Embedding Security In Agile Cloud Environments: A Multi-Dimensional Devops Approach For Retail Systems
Keywords:
Secure DevOps, DevSecOps, Retail Cloud SecurityAbstract
The rapid proliferation of cloud computing within the retail sector has created unparalleled opportunities for scalability, customer engagement, and operational agility. Yet this paradigm shift has simultaneously infused complex security and compliance challenges due to the distributed, dynamic, and externally managed nature of cloud infrastructures. Secure DevOps—or DevSecOps in practice—emerges as a transformative approach that seeks to integrate security practices directly into the software development lifecycle, thereby reducing vulnerabilities while supporting rapid delivery. This article delineates an interdisciplinary analysis of Secure DevOps frameworks with particular emphasis on cloud deployments in the retail domain. Drawing upon Gangula’s foundational insights into compliance strategies and resilience mechanisms for retail cloud systems (Gangula, 2025), this research critically synthesizes theoretical foundations, historical developments, empirical evidence, and current scholarly debates surrounding the implementation of security in agile software pipelines. We explore the ontological distinctions between DevOps, SecDevOps, and DevSecOps, the tension between speed and security, regulatory imperatives such as PCI DSS, GDPR, and emerging international standards like IEC 62443, and the nuanced operationalization of security automation, cultural alignment, and risk management. The analysis extends to systemic challenges such as resistance to cultural change, the complexity of compliance verification within continuous deployment, and measurement barriers in security metrics. By juxtaposing theoretical frameworks with industry case studies—including historical cyber breaches affecting financial and retail institutions—the article illuminates the role of Secure DevOps in enhancing resilience and adaptive capacity. Conclusions advance a model for integrating security auditing, continuous monitoring, and resilience engineering, offering a roadmap for future empirical research and practice innovation in secure cloud‑native retail systems.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Artemis N. Kouroupi (Author)
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