Software Supply Chain Security: Defending Against Modern Threats

The Supply Chain Threat

Supply chain attacks have increased by 742% over the past three years. From SolarWinds to Log4Shell, these attacks demonstrate the devastating impact of compromised dependencies.

Attack Vectors

Dependency Confusion

Attackers publish malicious packages with names similar to internal packages on public registries.

Compromised Maintainers

Social engineering attacks targeting package maintainers to inject malicious code.

Build Pipeline Attacks

Compromising CI/CD infrastructure to inject malicious code during the build process.

Defense Strategies

1. Dependency Management

Use lockfiles (package-lock.json, yarn.lock)

Pin dependency versions

Regularly audit dependencies

Use tools like Snyk, Dependabot

2. SBOM (Software Bill of Materials)

Generate and maintain SBOMs for all software:

npx @cyclonedx/cyclonedx-npm --output-file sbom.json

3. Code Signing

Sign all releases and verify signatures during deployment.

4. Build Reproducibility

Ensure builds are deterministic and reproducible across environments.

Conclusion

Supply chain security requires a holistic approach combining tooling, processes, and culture.