Intermediate concepts in CI/CD & Automation, page 5
Container Image Security Scanning
A container image is a frozen filesystem; scanning unpacks layers to flag known CVEs before deployment. Run it in CI/CD after every build and continuously in production registries. Scanning only at build time misses new CVEs in running images.
IAST: Inside-Out Runtime Security Scanning
IAST is an inside-out security scanner: an agent in your running app watches data flow to catch vulnerabilities with few false positives. It runs during functional tests, giving precise line-of-code findings. If your tests skip a route, IAST stays blind to it.
Security Champions: Embedded Team Defense
A security champions program embeds trained developers inside teams to catch risks early. It scales AppSec without hiring a specialist for every squad. The footgun is treating champions as free labor instead of investing in their training and time.
Backstage: The Developer Portal Framework
Backstage is a framework for building a developer portal, not a ready-made dashboard. It centralizes ownership, docs, and tooling when microservice sprawl hides context. The footgun is treating it as a product you deploy without upkeep; the catalog rots.
Platform Orchestrator: Infrastructure's Travel Agent
A platform orchestrator is infrastructure's travel agent: describe an app and it provisions compute, databases, and caches across clouds automatically. It shines once teams outgrow per-service Terraform. Adopt it too early and it becomes a bottleneck.
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