Which approach explicitly integrates security into every phase of the development lifecycle?

Which approach explicitly integrates security into every phase of the development lifecycle?

• A. Agile
• B. Waterfall
• C. DevOPs
• D. DevSecOps/SecDevOps

Answer: (D)

DevSecOps (also known as SecDevOps) explicitly integrates security into every phase of the development lifecycle. It treats security as a shared responsibility across developers, operations, and security teams, embedding security practices directly into the pipeline—from planning and design through coding, building, testing, deployment, and monitoring. This approach left-shifts security decisions earlier in the process, using automated security checks, vulnerability scanning, secure coding standards, dependency management, and continuous policy enforcement within the CI/CD workflow to catch issues fast and reduce risk in production.

Agile focuses on iterative development and adaptability, but doesn’t inherently mandate security integration across the whole lifecycle. Waterfall follows a linear sequence where security is often addressed late. DevOps improves collaboration and automation between development and operations for faster delivery, but without the explicit, automated security integration that DevSecOps provides.