Home | Intelligent Enterprise | NIST CSF | Securing the SDLC: Applying SSDF, Zero Trust, and Data-Centric Security with PBAC
This article was written in collaboration with our colleagues Alper A. Kerman and Michael A. Ogdata at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE).
As the pace and complexity of software development continue to accelerate, securing the software development lifecycle (SDLC) has never been more critical. Recent high-profile software supply chain attacks have highlighted vulnerabilities across every phase of the development process—from planning and coding to deployment and operations. To address these challenges, organizations must adopt modern, holistic approaches that embed security throughout the SDLC.
To help organizations meet this need, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) has launched a project (NIST SP 1800-44) aimed at demonstrating how organizations can implement the NIST Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF) (NIST SP 800-218) within modern DevSecOps environments. As part of this effort, the NCCoE is also exploring how emerging technologies—such as Zero Trust architectures, AI-enabled security, and Policy-Based Access Control (PBAC)—can further enhance security and operational resilience.
This article explores how the NIST project is advancing the state of secure software development and how organizations can leverage SSDF, Zero Trust, and PBAC to achieve consistent, data-centric protection across all phases of the SDLC.
NIST’s Project: Operationalizing SSDF in DevSecOps
The primary goal of the NCCoE’s Secure Software Development, Security, and Operations (DevSecOps) Practices project is to demonstrate how the NIST SSDF can be applied in real-world DevSecOps environments. The SSDF provides a set of baseline practices for developing secure software, with recommendations for managing risks, protecting source code, handling vulnerabilities, and maintaining secure builds and deployments.
Building on these foundational practices, the NCCoE is also integrating innovative security solutions, including Zero Trust frameworks and AI-powered automation into its referencemodel. This will serve as the basis for creating an environment that highlights robust security practices. These enhancements are intended to show how organizations can build on SSDF controls to implement adaptive, scalable security that aligns with the realities of modern, agile development.
Security Challenges Across the SDLC
Securing the SDLC requires more than just scanning code or reviewing configurations—it involves enforcing consistent, intelligent security controls across every phase of the development process:
- Plan: Project plans, compliance requirements, and threat models must be protected from unauthorized access.
- Develop: Source code is vulnerable to insider threats, misuse of credentials, and the introduction of insecure third-party components.
- Build: Build processes can be tampered with to inject malicious code or misconfigure artifact generation.
- Test: Test environments often use sensitive data that must be protected from leakage or improper handling.
- Release: Without strong controls, unverified or altered software can be promoted and distributed.
- Deploy: Access to production systems must be tightly restricted and auditable.
- Operate: Logs, diagnostics, and monitoring tools can contain sensitive information that must be handled securely.
The SSDF offers critical controls to address these risks—but to truly secure the SDLC, organizations need capabilities that go beyond the baseline.
Zero Trust: Strengthening SSDF with Continuous Validation
Zero Trust Architecture complements SSDF by eliminating implicit trust and requiring continuous verification of all access requests. In DevSecOps, this means that every request—whether to a source repo, build server, or container registry—is evaluated based on identity, context, and policy.
Key Zero Trust principles applied to the SDLC include:
- Enforcing least-privilege access to all development and deployment tools.
- Validating identity and device health before granting access to sensitive systems.
- Monitoring activity continuously to detect anomalies or policy violations.
- Segmenting environments and enforcing strict access boundaries.
The NIST project showcases how Zero Trust can be layered on top of SSDF practices to provide stronger security coverage in dynamic, cloud-native environments.
Data-Centric Security: Protecting the Digital Core
While infrastructure and network security are important, it is the data—code, credentials, test data, configurations, and logs—that represents the true value and risk in DevSecOps.
A data-centric security model ensures that protection follows the data itself, regardless of where it resides or who is accessing it. This approach aligns closely with SSDF practices related to secure data handling, access control, and monitoring, and is essential for:
- Preventing intellectual property theft.
- Ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
- Reducing the risk of insider threats and misconfigurations.
When paired with Zero Trust and PBAC, data-centric security becomes a powerful tool for securing sensitive assets across all stages of development and operations.
Policy-Based Access Control (PBAC): Enforcing Security Across the SDLC
PBAC enables organizations to enforce fine-grained, context-aware access control policies that adapt dynamically to changing conditions, environments, and user roles. It provides the agility and precision needed to support both SSDF requirements and Zero Trust principles.
Here’s how PBAC can be applied consistently across the SDLC:
- Plan: Limit access to product strategy documents and security architecture diagrams based on business role or clearance level.
- Develop: Allow code check-ins only from verified developers, enforce branch-level restrictions, and block access based on geolocation or device.
- Build: Validate build configurations and artifacts; ensure only approved personnel can trigger or modify builds.
- Test: Mask PII in test data, restrict access to certain datasets, and enforce policies based on test environment classification.
- Release: Require multiple approvals for release candidates, enforce release windows, and verify artifact integrity.
- Deploy: Limit who can deploy to production based on project, environment, and time; block unapproved configurations.
- Operate: Enforce DLP policies in logs and monitoring tools; redact sensitive data based on viewer’s access level.
PBAC enables centralized policy management and enforcement across all tools, teams, and platforms—supporting SSDF goals for secure, automated, and auditable controls.
AI and Automation: Scaling and Adapting Security Posture
The NIST project also explores the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing DevSecOps security. AI can help identify and respond to risks more quickly by:
- Detecting anomalies in access behavior or development activity.
- Recommending policy changes based on usage patterns and emerging threats.
- Automating policy updates or triggering alerts for manual review.
- Enhancing visibility and prioritization of security issues across the SDLC.
By integrating AI with PBAC and Zero Trust principles, organizations can build intelligent security systems that adapt to evolving threats in real time—further supporting the SSDF’s goals of continuous improvement and risk reduction.
Bringing It All Together: From Framework to Execution
The NIST NCCoE’s project provides a practical roadmap for organizations looking to strengthen their software supply chain security. By combining the foundational practices of SSDF with modern approaches like Zero Trust, AI, and PBAC, organizations can:
- Embed security into every phase of the development lifecycle.
- Reduce the likelihood of vulnerabilities being introduced or exploited.
- Improve compliance, visibility, and response capabilities.
- Build trust with users, partners, and regulators.
With solutions like NextLabs’ policy-based access control platform, organizations can turn NIST’s vision into reality—operationalizing security as a core part of the software development process rather than an afterthought.
Final Thoughts
Securing modern software development requires more than checklists or firewalls—it demands a holistic, data-centric, and adaptive approach. The NIST NCCoE’s efforts to demonstrate SSDF in DevSecOps environments—with the integration of Zero Trust, AI, and PBAC—are critical steps forward for the industry.
Organizations that embrace these principles now will be better positioned to defend against emerging threats, comply with evolving regulations, and deliver software that is not only innovative—but secure by design.
