The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) announced today that an open source specification for securing software update systems has graduated to becoming a top-level project.
The Update Framework (TUF) is made up of a set of libraries, file formats and utilities that can authenticate files and images before they are downloaded from a software repository. Justin Cappos, associate professor of computer science and engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering who led the development of TUF, said the framework enables IT organizations to better secure their software supply chains.
In addition, TUF isolates artifacts in a repository in a modular fashion that not only limits the amount of damage that can be inflicted by a breach of the repository, but Cappos said it also makes it easier for IT organizations to roll that repository back to its last known good state.
For a CNCF project to graduate it needs to demonstrate thriving adoption, an open governance process and a strong commitment to community, sustainability and inclusivity. TUF was developed at the University of Washington in 2009 by Cappos and Justin Samuel. TUF has been based at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, which makes a reference implementation available to any interested party, since 2011. It became a CNCF project in 2017 and is now the first security-oriented project to graduate among the eight other CNCF projects that have graduated.
TUF is already employed within Notary, a separate CNCF project that provides a mechanism to both certify the validity of the sources of Docker images and encrypt the content of those images. TUF is also employed within Uptane, which is employed to deliver software updates to automobiles. Other organizations using TUF in production environments include Amazon, VMware, Google, IBM, Red Hat, Datadog and DigitalOcean.
Cappos said he would like to see TUF adopted more broadly to secure software supply chains in medical systems as well as critical infrastructure systems such as the power grid. As cyberattacks targeting these systems increase, Cappos said it’s apparent there is a need for a more resilient approach to securing software running on these types of platforms.
Longer-term, as organizations embrace best DevSecOps processes, it’s now only a matter of time before organizations focus more of their time and energy on securing the software supply chain. However, Cappos said right now there is too much focus on trying to discover application dependencies and scanning images. While those are important tactical tools, Cappos said there needs to be more focus on strategic approaches to securing software supply chains.
It’s not clear to what degree DevSecOps will ultimately push organizations to embrace a more holistic approach to building and managing software supply chains or whether larger concerns about the security of software will push more organizations to embrace DevSecOps. Regardless of whether the impetus for building and deploying more secure software comes from the top down or the bottom up within an organization, the important thing is that in terms of tools and processes rapid advances are finally being made.
