DevSecOps engineer work at environment that has frequent development and short cycles to protect the system. With the current growth of the IT industry growth we can see that cybersecurity has become more and more important. And this job also become more important within the industry.
What is DevSecOps Engineer?
DevSecOps engineer is someone that is responsible for the development, security, as well as the operations of the system. The method is by combining those three concepts and bring them into the system to make a robust and secure environment for the company.
Your job is to monitor and test the environment for various kinds of vulnerabilities. Then you will work together with the DevOps Engineer to make new program to fix the newly found vulnerabilities in the system security.
As you can see, this job really combining the working method of the security team with the operation team. Collaboration is the key as it can help to limit the risk by integrating security in all stage of the projects.
Often, you will need to give detailed presentation of your security test as well as the program that is created to fix the vulnerabilities to other department in the company. The reason is because security should be implemented and become the fundamental parts on all aspect of the system. It should also become the responsibility of all department in the company.
The main thing that you are responsible for is keeping the safety of the digital data and protecting it using different kinds of methods. You will also add new countermeasures that can protect the system against new attack while making the program more effective and stronger at the same time.
Job Responsibilities and Duties
DevSecOps engineer responsibilities and duties continue to change following the current development cycles that you are currently in. That is why, you need to be able to fulfill various duties, such as:
- Monitoring the development process
- Manage incident that happened within the system
- Analyze risk possibilities
- Automate the security control
- Select, test and implement various tools, technologies and method used for the system
- Manage and control the cybersecurity operation
- Performing maintenance on internal and external computer network within the company’s system
- Participating in the implementation of safety culture in the company and support different department in constructing various safety practices
Job Qualifications
There are a few basic qualifications that you need if you want to work as DevSecOps engineer such as:
Education
To get a job in this field you need to have bachelor degree in tech-related subject such as cybersecurity, computer engineering or computer science. Some employers might also hire you if you have degrees in science, engineering or math if you hold the correct certification for this field. The reason is because these majors are still useful for this job as they use mathematical work and analysis the same way as coding.
Experience
To get this job you really need to have experience so you cannot take the position directly. Especially since working in cyber security means constant pressure as it is a fast pace field. So, concept that you learn inside the classroom would not be enough to prepare you for the duties.
That is why almost all DevSecOps engineer will spend a lot of their time learning through their career. It is better for you to spend a few years on non-DevOps position first before entering cybersecurity department. Doing these entry level position will really give you the skills that you need so you can master the DevSecOps position when you finally enter the role.
Certification
Even if you already have the degree, you still need to do a little bit more learning before you can work in this position. Furthermore, employers typically search for candidate that has certain certification for specific course in cybersecurity industry.
You can get some of the certification that you need through Microsoft, CompTIA, and Cisco. You might also want to get CEH certification since it is very useful to have more knowledge about security assessment method. Furthermore, you can also get certification from various DevOps institute to give you better leverage compared to other candidate that run for the same position.
Skills Requirements
DevSecOps engineer need to be able to integrate various cybersecurity protocols within the DevOps. You also need to carefully analyze the security of application, create and implement various security protocols to make it stronger. To be able to do those things, there are some skills that required by this position such as:
- Understanding DevOps process
Since your job is done by combining DevOps with security that means you need to have deep understanding of the DevOps process. Furthermore, you will be working a lot with the DevOps department. That is why, it is important for you to understand your partner well so you can work well together.
- Securing SDLC
The main goal of this position is to secure SDLC process. That is why you need to be able to do various things to achieve it such as:
- Test various artifacts created within the pipelines to search for vulnerabilities.
- Making sure there is no vulnerable code enter the production stage. Especially since it will be hard to fix the vulnerabilities in the application when the development process already complete. Furthermore, it will also add extra work for the DevOps team and cause disruption on the production process.
- Verify various artifacts created by DevOps departments
Your responsibility is to test and implement security measures at early stage of development to minimize the effort and the cost needed to fix the vulnerabilities. Furthermore, launching vulnerable application into the market may damage the company’s reputation and it may also cost the company some money.
So, being able to secure the SDLC from the beginning means you will be able to put roadblock that will prevent the vulnerabilities from advancing further in the development process.
- Advance knowledge on cybersecurity
DevSecOps engineer must have deep knowledge to cybersecurity. Especially since this knowledge is the one that sets you apart from other department in the company.
You will also encounter different types of application depends on the industry that you are working on. That is why, you need to have knowledge on different range of attack types, appsec technique, framework, programming language and business logic used by the company.
- Curiosity and eager to learn something new
The cybersecurity field is a landscape that always evolve. So, you need to work hard so you can keep being up-to-date with the newest trends and technologies. So, you always need to learn new things. That is why, if you want to be successful in this position you need to be curious in searching new knowledge within the field.
- Knowledgeable in cloud infrastructure
Various companies are doing digital transformation these days to keep up with the trend. A lot of them are moving into cloud-based environment. That is why you also need to be knowledgeable in cloud infrastructure.
Furthermore, the increase of on-site servers’ cost while not having enough resources to secure and increase its performance without outside help means the push to cloud-based environment is inevitable.
Usually companies will use various provider for their cloud service. Some of them are GCP, Microsoft Azure, and AWS. Furthermore, these cloud providers are also able to give the company a more secure and reliable cloud environment.
As DevSecOps engineer you need to master various cloud technology so you can secure the system by default. If you can put as many security protocols by default then your apps will be close and closer to its most secure stage. This is the reason why you need to have deep knowledge in different cloud management and infrastructures.
- Teamwork and Communication skill
This is the skill that is needed by every employee that work in all industry to create healthy working environment. Working as DevSecOps means you need to have an even better communication skill since you need to communicate a lot with other department because of the nature of this job.
You need to explain to the other department various vulnerabilities that you find inside the code to the person who wrote the code in the development department. You also need to bridge the communication gap between the development department and the AppSec department since they both have different agendas and priorities. So, being good at communicating will help you a lot to toss the ball in the correct way to both teams.
Conclusion
DevSecOps is a growing field that needed by a lot of companies since there are increase need for cybersecurity professional as cyber attacks also increase. That is why, there are a lot of career opportunities in this field.
However, you need to be able to fulfill certain qualification in order to enter the field. You can start by learning the right skill and keep up with the newest trend in technology and security. As you will work with a lot of departments and teams, you also need to have a good teamwork and communication skills. So, if you are interested in working as DevSecOps engineer then you need to start now.
Description: DevSecOps engineer is someone that is responsible for the development, security, as well as the operations of the system, learn here.
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