April 24, 2025
Preliminary Penetration Testing: Key Steps to Follow
Preliminary Penetration Testing: Key Steps to Follow
Omar
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Security should be a priority from the start of the development process, not just at the end. Integrating security early saves time and money because changes are easier to make before the project is finished. This approach encourages better teamwork and allows organizations to react quickly to security threats.
A 2021 Cloud Security Alliance report shows that only 30% of businesses have fully implemented DevSecOps. Most are still in the early stages of the transition, including planning (24%), designing (18%), and refining (18%) phases. A large portion of organizations are not yet fully using DevSecOps.
DevSecOps solutions combine tools, processes, and cultural practices to integrate security into every software development and operations lifecycle phase. Instead of treating security as a separate final step, DevSecOps ensures that security is "shifted left"—meaning it is embedded early and continuously throughout development, testing, deployment, and production.
DevSecOps Tools: Code and AppSec Tools, Infrastructure and Cloud Security Tools, Identity and Secrets Management, Security Automation and Orchestration, Compliance and Risk Management.
DevSecOps Processes: Secure SDLC Integration, Shift-left Security Testing, Threat Modeling and Risk Assessment, Continuous Vulnerability Management, Infrastructure and Configuration Hardening, Automated Compliance Enforcement, Secrets and Identity Governance.
DevsecOps Cultural Practices: Security as Everyone’s Responsibility, Shift-Left and Continuous Security Thinking, Transparency and Open Communication, Risk-Based Prioritization.
Specifically, DevSecOps solutions aim to:
DevSecOps tools automate security checks, give instant information about security issues, and work well with existing processes.
Tools for infrastructure as code (IaC) automate setting up computer systems. This ensures secure systems from the start. Using code to manage the systems makes them consistent, easier to check, and track changes over time.
IaC tools make sure computer systems are set up the same way every time, with the same security rules. This reduces mistakes, ensures the system follows rules, and makes problems easier to fix.
SAST tools check computer programs for security problems before they run. This helps find weaknesses early. These tools work within the program development process, which gives developers immediate feedback on possible mistakes.
DAST tools check running programs for security problems. They don't need the program's source code. Instead, they pretend to attack the program to find possible weaknesses. This helps identify issues that hackers could use. DAST is helpful because it looks at how the program works when it is running, which SAST doesn't do.
Read more on: SAST vs DAST: What’s the Difference?
Container security tools protect containerized environments from security flaws during their entire lifecycle. These tools check container images for malware, ensure they meet security requirements, and uphold the proper access controls. They also automate the scanning of container registries, application builds, and running environments, which helps improve overall security.
These tools watch the system and look for possible problems, sending warnings about unusual activity. Good monitoring tools help organizations:
Change is often difficult for people. Many people in organizations are used to the old way of working. Getting them to adopt a new approach, like DevSecOps, takes time. Training sessions, seminars, and new tools and processes will make the transition smoother.
The development, security, and operations teams need to collaborate closely to make this change successful. This approach will help the whole project succeed.
How We Address this Issue?
ioSENTRIX begins by engaging key stakeholders — including product owners, engineers, operations, and leadership — to communicate the business value of DevSecOps regarding risk reduction, speed, and long-term scalability. This creates a shared vision and minimizes resistance rooted in uncertainty.
Traditional DevOps methods prioritize quick project delivery. Adding more security checks throughout the software development process ("shifting left") slows down DevOps's speed, which can cause disagreements between the DevOps and security teams. Teams need to consider how to balance speed and security carefully.
How We Address this Issue?
We help teams prioritize security controls based on real business risk, not theoretical vulnerabilities. Instead of inserting heavy, manual processes that break pipelines, ioSENTRIX designs automated, low-friction security gates that integrate directly into the CI/CD process — such as automated SAST, SCA, and IaC checks — without blocking development unless critical issues are detected.
Using existing DevOps tools can be difficult. Integration of security tools into the current workflow is often more complex than expected. Poor documentation is also a problem for the team.
How We Address this Issue?
We begin by conducting a DevOps tooling assessment to understand the client’s existing CI/CD stack (e.g., GitLab, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Azure DevOps). This helps identify which security tools can be integrated natively or require custom connectors — avoiding unnecessary complexity.
Wherever possible, ioSENTRIX recommends tools that support open APIs, standardized formats (like SARIF, SPDX), and native CI/CD integrations for smoother automation and interoperability with minimal glue code.
The fourth challenge is known as the "infrastructure challenge." Resource transfer to the cloud is a common trend in the software industry for many reasons. Keeping data secure in a cloud environment, where it is constantly changing, adds to the complexity of this task. This presents yet another challenge when moving to a DevSecOps setup.
How We Address this Issue?
ioSENTRIX designs unified security frameworks that work across AWS, Azure, GCP, and hybrid environments using provider-neutral tools and policies.
To reduce the risk of privilege sprawl, ioSENTRIX implements least-privilege IAM policies across clouds and uses identity federation (e.g., SSO, OIDC, or Azure AD with AWS IAM) to centralize access governance.
DevOps practices are largely automated to enable quicker releases. However, the process often slows down when security is added because many measures require human involvement.
How We Address this Issue?
ioSENTRIX helps organizations identify which security tasks can be safely automated (e.g., SAST, SCA, IaC scanning, secrets detection) and which require human input (e.g., complex threat modeling, business logic testing), allowing teams to focus manual efforts where they matter most.
We build event-based triggers (e.g., PR submitted → code scanned → alert created) using GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins pipelines, enabling security to run automatically and contextually without constant oversight.
DevSecOps isn't just a security upgrade — it's a business enabler. ioSENTRIX delivers customized, vendor-neutral DevSecOps solutions that balance speed, security, and scalability.
With deep expertise in secure SDLC design, cloud-native security, automation, and cross-functional alignment, we help organizations build resilient, secure-by-design systems without disrupting agility.
Partner with ioSENTRIX and secure your DevOps — from code to cloud.
DevSecOps is a practice focused on application security that brings security measures into the early stages of the software development life cycle (SDLC). It promotes the involvement of security teams throughout the software delivery process to enhance collaboration between development and operations teams.
DevSecOps is a way of working that combines development, security, and operations. It incorporates security into every step of the software-building process, and companies use it to help prevent security problems in their software.
DevSecOps addresses security issues as they arise, as these problems are easier, faster, and cheaper to fix. Instead of being the sole responsibility of a security team, DevSecOps encourages the production, security, and operations teams to share the responsibility for the security of applications and infrastructure.
DevSecOps adds security to the DevOps process by checking for security issues throughout the software-building process. It makes security everyone's job, not just the security team's. Developers work with security experts before writing any code.
Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) helps build secure software. DevSecOps keeps the software secure throughout its entire life. Companies releasing software often use DevSecOps, while companies with more structured processes might use SSDLC.
