The escalated regulatory and lawful stress on software-producing entities to fortify their supply chains and ensure the genuineness of their software should not be unexpected. Over the past few years, the software supply chain has increasingly become an enticing target for assailants who view opportunities to exponentially escalate their attacks. As an illustration, observe the Log4j breach of 2021 where Log4j (a public-source logging framework upkept by Apache and utilized in a multiplicity of applications) was the foundation for exploits endangering numerous systems.
The vulnerability in Log4j’s communication feature paved the way for a malicious code injection into the logs enabling execution on the system. Post its detection, security analysts detected millions of attempted exploits, several of which evolved into successful denial-of-service (DoS) assaults. As per recent research by Gartner, nearly half of corporate entities will have encountered a software supply chain attack by 2025.
So what exactly is the software supply chain? Primarily, it constitutes the aggregate of all the code, individuals, systems, and procedures contributing to the creation and distribution of software products, both internally and externally from an organization. Securing the software supply chain becomes complex due to the intricate and widely dispersed approach towards developing contemporary applications. Companies employ global groups of developers who rely on an unparalleled count of open-source dependencies, in addition to a multitude of code repositories, artifact registries, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure resources leveraged for constructing and launching their applications.
While security and compliance consistently hold a paramount position for corporate entities, the challenge of safeguarding the organization’s software supply chains continues to expand. Many companies are making notable advancements in operationalizing DevSecOps procedures; nevertheless, a significant number of them are still in the infancy stages of determining the next steps.
This is why we’ve crafted this piece. Although the content below doesn’t encompass every detail, here are four core principles to initiate your ventures into enhancing software supply chain security.
Contemplate All Facets of Your Software Supply Chain When Enforcing Security
Considering that more than 80% of codebases contain at least one open-source vulnerability, it’s logical that OSS dependencies have attracted significant focus in software supply chain security. Nonetheless, contemporary software supply chains encompass additional entities whose security stances are often disregarded or not universally comprehended within the organization for adequate management. These entities encompass code repositories, CI and CD pipelines, infrastructure, and artifact registries, each necessitating security measures and regular conformity evaluations.
Frameworks such as OWASP Top-10 for CI/CD and CIS Software Supply Chain Security Benchmark. Adhering to these frameworks necessitates detailed RBAC, adopting the principle of least privilege, scrutinizing containers and infrastructure-as-code for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, segregating builds, incorporating application security examinations, and meticulous management of confidential information – to name a few.
SBOMs are Imperative for Addressing Zero-days and Other Component Challenges
As a component of Executive Order 14028 issued by the White House in mid-2021 to enhance the nation’s cybersecurity stance, software producers are obliged to furnish their federal clients with a software bill of materials (SBOMs). SBOMs essentially serve as formal records aimed at providing transparency into all the constituents forming a piece of software. They deliver a detailed, machine-readable inventory enumerating all open-source and third-party libraries, dependencies, and components utilized in software construction.
Whether mandated by EO 14028 or not, generating and overseeing SBOMs for software artifacts constitutes a valuable practice. SBOMs are invaluable assets for addressing component challenges or zero-day vulnerabilities. When archived in a searchable repository, SBOMs delineate where a specific dependency exists allowing security teams to promptly trace vulnerabilities back to impacted components.
Regulate the Software Development Lifecycle via Policy-as-code
In the realm of contemporary application development, sturdy guidelines serve as pivotal tools for eradicating errors and deliberate actions that jeopardize security and compliance. Sound governance across the software supply chain signifies that the organization has streamlined adherence to righteous protocols and has made it extremely difficult to stray from those protocols.
Although numerous platforms and tools offer immediately enforceable policies, policy-as-code based on the Open Policy Agent industry standard empowers crafting and imposing fully customizable directives. Policies oversee various aspects from access rights to permitting or inhibiting the utilization of OSS dependencies based on conditions like source, version, package URL, and licensing.
Be Capable of Authenticating & Guaranteeing Credibility in Your Software Artifacts leveraging SLSA
How do users and consumers ascertain the trustworthiness of any software? To evaluate the reliability of a software artifact, you would need to ascertain details such as the author of the code, the creator, the development platform used, and the constituents within the artifact. The ability to decide whether software can be trusted arises when provenance – the narrative of software origins and chain of observance – can be corroborated. To facilitate this, the Supply Chain Levels for Software Artifacts (SLSA) framework was established. This framework furnishes software-producing entities with the capability to capture details about any phase of the software supply chain, corroborate properties of artifacts and their construction, and curtail the likelihood of security predicaments. In practice, it’s indispensable for software producers to adopt and uphold the SLSA framework prerequisites and establish mechanisms to confirm and generate software attestations – authenticated declarations (metadata) concerning software artifacts across their software supply chains.
Considering the magnitude and intricacy involved in securing the contemporary software supply chain, the above guidance merely initiates progress in this realm. Similar to all other aspects of creating and deploying current applications, the landscape is evolving swiftly. To begin your journey, we suggest perusing How to Securely Deliver Software –
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