DevOps and security don’t have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, DevOps principles can help you streamline your security testing processes and catch any potential vulnerabilities before they go live. But only if you understand how to integrate security testing into your CI/CD workflow. Otherwise, you risk red tape slowing down the progress of your app until it’s fixed and ready for release again. Security testing is a necessary part of any software development process. You can’t release code that contains bugs or security holes until customers find out about them, unless you want to be the laughing stock of the entire internet. However, integrating security testing into your CI/CD workflow isn’t straightforward. Luckily, we have just the article for you if you need some pointers on how to implement security testing in your DevOps workflow.
What is DevOps and why is it so important?
DevOps is more than just a buzzword. It’s a methodology for integrating software development, operations, and quality assurance into one streamlined workflow. Essentially, it’s a way to make sure that all processes within a software company are working together seamlessly and efficiently. That means that no team member should be working in silos. Operations and developers should be working closely together to make sure that code is secure, scalable, and effective. Similarly, QA has to work closely with developers to prevent security testing issues. No one wants a bad build on their hands when they could have prevented it with a little extra testing!
The importance of integrating security testing
All too often, security testing is treated as an afterthought. Your developers write code, throw it over the fence to QA, and then somehow magically end up with a secure product in the end. Meanwhile, your QA team is frantically trying to test for all potential vulnerabilities and reporting bugs as fast as they can. This is a recipe for disaster. It’s difficult to test for security issues while also making sure that your app works as expected. QA teams are already trying to do too much with too few resources, and security testing is usually the first thing to get cut. Integrating security testing into your CI/CD workflow makes it easier to prioritise security testing. It also gives everyone involved in the process a heads up about potential issues, so they can be fixed before the app gets deployed.
How does CI/CD help with security testing?
Integrating security testing into your CI/CD workflow makes it easier to prioritise security testing. It also gives everyone involved in the process a heads up about potential issues, so they can be fixed before the app gets deployed. If your CI/CD workflow includes automated tests, then security testing becomes easier. You can just write a test that looks for common vulnerabilities, like SQL injections, and then fail the build if there are any issues. Similarly, a CI/CD workflow makes it easy to deploy a new version of your app every time a security test fails. That way, if you find an issue, you can fix it, test it, and then deploy a new version of the app with the fix.
Security testing tools you can use in your DevOps workflow
Now that we’ve covered the basics of integrating security testing into your CI/CD workflow, let’s talk about some of the security testing tools that you can use to do the job. - OWASP ZAP - ZAP or the Zed Attack Proxy is an open source security scanner that you can use to look for common vulnerabilities. It’s not limited to just web apps, either. You can use it to test for security issues with IoT devices, mobile apps, and more. - Selenium - Selenium is a generic automated tool that allows you to test for all kinds of issues, including security. You can use it to create tests to look for things like broken links, incorrect content, and other issues that could impact the user experience. - SSL/TLS Test - SSL/TLS Test is a free online tool that allows you to test the strength of your SSL/TLS settings. It’s a good idea to do this regularly to make sure that your SSL/TLS settings are strong enough to keep you safe from cybercriminals.
Wrap Up!
Security testing is an essential part of any CI/CD workflow. However, it’s difficult to implement if you don’t know how to integrate it into your process. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to streamline the process, thanks to open source tools like ZAP and Selenium.