Cyberattacks: the importance of DevSecOps for business security

Security must be one of the main concerns of companies in the digital era. This is due to the theft and leakage of data growing exponentially in the country. According to the Fortinet study, only in the first quarter of 2022, there were more than 31 billion cyberattack attempts on companies. This number is 94% higher compared to the previous year. In this sense, one of the determining factors in the evolution of a business is the integration of security in software development through DevSecOps practices. 

In this article, you will understand the main types of cyberattacks on companies, the importance of DevSecOps practices and the benefits for the security of your business. 

What are cyberattacks?

Cyberattacks are attempts to have unauthorized access to third-party systems. These invasions aim to steal, modify, control or destroy data. Cyberattacks happen when hackers access system vulnerabilities or promote malicious attempts to access confidential information through scams.

Cyberattacks on companies

The number of cyberattacks in Brazil is increasing exponentially and concerns companies about security data. According to Dino Schwingel, e-trust CEO, Brazil is the second country that suffers the most cyberattacks in the world; a warning of the importance of prioritizing a data security culture. 

“Companies must have proper access control, for this, the first step is to identify sensitive data, know where they are stored and who can access them. In addition, it is necessary to have internal security policies, raise employee awareness and invest in practices and tools,” says Schwingel. Thus, by implementing a culture of security and prevention with DevSecOps practices plus a system of access and identity management, for example, the company decreases its vulnerability and increases security over attacks.

What are the main types of cyberattacks on companies?

Cyberattacks can happen in many ways. Below are the main types of cyberattacks and the consequences they may bring for your company:

Ransomware

It is a type of virtual attack that encrypts the data of a system and prevents it from being accessed. This type of attack, also known as digital hijacking, interrupts access and demands a ransom amount to return the system to the company. There are several types of Ransomware, some are easy and others are extremely complex to remove, so the most effective solution is prevention. 

DDoS Attack

The Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack intentionally overwhelms server activities to affect their availability to end users. This type of cyberattack causes substantial amounts of requests from different sources to make applications or platforms slow or unavailable. System protection and monitoring techniques can mitigate hackers’ access to this kind of attack. 

Zero Day

This type of attack starts from a security breach that reaches the software. The vulnerability identified by the hacker is unknown to the developer, who has “zero days” to fix the problem and prevent exploration from this failure. On the other hand, this vulnerability can be identified by a security expert, or by the user, and fixed by the developer but it can keep being explored until the user updates their system. 

The importance of DevSecOps in Software development

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a process that guides IT teams to minimize errors, ensure alignment with the project and reduce costs. Therefore, it is important to ensure that security is integrated with development so that the application is delivered consistently, avoiding extra costs.

In conventional software development methods, the identification of security failure happens only at the end of the process. On the other hand, with DevSecOps practices, the system is tested throughout the cycle. Thus, implementing a DevSecOps culture helps teams deal with security issues efficiently, fulfill strict schedules and perform quick software updates.

How can DevSecOps help prevent cyberattacks?

Investment in prevention is one of the main points to determine the safety of a company as well as the inclusion of safer tools and processes through automation and continuous monitoring. In this sense, DevSecOps practices are extremely important during the software development process. Learn some benefits that DevSecOps bring and how they can help prevent cyberattacks:

Failure detection in advance

Checking vulnerabilities at each step of the process ensures greater security control during development. This practice helps to detect errors at an early stage, which reduces the cost and time to correct failures and mitigates future vulnerabilities. This way, it delivers a better experience to the end user, who will not have the system constantly interrupted for updates. 

Optimization of time and speed of delivery

Automated testing brings speed and efficiency to the process. Since it avoids human errors and prevents the security assessment from becoming a bottleneck in production. Collaboration and suggesting code updates also help speed delivery. All these points provide speed and safety to the process. 

Ensuring regulatory compliance

The adoption of professional security practices and technologies is one of the DevSecOps practices that ensure regulatory compliance in development. These security requirements can be automated, which generates protection and security standards for system data.

Creating  a safety culture

The constant use of DevSecOps practices creates a security culture in teams and encourages proactivity in detecting security flaws in the code. In this sense, the implementation process, when consolidated, contributes to rapid and safe application development. 

Innovation development with security

Another key driver is collaboration and flexibility between development, operations and security teams. This sharing of processes and tools creates improvements and innovations combined with the safety recommendations to be followed. Thus, they add value and confidence in deliveries.

All these DevSecOps components ensure more security for the company’s projects. In this sense, they avoid unforeseen events, and organize and optimize processes with speed and security, which generates consistent products for customers and users. It also reduces financial losses and delays in deliveries. 

Has it interested you and would you like to know the best security practices to protect your company from leaks? Get in touch with us and talk to one of our consultants about the topic.