SecOpsJan Kahmen6 min read

What is the difference between DevOps and DevSecOps?

We live in a world of technology, and with each coming day, the IT culture is at the edge of innovation. Either it is innovations in Artificial intelligence, machine learning, application security protocols, or software development methodologies; everything is at a pace of vigorous changing.

The Software development professionals used to rely on the waterfall methodology, but then came a time when all of them agreed to move to Agile Methodology. The agile methods introduced the collaborative and cyclical development process.
Most software development professionals now choose agile methodology during the software development process. Development methodologies like DevOps, SecOps, or DevSecOps use the agile framework for different purposes.
In DevOps, the time is prioritized, while in SecOps, the only security is prioritized. The DevSecOps balances both time and security. Let's walk through these methodologies for better understanding.

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Table of Content

What is DevOps?

DevOps = Development + Operations
DevOps have taken place as a forward force in many forward-thinking organizations. And before jumping into any detail, let's break down the name first. The first part Dev. is driven from development (which represents software development), while the other part says Ops, which means information technology operations.
The DevOps are the critical shift in thinking of many IT teams that prioritize specialization over communication. DevOps' idea is born from the need to deliver services and software to the market more quickly. With minimum calls for revision, it enables continuous collaboration, communication, integration, and automation. Throughout the development process until the delivery, the developers are in control of production infrastructure and finally prioritizing delivery over any other object. Continuous testing and automation are essential to DevOps implementation. DevOps methodology is transforming the organizations focusing on "shifting left" to deliver more applications speedily with less downtime.
DevOps include:
Continuous Deployment: this means automating project deliveries
Continuous Delivery: Continuous integration but the main focus in the product delivery
Continuous integration: where the building, integration, coding, and testing process are carried out

What is SecOps?

SecOps = Security Operations
Before going further to the DevSecOps, let's understand what SecOps is. The term SecOps represents the cybersecurity as Sec and Information technology operations as Ops. SecOps prioritize the software/application's security at any stage of its development and turns security into a dynamic process. All of the parties in SecOps agree to share the responsibility for securing the application.

What is DevSecOps?

DevSecOps = DevOps + Security
Like DevOps, the DevSecOps can be called a culture of its own. The DevSecOps combines the two elements from the DevOps and SecOps, which are timely delivery and security. The goal of the DevSecOps methodology is to faster the developments with a secure codebase. DevSecOps helps developers and IT professionals to create a balance between time and security.
DevSecOps integrates the key security policies into the typical DevOps workflow like compliance monitoring, threat investigation, code analysis, vulnerabilities assessment.
For the adoption of DevSecOps, there is a need of adopting these six fundamental aspects:
Collective Responsibility
Collaboration and Integration
Pragmatic Implementation
Bridging the divide between development and compliance
Automation
Measurement/monitoring

DevOps and DevSecOps: The Key Similarities

The similarities between DevOps and DevSecOps are:
DevOps and DevSecOps share the same mandate: deliver the best IT results as quickly as possible.
Both DevOps and DevSecOps share the same agile mentality, which is: Continuous testing/ continuous monitoring and evaluation.
Both focus on the concept of "shifting left" which moves the testing and evaluation closer to the development cycle. By doing this, IT teams can quickly correct the issue wherever it goes wrong instead of checking before it goes live.
DevOps and DevSecOps focus on team collaboration and enable a continuous and dynamic work process that requires cooperation and communication of all team departments at every level.
The Continuous process application in DevOps and DevSecOps ensures that the main objectives of both methodologies are met at each stage of development
In both Methodologies, all team works together to achieve the main object which is timely delivery is DevOps and timely delivery with secure codebase in DevSecOps.
DevOps mainly rely on automation, and so is the case with DevSecOps, which targets automating each aspect, including the security audit.

DevOps and DevSecOps: The Fundamental Differences

There are multiple similarities between the DevOps and DevSecOps, like the use of automation and continuous process for ensuring the collaborative cycles of development. Still, there is a big difference that DevOps prioritizes Speed while DevSecOps prioritizes the security, which often reduces the speed.
When it comes to the DevOps, speed is the key driver. Shifting the process left and developing in automation makes it easier to test, revise, and start again, while in DevSecOps, the speed is often considered the enemy of security. Or it can be considered as a risk.
DevOps' shift to DevSecOps can be very problematic because the developers push for speedy outcomes while security professionals ask for more time to ensure that any critical vulnerability is not overlooked.
The critical divide in the responsibilities is also worth mentioning. The policy of "Security is everyone's business" can help in reducing the responsibilities clash risk. The main difference between InfoSec and developer skill set is that code development and streamlining in the area of professional developers. At the same time, security implementation is the province of the InfoSec proc. Meanwhile, operations teams are entitled to ensure that all the new deployments match with the current business objectives.
Although the assessment and outcome are critical for DevSecOps, the responsibilities must be defined properly so all the teams, including developers, operation, and security team, can put their best foot forward.

Final thoughts: DevOps vs. DevSecOps

Are you seeking improvements in automation, monitoring, and outcomes of IT deployment?
For alignment with IT, efforts start with the DevOps and then consider implementing DevSecOps layers to include security while maintaining speed.
With the passage of time and continuous practice, once the security is completely adapted into the development process, the teams will have the leverage of increasing the speed for their secure codebase. This will help in developing a secure-code mindset in your organization without losing momentum.

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