In today’s highly connected business world, businesses are working with multiple third party entities. Cyber Attackers are aware of this and are using it as an opportunity to target the less secure areas of the supply chain. This essentially means that you can now become a victim of cybersecurity despite having a hacker-proof security system in place.
Hackers will try to access your systems and network through those third party vendors, who might not have the same level of security as yours. As a result, you could potentially end up on the receiving end of the equation despite all the security best practices. Thankfully, there is a way to keep these supply chain attacks at bay. It is by integrating secure security software development framework into the vendor’s software development lifecycle.
In this article, you will learn about ways in which a secure software development framework can block supply chain attacks.
Table of Contents
1. Threat Identification
The growing number of supply chain attacks has forced the US government to take it seriously. In fact, they have made it a top priority To identify supply chain attacks, you need to assign a threat actor profile to each asset. Next, assign every asset a risk score and update it based on its vulnerability to cybersecurity attacks.
Another great way to detect supply chain threats is to understand how supply chain attacks work. A supply chain attack requires a continuous hacking and infiltration process in order to gain access to an organziation network. The primary reason is usually to cause disruption, just like DDoS attacks. You can protect yourself from DDoS attacks by investing in DDoS protection. By following a secure software development framework, you can easily detect supply chain attacks and mitigate them early.
2. Crisis Readiness
The first thing you need to do to prepare your organization for blocking supply chain attacks is to ensure that your people, processes and technology facilitate secure software development. For that to happen, you will have to define rules for software development and follow it up by adding roles and responsibilities. Additionally, you will also have to outline criteria for secure software checks that you need to have in place. Once you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, that is when you can ensure secure software development.
3. Software Protection
After laying a solid foundation for your secure software development, it is time to move forward to the next step, which is to protect the software from unwanted access and tempering. The key to success in this step is to safeguard your code and ensure the new software releases are reliable.
Your goal is to safeguard every software release because a bug in one software release can provide hackers with a vulnerability to exploit and that is exactly what they are looking for. Once they get their foot in the door, they will try to push forward and wreak havoc on your software development pipeline.
4. Develop Secure Software
Once you have plugged in all the loopholes in the software, the next step would be to create a software with little to no bugs and flaws. Focus on developing software that not only fulfills your security needs but also delivers a great user experience at the same time. Put a lot of emphasis on minimizing the risks but make sure that your software complies with the user requirements. Another benefit of creating secure software is that you can reuse the code with minor tweaks instead of starting from scratch. This can save a lot of time and effort and help you bring products faster to the market.
5. Fixing Bugs
Let’s say, you have developed a secure software and now it is time to release it. Now, you should check whether there are any bugs in the software releases or not. If you find bugs and issues in software releases, you should first fix them before making them available for users. Make this bug fixing activity periodic instead of setting it and forgetting it. Bugs can pop up anytime during the software development lifecycle and you need to fix it to deliver a great user experience via your software.
6. Human Controls
This one is for people who believe that technology can not do anything on its own and you must always augment it with humans instead of using it standalone. If you believe in their philosophy then, you will also have to implement human controls. SSDF enables software vendors to implement these controls easily and minimize the risk of cybersecurity attacks.
The best way to do that is to start a cybersecurity training program to train your employees. You can also promote a few training participants to become mentors and teach the skills they have learned to other employees who have not been able to attend the training sessions.
The more aware your employees are about the latest supply chain attacks, the less likely they are to fall victim to these attacks. What’s more, they can even report suspicious activity on your network and tell you about the warning signs of supply chain attacks. This will help your cybersecurity team to react quickly and minimize the damage caused by supply chain attacks.
Even when you are hiring new candidates, prioritize security training and skills instead of degrees. Soon, you will end up with employees who have the skills and training and create a security culture in your organziation.
Conclusion
Supply chain attacks have recently burst on the cybersecurity scene but are no longer going away anytime soon. Third party vendors will have to beef up their cybersecurity defenses in order to protect businesses from supply chain attacks. They need to adopt a holistic approach to threat mitigation. Focus on creating a culture that revolves around a secure software supply chain. This will only be possible if people, processes and technology work towards the ultimate objective, which is to develop secure software..
Do you use a software development framework? If yes, did it protect you from supply chain attacks? Share it with us in the comments section below.
