Enforce Compliance
Policy with
Model-Driven
Automation
Alex Hin, Principal Product Manager
Agenda
1. What are compliance benchmarks?
2. Implementing a benchmark in your environment
3. Common Challenges in Compliance Programs
4. Enforcing Compliance with Model-Driven Automation
5. Closing Thoughts
What are compliance
benchmarks?
What is compliance?
The ability to document adherence to a set
of rules governing system operation
4
The Center for
Internet Security
(CIS) is a
community-driven
nonprofit
6
CIS Controls
Prescriptive, Prioritized, and Simplified Set of
Cybersecurity Best Practices
• Implementation Group 1
– Every organization starts here – this is the
definition of basic cyber hygiene
• Implementation Group 2
– Moderate resources and expertise
• Implementation Group 3
– Significant resources and expertise
7
CIS Benchmarks
Consensus-developed Secure Configuration
Guidelines
• 100+ CIS Benchmarks
• Prescriptive guidance
• Covering 25+ vendor product families
– Operating Systems, Server Software, Cloud
Providers, Network Devices, Desktop Software
• Community developed
– CIS members, subject matter experts, security
community experts, and technology vendors
Foundations for Compliance
8
Implementing
benchmarks in your
environment
CIS Benchmark Recommendations
Example: Microsoft Windows Server 2019
10
11
Implementing the CIS
Benchmarks
• Manual implementation is time consuming
• Automation is essential
• Tools to succeed:
– Assessment
– Remediation/Enforcement
12
Automation and
Compliance
• Automation and compliance go hand in hand
• A model-driven approach allows for the upfront
definition of how a system should be configured
• Use CIS as your gold standard for compliance
• Keep systems automatically and continually compliant
by leveraging desired-state enforcement
Common challenges in
compliance programs
13
14
Configuration drift
Lack of visibility
Repetitive
manual processes
Common Challenges
15
Enforce compliance
with model-driven
automation
Assess early and often
Define compliance
policy as code
Strong Compliance Programs
16
© Copyright 2/17/21 Puppet Inc. |
Manual
Remediation
Interpret
Scan Report
Monthly
Scan
Remediate
at Scale
Compliance
Review
Scan
Staging
QA
Dev
What does continuous compliance look like?
Day 2
Day 1
Compliance
check
Scan conducted
by compliance
team & emailed to
IT Ops.
Drift
Post-deployment
process repeats each
month
Current process
Day 2
Day 1
Scan conducted
by
IT DevOps
Compliance checks happen at
each pre-deployment stage.
Shift Left!
Automatic
Enforcement
TIME / RESOURCES
17
1 Codify the policy
2 Manage with source control
3 Automate using CI/CD
Define compliance policy as code
What is model-driven automation?
The ability to automate adherence to a set of
rules governing system operation and report
on current state
18
19
Automatically
eliminate drift
Manage compliance drift
by relying on automation
to take corrective actions
Assess against the
model
Understand compliance
status and identify issues
Define the model
Specify the model using
code to create the desired
configuration
with model-driven automation
Enforce compliance
1
3 2
20
Closing Thoughts
• The compliance landscape is changing quickly and
becoming more challenging.
• Infrastructure is increasingly complicated, especially
with hybrid environments becoming the norm.
• It would be unreasonable to expect success without
shifting the way you operate.
• There is no way to do this without automation,
especially at the scale of most infrastructure.
• Use Puppet to get you there!
Thanks!

Enforce compliance policy with model-driven automation

  • 1.
  • 2.
    Agenda 1. What arecompliance benchmarks? 2. Implementing a benchmark in your environment 3. Common Challenges in Compliance Programs 4. Enforcing Compliance with Model-Driven Automation 5. Closing Thoughts
  • 3.
  • 4.
    What is compliance? Theability to document adherence to a set of rules governing system operation 4
  • 5.
    The Center for InternetSecurity (CIS) is a community-driven nonprofit
  • 6.
    6 CIS Controls Prescriptive, Prioritized,and Simplified Set of Cybersecurity Best Practices • Implementation Group 1 – Every organization starts here – this is the definition of basic cyber hygiene • Implementation Group 2 – Moderate resources and expertise • Implementation Group 3 – Significant resources and expertise
  • 7.
    7 CIS Benchmarks Consensus-developed SecureConfiguration Guidelines • 100+ CIS Benchmarks • Prescriptive guidance • Covering 25+ vendor product families – Operating Systems, Server Software, Cloud Providers, Network Devices, Desktop Software • Community developed – CIS members, subject matter experts, security community experts, and technology vendors
  • 8.
  • 9.
  • 10.
    CIS Benchmark Recommendations Example:Microsoft Windows Server 2019 10
  • 11.
    11 Implementing the CIS Benchmarks •Manual implementation is time consuming • Automation is essential • Tools to succeed: – Assessment – Remediation/Enforcement
  • 12.
    12 Automation and Compliance • Automationand compliance go hand in hand • A model-driven approach allows for the upfront definition of how a system should be configured • Use CIS as your gold standard for compliance • Keep systems automatically and continually compliant by leveraging desired-state enforcement
  • 13.
  • 14.
    14 Configuration drift Lack ofvisibility Repetitive manual processes Common Challenges
  • 15.
    15 Enforce compliance with model-driven automation Assessearly and often Define compliance policy as code Strong Compliance Programs
  • 16.
    16 © Copyright 2/17/21Puppet Inc. | Manual Remediation Interpret Scan Report Monthly Scan Remediate at Scale Compliance Review Scan Staging QA Dev What does continuous compliance look like? Day 2 Day 1 Compliance check Scan conducted by compliance team & emailed to IT Ops. Drift Post-deployment process repeats each month Current process Day 2 Day 1 Scan conducted by IT DevOps Compliance checks happen at each pre-deployment stage. Shift Left! Automatic Enforcement TIME / RESOURCES
  • 17.
    17 1 Codify thepolicy 2 Manage with source control 3 Automate using CI/CD Define compliance policy as code
  • 18.
    What is model-drivenautomation? The ability to automate adherence to a set of rules governing system operation and report on current state 18
  • 19.
    19 Automatically eliminate drift Manage compliancedrift by relying on automation to take corrective actions Assess against the model Understand compliance status and identify issues Define the model Specify the model using code to create the desired configuration with model-driven automation Enforce compliance 1 3 2
  • 20.
    20 Closing Thoughts • Thecompliance landscape is changing quickly and becoming more challenging. • Infrastructure is increasingly complicated, especially with hybrid environments becoming the norm. • It would be unreasonable to expect success without shifting the way you operate. • There is no way to do this without automation, especially at the scale of most infrastructure. • Use Puppet to get you there!
  • 21.