API, SOAR, CI/CD or Infrastructure as Code?

About this interactive

The Automation lesson names four approaches. API (application programming interface): one system sends another a request in an agreed format, and the other answers. A server asks a database for data, one service calls another, or a provisioning server creates accounts in a directory through API calls. SOAR (security orchestration, automation and response): software that automates the response to security incidents, such as isolating a machine or blocking an address the moment an alert fires. CI/CD: continuous integration and continuous delivery. The video expands CI as continuous improvement; the standard term is continuous integration, where each code change is merged, built and tested automatically. Continuous delivery means each change that passes is ready to release, rather than saved up for one big release night; releasing it automatically is called continuous deployment. Tools such as Jenkins run the pipeline. Infrastructure as code: servers, databases and networks are defined in scripts and templates and deployed from them, instead of being built by hand. A quick test for each card: is it two systems talking, a response to a security alert, a code change on its way to release, or infrastructure built from definition files?

What you'll learn

Identify which automation approach is at work: an API between systems, SOAR for security response, a CI/CD pipeline for code changes, or infrastructure as code
Recognize that CI/CD stands for continuous integration and continuous delivery, and that infrastructure as code deploys servers and networks from scripts and templates

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

4.7 Explain the importance of automation and orchestration related to secure operations.

CompTIA CySA+

1.5 Explain the importance of efficiency and process improvement in security operations.

CompTIA SecurityX

4.5 Explain the use of automation, orchestration, and threat intelligence in security operations.

Key terms

Application Program Interface: A defined set of protocols and routines that allows software applications to communicate with each other or with an operating system. APIs abstract underlying implementation and expose specific functionality to callers.
Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response: Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response is a technology solution that combines security tool integration, automated workflow execution, and coordinated incident response to accelerate threat detection and remediation while reducing analyst workload.
CI/CD: A methodology combining Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery that automates the building, testing, and deployment of software or infrastructure changes in an iterative loop.
Infrastructure as Code: Infrastructure as Code is the practice of managing and provisioning computing infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files; security risks include hardcoded secrets, misconfigured permissions, and drift between defined and deployed state.

Topics

Automation Devops Interactive Categorize

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