Shift Left on Security
Shift Left on Security is the practice of integrating security checks, controls, and thinking earlier in the software delivery lifecycle - embedding it into development, testing, and build pipelines rather than waiting for post-development reviews.
It enables faster, safer releases and reduces the cost of remediating vulnerabilities.
Level 1 – Initial (Ad Hoc)
Security is handled manually and late in the lifecycle, typically after development is complete.
Issues are often caught in pre-release or production, leading to costly fixes and delayed deployments.
- Developers have limited awareness or training in secure coding
- No automated security checks in CI/CD pipelines
- Security testing is reactive and performed by a separate team
- Findings are shared in PDFs or spreadsheets with little context
- Security is viewed as a blocker rather than a shared responsibility
Level 2 – Managed (Emerging Practice)
Basic security tools and awareness are introduced earlier in the lifecycle, but practices vary by team.
- Static analysis or dependency scanning tools are used in some pipelines
- Developers begin to take responsibility for some low-level fixes
- Security training or guidelines are available, but not embedded
- Findings are tracked, but remediation is not prioritised or governed
- Security champions may be emerging in some teams
Level 3 – Defined (Standardised)
Security practices are integrated into pipelines and workflows across teams.
“Secure by design” thinking is becoming a shared responsibility.
- Static (SAST), dynamic (DAST), and dependency (SCA) scans are automated in CI/CD
- Security controls and policies are codified (e.g. infrastructure policies as code)
- Threat modelling is integrated into early-stage planning
- Secure coding practices and training are embedded into team norms
- Teams use baseline vulnerability severity thresholds to gate releases
Level 4 – Quantitatively Managed (Measured & Controlled)
Security posture is measured, tracked, and actively managed through feedback loops.
Security becomes part of quality, not just compliance.
- Vulnerability metrics are tracked (e.g. time-to-fix, mean risk score, exposure window)
- Security issues are prioritised and triaged alongside functional bugs
- Security tests are run across branches, environments, and infrastructure
- Remediation SLAs are defined and governed
- Developers can self-serve security insights and perform risk analysis earlier
Level 5 – Optimising (Continuous Improvement)
Security is embedded, automated, and continuously improved through innovation, tooling, and team empowerment.
- Developers proactively model threats, apply secure defaults, and prevent misconfigurations
- Teams experiment with fuzzing, runtime protection, and behavioural anomaly detection
- AI/ML tools augment security triage and scanning
- Security feedback loops are fast and context-aware
- Security is seen as a product feature - not a gate, but an enabler of trust and speed