Policy-As-Code means writing security rules as executable code. These rules enforce compliance inside infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, or application deployment. They are version-controlled, tested, and reviewed like any other code. This is how you stop insecure configurations from reaching production.
A Policy-As-Code security review is the process of verifying that these rules are correct, complete, and enforced. It examines granular policies for cloud resources, network boundaries, data access, and identity management. Every change in these rules is submitted through pull requests, scanned with static analysis, and tested against real scenarios. This removes ambiguity from security decisions and produces a clear, automated approval or rejection path.
The workflow is direct: define the policy, commit it to the repository, run automated tests, and let a CI pipeline scan for violations. Common tools include Open Policy Agent, Rego, and custom frameworks built into security platforms. Integrating these tools early stops misconfigurations like IAM over-permissions, unencrypted data stores, or open network ports. Doing the review in code means every decision is traceable back to the commit that introduced it.