Just like a car manufacturer must ensure every component that goes into their vehicles is safe and reliable, you should ensure all of the components in the software you produce are secure and free from defects, especially with software supply chain attacks on the rise.

But it’s not just attacks that should get your attention. Producing secure software is becoming a central concern of governments around the world. This includes policy and regulation to ensure your organization can:

• safely procure (open source) software;
• securely develop and release software applications; and
• quickly identify and mitigate security risks.

If this sounds challenging just to get started, and even more so at scale, you aren’t alone. Many organizations are trying to navigate these issues and improve the security of both their software development processes and software supply chains.

So how do you adjust your organizational approach to secure software development? 

A good first step could be to build a foundation on best practices and recommendations, allowing your development team to better manage risks in your software supply chain.

You could dive in and build your own processes to improve the security of your software supply chain. However, a better strategy would be to utilize existing software security frameworks and tools.

What is a software security framework?

A software security framework is a set of standards and suggested practices your organization can follow to better secure your organization’s approach to software development. In many cases, frameworks consist of researched and tested best practices tailored to meet rigorous certifications or requirements.

In the case of software security frameworks, the primary goal is to help developers manage security risks associated with software development. However, with the modernization of these frameworks, many now incorporate recommendations to minimize and mitigate risks associated with open source software (OSS) (Read more...)