DevSecOps Brief for Executives

November 4, 2021 at 11:22

If you found yourself here, you have most likely heard of the term ‘DevSecOps’ and are trying to work out what that means for your organization. In this blog, I will provide you with a clear overview of DevSecOps and how it can serve you as a business enabler. 

DevSecOps Demystified 

DevSecOps definition is not a simple one. Here’s a practical view: DevSecOps is an umbrella of actions, methods, technologies, and processes that integrates security in a consistent and highly automated way throughout the entire process of software development.  

As digitalization investments open new revenue streams and even completely new markets, the pace for digital solutions development is getting faster due to Go-To-Market requirements. Additionally, society becomes increasingly dependent on digital solutions as well as connected smart products, which have led to: 

  • Increased country and industry-specific cybersecurity regulations and legislations 

  • Revamped risk management principles to secure new revenue streams and minimize possible financial and PR-related consequences associated with security breaches 

  • Tightened customer cybersecurity requirements, as end-customers mature in their own cybersecurity journey  

In summary, the fast development pace of mission-critical innovations, combined with growing compliance requirements and increased customer awareness, are the main drivers for cybersecurity implementation in product development processes.

DevSecOps Brief for Executives

 

DevSecOps as a Business Enabler

Successful DevSecOps enhances the natural adoption of security practices in product development processes and is supported by a high degree of security automation, making security in R&D scalable. DevSecOps addresses all major phases of product development; Design, Development, Verification, and Maintenance. Development teams will be able to altogether avoid critical security flaws that are often expensive to remediate afterward. Additionally, automated security testing capabilities will discover potential vulnerabilities at the earliest stages of a lifecycle, resulting in minimized vulnerabilities in production.  

 The main benefits of DevSecOps are: 

  • Enabling compliance with most cybersecurity standards 

  • Cost-saving, since adding security as an afterthought, can be a long and highly expensive process.  

  • Minimized risk of getting breached 

  • Complete visibility and control of product security health throughout its lifecycle 

  • Generated trust through compliance

These benefits translate easily into business values. For example, take a company that is certified for the IEC 62443-4-1, a standard, that outlines secure product development lifecycle requirements. Providing a market-accepted certificate that verifies your security efforts in product development, will certainly increase trust for your customers, compared to having your security team convincing customers.  

Industry leaders such as Apple, have started to emphasize user privacy and data control features, along with device security features in their public product release announcements. This reassures the consumer and makes Apple a trusted brand for its clientele. 

So, can you leverage cybersecurity investments to grow your business? Definitely! People and companies care about their data, identity, and safety. For this reason, cybersecurity in product development is becoming mandatory in most industries over the next three years. Instead of thinking of cybersecurity as a must, consider secure, connected products and digital services as a business enabler. At the end of the day, business relationships require trust. 

Want to learn how Nixu can help you to adopt a scalable DevSecOps approach in a lean manner? Contact us!  

Find the latest updates and insights on our new DevSecOps site!

 

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