CI/CD Pipeline

A CI/CD pipeline (Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment) is an automated sequence of steps that takes code from a developer’s commit through building, testing, security scanning, and deployment to production. It is the backbone of modern software delivery, removing manual handoffs and reducing the risk of human error.

Continuous Integration (CI) focuses on automatically merging and testing code changes as developers commit, catching integration bugs early. Continuous Deployment (CD) extends this by automatically releasing validated builds to staging or production environments without manual approval gates.

From a security perspective, the CI/CD pipeline is a high-value target. Compromising a pipeline grants an attacker the ability to inject malicious code into build artefacts, steal secrets and tokens, or push backdoored software to production at scale—making pipeline hardening a critical part of any software supply chain security programme.