We live in a new world with new possibilities. Data that was once easy to keep under lock and key has now become more difficult to manage. This difficulty has made cybersecurity a major concern for most companies.
To combat threats, businesses are looking into new solutions, one of which happens to be agile security. Companies need to be able to respond to data breaches, and faster response times are just the thing they need.
Businesses will no doubt be hard-pressed to keep up with all of the twists and turns which accompany developing agile security systems. That said, we’re doing you a service by giving you five tips that will keep your scrum teams on their toes.
Automate Security Protocols
Automation is the way of the future regardless of whether or not we’re talking about cybersecurity or less consequential things such as social media posts. It just has too many great uses in the digital age we live in.
As it turns out, automation can do wonders for teams looking to tighten up their security.
Programmers and engineers are talented, but human error is always a possibility. Consequently, coders need to refocus their efforts and start finding ways to automate the tasks which can be botched as a result of a single mistake.
Automation also allows for what we like to think of as a more all-encompassing method of keeping systems secure. Automated tools can monitor everything all at once, unlike humans.
They’re also a more agile solution for businesses nowadays. When an issue arises, it takes longer than some of us would like for tech teams to start attacking the issue.
Automated tools and programs, however, are always on the scene. When something goes wrong, they’re the first responders by virtue of being present. They may not prevent disasters as effectively as human detectors can, but they let engineers know something is off before companies have catastrophes on their hands.
Rapid Response Teams
As great as automated security protocols are, there is no reason to think that they could ever replace talented programmers. Computer programs run on coded instructions whereas programmers run on all of that and more.
Having said as much, scrum teams should at least consider having a rapid response team on standby. Though this team probably wouldn’t beat the automated tools to the punchline, it would certainly be neat to have one.
Having a whole team of qualified professionals is, after all, never a bad idea.
Just make sure that this team is a rapid response team in every sense of the phrase. The team should be on-call at all hours of the day if possible since things can go haywire at any moment.
And as an added bonus, rapid response teams have the potential to build customer value.
Cloud-Based Security
The cloud gets mixed reviews in some circles. Some believe that it isn’t secure while others are perfectly sure that it’s just as secure as other means of storage.
Regardless of what you think, though, it’s here to stay. As a result, we might as well make us of it in order to put some agile security protocols into place.
Cloud-based security, unlike traditional security, essentially lives in the cloud. It calls no hardware its home, which allows it to better protect portable data that travels from network to network.
This approach to security also has the potential to save companies money in the long run. Software which is stored on hardware expires when that hardware reaches the end of its life. Cloud-based software, on the other hand, is subject to no such expiration.
API-Driven Security
You’ve probably heard us mention API security at least once or twice around these parts. We don’t like to toot our own horns, but we’re right to be crazy about it.
API-driven security is a triple threat of sorts. First and foremost, it allows teams to make updates to preexisting systems and perform necessary integrations without upsetting entire systems. It makes updating systems quick and simple, and that’s the definition of agile security.
A second benefit of API-driven security, it makes automation that much easier for companies since the two play nicely together. If that wasn’t enough, the third benefit of this type of security is that it also plays well with the cloud. Mixing the two pretty much guarantees speed and ease for security teams.
DevSecOps
Many of you have probably heard of DevSecOps. If you haven’t, though, this is for you.
DevSecOps is admittedly more of a mindset than a practice, but it technically qualifies as both. It promotes the idea that security should be “added to all business processes.”
This approach might seem intense to some businesses, but you can’t deny that it embodies the idea of agile security. If all business processes incorporate elements of security, the likelihood of something going wrong decreases greatly.
Needless to say, however, the DevSecOps approach is easier said than done for some companies. It stresses the idea that “everyone is responsible for security,” but, realistically speaking, some people are better-equipped to handle security issues.
Still, adopting this model is a great idea. Big data is our future, and we need to prioritize its protection. We can only do so by giving our current methods and systems a complete overhaul.
Just remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Start small and then make larger changes.
Agile Security At Its Finest
Your scrum team is well on its way to developing a killer agile security system. In fact, we’re willing to bet that it will be so good that it will anticipate problems before they even become…problems.
In any case, make sure that you and your team stay safe this 2017. Hackers don’t ever take breaks, so you can’t afford to either. Your days must be spent thwarting one hacker after the next.
If you find that you need a little help along the way, just reach out to us. We want you to succeed, so we’ll always make ourselves available to you. You can count on that.
