Application Security Testing Belongs in the CI Pipeline

Over the past decade, the rapid pace of software deployments has outstripped traditional application security measures, which primarily relied on infrequent penetration testing, leaving security teams struggling to keep up with the pace of innovation. However, the integration of automated application security testing into Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines is now addressing this gap, allowing security tests to be run with every pull request or commit. This approach, akin to negative integration testing, ensures that potential vulnerabilities are identified and addressed long before they reach production, thus preventing the inefficiencies and risks associated with scheduled production scans or quarterly penetration tests. By focusing on smaller units of change and leveraging both automated scanning tools and custom scripts, companies can achieve faster fix times and more efficient vulnerability management. This shift not only aligns security testing with developer workflows but also facilitates quicker and more precise bug fixes by scanning the underlying microservices rather than the end-state application, thereby enhancing the overall application security in line with the velocity of modern software development practices.