Using IaC to automate the provisioning of infrastructure removes that task from your devs or admins. They don't need to manually provision and manage infra resources such as operating systems, servers, and storage every time they start deploying or developing an app. With IaC, you provision via templates, which helps enforce rules, policies, and consistency.
There are a bunch of cloud-supplier and third-party tools that automate the enforcement of rules and policies for IaC. All of them, to varying extents, aim at making sure your infrastructure is secure and compliant.
A couple of the better-known solutions are HashiCorp Terraform and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Both are advanced-level platforms for implementing complicated applications.
Terraform is an open-source tool that allows you to define and manage your infrastructure as code. You can define both cloud and on-prem resources in human-readable configuration files that you can version, reuse, and share. It includes resource planning, provisioning, and validation. Terraform can also be used with policy as code tools, such as Open Policy Agent, to enforce security policies on IaC.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform enables you to create, share, and manage automation, including for development and operations as well as security and network teams.
The major cloud providers also enter the fray, of course. AWS CloudFormation enables you to model and provision both AWS and third-party application resources in your cloud environment. You can use either programming languages or a text file to model and provision automatically and securely for all application resources, regions, and accounts. Azure Resource Manager enables you to provision and manage infrastructure and configuration with declarative definition files using JSON templates. And Google Cloud Deployment Manager uses template and configuration files to deploy Google's Cloud Storage, Compute Engine, and Cloud SQL, configured to work together.
Chef InSpec is an open-source tool with human- and machine-readable language for testing and auditing infrastructure as code. It includes a domain-specific language for defining tests and can be used to validate that infrastructure code meets compliance and security requirements.
Pulumi bills itself as "guaranteeing the infrastructure software supply chain." It has integrations with the major CI/CD platforms, enabling validation of change through testing of built-in policies.
And Spacelift's calling card says that it is "the most flexible IaC management platform."
Hello peers,
I am a Software Engineer at a large tech services company.
I am currently researching network security functions. What aspects of network security are more concerning to small and medium-sized enterprises?
Thank you for your help.
Regional Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Mar 23, 2023
Data breaches, malware, phishing attacks, weak passwords, insider threats, and lack of security policies are some of the most concerning aspects of network security for small and medium-sized enterprises since they may not have the same level of security measures and IT staff as larger corporations.
It's important for SMEs to identify and prioritize these risks and take steps to mitigate them to protect their business and customers' data.This could include implementing strong password policies, providing security awareness training for employees, implementing firewalls and antivirus software, and regularly backing up data. In addition, SMEs should develop formalized security policies and ensure that all employees understand and follow them to maintain a secure network environment.
If we are talking strictly about the network, the issue almost all SMEs suffer from is a lack of risk visibility. Consider the risks and vulnerabilities that exist in the network from ports that are unsecured to firewall rules that are no longer effective to rogue devices that are connected and no one in IT is aware. If SMEs simply closed all of these gaps effectively, they would greatly reduce the chances that they are compromised. The second area is threat visibility - meaning an actual attack unfolding. Once an attacker - say ransomware - bypasses an endpoint, they are free to waltz around the network for weeks. I think that the latest dwell time number is over 4 weeks. Four weeks of recon, command calls, lateral movement, credential compromise, data location, etc. That is enough time to make the ransomware attack really hurt and find all the partner companies that the attacker can move to next. Most large companies have NDR in place to detect and stop attacks - greatly lowering that dwell time and damage - but SMEs cannot afford most of those tools. There are new cloud-based NDR tools that are a lot less (CyGlass), and there are great options with Managed Detection and Response (MDR) companies like Stratejm. Either path, SMEs need to deploy tools or services that watch the network for risks, vulnerabilities, and threats.
Network Security Services at ACE Managed Securty Services
Mar 20, 2023
When it comes to security and automation, there's no such thing as too much. That's why it makes sense to take steps to automate security for your CI/CD pipeline. Automation can help reduce the time spent on manual tasks and ensure that your code is secure before it makes its way into production. Here are some tips for automating security for your CI/CD pipeline:
1. Use a static application security testing (SAST) solution to scan code for vulnerabilities. SAST solutions can help identify and fix known issues quickly and efficiently.
2. Run regular scans of your codebase using a dynamic application security testing (DAST) tool. This will help identify any new security issues in real time.
3. Use a container scanning tool to check all your images and containers for vulnerabilities or misconfigurations. This will help ensure that no malicious code can enter the pipeline.
4. Utilize an API scanner to detect potential API vulnerabilities in your applications, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and parameter tampering.
5. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect your applications from attacks like DDoS or brute force attacks. This can help prevent attackers from accessing sensitive information.
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Using IaC to automate the provisioning of infrastructure removes that task from your devs or admins. They don't need to manually provision and manage infra resources such as operating systems, servers, and storage every time they start deploying or developing an app. With IaC, you provision via templates, which helps enforce rules, policies, and consistency.
There are a bunch of cloud-supplier and third-party tools that automate the enforcement of rules and policies for IaC. All of them, to varying extents, aim at making sure your infrastructure is secure and compliant.
A couple of the better-known solutions are HashiCorp Terraform and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Both are advanced-level platforms for implementing complicated applications.
Terraform is an open-source tool that allows you to define and manage your infrastructure as code. You can define both cloud and on-prem resources in human-readable configuration files that you can version, reuse, and share. It includes resource planning, provisioning, and validation. Terraform can also be used with policy as code tools, such as Open Policy Agent, to enforce security policies on IaC.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform enables you to create, share, and manage automation, including for development and operations as well as security and network teams.
The major cloud providers also enter the fray, of course. AWS CloudFormation enables you to model and provision both AWS and third-party application resources in your cloud environment. You can use either programming languages or a text file to model and provision automatically and securely for all application resources, regions, and accounts. Azure Resource Manager enables you to provision and manage infrastructure and configuration with declarative definition files using JSON templates. And Google Cloud Deployment Manager uses template and configuration files to deploy Google's Cloud Storage, Compute Engine, and Cloud SQL, configured to work together.
Chef InSpec is an open-source tool with human- and machine-readable language for testing and auditing infrastructure as code. It includes a domain-specific language for defining tests and can be used to validate that infrastructure code meets compliance and security requirements.
Pulumi bills itself as "guaranteeing the infrastructure software supply chain." It has integrations with the major CI/CD platforms, enabling validation of change through testing of built-in policies.
And Spacelift's calling card says that it is "the most flexible IaC management platform."