Build a program that embeds security ownership in workload teams

Building a program that embeds security ownership in workload teams is a critical approach to ensuring that security is treated as an integral part of the software development lifecycle. Empowering builder teams to take ownership of security decisions fosters a culture of accountability, improves the security posture of applications, and allows for faster development without compromising security. While the security team retains oversight through validation and reviews, embedding security within development teams ensures that security is a priority from the outset.

1. Establish security champions in each team: Designate security champions within each builder team to serve as the primary point of contact for security-related issues. Security champions act as a bridge between the security team and workload teams, providing guidance on secure development practices and helping team members make informed security decisions. Security champions also play a key role in promoting a security-first mindset within their teams.
2. Provide security training and resources: Ensure that all builder teams receive adequate training on security best practices, including secure coding, threat modeling, and security testing. Offer hands-on labs, workshops, and certifications that focus on secure development. Providing training empowers builder teams to take ownership of the security aspects of their workloads and make informed decisions throughout the development lifecycle.
3. Develop security guidelines and standards: Create clear security guidelines and standards that workload teams can use as a reference when making security decisions. These guidelines should cover secure coding practices, architecture design, data handling, and compliance requirements. Documenting security standards helps ensure consistency and provides builder teams with a basis for making decisions that align with organizational security objectives.
4. Integrate security into CI/CD pipelines: Integrate security testing into CI/CD pipelines, allowing builder teams to identify vulnerabilities and address security issues early in the development process. Automate security scans, including static application security testing (SAST), dynamic application security testing (DAST), and software composition analysis (SCA), to provide feedback to developers during the build process. This integration ensures that security ownership is embedded within the daily workflows of builder teams.
5. Define guardrails with automation and tooling: Provide automated guardrails to guide teams in making secure decisions without requiring deep security expertise. Tools like AWS Config, AWS Lambda, and AWS Security Hub can automatically enforce security policies, validate configurations, and provide security alerts to builder teams. Automating guardrails helps ensure that workload teams make security-conscious decisions while minimizing the burden of manual security tasks.
6. Foster a culture of security ownership: Promote a culture of ownership by encouraging builder teams to take responsibility for the security of the software they create. Recognize and reward teams that demonstrate proactive security practices and take initiative to enhance the security of their workloads. Encourage open discussions about security challenges and lessons learned, creating an environment where teams feel motivated to prioritize security.
7. Conduct regular security check-ins and peer reviews: Schedule regular security check-ins between builder teams and the security team to discuss progress, review security decisions, and identify areas for improvement. Include security as part of the peer review process, where teams review each other’s work from a security perspective. Security check-ins and peer reviews provide additional validation and ensure that security remains a focal point throughout the development lifecycle.
8. Leverage security as code for consistency: Use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like AWS CloudFormation and Terraform to codify security controls, such as IAM policies, network configurations, and data encryption settings. Builder teams can use these security templates as a starting point for their workloads, ensuring that security best practices are consistently applied across all environments. This approach allows builder teams to take ownership of security configurations while maintaining alignment with organizational standards.
9. Provide dashboards for visibility and accountability: Use dashboards to provide visibility into the security posture of workloads managed by each builder team. Tools like AWS Security Hub and Amazon CloudWatch can provide insights into vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and incidents related to workloads. Dashboards foster accountability by allowing builder teams to monitor and improve the security of their workloads in real time.

Supporting Questions:

• How do you ensure that builder teams have the necessary knowledge and tools to make informed security decisions?
• What mechanisms are in place to embed security ownership within the development teams while maintaining oversight?
• How do you validate the security decisions made by workload teams to ensure they align with organizational security standards?

Roles and Responsibilities:

Security Champion (within Builder Team):

• Responsibilities:
  • Promote secure development practices within the team and serve as the main point of contact for security-related issues.
  • Participate in security reviews and collaborate with the security team to address any issues identified.

Application Developer:

• Responsibilities:
  • Implement security guidelines and best practices as part of the development process.
  • Use automated security tools in CI/CD pipelines to identify and address vulnerabilities early in the development lifecycle.

Security Team Member:

• Responsibilities:
  • Validate the security decisions made by builder teams, ensuring alignment with organizational security standards.
  • Provide training, resources, and guidance to builder teams to help them make informed security decisions.

Artefacts:

• Security Guidelines and Standards: A document outlining security best practices, guidelines, and requirements for secure development, architecture design, and compliance.
• Training Resources for Builder Teams: Training materials, labs, and certifications provided to builder teams to enhance their security knowledge and skills.
• Automated Guardrail Configurations: Scripts and configurations that automate security policy enforcement, helping builder teams make security-conscious decisions.

Relevant AWS Services:

Training and Awareness Tools:

• AWS Skill Builder and AWS Well-Architected Labs: Provide training and hands-on labs for builder teams to learn secure development practices and cloud security concepts.
• AWS Security Hub: Aggregates security findings and provides a centralized view of the security posture of workloads, helping builder teams understand and improve their security.

CI/CD Integration and Guardrails:

• AWS CodePipeline: Integrates security testing into the CI/CD pipeline, ensuring that security vulnerabilities are identified and remediated early.
• AWS Config: Enforces compliance with security policies by monitoring and validating the configuration of AWS resources against security best practices.
• AWS Lambda: Automates security checks and guardrails, providing real-time enforcement of security policies without requiring deep security expertise.

Monitoring and Visibility Tools:

• Amazon CloudWatch: Monitors security metrics and generates alerts for anomalous activities, providing builder teams with insights into the security posture of their workloads.
• AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM): Manages permissions for builder teams, providing least privilege access and ensuring that workload teams have control over their resources in a secure manner.
• AWS CloudFormation: Codifies security configurations, providing builder teams with reusable templates that enforce security best practices for their workloads.