Securing Open Source: Lessons from the Software Supply Chain Revolution
Dec 02, 2024
The software supply chain has become a prime target for cyberattacks, with incidents like SolarWinds and Log4j demonstrating the critical vulnerabilities inherent in today's development ecosystems. The growing reliance on open source software (OSS) amplifies this risk, with recent studies showing that up to 90% of modern applications rely on open source components. This article explores how organizations can mitigate software supply chain risks while continuing to leverage the innovation and flexibility of OSS. Why Software Supply Chains Are at Risk At its core, the supply chain relies on a complex web of contributors, libraries, and dependencies—each presenting a potential attack vector. Attackers exploit this complexity by injecting malicious code into trusted packages or targeting the infrastructure itself. Key risks include: Dependency Hell: Updating software is often so complex and fraught with technical risks that many developers avoid the process altogether, leaving them...
