Event-driven AppSec is here: Thoughtful automation finds risk earlier

Three stages of AppSec automation maturity

Application security implementation varies widely across organizations, and for good reason. Different teams, organizational structures, compliance requirements, and technical capabilities all influence the approach. Let’s explore the spectrum of automation maturity and see where thoughtful automation delivers the greatest impact.

Stage 1: Process-driven security

In this approach, dedicated AppSec teams manage security through defined processes and workflows.

●      Security scans are scheduled or triggered on-demand

●      AppSec specialists triage results and create tickets for development teams

●      Security operates with dedicated tools and dashboards

●      Reporting flows through established channels

When this makes sense: This approach works well when you need centralized control, have specialized security expertise, face specific compliance requirements, or are building out your security program. For some organizations, having security owned by a dedicated team is the right organizational fit.

The friction point: The main challenge is workflow overhead. Manual triage, ticket creation, and coordination between teams introduce delays. The feedback loop from vulnerability introduction to discovery to remediation can span weeks or months.

Stage 2: Automated CI/CD pipeline security

Many organizations today are implementing automation through CI/CD pipeline integration.

●      Security scans integrate directly into build processes

●      Automated workflows can be triggered on commits or scheduled builds

●      Testing results can automatically generate tickets or break builds, based on policy

●      Security gates enforce standards before production deployment

When this makes sense: Pipeline automation is valuable when you need consistent enforcement at deployment gates, want to prevent vulnerable code from reaching production, or have mature DevOps practices. Many organizations successfully use build-time scanning as a critical security checkpoint.

The friction point: Pipeline integration typically focuses on one stage of the development life cycle. It requires technical expertise in CI/CD tools, manual onboarding of new projects, and can create bottlenecks when security issues block releases that need to ship quickly.

Stage 3: Event-driven automation

This is where automation enables the most sophisticated and frictionless state. Event-driven automation aligned with your SCM responds to developer activities in real time.

●      Automatic discovery and onboarding is performed for all repositories

●      Intelligent scanning is triggered by development events (PRs, commits, merges)

●      Feedback is delivered directly in developer tools (PR comments, SCM interfaces)

●      Policy is automatically applied across all applications based on risk profiles

Why this reduces friction: Event-driven automation eliminates manual discovery, removes the burden of per-project setup, and meets developers in their natural workflow. Security becomes invisible—not because it’s absent, but because it’s seamlessly woven into existing development patterns.

The power of thoughtful automation: Event-driven automation

Event-driven automation for application security is a fundamental shift in how we think about automation. Rather than choosing between centralized control or pipeline gates, it enables a flexible, intelligent approach that adapts to how developers actually work.

Automatic discovery and continuous visibility

Your SCM is the single source of truth for application inventory. Event-driven automation connects directly to that truth, and provides

• Instant onboarding: Point your security tool at your SCM and automatically onboard thousands of repositories in minutes
• Continuous monitoring: New repos, branches, and releases are discovered and secured the moment they’re created
• Zero manual overhead: No more discovering applications after they’re in production or manually tracking new projects

The benefit: Complete visibility without the overhead. Security teams know about every application from day one.

Seamless integration without technical complexity

Traditional pipeline integration requires deep expertise in specific tools—GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure Pipelines, Jenkins. Event-driven automation removes that barrier and provides

• Native SCM integration: The security tool understands how to listen to SCM events natively
• No DevOps dependency: AppSec teams can implement without burdening already-overloaded DevOps resources
• Technology agnostic: Works across GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, and other platforms

The benefit: Implementation becomes simple. Point, click, secure—without deep technical integration work.

Security in the natural flow of development

This is where event-driven automation truly shines. Instead of adding security checkpoints that interrupt workflows, security becomes part of the natural development rhythm. It also provides

• Pull request integration: Scans are triggered automatically when developers create PRs—the natural moment when code is ready for review
• In-context feedback: Security findings appear as PR comments with remediation guidance, right where developers are already reviewing code
• No context switching: Developers stay in their flow—no need to check another tool, dashboard, or email

The benefit: Developers get security feedback at the right moment, in the right place, making it easy to address issues immediately.

Flexible enforcement at every stage

Here’s the critical insight: Event-driven automation doesn’t replace other approaches—it enhances them with flexibility and choice.

• Early feedback: Set up PR-time scanning for immediate developer feedback on new code
• Build-time gates: Maintain critical security checkpoints in your CI/CD pipelines when needed
• Custom policies: Apply different rules for different projects, teams, or business units
• Layered security: Combine multiple checkpoints throughout the SDLC based on risk tolerance

The benefit: You’re not locked into a single enforcement model. Organizations can implement exactly the security controls that match their culture, risk profile, and development practices.

Intelligent policy automation

Event-driven automation systems enable sophisticated, automated policy application.

• SLA management: Automatically enforce vulnerability remediation timelines (e.g., “critical vulnerabilities must be fixed within seven days”)
• Workflow integration: Automatically create Jira tickets and update dashboards for security and development—all triggered by security events
• Risk-based rules: Apply stricter policies to production-facing applications and more lenient rules to internal tools
• Adaptive enforcement: Policies automatically apply to new repositories based on classifications and tags

The benefit: Consistent security posture across the entire application portfolio without manual policy application for each new project.

Real-world impact: What thoughtful automation delivers

Organizations implementing event-driven automation see transformation across key areas.

Zero coverage gaps

The biggest security risk is the risk you don’t know about. Automatic discovery eliminates oversights.

• New applications are secured from their first commit
• No more discovering vulnerabilities in production applications that were never scanned
• Complete visibility across the entire application landscape

Dramatically faster feedback loops

Time-to-remediation drops from weeks to hours.

• Vulnerabilities caught at PR creation, not deployment
• Developers fix issues while the code is fresh in their minds
• Reduced remediation costs by catching issues earlier

Development velocity without security compromise

The holy grail: Move faster while staying secure.

• Security checks happen in parallel with development, not as a blocking gate at the end
• Developers get guidance without interruption
• Security teams maintain control without becoming bottlenecks

Organizational flexibility

Each team can implement security in ways that fit their needs.

• High-risk projects can use multiple security checkpoints
• Fast-moving internal tools can focus on early feedback
• Mature teams can own their security posture
• New teams get security by default

Black Duck Polaris: Event-driven SCM AppSec automation in action

Black Duck Polaris™ Platform is how event-driven automation works in the real world. It provides

• Intelligent onboarding: Connect to your SCM and automatically secure your entire repository portfolio
• Continuous discovery: Polaris monitors for new repos and branches, automatically applying security policy
• Natural workflow integration: Scans trigger on PR events, with findings delivered as PR comments
• Flexible policy engine: Configure different security rules for different projects, teams, and risk profiles
• Multistage scanning: Combine PR-time feedback with build-time gates and scheduled scans as needed

The path forward: Choose your automation level

Every organization is at a different point in its AppSec automation journey. The key is understanding where automation reduces friction and where it adds value.

• If you’re running a process-driven approach: That may be right for your organization today. When you’re ready to reduce manual overhead, event-driven automation can dramatically cut triage time and accelerate feedback.
• If you’re using pipeline automation: You’re already ahead of the curve. Consider adding event-driven automation to catch issues earlier—before the build even runs—while maintaining your critical build-time gates for production releases.
• If you’re ready for event-driven automation: You can eliminate friction entirely. Automatic discovery, seamless workflow integration, and intelligent policy application deliver security that’s truly invisible to developers while remaining fully visible to security teams.