What Is Software Supply Chain Security?

Most software today isn’t developed entirely from scratch. Instead, developers rely on a range of third-party resources to create their applications. By using pre-built libraries, developers don’t need to reinvent the wheel. They can use what already exists and spend time on proprietary code, helping to differentiate their software, finish projects quicker, reduce costs, and stay competitive. These third-party libraries make up part of the software supply chain. While their inclusion is beneficial, the software supply chain introduces risk and needs to be secured.  Significant breaches in recent times suggest that software supply chain attacks are on the rise. Reading about the Log4j vulnerability or the SolarWinds supply chain attack reminds us that software components can be security threats. Since these types of attacks are relatively new, most organizations often struggle to determine how their applications might be affected and how they should address the threat.  Effective…