DevSecOps is a software development methodology that merges development (Dev), security (Sec) and operations (Ops) into one team that integrates security throughout the entire software development life cycle (SDLC). The goal is to deliver high-quality applications quickly and securely.
The traditional software development life cycle introduces security in the late phases of the SDLC. However, this approach cannot protect against sophisticated cybersecurity attacks. Today’s cybersecurity landscape requires shorter, frequent iterations to quickly patch and fix security issues. DevSecOps integrates security into the continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline to ensure teams can address pressing security issues at DevOps speed.
Many organizations are enthusiastically adopting DevSecOps but, in the process, discover they don’t have the necessary infrastructure. DevSecOps requires smooth global collaboration between teams and requires that security controls are built into the IT environment. This is where SASE comes in.
What is Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)?
Secure access service edge (SASE) is a network security model that provides network connectivity with security based on identity, real-time security context and corporate security policies. It is aligned with the zero-trust security paradigm, ensuring that connections are denied by default unless a verified identity has permission to access a specific application, service or edge location.
SASE unifies networking and security functions into one fully integrated service delivered in the cloud. SASE includes several technologies: software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB), next-generation firewall (NGFW) and zero-trust network access (ZTNA).
A key benefit of SASE is enhanced network security. SASE services enhance network security with a granular approach to network protection, detecting and blocking network attacks such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, phishing, email spoofing and malware with deep security scans.
Additional benefits of SASE include:
- Lower cost compared to traditional networks because SASE includes fewer on-premises hardware components and features previously purchased from multiple vendors.
- Easier maintenance because it provides one pane of glass that allows IT teams to manage all applications and users wherever they are.
Components of SASE
Cloud-access Security Broker (CASB)
CASB acts as a bridge between users/devices and cloud applications. It allows organizations to apply security policies, two-factor authentication and single sign-on to all cloud applications, preventing unauthorized devices and individuals from accessing sensitive assets and denying access by default.
Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA)
ZTNA ensures that users or devices have explicit permission to access applications or resources. It is a critical component of a zero-trust security architecture, ensuring that internal, private applications are hidden from users who should not have access to them. It also enables secure remote access through layered authentication. ZTNA provides flexible security to meet modern security requirements.
Software-Defined Wide-Area Networking (SD-WAN)
SD-WAN is a connectivity architecture that separates network hardware from the physical control layer. It improves network performance by enhancing and simplifying WAN performance and management. SD-WAN supports modern, cloud-based applications and services while reducing connectivity costs. Combining SD-WAN with advanced security features provides a foundation for enterprises to transition to SASE.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
SWG protects online devices from malware infection, enforces corporate security policies and filters unwanted websites in user-initiated internet traffic. SWG provides URL filtering, application control, DLP, antivirus, sandboxing and SSL inspection. All these capabilities protect users from harmful websites and enforce security policies while ensuring full web access and promoting productivity.
Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS)
FWaaS is a firewall solution delivered as a cloud-based service. It provides hyperscale next-generation firewall (NGFW) features, including web filtering, advanced threat protection (ATP), intrusion prevention systems (IPS) and domain name system (DNS) security. By integrating FWaaS into the SASE platform, organizations can provide a wide range of cybersecurity capabilities at the edge.
Centralized and Unified Management
The modern SASE platform enables IT administrators to manage SD-WAN, SWG, CASB, FWaaS and ZTNA with centralized, unified management across networks and environments. This allows IT team members to focus on more pressing areas and improves the user experience for the organization’s mixed workforce.
How SASE Will Impact DevSecOps and Security in Organizations
SASE can help secure internal interactions and applications. As a result, the burden on DevSecOps teams is reduced. DevOps teams can use zero-trust network access (ZTNA) to further secure the applications running on SD-WAN. These technologies keep all interactions between endpoints and applications secure.
The SASE model can also help protect mission-critical applications and sensitive data that cannot run on the public internet. To protect these assets, SASE obfuscates traffic, restricts access with a zero-trust architecture, and secures all network entry points with NGFW. It continuously evaluates application traffic for security threats.
Facilitating Collaboration
DevOps teams are focused on time-to-market and are constantly working to accelerate the CI/CD pipeline. They need to collaborate remotely over a reliable and secure connection. DevOps teams are also working to reduce their reliance on network and security teams. The SASE model helps address these problems.
SASE helps reduce collaboration issues by unifying WAN and network security. SASE solutions provide optimized performance and strong security, so DevOps teams don’t depend on infrastructure staff to provision resources. It gives teams full control over operations without compromising performance or security.
Providing Built-In Security
SASE offers the basic network security features required to secure a DevOps project. This allows teams to integrate different security mechanisms into their networking stack, with all security services sharing an integration context. This plugs the gaps in traditional security architecture often exploited by attackers and protects applications from threats.
Improving Incident Response
SASE can immediately block various attack vectors with security controls embedded in the network fabric, supporting the incident response team’s efforts. SASE increases visibility into behavioral anomalies and security incidents in a hybrid environment.
Integrating SASE solutions into a security information and event management (SIEM) system allows incident responders to gain greater visibility into traffic anomalies and the automated security actions taken by the SASE tools. SASE features like NGFW, SWG, IPS and anti-malware might already contain or eliminate many incidents.
Providing More Reliable Infrastructure
DevOps teams need fast, reliable application performance. SASE offers integrated load balancing and failover capabilities that can significantly improve the network’s overall performance.
The SASE architecture can connect all the edge devices, remote users, data centers and cloud resources to a secure, self-healing, fully optimized global network. If a circuit fails or the path becomes congested, the fabric can automatically switch to an alternate path.
Conclusion
In this article, I introduced DevSecOps and showed how SASE, a modern platform that provides fast network connectivity and security at the edge, can support its adoption. DevOps teams can use SASE security components to secure applications across on-premises data centers and clouds. SASE can encrypt and inspect traffic to protect it from threats, ensuring that workloads, users, and development systems are secure by default.
With SASE, DevSecOps teams have the infrastructure they need to secure the environment and can focus on integrating security tests and remediations into the development life cycle.
