Mobile app development has become increasingly reliant on automated processes to keep up with the fast-paced nature of the industry. With systems like Fastlane, Bitrise, Jenkins, Azure Pipelines, and GitLab, developers can build, test, release, track, and monitor their apps quickly and efficiently. However, despite these advances in automation, there is still one area that is largely neglected: security.
Developers often implement security manually, relying on code scanning and penetration tests to ensure the security of their apps. However, the results of these tests are not always fed back into the development workflow, leaving the security of the app vulnerable to attack. There is also a disconnect between the security and development teams, with security professionals reporting that developers often miss a significant number of bugs in the code, making it difficult for them to prioritize fixing vulnerabilities.
To address these issues, DevOps teams need to integrate data about the security of their mobile apps early in the process. By collecting and analyzing data about the security threats facing their apps in the field, DevOps teams can make data-driven decisions about which threats to prioritize and how to protect against them. This data needs to be fed back to the development team as quickly as possible so that the appropriate protections can be built into the next build.
To achieve this, DevOps teams need to automate the build, testing, release, tracking, and monitoring of security to the same degree as every other aspect of app development. This includes having a system that can store, provide version control, and audit security in every release, as well as an automated system that can build the desired protections into the app within the organization’s existing CI/CD processes. There also needs to be an automated verification system to ensure that the protections are included in the release and a feedback system from data collected in the field to prove that the security measures are working.
By combining data and automation, DevOps teams can transition from attempting to shift left security to a DevSecOps process that is completely data-driven. Instead of reacting to the latest threat, they can look at trending threat data from their own apps to pinpoint emerging threats and defend against them early. With the help of automation, DevOps teams can keep up with the trending data and build security protections into the app within days or even hours of making a decision on what to include.
In conclusion, to improve the DevOps process for mobile app developers, security needs to shift left by integrating real-time data from the field and automating the implementation of security protections. By transitioning to a data-driven DevSecOps process, DevOps teams can stay ahead of emerging threats and protect their apps against attacks.