- Introduction
- Overview of Security Compliance Checks
- Advantages of Automating Security Compliance Checks
- Approaches to Automating Security Compliance Checks
- Conclusion
Introduction
As organizations continue to develop software applications, keeping up with security and compliance requirements remains a challenge. Security compliance checks must be identified, tracked, and monitored through the lifecycle of an application, from development to deployment.
Recent advancements in automation technologies, such as continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, have given organizations more control over their software development and deployment process. By including security compliance checks into a CI/CD pipeline, organizations can streamline the process of identifying, tracking, and monitoring security compliance issues.
In this white paper, we will discuss the advantages of automating security compliance checks in a CI/CD pipeline, and explore the various approaches organizations can take to accomplish this.
Overview of Security Compliance Checks
In order to protect sensitive data and maintain a secure environment, organizations must adhere to a set of security compliance standards. These standards require organizations to create, implement, and enforce security policies, procedures, and controls.
The most common security compliance checks are vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. Vulnerability scanning identifies weaknesses in systems and applications, such as known vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, so that the organization can take corrective action. Penetration testing uses automated tools and manual techniques to test the security of applications and uncover security flaws that may not be detected through vulnerability scanning.
Advantages of Automating Security Compliance Checks
Organizations can reap many benefits from automating security compliance checks in a CI/CD pipeline. Automation provides a number of advantages over manual approaches, such as:
• Faster feedback: Automated security compliance checks can be run anytime a change is made in the software, allowing organizations to identify and address any issues quickly.
• Increased visibility: Automation provides organizations with more visibility into the security of their applications, allowing them to more easily monitor their compliance status.
• Reduced costs: Automation reduces the time and resources needed to manually check for security compliance issues.
• Improved accuracy: Automation can reduce the risk of human error, ensuring that security compliance checks are being performed consistently and accurately.
Approaches to Automating Security Compliance Checks
Organizations can approach automating security compliance checks in a few different ways.
• A fully automated pipeline: Organizations can set up a fully automated pipeline, where all security compliance checks are automated and run on a regular basis.
• Automated checks with manual reviews: Organizations can set up a partially automated pipeline, where security compliance checks are automated, but the results are then manually reviewed by the security team to ensure the checks are accurate.
• Periodically automated checks: Organizations can periodically run security compliance checks in their CI/CD pipeline on a regular basis, such as weekly or monthly.
Conclusion
Automating security compliance checks in a CI/CD pipeline is a great way for organizations to ensure their software applications are secure and compliant. Automation provides numerous benefits over manual approaches, such as faster feedback, increased visibility, reduced costs, and improved accuracy. Organizations can approach automating security compliance checks in a few different ways, such as setting up a fully automated pipeline, automating checks with manual reviews, or periodically automated checks.