Development teams deploy code multiple times daily through automated pipelines designed for speed. Security teams want thorough reviews before any deployment. This fundamental tension between velocity and security creates conflict that neither traditional security gates nor “shift left” slogans actually resolve. DevSecOps promises to integrate security seamlessly into development workflows, making security automatic rather than adversarial. The reality is that most DevSecOps implementations either slow development to unacceptable speeds or provide superficial security that misses critical vulnerabilities. Finding the balance requires understanding both development needs and security requirements.
Why Traditional Security Gates Fail
Manual security reviews before deployments create bottlenecks that destroy development velocity. When deployments wait days or weeks for security approval, teams find ways to bypass security or management overrides security concerns to meet deadlines. These dynamics make security obstacles rather than enablers. Security reviews conducted after development completes find expensive-to-fix issues. Refactoring deployed code requires significantly more effort than addressing security during design and development. This timing makes security feel like an impediment rather than a valuable partner. Security teams reviewing code they didn’t write often lack context to distinguish genuine risks from false positives. Without understanding business logic and design decisions, security reviews focus on theoretical vulnerabilities whilst missing actual security issues specific to application functionality.
Building Effective DevSecOps
Automate security testing that can be automated. Static analysis, dependency scanning, and basic dynamic testing can run automatically in CI/CD pipelines without human intervention. These automated checks catch common issues immediately without slowing development. Provide developers with security tooling that gives feedback during coding rather than after deployment. IDE plugins that highlight security issues as code is written help developers fix problems immediately when context is fresh and fixes are trivial. This proactive approach prevents issues rather than finding them later.
Expert Commentary
Name: William Fieldhouse
Title: Director of Aardwolf Security Ltd
Comments: “Development teams we assess often view security as the group that says ‘no’ without understanding business requirements. Successful DevSecOps programmes shift this dynamic by making security teams partners who help developers deliver secure features faster, not obstacles that slow everything down.”
Establish security requirements as code that can be tested automatically. Treat security policies like other code that can be version controlled, tested, and deployed. This approach makes security verifiable and removes ambiguity about requirements. Train developers on secure coding practices specific to technologies they actually use. Generic security training provides little value. Focused education on preventing SQL injection in the ORM framework your team uses or configuring authentication properly in your specific cloud provider delivers practical skills.
Regular web application penetration testing validates that automated security controls actually catch vulnerabilities. Professional testing identifies gaps in automated testing that require additional controls or manual review.
Balancing Speed and Security
Implement risk-based security checks that vary based on change scope and sensitivity. Not every deployment requires identical security scrutiny. Changes to non-production environments or updates that don’t touch authentication or data handling might need only automated checks. Changes affecting payment processing or authentication require more thorough review. Create pre-approved patterns for common security scenarios. When developers use approved authentication libraries, access control patterns, and cryptographic implementations, security reviews can focus on application-specific logic rather than reviewing standard components repeatedly.
Working with the best penetration testing company provides validation that DevSecOps practices actually deliver secure applications. External assessment reveals whether automated security testing and developer training prevent vulnerabilities effectively.
Build security champions within development teams who understand both development practices and security requirements. These individuals bridge the gap between security and development, helping translate security requirements into practical implementations that developers can adopt easily.
Handling Security Issues in Production
Establish clear processes for addressing vulnerabilities discovered in production code. Security issues will reach production despite best efforts. Teams need defined procedures for triaging findings, determining remediation priorities, and deploying fixes without compromising development velocity. Track security debt alongside technical debt. Not every security issue requires immediate remediation. Consciously accepting specific risks whilst documenting them prevents security debt from accumulating invisibly. This visibility enables informed decisions about when to address accumulated security issues. Implement feature flags that allow disabling vulnerable functionality quickly. When critical security issues are discovered, feature flags enable immediate risk reduction whilst teams develop proper fixes. This tactical response capability reduces mean time to remediation significantly.
Cultural Changes for DevSecOps Success
Foster collaboration between security and development teams rather than maintaining adversarial relationships. When security teams understand development challenges and developers appreciate security concerns, both groups work together more effectively. This requires ongoing communication and mutual respect. Celebrate security wins alongside development achievements. When teams prevent vulnerabilities or respond effectively to security issues, recognise these accomplishments. This positive reinforcement makes security feel like a valued contribution rather than a burden. Measure security effectiveness through business-relevant metrics. Don’t just count vulnerabilities found; track vulnerabilities that reach production, time to remediate security issues, and impact of security incidents. These outcome-focused metrics demonstrate security value to development and business stakeholders. Provide security teams with development tools and access so they understand development workflows. Security professionals who’ve never used CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code tools, or modern development environments can’t effectively integrate security into these workflows. Hands-on experience builds empathy and practical understanding. DevSecOps succeeds when it makes secure development the path of least resistance rather than an obstacle to overcome. This requires investment in automation, training, tooling, and cultural change that transforms security from external constraint to integrated capability. The goal isn’t perfect security or maximum velocity independently, but sustainable delivery of secure applications at acceptable speeds.
