Infrastructure-as-Code Threat Detection Before Cloud Deployment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current CI/CD pipelines fail to effectively evaluate newly introduced security threats and misconfigurations in code before production, leading to reactive security threat handling, increased vulnerability, and costly emergency patches, which disrupt development workflows and complicate codebase maintenance.
Innovation Solution
An AI-based enterprise security platform with code analysis logic and a cloud security system that scans Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, generates visualizations of potential security implications, and autonomously halts or modifies code to mitigate threats before deployment, integrating with CI/CD pipelines for proactive security management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional CI/CD pipeline testing is used to evaluate code before production, then code quality and functional correctness are improved, but security threats and misconfigurations are not detected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by comparing code changes against a vulnerability database before deployment to production. The system performs security threat detection and misconfiguration identification in advance, allowing vulnerabilities to be addressed before they can harm the production environment. This proactive approach prevents security issues rather than reacting to them after deployment.
2Reliability
If security threat comparison testing is implemented in CI/CD pipeline, then proactive security management is improved, but device complexity and processing time are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary vulnerability database that stores known security threats and misconfigurations. Instead of directly comparing code against all possible security issues, the system uses this intermediate repository as a reference point. The code analysis tool queries this database to identify matches, simplifying the complexity by providing a structured intermediary layer between code analysis and vulnerability identification.
3Ease of repair
If reactive security threat handling is used by fixing code after production, then immediate security issues are addressed, but development workflow is disrupted and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by detecting and flagging security threats during the code development and testing phases, before production deployment. This allows developers to address security issues as part of the normal development workflow rather than requiring emergency patches after deployment. The system prevents security issues from reaching production, eliminating the need for reactive hotfixes and associated workflow disruptions.
4Measurement precision
If code analysis for security threats is performed before deployment, then vulnerability detection is improved, but productivity and deployment speed are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual security review processes with automated code analysis tools integrated into the CI/CD pipeline. The system automatically compares code changes against the vulnerability database using automated scanning and analysis algorithms. This substitution of automated mechanical analysis for manual review maintains high vulnerability detection accuracy while significantly reducing the time required, thereby preserving deployment speed and productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A cloud security platform configured to protect a cloud environment is described. The cloud security platform features a cloud analysis logic and cloud security system. The cloud analysis logic is configured to (i) identify one or more security threats associated with a code submission for evaluation and (ii) generate a message including information associated with the one or more security threats. The cloud security system is configured to determine a difference between the one or more security threats associated with the code submission and at least one security threat associated with a prior code submission or production code that pertains, at least in part, to the code submission. The difference causes the cloud security system to refrain from release of code included in the code submission as production code.