New Delhi, Dec. 1 -- CleanStart analysed thousands of CI/CD pipeline runs and found only one-third of environments use fully automated, policy-based checks for container images. Teams push code faster than ever, but security lags, creating blind spots in supply chains where manual reviews slow everything down.

Consider a fintech deploying daily updates: without automation, devs wait days for approvals, while high-severity flaws sit unpatched. Automated setups cut manual cycles by nearly 60% and double patch-to-deploy speed, yet most firms stick with partial or human gates.

The study pegs average time from vulnerability alert to policy compliance at 26 days, leaving systems exposed. Container images average 450 known CVEs, 40% of which a...