How to secure your software supply chain from dependencies to deployment

Introduction

In today's rapidly evolving software development landscape, security vulnerabilities in the software supply chain have become a pressing concern. Organizations frequently integrate third-party software dependencies, which can lead to vulnerabilities if not properly managed. To address this challenge, Google Cloud is introducing its new approach to software supply chain security through a suite of tools known as Software Delivery Shield.

Understanding the Software Supply Chain

Most modern software products consist of the source code developed by the organization, along with numerous third-party dependencies. These dependencies come from various sources, be it open-source libraries or commercial software. As organizations consume software from multiple providers, the potential for vulnerabilities in the software development life cycle (SDLC) increases. Recent statistics indicate a staggering 650% increase in attacks targeting software supply chains year-over-year, and Gartner predicts that by 2025, nearly half of all organizations will experience a supply chain attack.

Google Cloud's Security Solution: Software Delivery Shield

To enhance the security posture of the SDLC, Google Cloud has developed Software Delivery Shield, which serves as a comprehensive solution addressing security from development through to deployment. By integrating Google's internal best practices and the Supply Chain Levels for Software Artifacts (SLSA), Software Delivery Shield covers the entirety of the SDLC.

Key Components of Software Delivery Shield

1. Development Security:

   • Cloud Workstations provide a managed development environment, ensuring security through controlled ingress and egress, continuous image updates, and IAM access policies.
   • Cloud Code Source Protect integrates directly into IDEs, offering dependency vulnerability checks and license awareness without compromising developer productivity.

2. Dependency Management:

   • Artifact Registry now includes enhanced capabilities for repository management and on-push vulnerability scanning, allowing developers to identify issues in dependencies swiftly and effectively.

3. CI/CD Pipeline Security:

   • Cloud Build supports out-of-the-box security capabilities, ensuring builds are authenticated and trackable. It automatically checks for vulnerabilities, halting any builds that do not meet specified security policies.

4. Runtime Security:

   • GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine) provides continuous runtime vulnerability scanning and analyzes configurations versus security standards to identify and mitigate risks.

5. Trust-Based Policies:

   • Binary Authorization enforces trust-based policies to restrict deployment only to images that have been vetted and cleared of vulnerabilities.

A Demonstrative Workflow

To illustrate the effectiveness of these tools, a demonstration showcased how the components of Software Delivery Shield work together. It began with using Cloud Workstations for development, leveraging Cloud Code for vulnerability checks in dependencies. After committing code, a Cloud Build pipeline was triggered, enforcing a vulnerability scanning policy that halted any builds with outstanding issues.

Upon fixing vulnerabilities, the build successfully completed, and security insights showed that the image passed all checks. The deployment was then secured by Binary Authorization, which confirmed all trust factors were met.

Finally, GKE's security posture management was utilized to analyze running workloads, highlighting any potential configuration concerns or vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

Google Cloud's Software Delivery Shield offers a robust framework for securing the software supply chain, addressing vulnerabilities at each stage from development to deployment. Organizations can take advantage of these new capabilities to safeguard their applications and build a resilient software ecosystem.

Keyword

• Software Supply Chain Security
• Dependencies
• Deployment
• Google Cloud
• Software Delivery Shield
• Cloud Workstations
• Cloud Code
• Artifact Registry
• CI/CD Pipeline
• Binary Authorization
• GKE

FAQ

Q1: What is Software Delivery Shield?
A1: Software Delivery Shield is Google Cloud's comprehensive security solution designed to enhance the security posture of software supply chains throughout the SDLC, from development to deployment.

Q2: How does Cloud Workstations enhance development security?
A2: Cloud Workstations provides a managed environment with controlled access, continuous updates, and IAM policies to ensure secure development practices.

Q3: What role does Binary Authorization play in deployment?
A3: Binary Authorization enforces trust-based policies to ensure that only trusted images that meet specific security criteria are deployed, preventing potential vulnerabilities from being introduced into the runtime environment.

Q4: How does GKE contribute to runtime security?
A4: GKE continuously scans running workloads for vulnerabilities and analyzes configurations against security standards, helping organizations maintain a secure deployment environment.

Q5: What is Cloud Code Source Protect?
A5: Cloud Code Source Protect integrates vulnerability scanning and license compliance checks directly into the developer's IDE, alerting them to potential risks without hindering productivity.