Continuous compliance is the practice of ensuring that software development processes and technologies meet regulatory and security standards on an ongoing basis through automation. Manual compliance checks can slow development and introduce human error, whereas automated checks and audits provide faster feedback, clearer evidence and simplified reporting.
By integrating policy-as-code tools such as Open Policy Agent and generating SBOMs within CD pipelines — aligned with SLSA guidance — teams can detect and address compliance issues early. Codifying rules and best practices enforces standards consistently across teams without creating bottlenecks. OSCAL also shows promise as a framework for automating compliance at scale.
Practices and tooling for continuous compliance are now mature enough that it should be treated as a sensible default, which is why we’ve moved our recommendation to Adopt. The increasing use of AI in coding — and the accompanying risk of complacency with AI-generated code — makes embedding compliance into the development process more critical than ever.
Continuous compliance is the practice of ensuring that software development processes and technologies comply with industry regulations and security standards on an ongoing basis, by heavily leveraging automation. Manually checking for security vulnerabilities and adhering to regulations can slow down development and introduce errors. As an alternative, organizations can automate compliance checks and audits. They can integrate tools into software development pipelines, allowing teams to detect and address compliance issues early in the development process. Codifying compliance rules and best practices helps enforce policies and standards consistently across teams. It enables you to scan code changes for vulnerabilities, enforce coding standards and track infrastructure configuration changes to ensure they meet compliance requirements. Lastly, automated reporting of the above simplifies audits and provides clear evidence of compliance. We’ve already talked about techniques like publishing SBOMs and applying the recommendations from SLSA — they can be very good starting points. The benefits of this technique are multifold. First, automation leads to more secure software by identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities early and, second, development cycles accelerate as manual tasks are eliminated. Reduced costs and enhanced consistency are additional perks. For safety-critical industries like software-driven vehicles, automated continuous compliance can improve the efficiency and reliability of the certification process, ultimately leading to safer and more reliable vehicles on the road.
