Safeguarding Software Distribution Network has become a priority of recent, It should come as no surprise that software-producing organizations are under greater regulatory and legal pressure to secure their supply chains and ensure the integrity of their software.
In recent years, attackers have been drawn to the vulnerability of the software supply chain which offers them opportunities to exponentially increase the impact of their attacks.
A prime example is evident in 2021’s Log4j breach where Apache-maintained open-source logging framework, Log4j, became a root cause for exploits that endangered thousands of systems across multiple applications.
This led to numerous attempted exploits and successful denial-of-service (DoS) attacks once discovered by security researchers. Recent Gartner research indicates that nearly half of corporate entities will experience software supply chain attacks before 2025.
The software supply chain encompasses all the components that contribute to the creation and delivery of digital products, both within and outside an organization. These include people, systems, processes, code repositories and artifact registries. With global teams working on high volumes of open source dependencies, combined with complex CI/CD pipelines for deploying applications across a multitude of infrastructure resources; securing this ever-expanding landscape presents numerous challenges.
Although numerous companies are successfully implementing DevSecOps practices, a significant number remain uncertain about how to proceed and find themselves in initial stages.
That’s precisely the reason we’ve compiled this article. Although it is not a comprehensive list, here are four fundamental rules to initiate your software supply chain security endeavors in the proper direction.
Safeguarding Software Distribution Network shouldn’t be a threat anymore.
Apply security by taking into account all aspects of your software supply chain.
As more than 80% of code bases contain an open-source vulnerability, it’s logical to prioritize the security of OSS dependencies in software supply chain management.
Nonetheless, contemporary software supply chains comprise additional components whose security stances may be disregarded or not comprehensively recognized within enterprises for effective administration.
These components include code repositories, CI and CD pipelines, infrastructure and artifact registries; hence necessitating steady compliance assessment as well as appropriate implementation of safety measures.
Complying to frameworks like OWASP Top-10 for CI/CD and CIS Software Supply Chain Security Benchmark necessitates implementation of various security measures such as granular RBAC, observance of the principle of least privilege, scanning for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in containers and infrastructure-as-code.
It also involves isolation during builds, integration with application security testing processes, proper management of confidential information just to mention some critical steps.
To remediate zero-days and other component issues, SBOMs are crucial.
As per Executive Order 14028, released by the White House in mid-2021 with an aim to bolster national cybersecurity measures, software manufacturers are required to furnish their federal clients with a document called Software Bill of Materials (SBOM).
Essentially acting as formal documentation, SBOMs facilitate transparency into every component that constitutes a piece of software. Furthermore, they present intricate and readable lists outlining all third-party libraries or open-source systems utilized during development.
SBOMs serve as a critical instrument in resolving component issues and zero-day vulnerabilities. By storing them in a searchable repository, they offer insight into the location of specific dependencies, allowing security teams to promptly backtrack affected components and address related flaws.
Policy-as-code provides governance to the Software Development Lifecycle.
Rock-solid guardrails are crucial for eradicating errors and deliberate actions that endanger security and compliance in modern application development. Effective governance across the software supply chain facilitates proper conduct by making good decisions easy while deterring unfavorable ones.
These cover a broad range of regulations governing access privileges to approval or prohibition of utilizing OSS dependencies based on various factors like supplier, version, package URL, and license terms.
Achieve the ability to authenticate and establish confidence in your software artifacts through SLSA.
What are the ways in which users and consumers can gauge whether a software is reliable? To assess the credibility of a software product, it is essential to have comprehensive information about its authorship, development team, coding language used during creation as well as components integrated within.
This comprehensive approach allows organizations that produce software to capture information about every aspect of their supply chains while verifying artifact properties and build processes thus reducing security risks. To implement this strategy successfully, producers must comply with SLSA requirements by incorporating methods for authenticating statements or metadata regarding each step in the creation process as well as throughout distribution channels.
The task of securing the contemporary software supply chain is both extensive and intricate, so the provided advice only covers a few aspects. However, as with all other processes involved in creating and utilizing modern applications, this practice progresses rapidly.
To assist you with Safeguarding Software Distribution Network your initial steps towards better security measures for your business while reducing risk levels; we suggest that you peruse How to Securely Deliver Software eBook’s wide selection of tried-and-tested methods recommended for fortifying your defenses.
