Best DevSecOps Tools for Securing DevOps Pipeline

Did you know a single data breach can cost a business millions of dollars?

Imagine you and your team have built an online payment app, the app is sleek, powerful, futuristic and it is ready to make a big impact in the market. But your team in the background is concerned about its security because hackers nowadays are continuously looking for the weakness of your development process so that they can breach the security of your app easily.

Well, this is a common challenge that every DevOps team faces. The tools that are used to make the development process fast (like automation and continuous integration/delivery (CI/CD)) and smooth can introduce new security risks if not handled carefully.

But there is good news, just like modern cars have the latest technologies, airbags, and seat belts, there are specialized tools made to protect your DevOps pipeline. Keep reading because in this blog you will be learning about these tools, which will help you manage the complexity of the app development & deployment process confidently while keeping your app secure.

Top 20 DevSecOps Tools for 2024

1. CloudDefense.AI

Category: Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP)

Focus: Secures code, cloud infrastructure, and cloud-native applications across their entire lifecycle.

Key Features: 

• Vulnerability identification and remediation
• Data protection
• Malware elimination
• Misconfiguration management
• Real-time security posture insights

2. Veracode

Category: Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Focus: Integrates with development pipelines to find and fix vulnerabilities in code early in the development process.

Key Features:

• SAST analysis
• Developer-friendly automation
• Risk management tools

3. Checkmarx

Category: Application Security Testing (AST) platform

Focus: Provides a comprehensive suite of tools for SAST, Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), and Software Composition Analysis (SCA) to identify and remediate vulnerabilities throughout the development lifecycle.

Key Features:

• SAST for identifying vulnerabilities in code
• DAST for simulating real-world attacks on applications
• SCA for detecting vulnerabilities in third-party libraries and components

4. OWASP ZAP

Category: Open-source web application security scanner

Focus: Free, community-driven tool for identifying security vulnerabilities in web applications.

Key Features: 

• Proxy interception for manual testing
• Automated scanning capabilities
• Extensible architecture

5.Burp Suite

Category: Commercial web application security testing platform

Focus: Offers a comprehensive toolkit for advanced web application penetration testing.

Key Features:

• Interception and manipulation of web traffic
• Extensive suite of security testing tools
• Automation capabilities (pro version)

6. SonarQube

Category: Code quality and security platform

Focus: Analyses code for bugs, vulnerabilities, code smells, and duplication to improve code quality and security.

Key Features: 

• Static code analysis
• Code metrics and dashboards
• Integration with development tools

7. Fortify

Category: Application security testing platform

Focus: Broad suite of tools for DAST, SAST, SCA, and mobile application security testing.

Key Features: 

• Comprehensive vulnerability scanning
• Integration with development lifecycle tools
• Advanced features for complex security testing

8. Acunetix

Category: Web Application Security Scanner (WAST)

Focus: Scans web applications for vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and broken authentication.

Key Features: 

• Automated vulnerability scanning
• Support for various web technologies
• Reporting and remediation guidance

9. Aqua Security

Category: Cloud Native Security Platform (CNAPP)

Focus: Secures containerized applications, cloud workloads, and Kubernetes environments.

Key Features: 

• Vulnerability scanning for container images and deployments
• Runtime threat protection
• Cloud workload firewall

10. Gauntlt

Category: API Security Testing Tool

Focus: Discovers and exploits vulnerabilities in APIs through fuzzing and other techniques.

Key Features:

• Automated API security testing
• Support for various API protocols (REST, SOAP, GraphQL)
• Mutation fuzzing to identify potential API weaknesses

11. Red Hat Ansible

Category: Open-source IT automation platform

Focus: Automates IT tasks and workflows, including security configurations and deployments.

Key Features: 

• Playbooks for automating repetitive tasks
• Inventory management for managing IT infrastructure
• Powerful modules for interacting with various systems and applications

12. JupiterOne

Category: Security Risk Management Platform

Focus: Aggregates security data from various sources to provide a unified view of security risks across the organization.

Key Features:

• Security data aggregation and normalization
• Threat modelling and vulnerability prioritization
• Security reporting and dashboards

13. IriusRisk

Category: Threat Modelling Platform

Focus: Facilitates proactive identification and mitigation of security threats through threat modelling techniques.

Key Features: 

• Collaborative threat modelling workshops
• Threat scenario visualization
• Integration with security testing tools

14. GitHub Actions

Category: Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) platform within GitHub

Focus: Automates software development workflows, including security testing tasks within the CI/CD pipeline.

Key Features:

• Pre-built workflows for common tasks
• Customizable workflows using YAML
• Integration with various security testing tools

15. Logit.io

Category: Log Management and Analysis Platform

Focus: Provides centralized logging, metrics, and alerting for DevSecOps teams. It helps in identifying issues, debugging code, and improving application performance.

Key Features:

• Real-time log analysis and visualization

• Integration with various data sources

• Advanced search capabilities

• Alerts and notifications

• Security information and event management (SIEM)

16. PK Hub

Category: DevSecOps Collaboration Platform

Focus: Facilitates collaboration and communication among DevSecOps teams, helping them manage projects and tasks more efficiently.

Key Features: 

• Project and task management

• Team collaboration tools

• Integrations with popular DevOps tools

17. Selenium

Category: Web Testing Framework

Focus: Provides a platform for testing web applications across various browsers and platforms.

Key Features:

• Support for multiple programming languages

• Cross-browser testing

• Integration with CI/CD pipelines

18. Gremlin

Category: Chaos Engineering Platform

Focus: Helps DevSecOps teams proactively identify system weaknesses by orchestrating controlled chaos experiments.

Key Features: 

• Failure injection

• Automated chaos experiments

• Performance monitoring

19. ServiceNow

Category: IT Service Management (ITSM) Platform

Focus: Streamlines IT service management, operations management, and business management.

Key Features: 

• Incident, problem, and change management

• Asset and cost management

• AI-powered service operations

20. Spacelift

Category: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Management Platform

Focus: Helps DevSecOps teams manage and automate their cloud infrastructure using code.

Key Features:

• Support for popular IaC tools
• Policy as Code framework
• Integration with version control systems

Why DevOps Security Tools Are Important?

DevOps security tools, also known as DevSecOps tools, are essential for several reasons:

Enhanced Security: DevSecOps makes security an important part of creating and deploying software and applications. These tools work continuously in the background, making sure that every module, API key, and line of code in your software is not only functioning properly but also protected against cyber threats and security issues.

Efficient Development: DevSecOps tools make the whole development process more efficient. For example, automated security scanning tools work in the background to check the issues in your code. This means that you can catch bugs early, which can save lot of your time and future headache.

Faster Response: One more plus point of DevSecOps is that, when security becomes the integral part of CI/CD process then organizations can easily detect and respond to threats more quickly & efficiently.

Compliance: DevSecOps tools ensure that everything you set up is secure and meets all necessary compliance standards. Apart from this, compliance monitoring tools also keep an eye on your project to make sure that it follows industry regulations.

Cost Savings: DevSecOps tools helps you identify early issues in the development process which eventually reduces the overall cost of the development. Therefore, fixing a minor issue at release prevents costly investigations and major code changes.

Trust and Reputation: Better security can improve your business in other ways. It can make your organization more prepared to deal with threats, both internal and external. This can lead to enhanced trust and reputation.

By using these DevSecOps tools for automating tests, training staff, and updating technology regularly, you can easily detect and respond to threats. This approach also not only improves code security but also overall development efficiency.

Case Studies

Here are a few examples of companies that have successfully improved their DevOps pipelines with DevSecOps tools:

HSBC: HSBC used DevSecOps in their Agile Cloud Transformation Project. They reorganized their teams to work in a DevSecOps style, which helped them to greatly reduce the unexpected security issues. As a result, the security team felt like valuable contributors rather than obstacles.

Allianz: Allianz, a major global company, they needed to update their software delivery process to keep up with agile competitors in the insurance market. DevSecOps helped them create a new Quote and Buy website in just 16 weeks while ensuring it was easily accessible and secure.

Accenture: To be more agile, high-quality, and innovative, Accenture is changing the way they deliver IT solutions. They are continuously improving collaboration between development and operations while making security an important part of the process.

Microsoft, Verizon, and the Pokémon Company: Despite having different business needs, these companies successfully adopted DevSecOps processes. This eventually helped them to avoid security issues in their code and also it helped to reduced stress for their teams.

5 must-have features in DevSecOps tools

1. Integration: DevSecOps tools should easily work with your current development process and CI/CD pipeline. This makes sure that everything runs smoothly, avoids any issues, and automatically checks security as you develop.
2. Automation: Top DevSecOps tools automatically check for security issues in applications and infrastructure. They look for problems early on, like vulnerabilities in code and third-party software. This helps to save time and makes it easier for security teams.
3. Security throughout the lifecycle: Effective DevSecOps tools enable “shifting security left” by incorporating security testing throughout the development lifecycle, from code commit to deployment. This helps identify and fix vulnerabilities early, before they become bigger problems.
4. Collaboration and Communication: DevSecOps tools should promote collaboration between development, security, and operations teams. This can include features like role-based access control, integrations with communication platforms, and centralized dashboards for a unified view of security posture.
5. Real-time threat intelligence: Leading DevSecOps tools offer real-time threat intelligence to stay ahead of evolving security risks. This might involve features like threat modelling and vulnerability databases to identify and address potential security issues proactively.

Additional DevOps Tools to Enhance Your Developer’s Toolkit

Conclusion: Security First in Your DevOps Pipeline

While these tools are valuable for DevOps, remember: security comes first. As you use these tools, make sure to include security steps at every stage. Use scans to find problems, secure access controls, and follow other best practices. Doing this will make your software safer and more reliable.

Key Takeaways

• Choose Secure Tools: Pick tools that work well with DevOps and also keep your applications safe.
• Start Early: Introduce security checks early in development to catch and fix problems sooner.
• Train Your Team: Give your team the skills they need to find and fix security issues.

Henceforth, by focusing on security as much as speed, you’ll build a strong DevOps setup that makes safe and reliable software.