Securing the SDLC at Scale: Policy-as-Code vs Manual Review…

What Policy-As-Code Is

Policy-as-code is a method that automates security policies by expressing them as code, allowing for automated enforcement and continuous integration. This approach ensures consistency and reduces the risk of human error.

By using tools like Open Policy Agent (OPA), policy-as-code enables developers to write rules in a declarative manner, which can be evaluated against incoming code changes in near real-time.

Why It Matters

In the context of securing software development lifecycles at scale, policy-as-code offers significant advantages. It allows for rapid and consistent enforcement of security policies without manual intervention, reducing the backlog and increasing efficiency.

This method is particularly valuable in large-scale environments where multiple teams are committing code simultaneously, ensuring that all commits adhere to predefined security standards.

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What Manual Review Is

Manual review involves a human reviewer checking each commit against a set of security policies before it is merged into the main branch. This process can be time-consuming and may introduce delays in the development cycle.

While manual reviews ensure thorough compliance, they are not scalable for large teams or high-commit rates, as each commit must be reviewed individually.

Why Manual Review Fails at Scale

As the number of engineering teams and the rate of commits increase, manual review becomes increasingly inefficient. The backlog queue grows without bound, leading to delays in deployment and potential security vulnerabilities.

In contrast, policy-as-code can handle a high volume of commits efficiently, maintaining a flat backlog queue and ensuring continuous compliance with security policies.

Frequently asked questions

How does policy-as-code ensure consistency across teams?

Policy-as-code ensures consistency by expressing security policies as code that can be evaluated automatically. This approach eliminates the variability introduced by manual reviews and ensures all commits are checked against the same rules.

What are the main disadvantages of using policy-as-code for security enforcement?

The primary disadvantage is the initial setup and maintenance required to define and maintain policies as code. Additionally, it may not cover complex or context-specific scenarios that require human judgment.

Can manual review still be used alongside policy-as-code?

Yes, manual reviews can complement policy-as-code by handling exceptions or cases where automated enforcement is insufficient. This hybrid approach ensures both efficiency and thoroughness.

How does the system handle false positives in policy-as-code?

False positives in policy-as-code are typically addressed through continuous improvement of the policies, feedback loops from developers, and refining the rules to better match real-world scenarios.

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