optimizing collaboration between development and operations teams. This helps organizations create a continuous delivery pipeline to quickly deploy code into production with minimal risk. As such, it is typically focused on development or operations activities and has become synonymous with agile methodologies such as continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD).

What is the Difference Between DevOps and DevSecOps?

The software development approach, DevSecOps, is a variation of DevOps that incorporates security into every stage of the development process. In fact, security is a fundamental and continuous part of development and deployment. Security measures are incorporated directly into the development workflow to align development and security practices seamlessly. This eliminates the security bottleneck that often slows the efficiency of the DevOps approach.

DevOps teams share the same goals, tools, and key performance indicators. DevOps aims to facilitate shorter development cycles, allowing for frequent releases while maintaining the software’s quality, resilience, and predictability. When it comes to improving efficiencies and streamlining processes, DevOps and DevSecOps have a lot in common. Both prioritize automation in the development and deployment of software, allowing for quicker release cycles and more reliable code deployments. Ultimately, while DevOps and DevSecOps share some similarities, the emphasis on security sets DevSecOps apart as a more comprehensive approach to software development.

Key Differences between DevOps and DevSecOps

DevSecOps is widely considered to be the future of the DevOps organization—if you aren’t practicing it today, you probably will be. The fast organization transitions to a true DevSecOps model, the more they will be prepared to address evolving threats without compromising on agility and development velocity. Every time an internet-facing asset or component is created or changed, there is a risk that a vulnerability or misconfiguration could leave it vulnerable to attack.

• This is of particular importance as applications run on distributed, multi-cloud infrastructures and the IT perimeter continues to expand.
• Fortunately, DevSecOp’s emphasis on incorporating security at every stage is proving to be a more secure approach to development while meeting the velocity of today’s rapid release cycle.
• Security composition analysis is a security testing approach that scans and identifies security vulnerabilities, problematic OSS licenses, and more in open-source software application code.
• While standard DevOps workflows deliver tangible business value, they are also a significant source of risk.

Instead of forcing a solution on their team, teams can consider what’s best for them and their situation. They must view DevSecOps as an enhancement rather than a strict definition of all security operations. DevOps is more focused on the development and operations team, while DevSecOps is more focused on the security team. The DevOps vs. DevSecOps debate has recently been gaining more and more momentum in IT circles. However, these two concepts aren’t competitors; rather, they comprehend each other.

DevOps vs DevSecOps: What Do They Have in Common?

Ultimately, DevSecOps requires a stronger emphasis on proactive measures to prevent security breaches rather than reactive responses after a breach has occurred. While implementing DevSecOps may require additional resources and effort upfront, it can ultimately lead to a more secure overall product. As a result, in this battle of DevOps vs DevSecOps, DevSecOps is often seen as a more comprehensive approach to software development than DevOps. Thus, both approaches can be used to improve the efficiency and quality of software development. DevSecOps is an iteration of DevOps in the sense that DevSecOps has taken the DevOps model and wrapped security as an additional layer to the continual development and operations process.

SecOps is a methodology that aims to automate security tasks by combining security teams and ITOps teams together. By automating these mission critical tasks, security no longer starts once the security team gets a hold of the app—often an afterthought; rather, security is injected into the entire lifecycle of a product. Developers too often view security as a roadblock, especially if they jump into the process too late. It’s imperative to get teams on board with the concept of DevSecOps before making any changes in your process.

In this blog, we aim to provide insights on DevOps and DevSecOps, empowering you to make informed choices.

That wasn’t as problematic when development cycles lasted months or even years, but those days are over. Effective DevOps ensures rapid and frequent development cycles (sometimes weeks or days), but outdated security agile development devsecops practices can undo even the most efficient DevOps initiatives. DevOps teams tend to be more focused on the technical aspects of software development, while DevSecOps teams put a greater emphasis on security.