Table of Contents

1. What is DevSecOps
2. Shift-Left Security
3. Security in the SDLC Phases
4. Security Culture and Collaboration
5. Making Security Easy and Accessible
6. DevSecOps Metrics and Measurement

What is DevSecOps

DevSecOps is the practice of integrating security into every phase of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), rather than treating it as a separate phase at the end. It extends the DevOps philosophy of collaboration and automation to include security as a shared responsibility across development, operations, and security teams.

Core Principles

1. Security as Code Treat security policies, configurations, and infrastructure as code that can be versioned, tested, and automated—just like application code.

Why it matters:

• Security becomes reproducible and testable
• Changes are tracked and auditable
• Policies can be reviewed like code
• Enables automation and consistency

2. Shift-Left Security Move security considerations earlier in the development process to catch issues when they’re cheaper and easier to fix.

Why it matters:

• Finding vulnerabilities during development is 10-100x cheaper than finding them in production
• Developers can fix issues while context is fresh
• Security influences design from the start
• Reduces risk of vulnerabilities reaching production

3. Continuous Security Integrate security checks into automated pipelines for ongoing validation throughout the development and deployment process.

Why it matters:

• Security validation happens automatically
• Fast feedback on security issues
• Consistent security standards
• No manual security bottlenecks

4. Shared Responsibility Security is everyone’s job, not just the security team’s. Developers, operations, and security collaborate on security outcomes.

Why it matters:

• Security team can’t review everything
• Developers understand the code best
• Shared ownership improves outcomes
• Builds security awareness across teams

5. Automation First Automate security testing, scanning, and compliance checks wherever possible to provide fast feedback without slowing delivery.

Why it matters:

• Manual security reviews don’t scale
• Automation provides consistent results
• Fast feedback enables rapid iteration
• Frees security experts for complex work

DevSecOps vs. Traditional Security

Traditional Security Approach:

Plan → Design → Develop → Test → Security Review → Deploy
                                      ↑
                              Security is a gate here
                              - Manual reviews
                              - Delays releases
                              - Late-stage findings
                              - Security vs. Speed tradeoff

DevSecOps Approach:

Plan → Design → Develop → Test → Deploy
  ↓      ↓        ↓        ↓       ↓
Security integrated at every phase
- Threat modeling in planning
- Security design reviews
- Automated security scans
- Security tests in CI/CD
- Continuous monitoring

Why DevSecOps Matters

Early Detection:

• Finding vulnerabilities during development is exponentially cheaper than finding them in production
• Developer context is fresh, making fixes easier
• Prevents security debt from accumulating

Faster Delivery:

• Automated security checks don’t slow down deployment pipelines
• No waiting for manual security reviews
• Security validation happens in parallel with other checks

Reduced Risk:

• Continuous security validation reduces the attack surface
• Fewer vulnerabilities reach production
• Faster response to emerging threats

Better Compliance:

• Automated compliance checking makes audits easier
• Continuous evidence collection
• Clear audit trails through version control

Security Culture:

• Embedding security in workflows builds security awareness
• Developers gain security skills
• Security becomes part of “done”
• Less adversarial relationship between security and development teams

Shift-Left Security

Shift-left security means moving security practices earlier (to the “left”) in the development timeline, rather than treating security as a gate at the end.

The Shift-Left Mindset

Traditional approach: Security is something the security team does at the end.

Shift-left approach: Security considerations are integrated from the very beginning, with every team member playing a role.

Security at Each SDLC Phase

During Planning & Requirements:

Security activities:

• Include security requirements alongside functional requirements
• Conduct initial threat modeling to identify potential attack vectors
• Perform privacy impact assessments
• Identify compliance and regulatory requirements early
• Define security acceptance criteria

Who’s involved:

• Product managers define security requirements
• Architects identify security concerns
• Security team provides guidance and frameworks
• Developers understand what needs to be built securely

Outcomes:

• Security is part of the definition of “done”
• Risks identified before design begins
• Clear security requirements documented

During Design & Architecture:

Security activities:

• Security architecture review of proposed design
• Detailed threat modeling using frameworks like STRIDE or PASTA
• Design authentication and authorization flows
• Define trust boundaries and data flow diagrams
• Select appropriate security controls and frameworks
• Plan for secure configuration management

Who’s involved:

• Architects lead security design
• Security team reviews and approves
• Developers understand security architecture
• Operations plans security monitoring

Outcomes:

• Security is architected into the system, not bolted on
• Threat model documents attack surface and mitigations
• Clear understanding of security controls needed

During Development & Implementation:

Security activities:

• Follow secure coding standards (OWASP guidelines, language-specific best practices)
• Use IDE security plugins for real-time feedback (SonarLint, Snyk, etc.)
• Implement pre-commit hooks for secret detection
• Conduct security-focused code reviews
• Write security unit tests for security controls
• Integrate SAST (Static Application Security Testing) in CI pipeline

Who’s involved:

• Developers write secure code
• Peer reviewers check for security issues
• Automated tools provide continuous feedback
• Security champions assist team members

Outcomes:

• Security issues caught during coding
• Developers learn secure coding practices
• Fast feedback loop (minutes/hours, not weeks)

During Testing & Quality Assurance:

Security activities:

• Run DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) against running applications
• Perform SCA (Software Composition Analysis) for dependency vulnerabilities
• Test security controls (authentication, authorization, input validation)
• Conduct security regression testing
• Test for OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities
• Perform targeted penetration testing

Who’s involved:

• QA engineers run security tests
• Automated scanners run continuously
• Security team conducts penetration tests
• Developers fix identified issues

Outcomes:

• Security validation before deployment
• Vulnerabilities found and fixed in pre-production
• Evidence of security testing for compliance

During Deployment & Release:

Security activities:

• Secure configuration management (no hardcoded secrets)
• Infrastructure security scanning
• Container image scanning
• Deployment security validation
• Security monitoring and alerting setup
• Final security sign-off (for high-risk releases)

Who’s involved:

• Operations ensures secure deployment
• Automated scanners validate configuration
• Security team reviews deployment plan
• SRE sets up monitoring

Outcomes:

• Secure deployment configuration
• Monitoring in place from day one
• Rollback plan ready if issues occur

During Operations & Maintenance:

Security activities:

• Continuous vulnerability scanning
• Security monitoring and alerting
• Incident response and remediation
• Patch management
• Security log analysis
• Regular security assessments

Who’s involved:

• Operations monitors security
• Security team responds to incidents
• Developers deploy security patches
• SRE maintains security infrastructure

Outcomes:

• Ongoing security validation
• Fast response to security incidents
• Continuous improvement of security posture

Benefits of Shift-Left Security

Lower Cost:

• Fixing a vulnerability during development costs far less than fixing it in production
• Industry estimates: 10-100x cost difference depending on the phase
• Less rework and fewer emergency patches

Faster Remediation:

• Developers fix issues while the code is fresh in their minds
• Immediate feedback from automated tools
• No waiting weeks for security review results

Better Design:

• Security considerations influence architecture from the start
• Threat modeling reveals design flaws before implementation
• Prevents building systems with fundamental security weaknesses

Reduced Risk:

• Fewer vulnerabilities make it to production
• Smaller attack surface
• Better security outcomes overall

Developer Empowerment:

• Developers gain security skills and knowledge
• Security champions emerge within teams
• Shared ownership improves quality
• Less adversarial relationship with security team

Faster Time to Market:

• No waiting for end-of-cycle security reviews
• Security checks happen in parallel with development
• Automated security validation doesn’t slow down deployments

Security in the SDLC Phases

This section provides a detailed view of security activities, deliverables, and responsibilities at each phase of the SDLC.

1. Planning & Requirements

Security Activities:

• Conduct initial threat modeling
• Define security requirements (authentication, authorization, encryption, etc.)
• Identify compliance and regulatory requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, etc.)
• Assess data sensitivity and classification
• Define security acceptance criteria
• Estimate security effort and resources

Key Questions:

• What sensitive data will we handle?
• What are the regulatory requirements?
• What are the top security risks?
• What security controls are required?
• How will we know we’re secure enough?

Deliverables:

• Security requirements document
• Initial threat model
• Compliance checklist
• Data classification matrix
• Security acceptance criteria

Collaboration:

• Product managers and security work together on requirements
• Architects provide early input on security design
• Compliance team identifies regulatory needs

2. Design & Architecture

Security Activities:

• Detailed threat modeling using frameworks like STRIDE or PASTA
• Security architecture review and approval
• Design authentication and authorization flows
• Define trust boundaries and data flow diagrams
• Select security controls and frameworks
• Plan for secure configuration management
• Design security monitoring and logging

Key Questions:

• What are all possible attack vectors?
• Where are the trust boundaries?
• How will users authenticate and what will they be authorized to do?
• How will sensitive data be protected?
• What security frameworks/libraries will we use?
• How will we detect and respond to security incidents?

Deliverables:

• Threat model documentation
• Security architecture diagrams
• Authentication/authorization design
• Security control selection rationale
• Data flow diagrams with trust boundaries

Collaboration:

• Architects lead design with security team input
• Security team reviews and approves architecture
• Development team understands security architecture
• Operations plans monitoring and incident response

3. Development & Implementation

Security Activities:

• Follow secure coding standards (OWASP guidelines, language-specific best practices)
• Use IDE security plugins for real-time feedback
• Implement pre-commit hooks for secret detection
• Conduct security-focused code reviews
• Write security unit tests
• Integrate SAST (Static Application Security Testing) in CI pipeline
• Implement security controls as designed

Key Questions:

• Are we following secure coding standards?
• Are secrets properly managed (not hardcoded)?
• Are inputs validated and outputs encoded?
• Are security controls implemented correctly?
• Do we have tests for security functionality?

Deliverables:

• Secure code following standards
• Security unit tests with good coverage
• Code review records
• SAST scan results and remediation records
• Security controls implementation

Collaboration:

• Developers write secure code with automated tool feedback
• Security champions provide guidance to team
• Peer reviewers check for security issues
• Security team provides secure coding training

4. Testing & Quality Assurance

Security Activities:

• Run DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)
• Perform SCA (Software Composition Analysis) for dependency vulnerabilities
• Conduct penetration testing
• Test security controls (authentication, authorization, input validation)
• Perform security regression testing
• Test for OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities
• Verify compliance with security requirements

Key Questions:

• Does the running application have vulnerabilities?
• Are our dependencies secure?
• Do security controls work as designed?
• Can we penetrate our own defenses?
• Have we tested all security requirements?

Deliverables:

• DAST and SCA scan results
• Penetration test reports
• Security test coverage metrics
• Vulnerability remediation records
• Security requirements verification

Collaboration:

• QA engineers execute security tests
• Automated scanners run continuously
• Security team conducts penetration testing
• Developers prioritize and fix findings

5. Deployment & Release

Security Activities:

• Secure configuration management
• Secrets management (rotate, never hardcode)
• Infrastructure security scanning
• Container image scanning
• Deployment security validation
• Security monitoring and alerting setup
• Security runbooks and incident response plans

Key Questions:

• Are all configurations secure?
• Are secrets properly managed?
• Are container images free of vulnerabilities?
• Is security monitoring in place?
• Do we have incident response plans?

Deliverables:

• Secure deployment scripts and configurations
• Configuration baselines
• Security monitoring dashboards
• Incident response runbooks
• Deployment security checklist

Collaboration:

• Operations ensures secure deployment
• Security team validates deployment security
• Developers provide security monitoring requirements
• SRE sets up monitoring and alerting

6. Operations & Maintenance

Security Activities:

• Continuous vulnerability scanning
• Security monitoring and alerting
• Incident response and remediation
• Patch management and updates
• Security log analysis
• Regular security assessments and audits
• Threat intelligence monitoring

Key Questions:

• Are new vulnerabilities affecting us?
• Are we being attacked?
• Are we compliant with security policies?
• Do we need to patch or update?
• What’s our current security posture?

Deliverables:

• Security monitoring reports
• Incident response records
• Patch management logs
• Periodic security assessment results
• Security posture dashboards

Collaboration:

• Operations monitors and maintains security
• Security team responds to incidents
• Developers deploy security patches quickly
• SRE maintains security infrastructure

Security Culture and Collaboration

Building a Security-Aware Culture

DevSecOps is as much about culture as it is about tools and processes. Creating a culture where security is valued and practiced requires intentional effort.

Security Training and Education

Developer Security Training:

Onboarding training:

• Secure coding fundamentals for all new developers
• Overview of security policies and standards
• Introduction to security tools and processes
• OWASP Top 10 awareness

Ongoing training:

• Regular security workshops and lunch-and-learns
• Secure coding bootcamps for specific technologies
• Participation in security CTFs (Capture the Flag) and challenges
• Security conference attendance and knowledge sharing

Role-specific training:

• Frontend developers: XSS, CSRF, client-side security
• Backend developers: SQL injection, authentication, authorization
• DevOps engineers: Infrastructure security, secrets management
• Architects: Threat modeling, security architecture

Hands-on learning:

• Internal security challenges
• Bug bounty programs (internal or external)
• Security code reviews as learning opportunities
• Pair programming with security champions

Security Champions Program

What it is: Identify and empower security champions within development teams—developers who have extra security training and advocate for security in their teams.

Benefits:

• Scales security expertise across the organization
• Security champions understand both development and security
• Reduces bottlenecks on security team
• Improves security outcomes through peer influence
• Builds security awareness organically

How to implement:

1. Identify champions:

• Volunteers interested in security
• Developers with natural security inclination
• Representation from each team

2. Provide advanced training:

• Deep-dive security training
• Threat modeling workshops
• Security tool training
• Access to security team for mentorship

3. Define responsibilities:

• First point of contact for security questions
• Lead security discussions in team meetings
• Review security-sensitive code changes
• Stay current on security trends
• Share knowledge with team

4. Support and empower:

• Regular security champion meetings
• Direct line to security team
• Time allocated for security activities
• Recognition for security contributions

5. Measure success:

• Security issues found and fixed by champions
• Security awareness in teams with champions
• Champion satisfaction and engagement

Blameless Security Culture

Blameless Incident Reviews:

When security incidents occur, focus on learning and improvement rather than blaming individuals.

Process:

1. Document what happened:
   • Timeline of events
   • Root cause analysis
   • Contributing factors
2. Ask “why” not “who”:
   • Why did the vulnerability exist?
   • Why wasn’t it caught earlier?
   • Why did detection take so long?
3. Identify systemic improvements:
   • What processes failed?
   • What tools could help?
   • What training is needed?
4. Share lessons learned:
   • Document findings
   • Share across organization
   • Update procedures and training

Benefits:

• Encourages reporting of security issues
• Focuses on systemic fixes, not individual blame
• Reduces fear of bringing up security concerns
• Improves security posture over time

Creating Psychological Safety:

• Reward developers for finding and reporting security issues
• Celebrate security improvements
• Never punish honest mistakes
• Encourage questions about security
• Make security concerns safe to raise

Collaboration Models

Embedded Security:

• Security engineers embedded in development teams
• Close collaboration on daily basis
• Security expertise readily available
• Better understanding of team context

Security as a Service:

• Central security team provides services to dev teams
• Self-service security tools and documentation
• Consultative relationship
• Security team focuses on high-value activities

Guild/Community of Practice:

• Security champions from different teams meet regularly
• Share knowledge and best practices
• Discuss security challenges and solutions
• Build community around security

Effective Communication

Making Security Accessible:

• Avoid security jargon when possible
• Explain security findings in developer terms
• Provide actionable remediation guidance
• Prioritize security issues clearly (critical vs. informational)

Positive Security Messaging:

• Frame security as enabling, not blocking
• “Here’s how to do it securely” instead of “you can’t do that”
• Celebrate security wins, not just failures
• Recognize teams with good security practices

Making Security Easy and Accessible

One of the key tenets of DevSecOps is that security should be easy to do correctly. If secure practices are difficult or time-consuming, developers will find workarounds.

Provide Secure Defaults

Security-Hardened Templates:

• Pre-configured project templates with security baked in
• Secure framework configurations
• Authentication/authorization modules ready to use
• Standard security headers configured

Example secure defaults:

• Web frameworks with CSRF protection enabled
• API projects with authentication required by default
• Database connections using encrypted connections
• Logging configured to avoid logging sensitive data

Benefits:

• Developers start with security, not without it
• Reduces chance of misconfiguration
• Lowers cognitive load on developers
• Consistent security posture across projects

Paved Roads

What it is: Provide well-supported, easy-to-use paths for common development tasks that include security by default.

Examples:

• Standard CI/CD pipeline templates with security scanning
• Approved libraries and frameworks
• Standard deployment patterns
• Pre-configured infrastructure as code modules

Characteristics of good paved roads:

• Easy to use (easier than doing it yourself)
• Well-documented
• Maintained and supported
• Flexible enough for most use cases
• Security built in, not bolted on

Benefits:

• Developers naturally choose secure options
• Reduces security team workload
• Consistent security practices
• Faster development (reuse vs. build)

Self-Service Security

Empower developers to:

• Run security scans on-demand
• Access security documentation and training
• Request security reviews when needed
• Get answers to security questions

Self-service tools:

• Security scanning in CI/CD (automatic)
• Security dashboards showing current posture
• Documentation portal with secure coding guides
• Chatbot or FAQ for common security questions
• Security issue tracking with clear priorities

Benefits:

• Reduces waiting for security team
• Faster feedback and remediation
• Developers take ownership of security
• Security team focuses on complex issues

Reduce Friction

Automate security checks:

• Automated security scanning in CI/CD
• Pre-commit hooks catch issues before commit
• Automated dependency updates (Dependabot, Renovate)
• Automatic secret scanning

Provide fast feedback:

• Security scans complete in < 10 minutes
• Clear, actionable findings
• Links to remediation guidance
• Prioritized by severity

Integrate into existing workflows:

• Security tools in IDE (real-time feedback)
• Security checks in pull requests
• Security findings in issue tracker
• Security metrics in team dashboards

Don’t slow down development:

• Non-blocking security checks for low/medium issues
• Block only on critical/high security issues
• Option to override with justification
• Clear escalation path for urgent deployments

Celebrate Security Wins

Recognition:

• Recognize developers who find and fix vulnerabilities
• Highlight security improvements in team meetings
• Share success stories across the organization
• Security awards or acknowledgments

Gamification:

• Security scoreboards (in a positive way)
• Security challenges and CTFs
• Badges for security achievements
• Bug bounty programs (internal or external)

Make it visible:

• Security dashboards showing improvement
• Metrics on security debt reduction
• “Security Champion of the Month”
• Case studies of security successes

DevSecOps Metrics and Measurement

Key Metrics

Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR):

• How long from vulnerability discovery to fix deployed
• Measures speed of security response
• Track separately for different severity levels
• Goal: Minimize MTTR, especially for critical issues

Vulnerability Escape Rate:

• Percentage of vulnerabilities found in production vs. pre-production
• Measures effectiveness of shift-left security
• Goal: Most vulnerabilities found in dev/test, not production

Security Debt:

• Number of open security issues by severity
• Age of open security issues
• Trend over time (increasing or decreasing)
• Goal: Decreasing security debt over time

Test Coverage:

• Percentage of code covered by security tests
• Security requirements with automated tests
• Goal: High coverage of security-critical code

Security Scan Adoption:

• Percentage of projects with SAST enabled
• Percentage of projects with dependency scanning
• Percentage of pipelines with security gates
• Goal: 100% coverage for production systems

Developer Security Training:

• Percentage of developers with security training
• Frequency of security training
• Security awareness assessment scores
• Goal: All developers trained, regular refreshers

Security Champion Engagement:

• Number of active security champions
• Security champion activities (reviews, trainings, etc.)
• Developer satisfaction with security support
• Goal: Active champions in every team

Leading vs. Lagging Indicators

Leading Indicators (Predictive):

• Number of security scans run
• Developer security training completion
• Security issues found in development
• Security champion engagement

Lagging Indicators (Retrospective):

• Production security incidents
• Time to remediate vulnerabilities
• Vulnerabilities found in production
• Compliance audit results

Use both:

• Leading indicators help you improve proactively
• Lagging indicators show actual security outcomes
• Track trends over time to measure improvement

Avoiding Metric Pitfalls

Don’t:

• Use metrics punitively (creates fear and gaming)
• Focus only on quantity (encourage quality too)
• Compare teams publicly (creates competition, not collaboration)
• Set unrealistic targets (demotivates teams)

Do:

• Use metrics for learning and improvement
• Track trends, not just point-in-time values
• Celebrate improvements
• Involve teams in defining and tracking metrics
• Focus on outcomes, not just outputs

Resources

DevSecOps Frameworks and Standards

• DevSecOps Manifesto - Core principles and philosophy
• OWASP SAMM (Software Assurance Maturity Model) - Security maturity framework
• NIST SSDF (Secure Software Development Framework) - Secure development practices

CI/CD Security Implementation

• CI/CD Guide - Detailed guide on implementing security in CI/CD pipelines

Security Training

• OWASP Top 10 - Most critical web application security risks
• OWASP Cheat Sheet Series - Secure development guidance
• SANS Secure Coding - Comprehensive secure coding training

Books

• The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim - DevOps novel with security themes
• Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren et al. - Research on DevOps and security practices
• The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim - DevOps and security culture

Community

• OWASP - Open Web Application Security Project
• DevSecOps Community - Forums and discussions
• Cloud Security Alliance - Cloud security best practices