Recent attacks on software supply chains like that of SolarWinds show that it is very important for organizations and companies to protect their code integrity. Because of the complexity of today’s software supply chain, it is much easier for attackers to get hold of a component that will be used to propagate an attack.
It does not matter if an organization is using proprietary or open-source code; the complexity of software supply chains makes it harder for developers to tackle an attack immediately.
However, in the absence of an attack, preventive measures can be implemented to ensure code integrity within an SDLC (software development lifecycle). Below, you will learn a comprehensive meaning of code integrity and how it can be preserved within a software supply chain.
What is Code Integrity?
Code integrity within a software development lifecycle ensures that an organization releases better software that passes necessary quality assurance (QA) requirements.
It is a form of measurement used in software testing to determine the quality of a code — It shows if a code within a software supply chain is vulnerable.
When code integrity throughout a software development lifecycle (SDLC) is ensured, it reduces the tendency of security breaches in a software supply chain. Scribe Security’s Solutions offers several services that ensure that the code integrity in your organization or company is preserved.
How To Ensure Code Integrity Across The SDLC
Here are some steps to protect an organization’s code integrity within a software development lifecycle (SDLC).
Code Integrity Must be Checked at Every Step
Validating every step in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) is very important if an organization wants to ensure code integrity — these checks guarantee that only trusted users trigger actions.
A code integrity check will ensure that a trusted developer does each code build and that each software component is packaged in a container and maintains proper security procedures.
Protecting code integrity is not about reacting to a security breach or attack; certain validation and checks will prevent the compromise of code integrity. In addition to all these, there must be some identification and verification processes before anyone can use or access a code.
A code integrity check also ensures that your software supply chain meets the original requirements and design — It verifies the correctness of the underlying application.
Monitoring Rare Behaviors
Every organization takes certain steps to access different components in a software supply chain. It becomes a rare or different behavior when someone tries to access or make use of a component in a different way.
To ensure that code integrity remains intact and safe, monitoring abnormal behavior can be key to detecting when code integrity is about to be compromised. For instance, if an account starts to open different components or repositories unusually, it might be an ongoing security breach.
An organization should have a detailed description and knowledge of a software development lifecycle to detect suspicious behaviors. You can’t find abnormal behavior when you don’t know how a software supply chain operates. In the presence of inappropriate behavior, the process can be frozen until verification occurs.
Enlighten Your Organization/Team
As developers, one should know the importance of ensuring code integrity. But it is still necessary that you enlighten and prepare your organization for secured software development.
The first thing to do while enlightening your team is to make them understand the security requirements of the code or software you are developing. The next thing is to train them on the necessary security and development process, which ensures that everyone has experience of what is expected of them.
Harden SDLC Privileges, Tools, and Configurations
To protect your code integrity, heavy security requirements and authentication have to be in place; this can only be realized when you harden your SDLC configurations, tools, and privileges. It becomes easy for an outsider to access a software supply chain when the tools or dependencies are easily accessible.
The first step to harden your software development lifecycle tools and configurations is to implement a strong authentication which will be constantly enforced whenever a tool, privilege, or configuration needs to be accessed. This can be a complex process, but it ensures an intruder is easily detected as they don’t have any means of passing the authentication process.
Different tools can be used for each project to avoid code compromise from affecting other firmware uses in a project. A governance policy ensures that everyone knows the regulatory and identification needs. Regular permission reviews, scrutinizing activity through all the phases of the software development lifecycle, and configuration audits ensure compliance with a governance policy.
Critical Configurations and Codes Should Not be Tampered With
Every part of a software supply chain is different; some are considered critical, and others are not.
Ensure that configurations and codes termed critically are not tampered with by anyone. Even those with access to such configurations or codes should undergo rigorous authentication before granting access. This will guarantee that an intruder won’t have a way to access very important and critical codes or configurations in a software development lifecycle.
Codes that ensure software testing, production, and development should be extremely guided and provide an extra layer of security. An extra layer of security over these codes will guarantee that an accidental or intentional compromise or weakening is not successful.
Develop a Software with Proper Security
The security practices during a software development lifecycle determine whether code integrity can easily be compromised.
While building and designing software, it should comply with the original requirements, and its source code should comply with secure coding practices. While developing libraries, it is better in terms of security to reuse existing secure software modules than to re-implement the exact functions again.
Before releasing any software, it is preferable to review, reanalyze and retest the code for vulnerabilities; if any vulnerability is detected, it should be addressed immediately. Suppose your organization is making use of any third-party software component. In that case, it is a general recommendation to extensively test and review such third-party components for vulnerabilities before using them.
Wrapping Up
A compromised code is a ticket to security breaches within a software supply chain; less secure code gives cyber criminals access to a component of a software supply chain.
Validating every step in the software development lifecycle and monitoring for abnormal behavior are steps to ensure that code integrity remains intact.
In addition to what is mentioned above, hardening software development lifecycle tools and configuration will ensure that an intruder does not compromise code integrity.
