DevSecOps: The Key to Secure Development and Deployment
In a world where digital threats are constantly evolving, ensuring software security is no longer optional—it’s essential. A simple coding error can turn into a security breach with multimillion-dollar consequences.

DevSecOps: The Key to Secure Development and Deployment
By: Josué Garnica

In a world where digital threats are constantly evolving, ensuring software security is no longer optional—it’s essential. A simple coding error can turn into a security breach with multimillion-dollar consequences. This is where the Shift Left and Shift Right approaches come into play—key strategies within DevSecOps to proactively and reactively prevent and mitigate vulnerabilities.

While Shift Left focuses on identifying risks from the very first lines of code, Shift Right ensures continuous monitoring and protection once the application is in production. Implementing both approaches not only strengthens security, but also enhances performance and user experience. Want to know how to apply these strategies in your development cycle? Keep reading.

Shift Left

The Shift Left approach involves integrating security and testing as early as possible in the development lifecycle (on the “left side” of the development flow). This practice aims to prevent errors or vulnerabilities from the earliest stages.

Goal:
Integrate security into design and coding to detect and resolve issues before they become critical bugs or costly vulnerabilities.

Key Features:

  • Use of static analysis tools, automated scans, and validations in CI/CD pipelines.
  • SAST (Static Application Security Testing): Tools that analyze source code in real time to identify vulnerabilities.
  • Security-focused unit testing: Automated security tests added during the build stages.
  • IDE-integrated scans: Developer plugins that alert programmers as they write potentially insecure code.

Shift Left Benefits:

  • Cost reduction: Fixing issues early is significantly cheaper.
  • Higher quality: Security becomes part of the process—not just a final checklist.
  • Faster resolution time: Developers can address problems quickly, avoiding complex rework.

Shift Left is like preventive medical checkups: catching small problems early is more cost-effective and healthier in the long run.

Shift Right

The Shift Right approach involves monitoring, testing, and securing software in or near production (on the “right side” of the lifecycle flow). Here, the priority is to validate real-world system behavior and respond quickly to runtime issues.

Goal:
Ensure applications perform correctly and securely in live environments.

Key Features:

  • Production testing using tools like DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)
  • Continuous monitoring of security and performance
  • Implementation of observability practices and incident response strategies

Shift Right Benefits:

  • Greater resilience: Applications are prepared to handle failures and vulnerabilities under real conditions.
  • Rapid response: Real-time detection allows for immediate patches and mitigations.
  • Improved user experience: Performance is optimized and downtime risk is minimized.

Shift Right is like having an emergency response team ready to act when a crisis occurs—like a hospital emergency room.

How Do Shift Left and Shift Right Work Together?

Ideally, Shift Left and Shift Right complement each other. Integrating them into your development strategy not only strengthens security but also reduces costs and enhances application resilience.

Shifting from a traditional DevOps approach to DevSecOps enables the creation of more secure software—without sacrificing speed or innovation.

In addition to tooling, a cultural shift within the organization is essential. Integrating development and security teams is key—but we’ll dive deeper into that next time.