Peace of mind is one of the best things a person can have. The knowledge that you’re safe and protected is invaluable, and helps you sleep at night.
A well-implemented DevSecOps system provides peace of mind at every single level. It’s a whole lot easier to develop features knowing that security is right at the heart of all your work.
According to Accenture in 2019, the average cost of cybercrime to an organisation was $13 million. Building security into and eliminating risk throughout the development cycle is especially worthwhile from a financial standpoint, considering this.
No one wants to be left spending money recovering from a breach, when, with some forward thinking DevSecOps implementation, you would have been protected.
Considering that information, investing in a secure DevSecOps system is a wise decision.
Providing a high level of DevSecOps compliance might seem unnecessary if you have an old-school view on security, but the risk of breaches is becoming more prominent every year.
Modernisation and strong compliance leaves you prepared for the worst.
So if you’re looking at how you can be more protected and more compliant, where do you start?
Educate and Explain
It starts with education and explanation. You know the golden rule: Communication is essential to pretty much every aspect of every organisation. It applies in tech, too.
52% of people admitted to a shortfall in cybersecurity skills in their organisation, a number we can all agree is far too high. Start by explaining to everyone in your team that security is a priority. Protecting the organisation by mitigating risk is worth the costs it may take.
Educate your team on why security and compliance is important. Just because your team might not be aware, doesn’t mean they can’t learn.
Teach them about the risks associated with non-compliance and the ways it can make their job harder. At the end of the day, compliance helps to make everyone’s job easier by preventing catastrophic damage to an organisation’s finances and reputation.
95% of breaches are due to human error, according to Cybint. This number is shockingly high, and it serves to highlight how important educating your teams at every level is. Attacks and breaches will often try to target an organisation’s weakest link, which might not be the IT department.
It might be worth considering call recording, to monitor vulnerabilities in your customer service team and analyse whether they took your explanations on the importance of security to heart, for example.
You can’t stress enough the importance of security at every level. Training your developers to create the most secure code possible, while educating teams across the board on the risks of breaches is key.
Automate – With Care
Automation is a valuable tool. When used right, it can streamline processes and save time. Today, tools exist that can automate security checks and make it easier for you and your team to ensure your code is safe while you work.
Gone are the days of inefficiently trawling through every line of code to find potential risks. Static application security testing (SAST) tools will analyse your code continuously and flag potential vulnerabilities for you, saving countless amounts of time.
Having the ability to test your code for vulnerabilities as you work won’t just save time, of course. It will reduce the amount of manual testing your team needs to perform, improve the security of the code, and help eliminate mistakes that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. That’s a win-win-win scenario if there’s ever been one.
However, while automation is a wonderful thing, don’t forget to stay on your toes and remain efficient. Remember that, sometimes, the human perspective is the one you need. Automation can streamline, but you have to make sure you don’t get complacent with your security testing, otherwise you’ll be back to increased risk levels.
Another potential issue to keep in mind is that if your automated testing is presenting too many false positives, it might be slowing you down.
As with everything, find a healthy balance of human ingenuity and automated efficiency. Think about it like calls transfer—directing the customer who called to the person best equipped to deal with the issue. In DevSecOps, sometimes it’s a developer, and sometimes it’s an automated tool. Use your best judgement to figure out which it is.
Visualise Information
One piece of advice you’ll hear a lot when looking for ways to improve compliance anywhere, and especially in DevSecOps, is to share important information in a visual manner.
‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ is a tired cliché, but it stands the test of time. It’s why you won’t find a modern business phone system that doesn’t also cater to video calls.
Clear, easy-to-understand figures, interfaces, and analyses mean that no information is going to get lost when it moves from team member to team member, or when a compliance officer is required to look at it.
The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Once you’ve taken that stunning fact in, start to think about what that means in a DevSecOps context.
If you can find a way to display critical information visually, you and your team will operate faster and more efficiently. That, in turn, means your code and organisation will be more secure.
Build system foundations that can adapt over time
The DevSecOps landscape is ever-changing, and that means that you have to stay on top of the game. It’s wise to always keep one eye on refining and adjusting your compliance and security systems as time goes on.
It’s a process that can pay off in the long run. Start by ensuring the primary systems you’re working on are built to last, reliably and securely. Then, take into consideration and stay tuned in to regulatory and legislative developments that might affect your operation.
Do this, as well as making sure the organisations supplying tools to your team operate in a modern, safe, and responsible fashion. That way, every part of your organisation is up-to-date with best practice and your systems are ready to adapt to potential security threats or compliance changes.
Using a CCaaS platform might benefit your organisation, too, so you can get your hands on the technology your department needs within budget.
Your systems should be prepared for the worst too. Contact centre optimisation should be a consideration—your customers need to be able to reach you with concerns, and you should be able to reach your customers in case of emergency.
Adaptability, reliability, and security go hand in hand. If you and your organisation take all these factors into consideration, you’ll be better equipped to handle the current landscape, as well as future DevSecOps developments.
Other Considerations
While no list can encompass every tactic under the sun, these are steps you can take which will provide tangible benefits to your organisation, now and in the future.
Ultimately, these are tactics which will save you time, leaving you freer to contribute to other parts of your organisation. If you communicate now, you can trust your team. Automation removes some of the need for manual testing. Visualising information means it’s processed faster. Foundations built to last mean fewer problems later.
Work to create a strong DevSecOps presence in your organisation and it will pay off.
