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Learning path

DevSecOps Engineer learning path: everything to study, topic by topic

Assesses the ability to embed security practices into CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure, and development workflows. Covers secure coding, pipeline hardening, infrastructure security, runtime protection, compliance automation, and security strategy.

Short answer

To learn DevSecOps Engineer, work through 6 modules and 24 topics in the order they build on each other. It starts with Secure Development, then moves on to Pipeline Security and Infrastructure Security. Use the map as a checklist, or measure your level and study only what is missing.

6
modules
24
topics
50
min to assess

What you will study

Topics are grouped by module. Open one to see its objectives and key concepts.

1 · Secure Development4 topics
  • Secure Coding Practices

    Input validation, output encoding, parameterized queries, secure error handling, and defensive programming techniques to prevent common vulnerabilities

    Objectives

    • Apply input validation to prevent injection attacks
    • Implement secure error handling that avoids information leakage

    Key concepts

    • input validation
    • output encoding
    • parameterized queries
    • secure error handling
    • defensive programming
    • least privilege in code
    • secure defaults
  • OWASP Top 10 Awareness

    Understanding the OWASP Top 10 web application security risks, their impact, and fundamental mitigation strategies for each category

    Objectives

    • Identify OWASP Top 10 risks in a code review scenario
    • Recommend mitigations for the most critical web application vulnerabilities

    Key concepts

    • injection attacks
    • broken authentication
    • sensitive data exposure
    • XML external entities
    • broken access control
    • security misconfiguration
    • cross-site scripting
  • Code Scanning (SAST)

    Static application security testing tools, integration into development workflows, triage of findings, and reduction of false positives in automated code analysis

    Objectives

    • Integrate a SAST tool into a CI pipeline with manageable false-positive rates
    • Create custom scanning rules for organization-specific security patterns

    Key concepts

    • SAST tools
    • SonarQube
    • Semgrep
    • CodeQL
    • false positive triage
    • custom rules
    • IDE integration
  • Dependency Scanning (SCA)

    Software composition analysis to identify vulnerable dependencies, license compliance, automated upgrade strategies, and dependency hygiene in build systems

    Objectives

    • Set up automated dependency scanning that blocks critical vulnerabilities from merging
    • Design a dependency update strategy that balances security with stability

    Key concepts

    • SCA tools
    • Snyk
    • Dependabot
    • Renovate
    • CVE database
    • license compliance
    • transitive dependencies
2 · Pipeline Security4 topics
  • CI/CD Security Hardening

    Securing build agents, pipeline configurations, environment isolation, least-privilege access for CI/CD systems, and preventing pipeline poisoning attacks

    Objectives

    • Harden a CI/CD pipeline against common supply chain attack vectors
    • Implement least-privilege access controls for build agents and pipeline configurations

    Key concepts

    • pipeline poisoning
    • build agent hardening
    • ephemeral runners
    • environment isolation
    • RBAC for pipelines
    • pipeline-as-code security
    • branch protection
  • Container Image Scanning

    Scanning container images for vulnerabilities, malware, and misconfigurations at build time and in registries, with automated gating policies

    Objectives

    • Integrate container image scanning into a build pipeline with severity-based gates
    • Design a base image strategy that minimizes the vulnerability surface

    Key concepts

    • Trivy
    • Grype
    • Clair
    • image layering
    • base image selection
    • distroless images
    • registry scanning
  • Secrets Management (Vault/AWS SM)

    Centralized secrets management using HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager, dynamic secrets, rotation policies, and preventing secrets leakage in pipelines

    Objectives

    • Design a secrets management architecture that prevents leakage across pipeline stages
    • Implement dynamic short-lived credentials to replace long-lived API keys

    Key concepts

    • HashiCorp Vault
    • AWS Secrets Manager
    • dynamic secrets
    • secret rotation
    • secrets detection
    • environment variable hygiene
    • least-privilege access
  • Artifact Signing & Provenance (SLSA)

    Signing build artifacts, verifying provenance with SLSA framework, in-toto attestations, and establishing trust in the software supply chain

    Objectives

    • Implement SLSA Level 3 provenance for container artifacts in a production pipeline
    • Design an artifact verification workflow that blocks unsigned images from deployment

    Key concepts

    • SLSA framework
    • Sigstore
    • cosign
    • in-toto attestations
    • provenance verification
    • build reproducibility
    • tamper detection
3 · Infrastructure Security4 topics
  • IaC Security Scanning (Checkov/tfsec)

    Scanning Terraform, CloudFormation, and Kubernetes manifests for security misconfigurations, custom policy creation, and pre-commit integration

    Objectives

    • Integrate IaC scanning into a Terraform workflow with custom organizational policies
    • Triage and prioritize IaC security findings across a multi-account cloud environment

    Key concepts

    • Checkov
    • tfsec
    • KICS
    • custom policies
    • pre-commit hooks
    • Terraform plan scanning
    • drift detection
  • Cloud Security Posture Management

    Continuous monitoring of cloud configurations against security benchmarks, automated remediation, and multi-cloud security governance

    Objectives

    • Design a CSPM strategy that covers drift detection and auto-remediation
    • Map CIS benchmark controls to automated cloud security checks

    Key concepts

    • CSPM tools
    • CIS benchmarks
    • AWS Config rules
    • Azure Policy
    • auto-remediation
    • multi-cloud governance
    • security baselines
  • Network Security Automation

    Automating firewall rules, security groups, network policies, micro-segmentation, and zero-trust network architecture through code-driven approaches

    Objectives

    • Automate network segmentation policies for a Kubernetes cluster using Calico or Cilium
    • Design a zero-trust network architecture with automated policy enforcement

    Key concepts

    • network policies
    • micro-segmentation
    • zero-trust networking
    • security group automation
    • service mesh security
    • Calico
    • Cilium
  • Policy as Code (OPA/Sentinel)

    Defining and enforcing organizational security policies using OPA Rego or Sentinel, admission controllers, and policy-driven governance at scale

    Objectives

    • Write OPA Rego policies that enforce security guardrails for Kubernetes deployments
    • Design a policy-as-code governance framework that scales across multiple teams

    Key concepts

    • Open Policy Agent
    • Rego language
    • Sentinel policies
    • Kubernetes admission controllers
    • Gatekeeper
    • policy testing
    • policy libraries
4 · Runtime Security4 topics
  • Runtime Application Self-Protection

    Instrumenting applications for runtime threat detection, blocking attacks from within the application, and balancing security with performance overhead

    Objectives

    • Evaluate when RASP is preferable to a traditional WAF for application protection
    • Assess the performance trade-offs of runtime instrumentation in production workloads

    Key concepts

    • RASP agents
    • runtime instrumentation
    • attack blocking
    • performance overhead
    • virtual patching
    • behavior monitoring
    • WAF vs RASP
  • Container Runtime Security (Falco)

    Monitoring container behavior at runtime using Falco and similar tools, detecting anomalous system calls, and responding to container escape attempts

    Objectives

    • Configure Falco rules to detect container escape attempts and privilege escalation
    • Design a container runtime security architecture for a production Kubernetes cluster

    Key concepts

    • Falco
    • syscall monitoring
    • container escape detection
    • runtime anomaly detection
    • eBPF security
    • immutable containers
    • seccomp profiles
  • API Security Testing (DAST)

    Dynamic application security testing for APIs, automated penetration testing, fuzzing, and integration of DAST tools into CI/CD pipelines

    Objectives

    • Integrate DAST scanning into a CI/CD pipeline without blocking developer velocity
    • Design an API security testing strategy that covers authentication and authorization flaws

    Key concepts

    • DAST tools
    • OWASP ZAP
    • Burp Suite
    • API fuzzing
    • authenticated scanning
    • CI/CD DAST integration
    • false positive management
  • Threat Detection in Production

    Detecting security threats in production environments using SIEM integration, anomaly detection, automated incident response, and security observability

    Objectives

    • Design a threat detection pipeline that correlates signals across containers, APIs, and infrastructure
    • Reduce alert fatigue while maintaining detection coverage for critical attack vectors

    Key concepts

    • SIEM integration
    • anomaly detection
    • security observability
    • automated incident response
    • threat intelligence feeds
    • SOAR platforms
    • alert fatigue reduction
5 · Compliance Automation4 topics
  • Compliance as Code

    Encoding regulatory and organizational compliance requirements as automated checks, continuous compliance monitoring, and evidence collection automation

    Objectives

    • Convert a manual compliance checklist into automated, continuously-enforced code policies
    • Design an evidence collection pipeline that satisfies auditor requirements automatically

    Key concepts

    • compliance frameworks
    • automated evidence collection
    • continuous compliance
    • control mapping
    • compliance drift detection
    • InSpec
    • Chef Compliance
  • Audit Trail Automation

    Automated logging, immutable audit trails, change tracking, and tamper-proof evidence preservation for compliance and forensic investigations

    Objectives

    • Architect an immutable audit trail system that meets SOC 2 evidence requirements
    • Design a log retention and tamper-proof storage strategy for regulatory compliance

    Key concepts

    • immutable logs
    • CloudTrail
    • audit log aggregation
    • tamper-proof storage
    • change tracking
    • log retention policies
    • forensic readiness
  • SOC 2 / ISO 27001 Pipeline Integration

    Embedding SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 control checks directly into CI/CD pipelines, automated control evidence, and continuous audit readiness

    Objectives

    • Map SOC 2 trust service criteria to automated pipeline checks
    • Design a continuous audit readiness dashboard for ISO 27001 compliance

    Key concepts

    • SOC 2 Type II
    • ISO 27001 controls
    • control evidence automation
    • continuous audit readiness
    • pipeline compliance gates
    • control mapping to CI/CD
    • auditor communication
  • Regulatory Reporting Automation

    Automating regulatory compliance reporting for frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and SOX through data pipelines and continuous monitoring

    Objectives

    • Design automated regulatory reporting that spans GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS simultaneously
    • Build a cross-framework control mapping that reduces duplicate compliance effort

    Key concepts

    • GDPR reporting
    • HIPAA compliance automation
    • PCI-DSS evidence
    • SOX controls
    • automated reporting pipelines
    • cross-framework mapping
    • regulatory change tracking
6 · Strategy & Culture4 topics
  • Security Champions Program

    Building and scaling a security champions program, training developers as security advocates, and embedding security ownership across engineering teams

    Objectives

    • Design a security champions program that scales across a 200-person engineering org
    • Create a training curriculum that turns developers into effective security advocates

    Key concepts

    • security champions
    • developer security training
    • security culture
    • gamification of security
    • security guilds
    • knowledge sharing
    • champion recognition
  • Threat Modeling Integration

    Integrating threat modeling into the SDLC, using STRIDE and PASTA methodologies, automating threat model updates, and making threat modeling a developer-friendly practice

    Objectives

    • Integrate lightweight threat modeling into sprint planning without slowing delivery
    • Automate threat model updates as architecture evolves through CI/CD integration

    Key concepts

    • STRIDE
    • PASTA
    • attack trees
    • data flow diagrams
    • threat model automation
    • developer-friendly threat modeling
    • threat model as code
  • Security Metrics & KPIs

    Defining, measuring, and reporting security KPIs such as mean time to remediate, vulnerability escape rate, and security debt, for executive and engineering audiences

    Objectives

    • Design a security metrics program that demonstrates ROI to the C-suite
    • Build an engineering security dashboard that drives behavioral change across teams

    Key concepts

    • MTTR
    • vulnerability escape rate
    • security debt
    • risk posture scoring
    • executive dashboards
    • engineering security metrics
    • ROI of security
  • Supply Chain Security (SBOM)

    Managing software bill of materials, verifying third-party component integrity, responding to supply chain compromises, and meeting emerging SBOM regulations

    Objectives

    • Implement an end-to-end SBOM pipeline from generation to consumer verification
    • Respond to a major supply chain compromise using SBOM data to assess blast radius

    Key concepts

    • SBOM generation
    • SPDX
    • CycloneDX
    • VEX documents
    • supply chain attestations
    • third-party risk
    • SBOM regulations

Levels: Junior, Mid, Senior, and Expert

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Frequently asked questions

Where should I start studying DevSecOps Engineer?

Start with Secure Development: Secure Coding Practices, OWASP Top 10 Awareness, and Code Scanning (SAST). The map orders topics by what they depend on, so each one prepares the next.

How long does a full DevSecOps Engineer assessment take?

A full assessment of this path takes about 50 minutes. Study time depends on where you start; a diagnostic shows which topics you can skip.

Do I need an account to use this page?

No. The map, objectives and key concepts are open. You only need an account to be measured, get your gap by topic and receive a plan.