Skip to main content

Posts

AI Is Here to Stay. The Real Challenge Is Operating It Securely

AI-generated code is already in production. Whether we are comfortable with that or not is beside the point. In the OpenStack project, which I have helped steward for more than 15 years, we are seeing developers submit patches built with AI assistance, and sometimes patches composed almost entirely by AI tools. Some of those contributions have already landed in the past release cycle. This is happening in one of the most rigorously governed open source projects in the world. It is happening everywhere else, too. The code generation itself is not the problem. AI is genuinely good at producing computer programs because the structure of code is sufficiently predictable and syntactically constrained to play to the technology’s strengths. The problem is what happens next. Every AI-generated patch still needs to be reviewed for correctness, security, and long-term maintainability. And when code is easier to produce, more code gets proposed, which puts enormous pressure on the human rev...
Recent posts

Why Endpoint Protection Matters More than Ever in CI/CD Environments

CI/CD environments depend on far more than repositories and deployment infrastructure. Developer endpoints hold sensitive data: cloud credentials, SSH keys, deployment permissions, direct access to internal systems. Endpoint security and control are part of daily operational risk management. Engineering teams are shifting more and more toward distributed workflows, so discussions around CI/CD security include the security posture of the devices connected to the pipeline. Many organizations already focus their CI/CD security efforts on secrets management , dependency scanning and supply chain controls. However, advanced endpoint security solutions are also relevant in cloud-native development environments, where local devices maintain direct access to production workflows. Endpoint Compromise Can Bypass Mature CI/CD Controls CI/CD security discussions mostly focus on repositories, containers, infrastructure, and deployment automation. Developer endpoints are often overlooked as a par...

Cohere’s North Mini Code Lets Devs Stack Their Own AI

Toronto startup Cohere has released an open-weight model designed for developers to use to build their own AI stack. The open-weight North Mini Code is a 30-billion-parameter “mixture-of-experts” (MoE) model. MoE equips a model with specialized neural nets for individual tasks, such as mathematics and code generation. Mistral pioneered this approach to compete with larger LLMs.  As a result, when it comes time to produce an answer, the GPU won’t need all 30 billion parameters. Instead, a router function picks the most appropriate experts to complete the task, reducing the working size to 3 billion parameters. This means the model, slimmed to 4 bit quantization , can be managed by a single NVIDIA H100 GPU.  In fact, you won’t need a data center of H100s at all to run this model. The open weight release, optimized for software engineering agentic tasks, is one of a growing number of technologies built with the intention to democratize AI – in this case for developers.  “Local de...

Using Bicep Modules to Build Enterprise-Grade Azure Infrastructure 

Infrastructure as code (IaC) is no longer optional in modern Azure environments. Teams need repeatable deployments, secure defaults, predictable architecture and strong governance. Azure Bicep has become the preferred IaC language for Azure because it’s declarative, simple, modular and deeply integrated with the Azure platform.   This article breaks down  how to design Bicep modules the right way  for enterprise deployments. These patterns come from real-world use cases such as banking, fintech, multitenant SaaS and regulated workloads.   Why Bicep is the Standard for Azure IaC   Teams that move from ARM and Terraform to Bicep typically do so because Bicep offers:   Cleaner Syntax: No more massive JSON ARM templates.   Native Azure Integration   IntelliSense   Type-checking   Automatic API version updates   First-Class Modularity: Modules can describe reusable components like:   App Services   AKS clusters   Front Door Premium   Key Vault   VNet + su...

Shift Left to the Developer’s Machine: Building Local Git Security Gates 

A developer pushes one file. It contains an AWS access key left in a configuration block. Five minutes later, CI catches it. By then, the secret is in the remote repository, cached by mirrors and potentially forked. The developer rotates the key, scrubs the commit history and spends the rest of the afternoon on incident response. The real question isn’t how to clean up faster — it’s why the secret left the developer’s machine in the first place.   The Five-Minute Gap   Most engineering teams have invested in CI-based secret scanning . Tools such as GitHub Advanced Security, GitGuardian and TruffleHog’s CI integration catch leaked credentials in pull requests and pushed branches. This is good, but it’s also too late.   The GitGuardian 2026 State of Secrets Sprawl report found that 29 million secrets were detected on GitHub in 2025 alone — a 34% year-over-year increase and the largest single-year jump ever recorded. Worse, 64% of secrets leaked back in 202...