When we talk about application security, we often focus on the final product. But what about the assembly line that builds it? Your CI/CD pipeline has privileged access to your source code, testing environments, and production servers, making it one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure you own. A breach here doesn't just affect one application; it can compromise your entire software supply chain. To help you secure this vital system, we'll explore the OWASP Top 10 CI/CD Security Risks. Think of this as your field guide to hardening your pipeline, moving beyond general security advice to address the specific threats that exist in automated development environments.
Your CI/CD pipeline is the backbone of your development process, designed to move code from commit to deployment as quickly and efficiently as possible. But this speed and automation can come at a cost if security isn't built in from the start. The very tools and processes that accelerate development can also introduce vulnerabilities that attackers are eager to exploit. Understanding where these risks lie is the first step to building a more resilient pipeline.
At its core, CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) is an automated assembly line for software. When a developer commits new code, the CI pipeline automatically kicks off a series of steps: building the code, running automated tests, and checking for errors. Once the code passes these checks, the CD part of the pipeline takes over, automatically deploying the changes to a staging or production environment. The goal is to make software releases smaller, more frequent, and far more reliable than manual deployment processes. This automation is what makes modern software development so agile, but it also means a single vulnerability can be quickly propagated.
Because the CI/CD pipeline is the central nervous system of your software delivery, it’s become a high-value target for attackers. It connects to your source code, your testing environments, your infrastructure, and your production servers, holding the keys to your entire kingdom. The pipeline’s complexity—a mix of different tools, plugins, and third-party services—creates a wide attack surface. Attackers are actively looking for weaknesses here, knowing a compromise could let them inject malicious code, steal secrets, or take control of your systems. Recognizing this growing threat, the security community has identified the most common weak points, detailed in the OWASP Top 10 CI/CD Security Risks. These risks highlight the need for robust software supply chain security from day one.
The CI/CD pipeline is the engine of modern software development, automating everything from code commits to production releases. But this automation and connectivity also make it a prime target for attackers. A single vulnerability here can compromise your entire development lifecycle, introducing malware, stealing sensitive data, or disrupting services. To help teams focus their security efforts, the OWASP Foundation created a list of the top 10 security risks specific to CI/CD environments. Think of it as a practical, no-nonsense guide to hardening your pipelines. It moves beyond general application security and zeroes in on the unique threats that exist within your build, test, and deployment infrastructure. Understanding these risks is the first step toward building a more resilient development process. Let's break down each one so you know exactly what to look for and how to start protecting your code from build to deployment.
Imagine your CI/CD pipeline as an assembly line. Insufficient flow control is like having no quality checks between stations. It means there aren't enough safeguards to control how code moves from a developer's machine to production. Without proper controls, a developer could potentially push code directly to a sensitive environment, bypassing critical security scans, tests, and approvals. This risk often stems from poorly defined branch protection rules or a lack of mandatory peer reviews. Implementing gated check-ins and automated security approvals ensures that every change is vetted, preventing unauthorized or untested code from ever reaching your customers.
This risk is all about who has the keys to your development kingdom—and whether they have more keys than they actually need. Weak identity and access management (IAM) means users, tools, and services have excessive permissions within the CI/CD pipeline. For example, a testing tool might have the ability to deploy to production, or a junior developer might have admin access to your source code repository. This opens the door for both accidental mishaps and malicious attacks. The solution is to enforce the principle of least privilege, giving every entity only the minimum access required to do its job.
Your application doesn't exist in a vacuum; it relies on a web of open-source libraries and third-party packages. Dependency chain abuse happens when an attacker injects malicious code into one of these external components. When your pipeline pulls in that compromised dependency, the malicious code comes with it, potentially stealing data or creating a backdoor. This is a huge challenge because it exploits the trust you place in the open-source community. A strong defense requires robust software supply chain security, including scanning dependencies for known vulnerabilities and maintaining a detailed Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) to track every component in your software.
Poisoned Pipeline Execution (PPE) is a sophisticated attack where an adversary injects malicious commands directly into the pipeline's configuration files (like Jenkinsfile or .gitlab-ci.yml). Because the pipeline treats these configuration files as a trusted source of instructions, it will execute the malicious commands without question. An attacker could use this to steal secrets, tamper with build artifacts, or disrupt the deployment process. This risk highlights the need to treat your pipeline's configuration with the same security scrutiny as your application code, restricting who can modify these critical files and validating their contents before execution.
While IAM focuses on who can access the system, Pipeline-Based Access Controls (PBAC) are about what they can do within the pipeline itself. For example, can any developer trigger a deployment to the production environment, or is that action restricted to specific senior team members or automated processes? Without granular PBAC, you create a scenario where a single compromised account could be used to push malicious code through the entire pipeline. Defining and enforcing strict, role-based permissions for specific pipeline actions—like running security scans or deploying to certain environments—is essential for maintaining control and security.
Secrets like API keys, passwords, and access tokens are the lifeblood of your CI/CD pipeline, allowing different tools and services to communicate. Poor credential hygiene means these secrets are not managed securely. They might be hardcoded directly in source code, stored in plain text configuration files, or left exposed in build logs. This makes them easy targets for attackers. Effective secrets detection tools can scan your code and configurations for exposed credentials, while using a dedicated secrets management vault ensures they are stored and accessed securely, dramatically reducing the risk of a breach.
The tools that make up your CI/CD pipeline—source code managers, build servers, artifact repositories—are complex systems. If not configured correctly, they can expose major security holes. This risk covers everything from using default admin passwords and leaving sensitive ports open to disabling security features for convenience. Each component in your pipeline needs to be hardened and configured according to security best practices. Maintaining a strong application security posture involves regularly auditing these configurations to ensure they remain secure and compliant, closing any gaps that could be exploited by an attacker.
Modern CI/CD pipelines often integrate with a variety of third-party services, from code quality scanners to notification tools. While these services add valuable functionality, they can also introduce risk if not properly vetted. Each integration creates a new potential entry point for attackers. For example, a webhook from a third-party tool could be exploited to trigger unauthorized actions in your pipeline. It's crucial to carefully evaluate the security of any service before integrating it, limit its permissions to the absolute minimum, and continuously monitor its activity for any suspicious behavior.
How do you know the software package you're about to deploy is the exact same one that was built and passed all your security tests? Without artifact integrity validation, you can't be sure. An attacker could potentially tamper with a build artifact after it has been created but before it's deployed, injecting malware or other vulnerabilities. To prevent this, you should use techniques like digital signatures or cryptographic checksums (hashes) to verify that artifacts haven't been altered. Maintaining a complete bill of materials also helps you track the provenance and integrity of every component throughout the pipeline.
If a security incident occurs in your pipeline, could you detect it? And if you did, would you have enough information to understand what happened and how to respond? Poor logging and visibility means the answer is likely no. Without comprehensive logs that track every action—from code commits and build jobs to deployments and access changes—you're flying blind. Effective monitoring gives you the visibility needed to spot anomalous activity in real-time, while detailed logs provide an essential audit trail for investigating incidents, understanding their impact, and preventing them from happening again.
Ignoring your CI/CD pipeline's security is like leaving the master keys to your operation on an unlocked table. Your pipeline is the heart of software delivery, handling all your code and connecting to critical systems. Attackers know this and are increasingly targeting it as a direct path to your most valuable assets. While these threats grow, many security teams are still playing catch-up. A breach here isn't a small hiccup—it can cause catastrophic failures that ripple across your products, customers, and reputation. Let's break down what's on the line.
Your CI/CD pipeline is a complex machine, weaving together different languages, tools, and third-party services. When security is an afterthought, this complexity becomes a liability. A compromised pipeline can bring your development process to a grinding halt, forcing teams to stop shipping features and start hunting for a breach. This isn't just about downtime; it's about lost momentum and friction. Instead of innovating, your developers are stuck dealing with security fires, and trust in your automated processes is broken. This forces a difficult choice between speed and safety, but you need both to succeed.
A compromised CI/CD pipeline is a powerful weapon for an attacker. Because it has privileged access across your infrastructure, a single vulnerability can become a launchpad for widespread attacks. An attacker could inject malicious code into your software, turning your product into a delivery mechanism for malware. We saw this with the SolarWinds attack, where hackers used the build system to distribute malware to thousands of customers. The goal for many attackers is to exploit your software supply chain security and cause maximum damage, turning your brand into an unwitting accomplice.
Ultimately, a CI/CD breach hits the business where it hurts. The immediate consequences include stolen intellectual property, leaked customer data, and significant financial losses from remediation and fines. But the long-term damage to your company's reputation can be even more severe. Customers trust you to deliver secure software, and a public breach erodes that trust instantly. Rebuilding it is a long, expensive process. Maintaining a strong application security posture isn't just a technical requirement; it's a business imperative. Balancing rapid delivery with robust security is key to protecting your assets and your bottom line.
Knowing the risks is one thing, but actively preventing them is where the real work begins. The good news is that you can build a much more resilient CI/CD pipeline by focusing on a few key areas. It’s not about adding clunky security gates that slow everyone down; it’s about integrating smart, proactive security practices directly into your workflow. By making security a foundational part of your pipeline, you can catch issues early, reduce your attack surface, and let your developers focus on what they do best—building great software. Let's walk through some of the most effective strategies you can implement right away.
One of the simplest yet most effective security measures is the principle of least privilege. Think of it as giving out keys to your house—you wouldn't give the plumber a key that opens every single room, just the ones they need to access. The same logic applies to your CI/CD pipeline. Every user, service, and system should only have the minimum level of access required to do its job. This simple rule dramatically reduces the potential damage if an account is compromised. Regularly auditing these permissions is also crucial to ensure that access levels stay appropriate as roles and responsibilities change over time. A strong application security posture management strategy depends on getting these controls right from the start.
Your CI/CD pipeline isn't a single entity; it's a series of stages, each with its own unique risks. A "one-size-fits-all" security approach just won't cut it. You need to apply specific security controls at every step: source, build, test, and deploy. For example, securing your source code might involve branch protection rules and code scanning, while securing the build stage could mean hardening the build environment and verifying dependencies. By tailoring your defenses to each component, you create a layered security model that provides comprehensive protection. This is where continuous AppSec testing becomes invaluable, ensuring that security is checked and enforced throughout the entire lifecycle.
Modern applications are built on a mountain of third-party dependencies, and each one is a potential entry point for attackers. To reduce your software supply chain risk, you need to be deliberate about how you manage these components. Stop pulling packages directly from the internet. Instead, use an internal, vetted proxy or repository that only contains approved dependencies. You should also enforce practices like locking package versions, verifying checksums to ensure integrity, and using package scoping to prevent typosquatting attacks. These steps give you much greater control over what goes into your software and help you maintain a complete bill of materials for your applications.
Misconfigurations are a leading cause of security breaches, and your CI/CD environment is no exception. It's essential to establish and enforce secure configuration standards across all your tools and systems. This includes everything from your source code manager and build servers to your artifact repositories. A critical piece of this is ensuring that your logging configuration is consistent and compliant with your organization's broader log management policy. This not only hardens your systems against attack but also ensures you have the audit trails needed for forensics and compliance management. Standardizing these settings makes your environment more predictable, manageable, and secure.
You can't protect what you can't see. Comprehensive logging and monitoring are non-negotiable for a secure CI/CD pipeline. You need the ability to see what’s happening across your entire environment in real-time to detect suspicious activity and respond to incidents before they escalate. This means logging all significant events, from code commits and build jobs to deployments and access changes. By feeding this data into a monitoring system with well-configured alerts, you can quickly identify anomalies that might indicate a compromise. This visibility is the bedrock of a proactive security strategy, allowing you to maintain a strong and auditable security posture.
Knowing the risks is one thing; actively preventing them is another. The most effective way to protect your pipeline is to weave security directly into its fabric. This isn't about adding more gates for developers to get through. Instead, it's about making security a seamless, automated, and collaborative part of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). When security is integrated from the start, you shift from a reactive "find and fix" model to a proactive one where vulnerabilities are caught and remediated long before they reach production.
This approach, often called "shifting left," means empowering developers with the tools and knowledge to write secure code from day one. It involves automating security checks at every stage—from the moment code is committed to its final deployment. By making security an inherent quality of your development process, you not only reduce risk but also increase development velocity. Teams spend less time on last-minute security scrambles and more time building great products. The following strategies will help you build a pipeline that is both fast and secure.
Think of "Security as Code" (SaC) as applying DevOps principles to your security practices. Instead of manual configurations and policy documents stored on a separate drive, you define your security rules, tests, and policies in code. These files live in your version control system right alongside your application code. This makes security transparent, repeatable, and auditable. Everyone on the team can see the security requirements, and any changes go through the same review process as any other code change. This mindset transforms security from an isolated function into a shared responsibility, making it easier to protect every stage of the pipeline.
Manual security reviews simply can't keep up with the pace of modern CI/CD pipelines. Automation is your key to scaling security without slowing down development. By integrating automated security tools directly into your pipeline, you can check for vulnerabilities with every code commit. This includes running static analysis (SAST) to find flaws in your source code, dynamic analysis (DAST) on running applications, and software composition analysis (SCA) to check for known vulnerabilities in your dependencies. Effective AppSec Testing automation provides immediate feedback to developers, allowing them to fix issues quickly and efficiently.
Building on automation, continuous testing ensures that security checks aren't just a one-time event. Security tests should run automatically every time a developer pushes new code, creating a constant feedback loop. This practice helps catch vulnerabilities the moment they are introduced, when they are cheapest and easiest to fix. It also helps normalize security as part of the daily development workflow. To make this truly effective, pair continuous testing with ongoing developer training. When developers understand common security risks and how to mitigate them, they become your first and most important line of defense.
Not all vulnerabilities carry the same level of risk. A critical remote code execution flaw is far more urgent than a low-severity issue in a development-only tool. A risk-based approach helps you prioritize what matters most. You can configure your pipeline to automatically block builds that introduce critical vulnerabilities while allowing less severe issues to create a ticket for later review. This intelligent triage ensures that security doesn't become a bottleneck. An effective Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) strategy can help you define these workflows, giving you a clear view of your risk landscape and enabling your team to focus its efforts where they will have the greatest impact.
Putting a solid CI/CD security strategy in place is one thing; executing it is another. You need the right tools to turn your policies into practice. With so many options available, the goal is to find solutions that integrate seamlessly into your existing workflows rather than adding friction. The last thing you want is a security tool that developers have to fight with just to get their work done. A disjointed set of tools can create blind spots, alert fatigue, and unnecessary complexity for your team.
Instead, look for tools that provide a unified view of your security posture across the entire software development lifecycle. The best solutions consolidate findings, automate tedious tasks, and give developers clear, actionable feedback directly within their environment. This approach not only strengthens your defenses but also supports a culture where security is a shared responsibility. By choosing tools that simplify security, you can get the full benefits of a modern AppSec program without slowing down your pipeline. The right toolkit helps you detect issues early, fix them quickly, and prevent them from happening again.
Effective security testing isn't a single event—it's a continuous process woven into every stage of your CI/CD pipeline. From the moment a developer writes a line of code to the final deployment, you need automated checks to catch vulnerabilities early. This means using a combination of tools designed for specific tasks, like static analysis (SAST) to scan your source code, dynamic analysis (DAST) to test your running application, and software composition analysis (SCA) to check for issues in your open-source dependencies.
The key is to automate these checks so they run seamlessly in the background. An integrated AppSec testing platform can manage this for you, triggering the right scans at the right time and consolidating the results into a single, easy-to-manage view.
A core principle of security is giving people and systems only the minimum level of access they need to do their jobs. This is known as the principle of least privilege, and it’s critical for securing your CI/CD pipeline. Your pipeline interacts with countless secrets, systems, and environments, and overly permissive access creates a massive attack surface. If a developer’s account or a build agent is compromised, you want to limit the potential damage.
Look for platforms that help you enforce role-based access controls (RBAC) and manage credentials securely. This ensures that only authorized users and services can make changes to your pipeline configuration, approve deployments, or access sensitive data. Centralizing these controls helps you maintain a strong application security posture and makes it easier to audit who has access to what.
You can't protect what you can't see. Comprehensive logging and monitoring are your eyes and ears, giving you the visibility needed to detect suspicious activity within your CI/CD pipeline. Every action—from a code commit to a build failure or a deployment—should be logged. But collecting logs is only half the battle; you also need tools that can analyze this data in real time to spot anomalies that might indicate a security threat.
A good monitoring solution will provide dashboards that visualize pipeline activity and send automated alerts when something looks off. This allows your team to investigate potential issues immediately, before they can escalate. This level of visibility is also essential for maintaining your software supply chain security, as it helps you track every component and change throughout the development process.
Knowing the risks is one thing, but building a program to systematically address them is how you create lasting change. It’s about moving from a reactive, fire-fighting mode to a proactive security culture that’s baked into your development lifecycle. A strong program doesn’t just rely on tools; it’s built on clear policies, an educated team, and measurable outcomes. Here’s how you can build an effective program that protects your pipelines without slowing down your developers.
Your security program needs a solid foundation, and that starts with clear, documented standards and policies. Think of this as the rulebook for your entire CI/CD ecosystem. It should define everything from who can access what, to which security scans are mandatory for a production release. A great starting point is to enforce the principle of least privilege, ensuring users and services only have the permissions they absolutely need. Your policies should also mandate strong logging and monitoring capabilities so you have a clear audit trail. This documentation becomes your single source of truth, helping you streamline compliance and license management and providing a clear framework for developers to follow.
A tool is only as effective as the person using it. Continuous education for your development and DevOps teams is essential for CI/CD security. When developers understand the why behind security requirements, they become active participants in protecting the pipeline rather than just trying to get around a gatekeeper. Ongoing training helps your team recognize and mitigate risks in their own code and within the pipeline itself. This fosters a security-first culture where everyone shares responsibility. The goal is to make security a natural part of the workflow, not an obstacle, by empowering developers to fix issues quickly and learn as they go.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. To know if your security program is working, you need to establish clear metrics and regularly assess your performance. Effective CI/CD security requires protection at each stage of the pipeline—source, build, test, and deploy—and you need to track how well your controls are working at every step. This is where Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) becomes invaluable. It gives you a unified view across all your tools and pipelines, allowing you to track key performance indicators (KPIs) like Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) and policy compliance. By regularly reviewing these metrics, you can identify weak spots and make data-driven decisions to continuously refine your security strategy.
The pressure to ship code faster is constant, but moving quickly can feel at odds with being secure. It’s the classic dilemma: do you prioritize speed or safety? The good news is that you don’t have to choose. The key isn’t to add more security gates that slow everyone down, but to build security into your development process from the start. By making smart, strategic choices about your tools and workflows, you can create a CI/CD pipeline that is both fast and resilient.
This approach is about working smarter, not harder. It means automating the right tasks, giving developers the information they need when they need it, and fostering a culture where security is a shared responsibility, not an afterthought. When you stop treating security as a final checkpoint and start seeing it as an integral part of the development lifecycle, you’ll find that speed and security aren’t opposing forces. Instead, they work together to help you build better, safer software without missing your deadlines. The following strategies will help you find that balance.
Your CI/CD pipeline is the heart of your development process, connecting dozens of different tools, languages, and services. This complexity is powerful, but it’s also a major source of risk. Every new third-party tool or open-source library you integrate can introduce new vulnerabilities. According to the OWASP Foundation, the intricate nature of these systems makes them a prime target. Instead of letting integrations become a blind spot, handle them with intention. Vet every new tool and understand its security posture before adding it to your stack. Using a unified application security posture management (ASPM) platform can give you a clear, consolidated view of these connections, helping you manage risk without slowing down innovation.
Your team’s time and attention are your most valuable resources. Wasting them on low-priority alerts or manual security tasks is a direct drain on development speed. One of the most common and time-consuming issues is poor credential hygiene, where secrets like API keys and passwords are accidentally exposed in code. Manually searching for these is inefficient and prone to error. By implementing automated secrets detection, you can find and fix these issues early, before they become a serious breach. This allows your team to focus their energy on building features, not chasing down preventable mistakes. Optimizing your resources means using automation to handle the routine work so your developers can solve the real challenges.
Security is a team sport. When security teams operate in a silo, they often become a bottleneck, and developers can start to see them as an obstacle. The most effective way to secure your pipeline is to make security a shared responsibility. This starts with education. Providing developers with ongoing training helps them recognize and mitigate risks in their own code. You can reinforce this by integrating automated AppSec testing tools directly into their workflow. When developers get immediate, actionable feedback without having to switch contexts, they can fix issues on the spot. This collaborative approach breaks down barriers and builds a culture where everyone is invested in creating secure, high-quality software.
As development practices evolve, so do the threats that target them. A static security strategy won't cut it. Your approach to CI/CD security needs to be forward-thinking, ready to adapt to new technologies and emerging risks. Preparing for the future means building a security framework that is as dynamic and resilient as the pipelines it protects. It’s about creating a sustainable program that not only addresses today's OWASP Top 10 risks but also anticipates tomorrow's challenges.
This involves staying informed about the threat landscape, adopting a security posture that can bend without breaking, and choosing tools that grow with you. By focusing on these areas, you can move from a reactive security model to a proactive one, ensuring your development lifecycle remains both fast and secure. Let’s look at how you can build a CI/CD security strategy that’s ready for whatever comes next.
Your CI/CD pipeline is the heart of your software delivery process, handling everything from code commits to final deployment. Because it integrates so many different languages, tools, and third-party services, its complexity grows with every new feature. This complexity, combined with high levels of automation, creates a constantly shifting attack surface. What was secure yesterday might not be today.
Staying ahead means actively learning about new vulnerabilities and attack techniques targeting development pipelines. Attackers are always finding creative ways to exploit misconfigurations or abuse dependencies. By keeping up with industry research and threat intelligence, your team can better anticipate where the next risk might come from and adjust your defenses accordingly.
An effective CI/CD security strategy requires protection at every single stage of the pipeline—source, build, test, and deploy. You can’t just bolt on security at the end; it needs to be woven into the fabric of your development process. This is what an adaptive application security posture is all about. It means applying specific security controls tailored to the unique risks of each component.
For example, securing the source stage involves scanning code for vulnerabilities and managing secrets, while securing the deployment stage focuses on locking down infrastructure and access. By embedding security checks throughout the entire lifecycle, you create multiple layers of defense. This approach ensures that a weakness in one area doesn't compromise the entire pipeline, allowing your security to adapt as your pipeline evolves.
As your organization grows, so will the complexity of your applications and CI/CD pipelines. The security solutions you choose must be able to handle this increased scale without slowing down development. Look for tools that offer strong logging and monitoring capabilities, giving you the visibility needed to detect and respond to threats quickly. Your tools should also help you enforce the principle of least privilege across your entire CI/CD ecosystem.
A scalable solution simplifies your tech stack rather than adding to it. Instead of juggling multiple point solutions, a unified platform can provide a complete view of your security posture, from supply chain security to compliance management. Investing in tools designed for growth ensures your security program can keep pace with your business.
My team is just getting started with CI/CD security. Where's the best place to begin? The best first step is to gain visibility and control. Start by mapping out your entire CI/CD pipeline to understand all the tools, integrations, and permissions involved. Once you have a clear picture, focus on implementing strong access controls. Enforcing the principle of least privilege for both people and automated services is one of the most effective ways to immediately reduce your attack surface without disrupting your workflow.
Will implementing these security measures slow down our development pipeline? It's a common concern, but the answer is no—if you do it right. The goal isn't to add more manual gates that create bottlenecks. Instead, you should integrate automated security checks directly into the pipeline. When security scans run automatically with every code commit, developers get immediate feedback and can fix issues early. This "shift left" approach actually prevents the major delays that happen when a critical vulnerability is found right before a release.
What's the difference between CI/CD security and the application security we're already doing? Think of it this way: traditional application security focuses on finding vulnerabilities in the code itself—the final product. CI/CD security focuses on protecting the entire factory that builds, tests, and delivers that product. It secures the tools, processes, and infrastructure of your pipeline, guarding against risks like poisoned dependencies, exposed secrets in your build environment, or unauthorized deployments. Both are essential, but they protect different parts of your development lifecycle.
How can we manage all of this without overwhelming our team with alerts from different tools? This is a huge challenge when you're using a collection of separate security tools. The key is to move away from a disjointed approach and toward a unified platform. A system that can ingest findings from all your different scanners, deduplicate the alerts, and prioritize them based on actual risk is a game-changer. It cuts through the noise and gives your team a single, clear view of what needs to be fixed, which prevents alert fatigue and makes remediation much more efficient.
How do I get developers on board with these new security practices? The best way to get developer buy-in is to make security a helpful part of their existing workflow, not a roadblock. Provide them with tools that offer clear, actionable feedback directly in their environment, so they don't have to switch contexts to fix a problem. Frame security as a shared responsibility and focus on education and empowerment. When developers understand the "why" behind a security rule and have the tools to address it easily, they become your strongest allies in building a secure pipeline.