5 Ways to Solve the Speed vs. Security Dilemma in Cloud DevOps

Cloud application development is happening faster than ever. And security teams are feeling the pressure.  

As companies adopt DevOps best practices like continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), they want to develop and deploy faster while keeping security airtight.  

Enter the concept of shift-left security, where security checks and fixes are done earlier in the development cycle. Today, it’s a cybersecurity best practice. Fix problems sooner, save time later. But doing so can add pressure to already strained security teams.

How do you find the balance between fast development and the need to keep it secure?

Why shift-left is a security best practice

Traditional security processes put checks at the end of the development cycle. This means vulnerabilities often slip through the cracks until it’s too late. By the time a flaw is caught in production or after a breach, it can be costly — not just in terms of dollars but in damage to a company's reputation. No business wants that.

With shift-left security, the idea is to identify defects and misconfigurations early on, right during development. It helps spot issues before they become major problems. This is especially important in cloud environments where applications are constantly updated, creating more opportunities for vulnerabilities.

Cybersecurity’s efficiency dilemma

Shift-left security sounds simple, but it’s not without its challenges.  

Research by Vanson Bourne found that 96% of security teams say they need to be more efficient to keep up with the pace of modern development. Speeding up development is crucial — but without sacrificing security. That’s a hard balance to strike.

Updating security processes to fit into a CI/CD pipeline requires more work for security teams upfront. It can also push back development timelines for DevOps teams.  

Any changes to existing processes and tools can be overwhelming. But without these kinds of changes, teams risk falling behind and leaving critical gaps in their cloud security.

Can AI and automation be a security band aid?

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have been seen as a potential solution to this efficiency problem. AI tools can help automate many of the repetitive tasks that both DevOps and security teams face.

But it’s important to remember that AI/ML aren’t magic. They can only do so much.  

Human expertise is still essential, especially when it comes to strategic planning, cross-functional teamwork, and communication with the board. AI can’t handle those big-picture tasks that lead to success.

The bottom line is that while automation does help teams be more efficient, it’s not a panacea.

5 ways to get cloud security and fast development

So, what’s a solution? How can teams embrace shift-left security and speed up development without leaving their cloud environments vulnerable?

The key lies in finding a balance between speed and security and adopting tools and strategies that enable security teams to work smarter, not harder.

Here’s five recommendations:

1. Automate what you can

While AI and ML can’t do everything, they can help relieve some of the burden. Automate repetitive tasks like vulnerability scanning or patching to free up time for your team to focus on more strategic issues. Look for security platforms that offer built-in automation or AI/ML cybersecurity features to further streamline implementation and management.

2. Collaborate early and often

Shift-left security isn’t just about moving security earlier in the process; it’s also about breaking down silos. Developers and security teams need to work hand-in-hand from the start. The earlier security teams get involved in the development process, the easier it is to spot and fix vulnerabilities before they become problems and add more development work on the back end.  

3. Adopt a continuous-security mindset

Security shouldn’t be a one-and-done task. Just like CI/CD, security should be continuous. Keep testing, keep looking for vulnerabilities, and keep updating — even after applications are deployed. Post-deployment security is just as important as catching vulnerabilities earlier in the cycle.

4. Build Zero Trust

By applying Zero Trust principles, your security team can create a consistent, cross-functional security approach. Zero Trust is a network security model that assumes no person, device, or workload should be trusted automatically, even if they’re already inside the network. This reduces the attack surface and makes your cloud environment more secure from the ground up.

5. Invest in microsegmentation

Microsegmentation is essential to Zero Trust security. Look for solutions that provide granular visibility and simple, consistent microsegmentation across your cloud, endpoints, and data center. Make sure you can easily integrate a solution into your existing security stack and processes without slowing down your CI/CD pipeline.

Illumio CloudSecure: Efficient and consistent Zero Trust cloud security

Designed to secure hybrid and multi-cloud environments, Illumio CloudSecure delivers granular visibility, simple microsegmentation, and fast breach containment.

CloudSecure gives DevOps teams the agility they need while helping security teams keep their cloud environments safe. You can secure your cloud environments without adding unnecessary friction to the DevOps process.  

With Illumio CloudSecure, you get:

• Real-time granular visibility: Map traffic across cloud, endpoint, and on-premises data centers. Eliminate traffic blind spots. Understand your risk.  

• Simplified microsegmentation: Segment cloud, endpoint, and data center workloads. Contain breaches and ransomware attacks. Isolate compromised systems in ways firewalls alone can't. Automate security policy so your DevOps teams can focus on what they do best — developing and deploying — without manual security updates.
• Easily integrate into existing security workflows: Build microsegmentation into your network without reconfiguring existing infrastructure. Automate security processes with Illumio's rich library of APIs and easy integration across security tools.

• Quick breach response and containment: Proactively build rules to block known ransomware paths. Quickly quarantine infected systems. Bring critical systems online even when an attacker is still active.

• Easy compliance: Meet visibility and segmentation compliance requirements. Identify and reduce your attack surface. Scale security as your organization grows for continuous compliance.  

Want to test drive Illumio CloudSecure? Start your 30-day free trial now. Contact us today to learn more.