From a security standpoint, the seeds in a pomegranate help portray the endless number of how many opportunities for potential security issues in a network.Īs a result, you can only be as secure as the least secure element.

The seeds within a pomegranate are like the hundreds or thousands of applications and platforms within a network. I often refer to a network and its many elements like a pomegranate with its many seeds. Open-source software or third-party componentsĪnd one of the most common areas of vulnerability can also be one of the most critical in an environment-our networks.Continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline complexity.Today, some of the primary attack vectors for supply chains include: However, with the new and expanded use of these types of technology also comes an increased risk of creating vulnerabilities. For example, the pandemic undoubtedly accelerated the growth of digital transformation and the rising use of open-source components, containers, and APIs. First, I want to explain why understanding potential security issues and risks within your development environment, software components, and sensitive data is critical to ensuring you have sufficient software supply chain security practices as part of your security posture.įor more information about how software supply chains are often highly vulnerable to cyberattacks and how organizations can take action to secure their supply chains in this whitepaper created in partnership with DevOps and DevSecOps researchers from IDC, “The Need for Leading Edge Software Supply Chain Security.” Why is software supply chain security important?The software supply chain is complex and layered-from the the codebase to how it’s built, its functionality, and the workflows involved. We’ll talk about what this means for SolarWinds in a bit. One way to support a more secure supply chain is by building a robust security strategy for software development when using third-party software or open-source solutions. Securing these components requires uncovering, understanding, and acting on perceived vulnerabilities and security risks across your ecosystem. Securing the components, activities, and practices involved in the creation and deployment of software is software supply chain security. Understanding software supply chain securityThe software supply chain is anything and everything touching an application or playing a role in its development throughout the entire software development life cycle (SDLC). With this panel discussion still fresh in my mind, I wanted to continue the conversation around software supply chain security, including providing more insight into what we’re doing at SolarWinds to support our software supply chain security and improve security efforts for our customers. Part of the conversation between these experts touched on software supply chain security and the severity of the threat currently present. At SolarWinds Day: Secure by Design, I closed a panel led by SolarWinds VP of Government Affairs Chip Daniels and in conjunction with a bipartisan panel of government leaders including Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Eric Goldstein, in addition to our very own President and CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna. The exponential growth of applications and digital commerce has met with unprecedented security breaches across software supply chains.

Solarwinds breach