How to Establish a DevSecOps Team and Process for Your SMB
In today’s fast-paced digital environment, security can no longer be an afterthought. For small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking to stay competitive and secure, integrating security into every phase of the development process is essential. This is where DevSecOps comes in—a practice that unifies development, security, and operations into a seamless workflow. If your SMB hasn’t established a DevSecOps process before, this guide will walk you through the steps to create a DevSecOps team and process, ensuring your business is both agile and secure.
Step 1: Understand the DevSecOps Mindset
Educate Your Team: Start by educating your development, security, and operations teams about the DevSecOps philosophy. A DevSecOps philosophy can be a cultural change that positively impacts an organization.
DevSecOps is a software development philosophy that integrates security into every stage of the software development process. The philosophy emphasizes collaboration and communication between developers, security specialists, and operations teams. The goal is to build software that is both efficient and secure.
DevSecOps embeds security into every stage of the development process, ensuring that vulnerabilities are caught early rather than as an afterthought. One immediate benefit that is noticeable is a reduction in security vulnerabilities as the team begins to consider security from the outset. This is through the establishment of security gateways in the CI/CD pipeline and feedback loops that allow for teams to address vulnerabilities on a continuous basis instead of only after pushing to production.
This mindset shift is critical and can take time to evolve within companies of any size. A security-first culture leads to more robust, resilient applications and systems, and reduces the risk of costly breaches. Everyone involved in the software lifecycle must understand that security is not just the responsibility of the security team but is shared across the entire company.
Step 2: Build a Cross-Functional Team
Assemble the Team: If hiring a DevSec Ops full-time employee is not feasible, it is possible to create a cross-functional DevSecOps team that includes members from development, security, and operations. Each member can bring their expertise to the table, working together to integrate security into every phase of the development process. By utilizing diverse expertise, your team can address potential security issues from multiple angles, leading to more comprehensive solutions. Additionally, the enhanced collaboration and communication between departments can lead to quicker identification and resolution of security issues.
Assign Roles and Responsibilities: Clearly define the roles of each team member, ensuring that everyone understands their specific responsibilities within the DevSecOps framework. A unified approach to secure development reduces silos, leading to more efficient processes and a stronger security posture.
Step 3: Integrate Security Tools into Your CI/CD Pipeline
What to Do:
Select Security Tools: Most development teams have their preferred security tools of choice, and if not, want the ability to choose the automated security tools that can integrate with their existing processes (e.g., Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline). Enabling teams to identify and procure tools like static code analysis, vulnerability scanning, and container security further fosters a collaborative environment. The immediate detection of vulnerabilities by these tools allows for quick remediation and reduces the time and resources (i.e., money) spent fixing issues later in the development cycle.
Automate Security Testing: Implementing automated security tests at every stage of the CI/CD pipeline and providing feedback loops to developers ensures that vulnerabilities are caught early and often, preventing them from making it into production. This includes running security checks during code commits, build processes, and deployment stages. Furthermore, establishing a robust, automated security framework that will scale as your business grows ensures ongoing protection as development velocity increases.
Step 4: Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Conduct Regular Reviews: Hold regular retrospectives and post-mortems to assess the effectiveness of your DevSecOps practices. Encourage open feedback and continuous learning. This allows for immediate enhancements in processes and tools that address current security challenges, enabling innovation to continue.
Update and Improve Processes: The threat landscape is constantly evolving, so DevSecOps practices must evolve as well. Continuous improvement ensures that security measures remain effective. Use insights gained from reviews to refine processes, tools, and team collaboration. Make it a priority to stay updated with the latest security trends and incorporate them into your practices because a proactive security posture leads to sustained security and operational efficiency.
Step 5: Implement Continuous Monitoring and Incident Response
Set Up Monitoring Tools: Implement continuous monitoring tools that provide real-time visibility into your systems, applications, and networks. These tools should be able to detect anomalies and potential security incidents. Knowing which systems and applications are critical to your business is important when implementing monitoring tools. Ingesting logs can become very expensive, very quickly. Understanding where the ‘keys to kingdom’ are stored, which systems and applications are vital for continued operations (business continuity), and what contains employee and customer sensitive information is a great place to start when it comes to establishing use cases for monitoring tools.
Develop an Incident Response Plan: Create and regularly update an incident response plan that outlines the steps your team should take in the event of a security breach. An incident response plan ensures that teams can act quickly and effectively when a security incident occurs.
Step 6: Invest in Training and Development
Provide Ongoing Training: Regularly train your developers, engineers, and DevSecOps team on the latest security practices, tools, and threat intelligence. When establishing a training program, tailor the content to what matters to the audience. Target teams with training specific to the coding languages they are using and the threats that face their product line (s). Doing so will demonstrate to those teams that the security training is relevant and understood by the company. Also, encourage certifications and continuous education; there are a lot of free resources and training courses available. The attack surface rapidly changes for most companies, and continuous education is essential to stay ahead of new threats.
Promote Security Awareness: Extend security training to all employees, ensuring that everyone in the organization understands their role in maintaining security. This can include phishing awareness training, basic online safety such as password strength and Multi-factor Authentication (MFA), and how to respond to an incident. Having a highly skilled, security-aware workforce strengthens the overall security posture of your business.
Step 7: Measure Success and Adjust as Needed
Define Key Metrics: Establish and reporting key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the success of DevSecOps initiatives allows the team and other stakeholders to see the ROI. Metrics such as the number of vulnerabilities detected and remediated, mean time to resolution, and deployment frequency are a great way to start. Once there is a proven process in place, including metrics like SLA adherence for remediation is another easy reporting win.
Regularly Review Metrics: Metrics provide a clear picture of how well the DevSecOps practices are working and where improvements may be needed. Continuously tracking and reviewing metrics in order to assess the effectiveness of your DevSecOps practices should be included.
Make Data-Driven Adjustments: A data-driven approach to security that evolves with your business can lead to sustained security and operational efficiency and reduce overall costs of development.
Conclusion
Establishing a DevSecOps team and process in your SMB may seem daunting, but by following these steps, companies can create a secure, agile, and resilient environment that protects your business from cyber threats.
The benefits are clear: in the short term, you’ll reduce vulnerabilities and improve collaboration; in the long term, you’ll build a culture of continuous improvement that keeps your business secure as it grows. By integrating security into every phase of development, you’re not just protecting your business—you’re positioning it for sustained success in an increasingly digital world. Start small, build the team, and watch as the DevSecOps practices transform your approach to security and development going forward.
