OCB: Secure your Open Source Supply Chain with Sigstore

Bob Callaway and Ivan Font of Red Hat will introduce a new project called ‘sigstore’ that was recently launched under the Linux Foundation. Sigstore aims to empower software developers to easily and securely sign software artifacts such as release files, container images, binaries, bill of material manifests and more. Signing materials are then stored into a tamper resistant public log. They’ll show a demo of the system working on OpenShift to sign container images and integrated into a build pipeline with Tekton and Open Policy Agent.

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Can Your Software Development Processes Withstand a Software Supply Chain Attack?

Enterprise software development has graduated from the “waterfall” framework of development and operations - and has become less linear, more complex and, in several ways, more difficult to secure. While contemporary software supply chain practices allow developers to manage that complexity and deliver software efficiently at scale, unaddressed gaps and vulnerabilities within the process continue to be exploited by threat actors.

That’s why security measures within every step of software development and supply chain must take top priority as attacks continue to be directed to the application layer — and often succeed in penetrating the network and executing malicious instructions.

Why Does the Software Supply Chain Pose Risks to the Business?

As most developers utilize open-source software package repositories, such as NPM (Node Package Manager) or PyPI (Python Package Index), to build and develop new applications, this software supply chain acts as a vehicle for carrying those assets into various applications used within organizations. If production code is infected with malware or vulnerabilities that were inadvertently sourced from the repository, it may contaminate all organizations that come in contact with it — whether by using the code already in their software development life cycle or by launching presumed trusted applications from third parties who failed to validate their own code. Therefore, the implementation of strict security measures, validation checks, and continuous monitoring of open-source code and development repositories is a requirement in any modern organization.

Risks in Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

The SDLC encompasses the initial design, development, testing and deployment of an application. The actions within the internal software development lifecycle often fall short in implementing critical security policies, processes, and controls, hence many attacks may not be detected by security systems.

That’s why it’s vital to establish security practices within the SDLC, from training developers on secure coding practices using open source libraries to factoring in detection capabilities including static analysis, dynamic analysis, software composition analysis and manual penetration testing. Implementing a secure SDLC process ensures that the development effort is protected by these activities, augmenting code reviews and infrastructure analysis.

How to Prepare Your Company for Choosing a Solution

The security controls necessary to prevent and mitigate SDLC and supply chain cyber threats require stringent software installation and pathway tracking practices for all code and applications within your enterprise. However, to establish an IT infrastructure that allows those processes to be effective, it’s vital to determine the state of your current security measures and address any gaps. This assessment may be influenced by the security maturity of your enterprise, which factors in skills, processes and technologies available.

Determining where your organization stands in the security maturity model will allow you to leverage a more comprehensive approach to cybersecurity. From defining manual processes within your organization to reviewing current compliance and audit standing, getting a full inventory of your enterprise’s security will prepare your company for choosing a solution. To establish your organization’s security maturity level, and its ability to withstand a software supply chain attack, consider the following factors:

• Team awareness and security training

• Understanding your teams’ readiness and maturity must first begin by assessing awareness of key elements for successfully securing SDLC processes. Specifically, seek to gain understanding of teams’ awareness of vulnerabilities and malware in third party and open source components, the controls necessary to mitigate those risks, and ways in which they would validate those controls. With this assessment complete, it becomes easier to lay the groundwork for strategic and specific training recommendations for teams involved in any software development processes.

• Current operations and support

• Consider that many successful software development processes maintain separate teams for development and QA with defined roles and documented framework for defining tasks. Similarly, these teams maintain well-established role-based access control with clearly defined permissions. If current operations are not defined with clearly delineated responsibilities, software development teams risk unauthorized access to the source code, unauthorized access to production systems, expansion of the attack surface, or malware injection through unauthorized changes or additions.

• SDLC security measures

• Once an organization has established separation of duty and control for each of its teams, the SDLC should require systems that provide source code control, bug tracking, test tracking and management sign-off tracking for key milestones. Additionally, teams should be required to conduct backups and to maintain offsite storage and disaster recovery policies. The SDLC should also require the use of only stable versions of open source libraries that have been curated by trusted third parties or scanned using an application security testing tool. As code is developed, organizations should host code reviews–manual or automated–for all check-ins before becoming part of the build. Vulnerability mitigations, as provided by the programming language and the operating system, should be investigated and enabled to reduce impact of security related bugs. Nearing the end of the cycle, release candidates and associated bills of materials should be scanned to ensure complete and clean third party and open source components, and then tested, including penetration testing, in a staging environment identical to the production environment. Finally, all In-house built software should be digitally signed to provide its users with the package identity and integrity verification mechanism.

• All developers, QA engineers and devops personnel should complete regular security training with an emphasis on containers, malware and secure SDLC processes. Management should be committed to ensuring training opportunities, as well as provide sign-off for any changes to access, roles, release to staging and releases to production.

#security #devops #sdlc #supply chain management #security analytics #devsecops process #secure sdlc #risk and compliance #supply chain security

Best Custom Web & Mobile App Development Company

Everything around us has become smart, like smart infrastructures, smart cities, autonomous vehicles, to name a few. The innovation of smart devices makes it possible to achieve these heights in science and technology. But, data is vulnerable, there is a risk of attack by cybercriminals. To get started, let’s know about IoT devices.

What are IoT devices?

The Internet Of Things(IoT) is a system that interrelates computer devices like sensors, software, and actuators, digital machines, etc. They are linked together with particular objects that work through the internet and transfer data over devices without humans interference.

Famous examples are Amazon Alexa, Apple SIRI, Interconnected baby monitors, video doorbells, and smart thermostats.

How could your IoT devices be vulnerable?

When technologies grow and evolve, risks are also on the high stakes. Ransomware attacks are on the continuous increase; securing data has become the top priority.

When you think your smart home won’t fudge a thing against cybercriminals, you should also know that they are vulnerable. When cybercriminals access our smart voice speakers like Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri, it becomes easy for them to steal your data.

Cybersecurity report 2020 says popular hacking forums expose 770 million email addresses and 21 million unique passwords, 620 million accounts have been compromised from 16 hacked websites.

The attacks are likely to increase every year. To help you secure your data of IoT devices, here are some best tips you can implement.

Tips to secure your IoT devices

1. Change Default Router Name

Your router has the default name of make and model. When we stick with the manufacturer name, attackers can quickly identify our make and model. So give the router name different from your addresses, without giving away personal information.

2. Know your connected network and connected devices

If your devices are connected to the internet, these connections are vulnerable to cyber attacks when your devices don’t have the proper security. Almost every web interface is equipped with multiple devices, so it’s hard to track the device. But, it’s crucial to stay aware of them.

3. Change default usernames and passwords

When we use the default usernames and passwords, it is attackable. Because the cybercriminals possibly know the default passwords come with IoT devices. So use strong passwords to access our IoT devices.

4. Manage strong, Unique passwords for your IoT devices and accounts

Use strong or unique passwords that are easily assumed, such as ‘123456’ or ‘password1234’ to protect your accounts. Give strong and complex passwords formed by combinations of alphabets, numeric, and not easily bypassed symbols.

Also, change passwords for multiple accounts and change them regularly to avoid attacks. We can also set several attempts to wrong passwords to set locking the account to safeguard from the hackers.

5. Do not use Public WI-FI Networks

Are you try to keep an eye on your IoT devices through your mobile devices in different locations. I recommend you not to use the public WI-FI network to access them. Because they are easily accessible through for everyone, you are still in a hurry to access, use VPN that gives them protection against cyber-attacks, giving them privacy and security features, for example, using Express VPN.

6. Establish firewalls to discover the vulnerabilities

There are software and firewalls like intrusion detection system/intrusion prevention system in the market. This will be useful to screen and analyze the wire traffic of a network. You can identify the security weakness by the firewall scanners within the network structure. Use these firewalls to get rid of unwanted security issues and vulnerabilities.

7. Reconfigure your device settings

Every smart device comes with the insecure default settings, and sometimes we are not able to change these default settings configurations. These conditions need to be assessed and need to reconfigure the default settings.

8. Authenticate the IoT applications

Nowadays, every smart app offers authentication to secure the accounts. There are many types of authentication methods like single-factor authentication, two-step authentication, and multi-factor authentication. Use any one of these to send a one time password (OTP) to verify the user who logs in the smart device to keep our accounts from falling into the wrong hands.

9. Update the device software up to date

Every smart device manufacturer releases updates to fix bugs in their software. These security patches help us to improve our protection of the device. Also, update the software on the smartphone, which we are used to monitoring the IoT devices to avoid vulnerabilities.

10. Track the smartphones and keep them safe

When we connect the smart home to the smartphone and control them via smartphone, you need to keep them safe. If you miss the phone almost, every personal information is at risk to the cybercriminals. But sometimes it happens by accident, makes sure that you can clear all the data remotely.

However, securing smart devices is essential in the world of data. There are still cybercriminals bypassing the securities. So make sure to do the safety measures to avoid our accounts falling out into the wrong hands. I hope these steps will help you all to secure your IoT devices.

If you have any, feel free to share them in the comments! I’d love to know them.

Are you looking for more? Subscribe to weekly newsletters that can help your stay updated IoT application developments.

#iot #enterprise iot security #how iot can be used to enhance security #how to improve iot security #how to protect iot devices from hackers #how to secure iot devices #iot security #iot security devices #iot security offerings #iot security technologies iot security plus #iot vulnerable devices #risk based iot security program

An Open-Source Book About the Open Source World

Open source today is a word that often include a lot of things, such as open knowledge (Wikimedia projects), open hardware (Arduino, Raspberry Pi), open formats (ODT/ODS/ODP) and so on.

It is a world of opportunities that can be difficult for newcomers but also for intermediates. This article will help you discover how to approach specific roles, activities or projects/communities in the best way.

Everything Started with “Coaching for OpenSource Communities 2.0”

I decided to write a book in my personal style about my experience in the last 7 to 8 years in open source. I was surprised when I reached 100 pages about various different topics.

My idea was to write something that I would like to read, so nothing that is boring or complicated, but full of real facts.

The second goal was to include my experience but also my philosophy on contributing and how I contribute daily.

Thirdly, I wanted to give a lot of hints and resources and an overall view of this open source world.

Basically, I wanted to write something different from self-help or coaching books that includes just a list of suggestions and best practices. Instead, I take real examples from real life about the OSS world.

As a contributor and developer, I prefer to have real cases to study, because best practices are useful, but we need to learn from others and this world is full of good and bad cases to discover.

In 2019, I started writing a book after Fosdem 2019 and after 2 years inside the Mozilla Reps Council. In that Fosdem edition, I had a talk “Coaching for Open Source Communities 2.0” and after the feedback at the conference and my thoughts in various roles, activities, and projects, it was time to write something.

At the end it wasn’t a manual but a book that included my experience, learnings, best practices and so on in Localization, Development, Project Maintainer, Sysadmin, Community Management, Mentor, Speaker and so on. It contains the following sections:

• Biography - This choice isn’t for self promotion but just to understand my point of view and my story that can be inspiring for others
• Philosophy - Not the usual description of Open Source or the 4 freedoms, but just what Open Source means and how you can help
• How to live inside the Open Source - A discovery about communications and tools, understanding the various kind of people and the best way to talk with your community
• How to choose a project - Starting with some questions to yourself and how to involve more people in your project
• The activity - Open Source is based on tasks that can be divided in 2 levels: Support, Testing, Marketing, Development etc
• How to use your time - We are busy, we have a life, a job and a family but Open Source can be time-consuming
• Why document is important - How writing documentation can be healthy for your community and the project’s future and brand

There are also three appendices that are manuals which I wrote throughout the years and gathered and improved for this book. They are about: community management, public speaking, and mentoring.

The book ends with my point of view about the future and what we have to do to change opinions about those topics.

I wrote this book and published in October 2019, but it was only possible with the help of reviews and localizers that improved and contributed. Yes, because this book is open source and free for everyone.

I picked the GPL license because this license changed the world and my life in the best way. Using this license is just a tribute. This decision usually is not clear because after all this is a book and there are better licenses like Creative Commons.

#open-source #contributing-to-open-source #programming #software-development #development #coding #books #open-source-software

Top 8 Java Open Source Projects You Should Get Your Hands-on [2021]

Learning about Java is no easy feat. It’s a prevalent and in-demand programming language with applications in numerous sectors. We all know that if you want to learn a new skill, the best way to do so is through using it. That’s why we recommend working on projects.

So if you’re a Java student, then you’ve come to the right place as this article will help you learn about the most popular Java open source projects. This way, you’d have a firm grasp of industry trends and the programming language’s applications.

However, before we discuss its various projects, it’s crucial to examine the place where you can get those projects – GitHub. Let’s begin.

#full stack development #java open source projects #java projects #open source projects #top 8 java open source projects #java open source projects

Did Google Open Sourcing Kubernetes Backfired?

Over the last few years, Kubernetes have become the de-facto standard for container orchestration and has also won the race against Docker for being the most loved platforms among developers. Released in 2014, Kubernetes has come a long way with currently being used across the entire cloudscape platforms. In fact, recent reports state that out of 109 tools to manage containers, 89% of them are leveraging Kubernetes versions.

Although inspired by Borg, Kubernetes, is an open-source project by Google, and has been donated to a vendor-neutral firm — The Cloud Native Computing Foundation. This could be attributed to Google’s vision of creating a platform that can be used by every firm of the world, including the large tech companies and can host multiple cloud platforms and data centres. The entire reason for handing over the control to CNCF is to develop the platform in the best interest of its users without vendor lock-in.

#opinions #google open source #google open source tools #google opening kubernetes #kubernetes #kubernetes platform #kubernetes tools #open source kubernetes backfired