Introduction to DevSecOps Practices

1. Introduction

Goal

In this tutorial, we'll introduce you to the basics of DevSecOps, a fusion of software development (Dev), security (Sec), and operations (Ops). It is a software engineering culture and practice that aims at unifying software development, security and software operation.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this tutorial, you will understand the fundamental principles of DevSecOps, how to integrate security into your DevOps process, and the tools used in implementing DevSecOps.

Prerequisites

Some familiarity with software development and basic knowledge of DevOps is necessary to get the most out of this tutorial.

2. Step-by-Step Guide

Concepts

DevSecOps: This is the philosophy of integrating security practices within the DevOps process. DevSecOps involves creating a 'Security as Code' culture with ongoing, flexible collaboration between release engineers and security teams.

Shift-left: This approach means considering security from the beginning of the software development lifecycle. It involves catching vulnerabilities early in the development process which can save time, money, and protect the application.

Automation: Automation plays a significant role in DevSecOps. Automated scripts are used for software integration, testing, and deployment, which helps in catching vulnerabilities and resolving them quickly.

Best Practices and Tips

1. Integrate security into the CI/CD pipeline: This means implementing security checks at every stage of your Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery pipeline.
2. Automate where possible: Automate your testing and deployment processes. This increases efficiency and ensures consistent security checks.
3. Use security as code: Treat your security policy as code and keep it within your version control system. This allows you to track changes and roll back if necessary.

3. Code Examples

Please note that the following examples are pseudo-code, they are meant to represent the logic and practices, not a specific language.

Example 1: Automating a Security Test

# Import necessary libraries 
import securityTestLibrary

def runSecurityTest(code):
  # Initialize the security test
  test = securityTestLibrary.initializeTest(code)

  # Run the security test and get result
  result = test.run()

  return result

This script automates a security test for a given code. It uses a hypothetical library securityTestLibrary to initialize and run the test, and return the result.

Example 2: Integrating Security Test into CI Pipeline

# Import necessary libraries
import CICDpipeline
import securityTest

def integrateSecurityTest(pipeline):
  # Add security test to pipeline stages
  pipeline.addStage(securityTest)

  return pipeline

This script integrates the previously defined security test into the CI/CD pipeline. It adds the securityTest to one of the stages in the pipeline.

4. Summary

In this tutorial, we've covered the basic principles of DevSecOps, how to integrate security into your DevOps process, and how to automate security testing. We've also touched on the concept of shifting security left in the software development lifecycle.

To continue learning about DevSecOps, you can explore more complex scenarios and try out different DevSecOps tools such as SonarQube, OWASP Zap, and Sysdig Secure.

5. Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Write a pseudo-code to automate a security vulnerability scan using a hypothetical library vulnerabilityScanLibrary.

Exercise 2: Write a pseudo-code to integrate the vulnerability scan from Exercise 1 into a CI/CD pipeline.

Exercise 3: Consider a rollback scenario in case of a failed security test. Write a pseudo-code for it.

You can find solutions to these exercises and more practice problems in our follow-up tutorial. Keep practicing and remember, security is everyone's responsibility in DevSecOps.