Secure Software Supply Chains

The term Software Supply Chain Security (SSCS) refers to the ability to secure the software development lifecycle (SDLC) across all stages, including the CI/CD pipeline. As the complexity of SDLC and DevOps cycles increases, so does the attack surface vulnerable to software supply chain attacks. Events like the SolarWinds and Kaseya attacks have highlighted the growing risks, showing the need for robust security spanning from source control management (SCM) to cloud environments. Code tampering is a core element in these attacks and preventing it requires comprehensive measures across coding, building, and production phases. Essential strategies include critical code monitoring, file integrity verification, defense-in-depth approaches, and anomaly detection. Political and organizational changes are also needed to bridge gaps between DevOps and security teams, creating a culture of collaboration. Moreover, third-party software components and libraries pose risks that must be managed through proper governance and continual patching. Beyond Identity offers a promising solution with its Secure DevOps platform, which uses passwordless authentication and strong code verification to maintain code integrity across various devices and environments. Securing the SDLC and implementing code tampering prevention are crucial for protecting software, businesses, and customers in the modern digital landscape.

• Software supply chain attacks like those on SolarWinds and Kaseya have surged since 2020.
• Traditional security policies and tools are inadequate for preventing modern supply chain attacks.
• SolarWinds and Kaseya attacks led to malicious software distribution to thousands of organizations.
• DevOps teams have become critical to business management despite adding to the complexity of the SDLC.
• Code tampering can occur at multiple points within the SDLC, making it difficult to tackle with a single countermeasure.
• Current DevOps security measures are often insufficient, and tools are not secure by default.
• Beyond Identity offers a passwordless authentication method based on public-private key pairs for secure DevOps.
• Software supply chain attacks exploit the interconnectedness of the CI/CD pipeline for lateral movement.
• Code signed with both human and device identities is more secure, which is a practice not widely adopted yet.
• Integration of anomaly detection processes into code security can significantly reduce risks of malicious changes.

• "Successful implementation of a secure SDLC with strong code tampering prevention, therefore, requires solutions that cover all stages of the software delivery pipeline."
• "DevOps produce code, applications, and cloud-based services in response to demands from other lines of business."
• "Central management of policies, including defined processes for creating, approving, implementing, and regularly reviewing policies, is crucial."
• "Beyond Identity captures 25+ user and device 'risk' signals from any device making a login request."
• "The process allows logins entirely through an encrypted process with user and device identities stored in hardware."
• "Critical code monitoring starts with understanding which code is critical, and then applying continuous monitoring to raise an alert if there is any change to this code."
• "File integrity verification, as a second measure, targets the entire SDLC and focuses on mitigating the risk of malicious code being injected."
• "Defense-in-Depth focuses on all the measures for hardening the CI/CD pipeline."
• "Anomaly detection highlights potential areas of behavioral deviation which security teams may need to pay attention to."
• "Implementing code tampering prevention involves a lot of change management and explanation about why certain measures are required."