Open Source Supply Chain Security: Best Practices

Open-source components are the building blocks of modern software, enabling your team to innovate and deliver features faster. This reliance, however, introduces a significant challenge: your application’s security is now tied to a vast and complex supply chain of code you didn’t write. The risks are escalating, with attackers targeting open-source libraries to launch widespread breaches. Securing this ecosystem is no longer optional; it’s a critical aspect of your software development lifecycle (SDLC). For engineering managers tasked with balancing speed and security, understanding how to manage open source supply chain security is essential.

To gain a deeper understanding of the market landscape, download the Gigaom Radar Report for Software Supply Chain Security.

The Growing Importance of Open Source Supply Chain Security

Development teams are under constant pressure to accelerate delivery. Open-source libraries provide the efficiency needed to meet these demands, but they also expand your attack surface. Our research shows that 70% of critical security debt originates from third-party code. This makes the software supply chain a prime target for attackers.

Threats have evolved beyond simple vulnerabilities. Attackers now employ sophisticated techniques like dependency confusion, typosquatting, and repo-jacking to inject malicious packages directly into development pipelines. A single compromised library can have a cascading effect, putting your organization and your customers at risk.

Key Challenges in Securing Open Source Supply Chains

Managing open source supply chain security presents several distinct challenges for engineering teams. Overcoming them requires a strategic approach that integrates security without disrupting development velocity.

Emerging Threats and Evolving Attack Vectors

Attackers are becoming more sophisticated, targeting gaps that arise in modern development. AI-generated vulnerabilities are an increasing risk as more teams rely on generative AI tools, which can inadvertently introduce insecure code or hallucinate non-existent packages that are easily exploited. Plus, the rapid adoption of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) further expands the attack surface. Vulnerabilities in IaC templates (often reused across environments) can propagate misconfigurations or risky defaults, leading to significant exposure if not properly secured and audited.

Visibility Issues

Most applications depend on a deep tree of transitive dependencies – the libraries your libraries use. Without the right tools, you lack insight into these hidden components, leaving your team blind to potential risks lurking deep within your software stack. Manually tracking thousands of dependencies is impossible, making automated visibility a necessity.

Malicious Packages

The threat of malicious packages is real and growing. Attackers publish libraries with names similar to popular ones (typosquatting) or even create packages to match “hallucinations” from AI coding assistants. These tactics are designed to trick developers or automated build tools into downloading malware, turning a simple dependency update into a major security incident.

Compliance Pressures

Regulatory requirements are intensifying. Mandates like the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the increasing demand for Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) require organizations to have a complete and accurate inventory of all software components. Meeting these compliance demands without automated tools can drain resources and slow down projects.

Workflow Friction

Security tools that are not integrated into developer workflows often create more problems than they solve. If security scans are slow, produce high numbers of false positives, or require developers to switch contexts, they become a source of friction. This can lead to security being bypassed in the race to meet deadlines, undermining your entire program.

Quantifying and Prioritizing Risk

With countless dependencies and potential vulnerabilities, organizations must prioritize security efforts. Effective risk management involves quantifying issues based on exploitability, potential business impact, and compliance penalties for failing to address known vulnerabilities. Metrics such as reachability, usage in critical systems, and the likelihood of being exploited in the wild offer a data-driven path for prioritization. By focusing remediation on the most impactful risks first, teams can maximize ROI and reduce overall exposure.

Best Practices for Open Source Supply Chain Security

To effectively manage open source supply chain security, you need a multi-faceted strategy. These best practices will help you build a resilient and efficient security program that empowers your team.

1. Start with Visibility

You cannot secure what you cannot see. The first step is to gain a complete inventory of all open-source components in your applications.

• Map Dependencies: Use a Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tool to automatically map all direct and transitive dependencies. This provides the comprehensive visibility needed to identify and prioritize risks.
• Automate SBOMs: Implement tools that automatically generate SBOMs. This not only ensures you are prepared for compliance audits but also provides a clear “list of ingredients” for your software, enhancing transparency.

2. Implement Proactive Prevention

The most effective way to handle a threat is to stop it before it enters your environment. A proactive approach is crucial.

• Deploy Package Firewalls: A package firewall acts as a gatekeeper, scanning components from public repositories and blocking malicious or non-compliant packages before they are downloaded. This is your first line of defense against supply chain attacks.
• Automate Policy Enforcement: Define your security and license policies as code. This allows you to automatically vet every component against your organization’s standards without requiring manual intervention, ensuring consistent governance.

3. Adopt a Layered Defense Strategy

No single tool can address every threat. A layered defense combines multiple security controls to provide comprehensive protection.

• Combine Prevention and Detection: Integrate upstream prevention from a package firewall with downstream detection from SCA. This ensures you block new threats while continuously monitoring for vulnerabilities in code already in use.
• Unify Security Testing: Integrate Static Analysis (SAST) and Dynamic Analysis (DAST) with your SCA tooling in the SDLC. This creates a unified view of risk across your first-party code and third-party dependencies.
• Secure Container Environments: Scan container images for known vulnerabilities before deployment. Ensure all base images are sourced from trusted, verified registries and kept up to date. Continuously monitor runtime environments for emerging risks, misconfigurations, or signs of compromise. Implement automated policies to prevent the use of risky or outdated container images in production.

4. Empower Developers

Security is a team sport. To succeed, you must empower your developers to write secure code from the start.

• Integrate into IDEs: Provide developers with real-time security feedback directly within their IDE. This allows them to find and fix flaws as they code, reducing the time and cost of remediation.
• Use AI-Driven Remediation: Leverage tools that provide AI-powered fix suggestions. Automated pull requests and contextual guidance help your team resolve vulnerabilities faster and reduce their security debt without extensive research.

5. Monitor Continuously

The threat landscape is always changing. Continuous monitoring is essential to stay ahead of new risks.

• Leverage Threat Intelligence: Use tools that are backed by real-time threat intelligence feeds. This ensures you are protected against newly discovered vulnerabilities and emerging attack techniques.
• Audit and Update: Continuously audit your dependencies and enable automated updates to secure versions. This helps you mitigate newly disclosed vulnerabilities and reduces the manual effort required to keep your applications secure.

6. Contextualize Risk Prioritization

• Understand Real-world Risk: Categorize risks based on their potential impact and exploitability, so teams can focus efforts on addressing the most pressing vulnerabilities first.
• Take the Best Next Actions: Leverage tools that provide actionable insights, such as dynamic risk scoring and automated triage, to ensure that high-priority issues are resolved swiftly without overburdening resources.

Measurable Benefits of Implementing Best Practices

Organizations that adopt industry best practices see tangible results. Metrics like Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) drop significantly, accelerating response to new risks. Automated tools reduce manual effort and deliver cost savings through streamlined processes and fewer disruptions. This approach ensures vulnerabilities are addressed faster, compliance requirements are met efficiently, and security becomes an enabler for innovation rather than a barrier.

Why Veracode Leads in Open Source Supply Chain Security

Veracode provides a unified platform designed to secure your entire SDLC. Our leadership in the GigaOm Radar report reflects our commitment to delivering integrated, developer-first security solutions.

• Unified Platform Approach: We combine SCA, SAST, DAST, Package Firewall, and Container Security into a single platform. This gives you a holistic view of application risk and enables consistent policy enforcement across your entire software portfolio.
• Seamless CI/CD Integration: The Veracode platform integrates smoothly into the tools your team already uses, including IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, and ticketing systems. We meet developers where they are, making security a seamless part of their workflow.
• AI-Driven Remediation: Veracode Fix provides AI-generated code fixes, dramatically reducing the time it takes to remediate vulnerabilities. This empowers your team to clear security debt faster and focus on innovation.

Secure Your Supply Chain with Confidence

Protecting your open-source supply chain is essential for mitigating risk and maintaining development velocity. By adopting a proactive, unified, and developer-centric strategy, you can secure your applications without slowing down your team. Veracode provides the tools and insights you need to build software securely from the start.

Explore the key criteria for evaluating security vendors and see why Veracode was named a Leader. Download the full GigaOm Radar Report for Software Supply Chain Security today.