DevOps teams oversee the data complexities of software development and deployment. As such, top DevOps teams face the constant need to abide by the latest regulatory guidelines while developing their projects. We look at the effective strategies for addressing the DevOps compliance issue and how your team can keep projects running on schedule and by the book.
What Regulatory Requirements Apply to DevOps?
Data observability (the process for determining data health and reliability) is integral to successful software development. DevOps teams must stay updated with the rapidly evolving data standards of organizational leaders, government bodies, and cybersecurity authorities. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are two of the most widely implemented DevOps-relevant regulations.
Your DevOps team can gain industry credibility by acquiring official data governance certifications like ISO 27001 and FIPS140-2 (Level 1). Adhering to these legal guides enables your organization to optimize existing IT processes continuously and reduce the risks of disruptions or security crises throughout the developmental cycle.
How Can You Auomate Compliance Checks Throughout Your DevOps Pipeline?
Keeping up with the ever-changing landscape of DevOps compliance can prove challenging, especially for complex organizational structures dealing with a large volume of data. In these cases, your team must explore automated technologies and features that sync your processes according to the latest regulatory demands.
Data breaches remain a pressing concern for many companies in diverse industries. According to IBM, a data breach due to poor compliance costs companies an average of USD 5.57 million. The same report also revealed that efficient compliance measures can reduce the cost of data breaches by an average of USD 226 thousand.
Modern technology has made it possible for DevOps professionals to scan their systems for the slightest signs of discrepancies with ongoing compliance guidelines. An advanced automated compliance scan consults cybersecurity laws and regulations across regional jurisdictions and industry practices to ensure software management meets the relevant criteria.
The Importance of Maintaining Audit trails and Documentation for Compliance
A well-documented internal audit provides your DevOps team with a measurable approach and detailed roadmap for maintaining uncompromised compliance. These initiatives enable your organization to continuously deploy quality offerings while promoting transparency and accountability among contributors and stakeholders. Your DevOps team can optimize audit trails by factoring in the following considerations across your processes.
Implementing Real-Time Monitoring
A reliable DevOps compliance platform should enable your team to access real-time data observations and seamless documentation throughout the developmental lifecycle. These may include a drill-down view of the applications and services within your software projects. These updates alert your team to track and respond to system anomalies to mitigate risks promptly.
Systematizing Roles and Access Controls
Widespread cloud adoption has presented newfound opportunities for data breaches with the expansion of attack vectors.
DevOps (and, in some cases, involving security personnel, which forms DevSecOps) must maintain a strict identity and access management (IAM) policy. An effective IAM policy could comprise multi-factor authentication and record an inventory of every user identity. These enforced cybersecurity practices facilitate your DevOps auditing process by closely monitoring every system user’s authority and system permissions. A growing number of organizations have opted for zero-trust practices via IAM practices. Zero-trust networks avoid implicit user trust by default and verify permissions throughout the user journey.
Optimize Compliance Reporting
Meticulously crafted reports should give your DevOps team a clear view of the continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline. These breakdowns can efficiently highlight the issues and rooms for improvement through the complex challenges of sourcing, building, and production. A quality compliance report should also incorporate data hierarchy, focusing on the most critical information that requires classification and safeguarding. An organized data reporting approach enables your team to develop appropriate IAM policies to fulfill compliance requirements.
Collaborating with Compliance and Legal Teams
Your DevOps team needs to prioritize trust during cross-discipline communications and collaborations. Teams need to recognize the differences in language and specialization. In this context, your development team can streamline compliance by integrating legalities into code-based applications.
For example, you could discuss establishing an infrastructure as code (IaC) that supports code-based policies and controls with compliance and legal teams. These configurations can drive consistency and transparency in compliance for the most complex software development strategies.
Your team should also leverage intuitive network dashboards for sharing documents. An interactive communication channel enables multidisciplinary teams to discuss compliance practices from a unified, secure touchpoint.
Ensuring Secure Handling of Customer Data
Securely managing sensitive customer data is another critical aspect of DevOps compliance, which requires active monitoring. Aligning your processes to the rules outlined by statutes like the GDPR or CCPA could help your team fulfill the most demanding industry standards and regulations since these rules offer a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity.
Aside from following these guidelines, it is essential to maintain routine guardrails for optimal data protection that prevents costly data breaches. These may include:
- Data classification – A reliable data classification policy enables your team to identify the necessary measures and tools to secure the information adequately.
- Encryption – An encrypted database can significantly deter malicious attacks and unauthorized access. Encryption technology continues to advance with technological breakthroughs, introducing innovations like fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) solutions, which accelerate the security process by skipping the decrypting stage.
- Automated testing – Modern automated DevOps testing solutions equip your team with improved efficiencies that prevent costly human error, including more streamlined data security.
Takeaway
Compliance remains an undeniably necessary aspect of DevOps responsibilities, considering the sensitive and confidential information involved in the software development process. Leveraging automated DevOps compliance solutions with conscientious access control can help your team minimize the risks of legal oversights while optimizing agility and speed in software delivery.