Course 7 - Secure SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) | Episode 5: Hardening, DevSecOps Integration, Container Security and WAF

In this lesson, you’ll learn about: Secure Deploy — SDLC Phase 5 1. Overview Secure Deployment focuses on hardening the environment to protect systems from attacks and data breaches. The objective is to develop, deploy, and release software with continuous security and automation. 2. Secure Deployment and Infrastructure Hardening Key practices for secure deployment include:

• Infrastructure Hardening: Follow CIS benchmarks to reduce risk across hardware and software.
• Principle of Least Privilege: Grant only necessary access and revoke unnecessary permissions.
• Access Control: Enforce strong authentication, restrict network access via firewalls, and monitor system access and network IP addresses.
• Patching and Logging: Apply security patches based on CVE tracking, and implement auditing and logging policies.
• Secure Connections: Enable TLS 1.2/1.3, use strong ciphers and secure cookies, and implement SSO or MFA as needed.

3. Secure DevOps (DevSecOps) DevSecOps integrates security throughout the DevOps pipeline. Key considerations:

• Automation: Increases efficiency, reduces human error, and ensures consistent security checks.
• Tool Integration: Combine SAST/IAST and WAFs with issue tracking (e.g., Jira) for continuous monitoring.
• Compliance Automation: Identify applicable controls and automate compliance measurement within the SDLC.
• Monitoring Metrics: Track deployment frequency, patch timelines, and the percentage of code tested automatically.

4. Secure Container Deployment Containers introduce unique security risks. Recommended practices include:

• Code Scanning and Testing: Use static analysis tools and check for vulnerable dependencies.
• Admission Control: Block unsafe container images, e.g., those exposing passwords.
• Privilege Restriction: Run containers with minimal privileges; avoid root or privileged flags.
• System Calls and Benchmarks: Limit powerful calls like Ptrace and ensure hosts meet CIS benchmarks for Docker/Kubernetes.

5. Web Application Firewall (WAF) A WAF protects web servers by inspecting, filtering, and blocking HTTP traffic at Layer 7.

• Protection Capabilities: Mitigates threats like SQL injection, XSS, and file inclusion; supports OWASP Top 10 protection.
• Security Models: Blacklist (negative), whitelist (positive), or hybrid.
• Deployment Strategy:
  • Ensure WAF meets application security goals
  • Test alongside RASP or DAST tools
  • Integrate with SIEM and security workflows
  • Support compliance (PCI, HIPAA, GDPR)

6. Secure Review Practices Five key pre-deployment review steps:

1. Gap Analysis: Compare policies against NIST Cybersecurity Framework (Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover).
2. Privacy Review: Assess potential privacy violations and mitigation strategies.
3. Open-Source Licensing Review: Confirm license compliance and categorize risks (low, medium, high).
4. Security Test Results Review: Address vulnerabilities from SAST, IAST, WAF prior to release.
5. Certify the Release: Document and control software releases using a formal approval process.

7. Continuous Vulnerability Management (CVM) CVM ensures ongoing risk reduction by identifying and remediating vulnerabilities continuously:

• Scanning and Patching: Use SCAP-compliant tools like Nessus, Rapid7, or Qualys; apply updates via automated tools (e.g., SolarWinds Patch Manager, SCCM).
• Vulnerability Tools: Schedule recurring network scans, define targets, and manage scan plugins to optimize performance.

8. Summary

• Secure Deployment ensures that security is embedded in the release process.
• Integrates practices from infrastructure hardening, DevSecOps, container security, WAF deployment, secure reviews, and CVM.
• Moves beyond checklists to continuous, automated risk management, ensuring deployed systems remain secure.

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