Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines accelerate delivery, but without security embedded, they become pathways for threats. At IAMOPS, we ensure high growth tech companies build secure, scalable, and compliant pipelines – minimizing risk without slowing product releases.
Here are the best practices for securing your development workflows using CI/CD pipelines on AWS:
Embed Security Early with DevSecOps
Security shouldn’t be an afterthought. Embedding security into every stage of your CI/CD pipeline ensures threats are identified and resolved before they reach production. IAMOPS’ DevSecOps AI, for example, creates actionable security tasks aligned with best practices and tailored to your environment – ensuring engineers implement the right measures confidently.
Key Steps:
- Integrate static code analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities pre-commit.
- Automate security scans in build pipelines to detect known issues.
- Establish security gates that prevent non-compliant code from progressing.
Implement Least Privilege Access Control
Your CI/CD pipelines manage critical deployment and infrastructure actions. Ensure IAM roles and policies follow the principle of least privilege, limiting access only to necessary resources. Regularly audit and rotate credentials, keys, and tokens used within pipelines to avoid misuse.
Use AWS Native Security Tools
AWS offers services purpose-built for securing CI/CD workflows:
- AWS CodePipeline + CodeBuild: Managed services with integrated IAM policies.
- AWS Secrets Manager: Securely store and rotate secrets used in pipelines.
- AWS Inspector & GuardDuty: Continuously monitor for vulnerabilities and threats within your environments.
Secure Build and Deployment Artifacts
Store build artifacts in secure, versioned repositories such as Amazon S3 with bucket policies and encryption or AWS CodeArtifact for dependency management. Enable artifact signing to verify integrity before deployment.
Enforce Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Security
Use tools like Terraform with AWS security modules to deploy infrastructure securely and consistently. Integrate automated IaC security scanning into pipelines to detect misconfigurations before provisioning resources.
Isolate Environments and Pipelines
Separate your development, staging, and production environments to minimise blast radius. Implement:
- Dedicated pipelines per environment with strict deployment approvals.
- Network segmentation and security groups tailored for each stage.
Enable Continuous Compliance and Monitoring
Continuous compliance ensures security controls remain enforced as environments evolve:
- Use AWS Config to monitor resource configurations against security standards.
- Employ IAMOPS DevSecOps AI to automate compliance recommendations and remediation plans.
- Review pipeline logs regularly for anomalies or unauthorised changes.
Implement Robust Secrets Management
Avoid hardcoding secrets in pipeline definitions. Instead:
- Reference secrets stored in AWS Secrets Manager or Parameter Store.
- Rotate secrets regularly and automate the process within pipelines.
Enforce Code Signing and Integrity Checks
Sign your code and deployment packages to verify authenticity. Implement automated checks within pipelines to ensure only signed and verified artefacts are promoted to production.
Review and Improve Regularly
CI/CD security is an ongoing process. Conduct periodic reviews of your pipeline configurations, security controls, and IAM policies. IAMOPS’ DevOps and Cloud Architecture Review provides a comprehensive analysis of security, scalability, cost optimization, and performance with a clear action plan.
Conclusion
Building secure development workflows using CI/CD pipelines on AWS requires integrating security into every stage, automating compliance, and leveraging AWS native services alongside advanced DevSecOps solutions.
At IAMOPS, our dedicated DevSecOps team ensures your high growth tech teams deliver faster while maintaining robust security – with confidence and compliance built-in.
Looking to fortify your CI/CD pipelines?
Book a DevOps and Security Review with IAMOPS today and receive a practical roadmap to secure and scale your pipelines with zero disruptions to your product releases.
