Secure & Performant Build Pipelines
Build pipeline optimization with parallelization, signed artifacts, SLSA provenance, supply chain security, and extended vulnerability scanning.
Business Value
Maintains <10 minute build times while adding security checks and reduces container vulnerabilities by 95% through automated scanning and caching
DORA Impact
- Deployment Frequency
- Lead Time
- Change Failure Rate
Key Features
- Signed Build Artifacts
- SLSA Provenance Generation
- CI Pipeline Hardening
- Intelligent Build Caching
- Multi-Layer Container Scanning
Who
When
Acceleration (90-180 days)
Capabilities in This Epic
Signed Build Artifacts
100% of production artifacts cryptographically signed using cosign or similar tool with signature verification enforced.
SLSA Provenance Generation
>= 80% of builds generate SLSA Level 2+ provenance with builder identity, materials, and build metadata.
CI Pipeline Hardening
>= 90% of pipelines use immutable build environments, least-privilege service accounts, audit logging enabled.
Intelligent Build Caching
>= 80% of builds use multi-layer caching (dependencies, intermediate artifacts) reducing build time by >= 40%.
Multi-Layer Container Scanning
100% of container images scanned for OS vulnerabilities, malware, misconfigurations with >= HIGH blocking deployment.
Implementation Journey
Prerequisites
Complete these before starting:
- CI/CD baseline epic complete (functional pipelines)
- Security scanning tools identified
- Performance baseline targets defined
Typical Timeline
4.5 weeks
Effort Estimate
Breakdown by role:
Team Composition
Cross-functional team including: platform, engineer, security
Applicable Environments
Success Metrics
Entry Criteria
Prerequisites to start implementing this epic:
Exit Criteria
Criteria defined at the Acceleration milestone level:
DORA Metrics Impact
Resources
Implementation Kit
Step-by-step guide, templates, and tools for this epic
View Secure & Performant Build Pipelines Implementation KitCommon Pitfalls
Mitigation: Run expensive scans (DAST) nightly or on main only. Parallelize scans. Cache scan results. Target: <15 min builds.
Mitigation: Scan images before pushing to registry. Block vulnerable images. Use minimal base images (alpine, distroless).
Mitigation: Use stable cache keys (lock file hash). Validate cache hits in metrics. Separate dependency cache from build cache.
Next Steps
After Completing This Epic
Once you've met all exit criteria, consider these next steps:
- Review metrics to validate DORA improvements
- Document lessons learned and update team playbooks
- Share success stories with other teams
Alternative Paths
Other epics that can be tackled in parallel: