In recent years, software development has undergone major advancements: it has evolved into faster cycles, continuous integrations and ever-changing environments.
In this scenario, leaving security for the end of the process creates delays, rework and vulnerabilities that could have been avoided. DevSecOps was created precisely to solve this problem, bringing security into the new daily workflow of development and operations.
Want to learn more about the topic? Throughout this article, you’ll find valuable insights about what DevSecOps is, its main advantages and how you can apply these improvements to your own processes.
Deepen your knowledge in the topics below:
- What is DevSecOps?
- What are the benefits of DevSecOps?
- How does DevSecOps work in practice?
- How to implement DevSecOps in your company?
What is DevSecOps?
DevSecOps is a work model that integrates security practices directly into the development and operations cycle, from the planning phase all the way through deployment and maintenance.
Instead of treating security as an isolated or final stage, DevSecOps spreads this responsibility across all teams and uses automation to embed continuous checks directly into the pipeline. As a result, the security process no longer relies solely on the security team and becomes integrated into the natural delivery workflow.
Initially, this concept emerged as a natural evolution of DevOps. As companies began adopting faster release cycles, frequent deployments and operating in cloud environments, the need arose for security practices to keep up with the same pace.
DevSecOps has gained relevance because, in recent years, systems have become increasingly vulnerable while attacks have grown more unpredictable. When security is introduced only at the end of a project, issues can go unnoticed, leading to rework or even failures in production.
What are the benefits of DevSecOps?
In the teams’ day-to-day work, the main goal of DevSecOps is to structure the workflow so that security is incorporated into every stage of development.
When security, operations and development work together, the workflow becomes more predictable and risks are identified before they cause rework or interruptions in the team’s production.
Below, see the main benefits of DevSecOps.
Security embedded from the start (“Shift Left Security”)
DevSecOps brings security practices into the early stages of system development. This allows the team to identify potential issues while the code is still being written, before they move further down the pipeline.
With this shift, issues no longer appear only at the final stage and instead are addressed while the software is still being built.
Reduction of risks and vulnerabilities
By integrating continuous checks into the delivery workflow, DevSecOps reduces the chances of vulnerabilities reaching production. Automated tools analyze dependencies, configurations, permissions and infrastructure, lowering exposure to attacks and making the process more predictable.
In this scenario, major companies that have adopted automated DevSecOps pipelines report a significant drop in the number of security issues. Claro, for example, launched its “DevSecOps Pipeline” solution, designed to integrate security into the early stages of the development lifecycle.
The approach combines automation, CI/CD and security practices to deliver more secure and resilient software at every stage of the process. The results speak for themselves: after integrating security into the pipeline from the start, the company was able to reduce security incidents by more than 80%.
Agility and automation in development
With DevSecOps, code analysis, security testing, policy validation and infrastructure reviews happen automatically within the pipeline. This allows the team to increase delivery speed without compromising security.
Compliance and regulations (LGPD, GDPR, ISO 27001)
Finally, DevSecOps is also a strong ally in meeting security standards and regulations, including LGPD, GDPR and ISO 27001. Since audits, logs, access controls and policies are incorporated from the beginning of the process, the company maintains full traceability and can demonstrate compliance more consistently.
How does DevSecOps work in practice?
Overall, DevSecOps translates into practices that connect security to development continuously. In other words, instead of isolated steps, everything happens within the delivery workflow itself.
Next, you’ll understand how DevSecOps works in practice.
- Security integrated into the development cycle (CI/CD)
In DevSecOps, the CI/CD pipeline incorporates security stages from the very beginning. This includes static code analysis, dependency scanning, configuration validation and policy enforcement before the software moves on to build, testing and deployment.
- Automated security testing
In this case, automation is used to ensure that security checks occur consistently. Tools run security tests on every commit or pull request, analyze vulnerabilities, evaluate permissions and check for data exposure.
- Shared security culture
DevSecOps encourages everyone involved, whether in development, operations, QA or security, to share responsibility for protecting the environment.
This includes practices such as security-focused code reviews, continuous communication between teams and alignment on potential risks and the standards to be followed.
- Continuous monitoring and threat response
Finally, even after deployment, DevSecOps keeps security active through continuous monitoring. Logs, metrics, alerts and detection tools are used to analyze the system in real time. When something unusual appears, teams can respond quickly, addressing incidents before they cause greater impact.
How to implement DevSecOps in your company?
As the team incorporates small changes into the workflow, chooses tools that integrate well with what already exists and gains confidence to automate what previously depended on manual steps, the process becomes more natural.
Over time, development, operations and security stop working in separate tracks and begin collaborating from the start, ensuring that environment protection happens alongside delivery.
For this implementation to happen effectively, there are a few important steps. Among them are:
- Alignment between teams on the impact of the initiative;
- Smart selection of tools;
- Security and compliance testing;
- Automation and continuous monitoring
If you want to structure DevSecOps in your company with greater clarity, consistency and modern tools but don’t know where to start, Wevy can help.
