June 26, 2024 at 06:57AM
Software-producing organizations are facing increasing regulatory and legal pressure to secure their supply chains and protect their software integrity. The software supply chain has become a prime target for attackers, as seen in the Log4j breach. To address these security challenges, organizations should consider various measures, including governing the software development lifecycle with policy-as-code and utilizing SBOMs to remediate vulnerabilities.
From the meeting notes, it’s clear that securing the software supply chain is a critical concern due to heightened regulatory and legal pressure. The Log4j breach in 2021 and the increasing number of supply chain attacks highlight the urgent need for organizations to strengthen their software supply chain security. The notes emphasize the complexity and distributed nature of modern application development, with global teams relying on numerous open-source dependencies, code repositories, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure resources.
The meeting also highlighted four guiding principles for enhancing software supply chain security:
1. Consider All Aspects of your Software Supply Chain When Applying Security: This principle emphasizes the need to go beyond open-source vulnerabilities and focus on securing other entities within the software supply chain, such as code repositories, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure, and artifact registries. It recommends adhering to frameworks like OWASP Top-10 for CI/CD and CIS Software Supply Chain Security Benchmark.
2. SBOMs are Essential for Remediating Zero-days and Other Component Issues: The importance of software bill of materials (SBOMs) in providing visibility into software components and enabling organizations to trace vulnerabilities back to impacted components is highlighted.
3. Govern the Software Development Lifecycle with Policy-as-code: This principle emphasizes the need for rock-solid guardrails throughout the software supply chain and recommends policy-as-code based on the Open Policy Agent industry standard for authoring and enforcing customizable policies.
4. Be able to Verify & Ensure Trust in your Software Artifacts using SLSA: The framework of Supply Chain Levels for Software Artifacts (SLSA) is introduced as a means for software-producing organizations to capture information about their software supply chain, verify properties of artifacts, and reduce the risk of security issues.
It’s essential for organizations to stay updated on evolving best practices by reading resources like “How to Securely Deliver Software,” which can provide valuable insights into strengthening security posture and minimizing risk for businesses.
Overall, the meeting notes provide crucial insights into the challenges and best practices for securing the software supply chain, recognizing the importance of staying proactive and informed in addressing these issues.