How Shift Left Security Can Improve Your Software Development and Security Posture Part 1 of 3

Cybersecurity is a vital aspect of software development, especially in the cloud era where applications are exposed to various threats and vulnerabilities. However, traditional approaches to cybersecurity often involve testing and securing the code at the end of the development cycle, which can result in delays, costs, and risks. To address these challenges, a new paradigm has emerged: Shift Left security.

Shift Left is a strategy that aims to integrate security measures early in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) to identify and address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. By embedding security considerations from the outset, organizations can improve their security posture, reduce the costs associated with fixing vulnerabilities, and shorten the time required to respond to security incidents. Moreover, this approach fosters collaboration between security, development, and operations teams, creating a culture of shared responsibility for ensuring the safety of software systems.

Importance of adopting Shift Left in the current threat landscape

In today’s threat landscape, it is vital for organizations to embrace Shift Left security. This approach is essential as attackers persistently seek opportunities to exploit vulnerable applications and workloads. By prioritizing security early in the development process, organizations can effectively prevent or reduce the impact of supply-chain attacks, which involve the insertion of malicious code into software updates or third-party components. Additionally, adopting a Shift Left approach allows organizations to ensure that their applications meet security standards and regulations like GDPR or PCI-DSS. Furthermore, this proactive security strategy enables organizations to enhance their agility and innovation by consistently delivering secure software at a faster pace.

Conventional Security Practices

Before discussing Shift Left security, it is important to understand the traditional security practices that have been used for software development and how they differ from the Shift Left approach. Traditional security practices tend to focus on securing the infrastructure and the perimeter of an organization’s network. This approach relies heavily on firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and other similar technologies. Security teams are responsible for setting up and managing these systems, and they are often separate from the development team.

Security testing is typically performed at the end of the development process, or even after the software is deployed. This means that security issues are detected late in the development cycle, when they are more difficult and costly to fix. Moreover, security testing is often done manually or with outdated tools, which can result in incomplete or inaccurate results.

Reactive approach to security

The reactive approach to security emphasizes responding to security incidents after they have occurred, often through patching vulnerabilities or deploying countermeasures to mitigate the impact of cyberattacks. This method relies on the ability to detect and analyze security breaches and then take action to remediate the issues. While this approach can help organizations recover from security incidents, it does not prevent them from occurring in the first place.

Problems with traditional security practices

1. High costs: The reactive approach to security can lead to significant financial burdens for organizations. The costs associated with incident response, remediation, and potential regulatory fines can quickly escalate, particularly if vulnerabilities are discovered late in the development process or after deployment. Furthermore, reputational damage and loss of customer trust resulting from security breaches can have long-lasting effects on a company’s bottom line.
2. Slower response times: Traditional security practices often involve manual processes and human intervention, which can slow down response times and hinder the organization’s ability to effectively address security incidents. As cyber threats become more sophisticated and the attack surface expands, this delay in response can give attackers more time to exploit vulnerabilities and cause damage.
3. Difficulty in remediating vulnerabilities: The complexity of modern software systems can make it challenging to identify and remediate vulnerabilities effectively. With the traditional approach to security, vulnerabilities are often discovered late in the development process or after deployment, making it more difficult to address them without causing disruptions or introducing new risks. Additionally, a lack of collaboration between security, development, and operations teams can further complicate the remediation process.

In light of these limitations, the need for a proactive approach to cybersecurity has become increasingly clear. The Shift Left strategy offers a solution to these challenges, enabling organizations to enhance their security posture by integrating security measures throughout the software development lifecycle.

Understanding Shift Left

Shift Left is a cybersecurity strategy that emphasizes incorporating security measures throughout the entire software development lifecycle, rather than treating it as an afterthought. This proactive approach enables organizations to identify and remediate vulnerabilities more efficiently and reduce the likelihood of successful cyber attacks. The core principles of Shift Left include security by design, continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), DevSecOps, and automated security testing.

Definition and core principles

Shift Left refers to the practice of integrating security processes and controls into the early stages of the software development lifecycle. The name “Shift Left” originates from the idea of moving security considerations to the left on a project timeline, signifying an earlier involvement of security in the development process. The core principles of Shift Left revolve around proactively identifying and addressing security issues throughout the development process, fostering collaboration between teams, and leveraging automation to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Key components of Shift Left

1. Security by design: Security by design is the practice of embedding security controls and considerations into the software architecture from the earliest stages of development. By proactively identifying potential security risks and incorporating appropriate countermeasures during the design phase, organizations can build more secure software from the ground up. This approach reduces the likelihood of vulnerabilities being introduced and minimizes the need for costly, time-consuming remediation efforts later in the development process.
2. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): CI/CD is a set of practices that automate the integration, testing, and deployment of software. By implementing CI/CD pipelines, organizations can ensure that security testing and validation occur continuously throughout the development process. This allows for the early detection of security issues, enabling developers to address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. CI/CD also promotes a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility for security, as it requires close coordination between development, operations, and security teams.
3. DevSecOps: DevSecOps is a culture shift that integrates security, development, and operations teams, encouraging collaboration and shared responsibility for security. In a DevSecOps environment, security is considered everyone’s responsibility, and security considerations are integrated into each stage of the development process. This approach helps to break down traditional silos between teams, promotes a more efficient exchange of information, and ensures that security is consistently prioritized throughout the software development lifecycle.
4. Automated security testing: Automated security testing tools play a crucial role in the Shift Left strategy, as they help to identify vulnerabilities and security issues throughout the development process. By leveraging automation, organizations can minimize the risk of human error, speed up the testing process, and ensure that security testing is conducted consistently and comprehensively. Common automated security testing tools include static and dynamic application security testing (SAST and DAST), interactive application security testing (IAST), and software composition analysis (SCA), among others.

References
https://www.crowdstrike.com/cybersecurity-101/shift-left-security/
https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/shift-left-security
https://public.cyber.mil/announcement/disa-has-released-the-traditional-security-checklist-v2r1/
https://niveussolutions.com/devsecops-security-vs-traditional-security-practices/
https://asimily.com/blog/traditional-cybersecurity-failing-healthcare/