Application development teams need to move fast. Yet they often need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to machine identities such as SSL/TLS certificates. They frequently create their own security infrastructure, using a combination of Open SSL, secrets management tools, DevOps platforms, and scripts. Then, as environments and tools change, apps are migrated and regulatory frameworks change, those same developers need to spend time re-coding applications, updating scripts. or learning new certificate authority APIs.
Why Do Developers Reinvent the Wheel?
Developers prefer to stay within their existing toolchain and often view Information Security has a barrier rather than an enabler. Often, security processes for SSL/TLS certificates are antiquated and require manual steps such as submitting a ticket, which are incompatible with the dynamic, ephemeral DevOps environments. As a result, developers take on the burden of creating their own security infrastructure, even though they are not PKI experts. This diverts resources away from their core responsibilities, ultimately slowing them down.