JFrog today announced it is adding a curation capability for open source software to its portfolio that will use metadata generated by binaries to identify malicious packages and software components that have licensing issues.
Sharan Hiremath, senior product manager for JFrog, said JFrog Curation is an extension of the JFrog Artifactory binary repository that the company provides to enable organizations to manage their software supply chains.
JFrog Curation also validates software packages against JFrog’s Security Research library of recorded Critical Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) and publicly available information to help establish a trusted repository of pre-approved, third-party software components.
That approach automatically employs the JFrog Xray scanning tool to eliminate the need to individually scan each package before developers employ them, said Hiremath.
Making sure open source software components are secure is often problematic because developers download them from public repositories that are frequently targeted by cybercriminals. There have now been more than 100,000 instances of malicious software packages discovered in repositories in the last year alone, noted Hiremath.
In addition, cybercriminals have become adept at creating fake repositories that mimic legitimate repositories; that can result in developers downloading software components infected with malware.
JFrog Curation takes the shift left concept of application security to the next level by automatically blocking the use of risky open source software packages, noted Hiremath. The JFrog platform will also surface advice on how to remediate any vulnerability discovered, in addition to creating an audit trail to enable organizations to comply with various regulatory mandates.
While open source software components reduce the cost of application development, from a cybersecurity perspective, it’s the wild, wild West, noted Hiremath. Organizations are trying to bring more discipline to the way software is constructed by adopting DevSecOps best practices, but they need an approach that doesn’t introduce any additional friction into the application development process, he added.
JFrog Curation addresses that issue by addressing cybersecurity and compliance issues before any open source component becomes part of the build, said Hiremath.
As regulations to hold organizations more accountable for the security of the software they deploy are being proposed around the world, it’s only a matter of time before organizations must revisit the security of their software supply chains. Cybercriminals have already proven how adept they are at injecting malware into software components that could be used in thousands of downstream applications. In the eyes of regulators, organizations that don’t scan open source software for malware and vulnerabilities are engaging in reckless behavior that will warrant stiff penalties.
The challenge is that, after giving developers free rein to develop software any way they see fit, organizations are now faced with a challenge that is as much cultural as it is technical. Automated processes will naturally play a key role in curbing aberrant behavior in application development, but there is, as always, no substitute for some good old-fashioned common sense.
