Shifting security left: DevSecOps meets virtualization

The practice of shifting security left has its roots in DevOps, an agile methodology designed to reduce the time it takes for software projects to go from concept to production. By taking a proactive approach to secure development, organizations can reduce the risk of cyber attacks and system outages due to malicious actors or accidental errors. As such, shifting security left has become an increasingly important part of modern software development.

At the same time, virtualization technology has revolutionized the way software development is done, and DevSecOps is no exception. Enterprises are moving security practices and accountability further left in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). By arming developers themselves with the ability to detect and prevent potential risks and threats in the early stages of the CI/CD workflow, new technologies, like Corellium, are also helping security teams scale their expertise and free up their time to focus on more complex security concerns. Virtualization enables DevSecOps teams to easily and continuously test for potential vulnerabilities in a safe, secure environment.

Corellium's virtual mobile and IoT devices make it possible to identify security issues while they are still in development. Virtualization gives developers the ability to quickly deploy isolated environments for testing software before its released into production. Applying security testing at the early stages of and continuously throughout development makes it possible to catch security vulnerabilities before they become major issues. It also saves developers the time and energy required to fix issues discovered in an advanced stage of the development cycle.

Reduce costs and ship ontime with early detection

Did you know it can cost up to 100 times more to fix an issue discovered late in the SDLC than if you find and fix it early? Given the costs, why hasn't security been a bedrock of modern software development all along?

In the early days of software development, most attacks required physical access to a terminal on the machine running the application, which meant a lower risk of software being manipulated by someone on the outside. In the years that followed, enterprises adopted new software development methodologies, yet security was rarely prioritized within the SDLC. Instead, organizations assigned application security to dedicated security teams and testing took place after an application's release. This can leave potential vulnerabilities exposed to attackers for exploitation for weeks or even months.

Over time, most companies have adopted pre-release security testing to reduce the number of potential vulnerabilities released in their applications, a process that often takes several weeks to complete and whose unpredictable outcome could cost you dearly. A security test might find a few vulnerabilities or bugs that can be fixed in a few hours or days, or it might find dozens or hundreds of issues. Depending on the vulnerability, fixing it could require significant changes or entire replacements of underlying components. And of course, once implemented, the fixes will also need to be retested for application requirements and security. This can--and often does--set developers back by weeks as they try to meet now-impossible release deadlines.

Fortunately, with today's virtualization technology, teams can receive quicker feedback using dedicated tools to build reports and share their findings, increasing the overall speed of development and deployment, as well as the agility of the team. Updates and patches can also be done within a tighter turnaround, leading to faster and more secure releases.

Increase individual and teamwork efficiency with more flexibility

Virtualization also makes DevSecOps more efficient by making it easier to provision and manage multiple environments. The technology behind virtualization, called a hypervisor, for Arm processor-based hardware enables the creation of virtual versions of device hardware - from phones to IoT devices - for nearly unlimited R&D applications. Virtual machines can be quickly set up and scaled up for any changes that need to be implemented without the time, costs, and risks associated with procuring and shipping physical devices.

With virtualization developer, security, and testing teams work better and faster together through simplified snapshot, restore, and cloning functionality. Closer collaboration among all these teams removes friction, creates a more secure development environment, and improves overall software quality.

The use of virtualization technology in DevSecOps has enabled greater security from the start, as well as shorter development cycles, reduced costs, and increased agility. Virtualization is essential for any team looking to take advantage of DevSecOps and ensure their mobile and IoT applications are not only more secure, but also built and tested efficiently.