Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Shift-Left Strategy for Reducing Information Security Risks in the Software Life Cycle

Romm Nikita

Abstract: The article examines the effectiveness of the shift-left strategy for managing information security risks across the software life cycle in the context of DevSecOps practices. The study systematises recent publications on security integration into CI/CD pipelines, security-as-code and automation of SAST, DAST, SCA and IaC-scanning within continuous delivery. The work describes how contemporary approaches distribute security controls across life-cycle phases, analyses their influence on vulnerability detection timing, reduction of post-release defects and compliance with regulatory requirements. Special attention is paid to architectural models that treat security checks as programmable, version-controlled artefacts embedded into CI/CD toolchains. The goal of the article is to build an analytical framework for evaluating shift-left efficiency in real corporate environments. The framework relies on comparative analysis of recent studies and on the author?s earlier monograph devoted to automation and protection of DevOps processes in corporate CI/CD chains. The article will be useful for researchers and practitioners designing secure SDLCs, corporate CISOs and DevSecOps engineers who plan to strengthen early-phase security controls without sacrificing delivery speed.

Keywords: Shift-left security, DevSecOps, CI/CD pipeline, software life cycle, information security risk, security as code, automated security testing, SAST/DAST, cloud-native applications, secure SDLC

How to Cite?: Romm Nikita, "Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Shift-Left Strategy for Reducing Information Security Risks in the Software Life Cycle", Volume 14 Issue 12, December 2025, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1702-1707, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR251219150303, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR251219150303