5 Key Open Source Security Risks and How to Prevent Them

Whether your company or organization is managing it, open source software (OSS) is firmly entrenched in software development strategies.

• 96% of codebases contain at least some open source (Gartner, 2019)
• 90% of enterprise IT leaders are using open source tools and 79% expect adoption of OSS to increase in the coming years. (Red Hat, 2021)
• Over 3 trillion downloads are projected this year alone across the four major ecosystems: Java, JavaScript, Python, and .NET. (Sonatype, 2022)

One reason companies are embracing open source solutions is that they believe it can help protect against cyber threats. The thinking is that open source projects typically address vulnerabilities quicker than their proprietary counterparts do.

While open source certainly has its advantages, using open source solutions doesn’t automatically lead to stronger security—just like migrating to the cloud won’t automatically make your business more resilient.

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In both cases, you must do your due diligence and examine your environment to ensure you’re protected.

Open Source Security Risks: The Challenges

What follows are some security issues to keep in mind when leveraging someone else’s code to build digital services.

1. Publicity of Exploits

Because OSS code is freely accessible to the public, the issues are also public and visible. As component vulnerabilities are found and shared, it’s possible they could be used against other projects that use those same components.  This can make it easy for bad actors to discover vulnerabilities and execute targeted attacks against enterprises—particularly when they’re using poorly maintained code.

2. Licensing Management

While OSS code is free to use, there are specific licensing terms to follow. Violating OSS licensing terms can potentially lead to legal action and losing exclusive rights to intellectual property.

Too often, companies develop digital services without knowing what OSS licenses they’re (Read more...)