New: SCW Connector for Okta Workflows

Published Jun 02, 2022
by Secure Code Warrior
cASE sTUDY

New: SCW Connector for Okta Workflows

Published Jun 02, 2022
by Secure Code Warrior
View Resource
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Secure Code Warrior and Okta Launch Secure Developer Workflows
Secure Code Warrior and Okta Launch Secure Developer Workflows

Secure Code Warrior and Okta launch a new way to secure developer workflows

Developers are expected to deliver quality code faster than ever before but there is no doubt that unrealistic deadlines can lead to poor software quality and vulnerable code. It is hardly surprising that 67% of developers think they ship code with vulnerabilities, in part due to tight deadlines (State of Developer-Driven Security 2022). As threats and breaches continue to increase, security can no longer be an afterthought, instead it needs to be integrated into the entire DevSecOps cycle.

We’re excited to announce the Secure Code Warrior Connector for Okta Workflows, which enables organizations and developers to write secure code from the start of the software development lifecycle. This new collaboration between SCW and Okta, the leading independent provider of identity, creates a security proficiency check that will empower AppSec Managers to be confident that the team is committing secure code to reduce vulnerabilities all without moving developers out of their workflow. Plus, we’ve added single sign-on for Secure Code Warrior and Okta to make it even simpler to leverage this great new solution.

Reduce the risk of introducing vulnerabilities

Development teams have traditionally relied on reactive or slow processes that are later in the development cycle, such as plugins, scanning tools, or code reviews to locate and fix security issues --though these approaches have many benefits, they simply create too much risk for vulnerable code and future rework. Instead, we’re here to help organizations shift security to the left and take a proactive, not reactive, security stance. The new Secure Code Warrior Connector for Okta Workflows integrates security thinking into the entire development cycle by ensuring that each individual developer has achieved the necessary secure coding skills to be granted repo access to commit code. This integration will ensure that developers are learning about the latest security practices through SCW’s highly engaging platform and that some of the burdens of manual code reviews are reduced freeing up engineering hours to ship more functionality without sacrificing quality.

AppSec and engineering leaders leverage SCW’s extensive learning platform to create personalized assessments and paths to make sure the developers are focusing on your top priority secure coding needs and achieving the right expertise to be confident they can check-in code. With the help of the breadth and depth of content, 6500+ interactive coding challenges, 56+ languages:frameworks, and 150+ vulnerability categories, you can be sure that virtually every need can be met for your organization.

Once you’ve created the right learning strategy for your team, the assessment scores, as well as a course’s completion status, can be used to determine whether developers have the right skills to build software with a security-first approach. Thanks to the new integration with Okta, you can now automate permissions for each developer based on their assessment scores to easily scale each individual developer's approval to commit code or identify opportunities to further their skill set.

Thanks to the flexible and interactive learning experience on the SCW platform, developers consistently enjoy themselves while learning and can see a shift in their approach to learning, from a compliance check-box to compelling and worthwhile.

How it works

The Secure Code Warrior Connector for Okta Workflows is easy to build with Okta Workflows no code identity automation and orchestration configuration, using if-then logic. The Connector uses a set of Actions that help you perform workflow tasks without worrying about the underlying complexities of API calls and configuration setup.

A simple design to secure your developer workflow looks like this:

Simple Design to Secure your Developer Workflow
A workflow to grant or deny access to a repo based on a developer's secure coding abilities

Here is an overview of the full workflow design:

Complete Workflow Design
Full workflow design as created in Okta Workflows

Let’s go through the steps:

1. Configure the assessment ID used to determine a developer’s security proficiency. Also, add GitHub details such as the organization and the repository as a part of the setup.

Configure the Assessment ID for Developers Security Proficiency
Add configuration details for Assessment and GitHub

2. Using the Action called Check Assessment Completion For User, the workflow checks whether a developer has successfully passed a particular assessment.

Workflow to Check Assessment Completion
Use a Connector Action - Check Assessment Completion For User

3. If the desired course/assessment has been completed or a particular score achieved, then use the GitHub Connector to grant access to the repository. If the requirement is not met, a notification can be generated or another Okta workflow can be triggered to take appropriate action.

Okta workflow
If-this-then-that logic to either grant access or send a notification if denied

The above can be designed to run as a one-off, periodic, or continuous check so that it continues to only admit eligible developers into the secure workflow.

Some of the other possible SCW Connector Actions are:

  • List Assessment Attempts For User - lists all attempts that a user has for a particular assessment
  • Check Course Completion For User - determines if a user has completed a specified course
  • List Course Enrollments For User - lists all enrollments that a user has for a particular course ID
  • Custom API Action - to execute any API call other than what is possible through the available Actions

Release high-quality secure code faster with confidence

SCW Connector helps reduce the risk of introducing vulnerabilities at the start of the software development lifecycle. Just as code reviews and scanning tools, it performs the role of a quality gate to ensure that developers are writing secure code from the start. As a result, less time is spent on reviewing code and fixing avoidable issues, and the focus shift towards shipping quality code faster. Additionally, the Connector also helps promote a security-first culture by encouraging developers to proactively engage with SCW’s learning platform to maintain their security proficiency. As developers continue to learn and improve their security maturity, vulnerabilities continue to decrease in new code. This eases the burden of remediation support from the AppSec team allowing them to focus more on strengthening the overall security posture of the organizations.

The Secure Code Warrior Connector for Okta Workflows, along with our learning platform, can help organizations achieve their goal of shifting security left, faster by elevating the security proficiency of the development teams.

Reach out to schedule a demo or check out the documentation to discover more details about the setup and configuration.

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Secure Code Warrior

Secure Code Warrior builds a culture of security-driven developers by giving them the skills  to code securely. Our flagship Agile Learning Platform delivers relevant skills-based pathways,  hands-on missions, and contextual tools for developers to rapidly learn, build, and apply  their skills to write secure code at speed.

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New: SCW Connector for Okta Workflows

Published Jun 02, 2022
By Secure Code Warrior

Secure Code Warrior and Okta launch a new way to secure developer workflows

Developers are expected to deliver quality code faster than ever before but there is no doubt that unrealistic deadlines can lead to poor software quality and vulnerable code. It is hardly surprising that 67% of developers think they ship code with vulnerabilities, in part due to tight deadlines (State of Developer-Driven Security 2022). As threats and breaches continue to increase, security can no longer be an afterthought, instead it needs to be integrated into the entire DevSecOps cycle.

We’re excited to announce the Secure Code Warrior Connector for Okta Workflows, which enables organizations and developers to write secure code from the start of the software development lifecycle. This new collaboration between SCW and Okta, the leading independent provider of identity, creates a security proficiency check that will empower AppSec Managers to be confident that the team is committing secure code to reduce vulnerabilities all without moving developers out of their workflow. Plus, we’ve added single sign-on for Secure Code Warrior and Okta to make it even simpler to leverage this great new solution.

Reduce the risk of introducing vulnerabilities

Development teams have traditionally relied on reactive or slow processes that are later in the development cycle, such as plugins, scanning tools, or code reviews to locate and fix security issues --though these approaches have many benefits, they simply create too much risk for vulnerable code and future rework. Instead, we’re here to help organizations shift security to the left and take a proactive, not reactive, security stance. The new Secure Code Warrior Connector for Okta Workflows integrates security thinking into the entire development cycle by ensuring that each individual developer has achieved the necessary secure coding skills to be granted repo access to commit code. This integration will ensure that developers are learning about the latest security practices through SCW’s highly engaging platform and that some of the burdens of manual code reviews are reduced freeing up engineering hours to ship more functionality without sacrificing quality.

AppSec and engineering leaders leverage SCW’s extensive learning platform to create personalized assessments and paths to make sure the developers are focusing on your top priority secure coding needs and achieving the right expertise to be confident they can check-in code. With the help of the breadth and depth of content, 6500+ interactive coding challenges, 56+ languages:frameworks, and 150+ vulnerability categories, you can be sure that virtually every need can be met for your organization.

Once you’ve created the right learning strategy for your team, the assessment scores, as well as a course’s completion status, can be used to determine whether developers have the right skills to build software with a security-first approach. Thanks to the new integration with Okta, you can now automate permissions for each developer based on their assessment scores to easily scale each individual developer's approval to commit code or identify opportunities to further their skill set.

Thanks to the flexible and interactive learning experience on the SCW platform, developers consistently enjoy themselves while learning and can see a shift in their approach to learning, from a compliance check-box to compelling and worthwhile.

How it works

The Secure Code Warrior Connector for Okta Workflows is easy to build with Okta Workflows no code identity automation and orchestration configuration, using if-then logic. The Connector uses a set of Actions that help you perform workflow tasks without worrying about the underlying complexities of API calls and configuration setup.

A simple design to secure your developer workflow looks like this:

Simple Design to Secure your Developer Workflow
A workflow to grant or deny access to a repo based on a developer's secure coding abilities

Here is an overview of the full workflow design:

Complete Workflow Design
Full workflow design as created in Okta Workflows

Let’s go through the steps:

1. Configure the assessment ID used to determine a developer’s security proficiency. Also, add GitHub details such as the organization and the repository as a part of the setup.

Configure the Assessment ID for Developers Security Proficiency
Add configuration details for Assessment and GitHub

2. Using the Action called Check Assessment Completion For User, the workflow checks whether a developer has successfully passed a particular assessment.

Workflow to Check Assessment Completion
Use a Connector Action - Check Assessment Completion For User

3. If the desired course/assessment has been completed or a particular score achieved, then use the GitHub Connector to grant access to the repository. If the requirement is not met, a notification can be generated or another Okta workflow can be triggered to take appropriate action.

Okta workflow
If-this-then-that logic to either grant access or send a notification if denied

The above can be designed to run as a one-off, periodic, or continuous check so that it continues to only admit eligible developers into the secure workflow.

Some of the other possible SCW Connector Actions are:

  • List Assessment Attempts For User - lists all attempts that a user has for a particular assessment
  • Check Course Completion For User - determines if a user has completed a specified course
  • List Course Enrollments For User - lists all enrollments that a user has for a particular course ID
  • Custom API Action - to execute any API call other than what is possible through the available Actions

Release high-quality secure code faster with confidence

SCW Connector helps reduce the risk of introducing vulnerabilities at the start of the software development lifecycle. Just as code reviews and scanning tools, it performs the role of a quality gate to ensure that developers are writing secure code from the start. As a result, less time is spent on reviewing code and fixing avoidable issues, and the focus shift towards shipping quality code faster. Additionally, the Connector also helps promote a security-first culture by encouraging developers to proactively engage with SCW’s learning platform to maintain their security proficiency. As developers continue to learn and improve their security maturity, vulnerabilities continue to decrease in new code. This eases the burden of remediation support from the AppSec team allowing them to focus more on strengthening the overall security posture of the organizations.

The Secure Code Warrior Connector for Okta Workflows, along with our learning platform, can help organizations achieve their goal of shifting security left, faster by elevating the security proficiency of the development teams.

Reach out to schedule a demo or check out the documentation to discover more details about the setup and configuration.

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