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What is Software Security?

Learn what software security is and how it impacts businesses. 

Since 2023, software security experts identified 512,847 malicious software packages in the top four open source ecosystems. To put this into perspective, that is a 156% year-over-year increase in malicious packages. 

What are the chances that your organization’s software is entirely free of vulnerable code? Would you be aware if your applications and services were not secure? 

The objective of software security is to answer these questions with certainty. It offers the tools and procedures needed to safeguard businesses and users from vulnerabilities within software and its dependencies.

Software security defined

Software security is the practices and technologies used to secure software and protect it from vulnerabilities and malware. Deliberately malicious software and vulnerabilities open the door to data breaches and operational disruptions. They cost businesses billions each year, often through avoidable security incidents.

The Log4Shell exploit was caused by a remote code execution flaw in a logging tool essential to millions of projects. It’s still costing businesses three years later and will for years to come.

Open source software security aims to prevent or limit the impact of incidents like Log4Shell.

It uses strategies that include:

  • Better development tooling and training so malware and vulnerabilities aren’t written into code in the first place.

  • Enhancing security awareness to avoid the use of vulnerable and intentionally malicious components in software dependencies.

  • Consistently updating and patching software to fix known vulnerabilities.

  • Conducting security and software component analysis to identify and mitigate potential risks.

  • Implementing access controls and authentication mechanisms to safeguard sensitive information.

  • Educating developers and users about software security best practices.

Security should be baked into every phase of the software development life cycle, from coding and component selection to deployment to maintenance. Identifying and addressing intentionally malicious components and exploitable vulnerabilities early on is more cost-efficient and effective than tackling them after they have proliferated for months or years.

Is software security the same as cybersecurity?

Software security is one component of cybersecurity, which protects computer systems and networks from all types of attack. Software security focuses on designing and implementing secure software without malicious components or vulnerabilities to mitigate threats. Cybersecurity is broader. It deals with all aspects of digital security, from ransomware attacks to credit card skimming to data encryption.

What is the difference between a software bug and a software vulnerability?

A software bug is a mistake. A developer might forget to initialize a variable, introduce a logic error, or cause a race condition. Bugs cause software to behave in unintended ways. It may crash or display incorrect information. Occasionally, bad actors can exploit bugs to access information or resources that should be off-limits. These exploitable bugs are called software vulnerabilities.

Open source software security: Understanding the risks

Open source adoption continues to rise with 90% of modern software applications being made up of open source software.  In one year, developers downloaded four trillion packages from the Java, JavaScript, Python, and .NET ecosystems. Billions of those downloads contained harmful software. At least two billion involved OSS software with known vulnerabilities fixed in later versions.

That, in a nutshell, is the risk posed by open source software.

Why is open source software a security risk?

Many open source projects are well managed by  developers that follow software security best practices. But best practices can’t guarantee bug-free software. All software has bugs, and some bugs result in exploitable vulnerabilities.

The open source world’s low entry barrier is both an advantage and a risk. Inexperienced OSS developers may neglect software security best practices because they are unaware of them. Many create useful software to scratch a specific itch, and security isn’t a priority. They may design software for a particular environment, securing it only against the threats they care about.

Finally, there are malicious open source components. Bad actors create these to use in software supply chain attacks. They know useful components will be integrated into other software. And they know developers lack the time and expertise to audit every component.

Learn more about Open Source Software Risks.

The role of software security in the software supply chain

Your software supply chain is the connected system for all components, tools, and processes involved in creating and delivering software products. Software security is essential to maintaining the supply chain’s integrity.

The modern software supply chain is complex. It includes not only the code developed by a company, but also third-party libraries, open source components, and cloud services integrated into the final product. Each element introduces potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors.

Robust software security practices help businesses to:

  • Reduce the risk of integrating malicious code from third-party components.

  • Ensure that all software updates and patches are authenticated and do not introduce new vulnerabilities or malware.

  • Monitor potential threats to prevent exploitation by bad actors.

Prioritize software security throughout the supply chain, reducing the risks caused by bugs, vulnerabilities, and open source malware.

5 business risks of ineffective software security

Financial losses

Software vulnerabilities inflict substantial financial damage. The average cost of a data breach is $4.88 million, and data breaches are only one consequence of vulnerable software. The global cost of software supply chain security incidents will be $80.6 billion by 2026. Financial losses encompass remediation costs, loss of custom, product recalls, damaged reputation, and long-term market value depreciation.

Reputation damage

Security incidents cause lasting damage to a business’s reputation. Think about the big security breaches of the last few years. That negative association stays with a brand for many years. Customers think twice before trusting an “insecure” business. In-demand employees may decline to associate with a tarnished brand. Investors wonder whether a competitor is a safer bet.

Operational disruption

A significant security breach can cause systems to crash and services to go offline. The likely result is reduced productivity and delayed service delivery. In the worst cases, the entire business may grind to a halt. That’s bad enough when it happens to software you use, but when it’s caused by software you sell to customers, the cost can be millions of dollars per day for them and you.

Data theft

Open source malware is intended for nefarious purposes and allows bad actors to steal sensitive data. That might be your intellectual property, or it might be your users’ private data: personal details, medical records, financial information, or location. Breaches put your users at risk of identity theft, privacy invasion, personal embarrassment, and further invasion of their digital lives.

Legal and regulatory penalties

Security breaches damage lives and economies. Consequently, governments have introduced stricter regulations with harsher penalties. Privacy focused regulations include the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Beyond regulations intended to protect the consumer, businesses in regulated industries have even stricter rules. HIPAA mandates administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect electronic health information. Government and military contractors must adhere to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).  Other industries have similar rules. They differ in the details but have one thing in common: harsh penalties for inadequate software security leading to data theft.

For organizations that build and sell software, even more regulations are now being enforced on a global stage. In the United States, organizations must adhere to NIST SP 800-218 and the CISA Attestation requirements to secure software from inherent risks in the open source software ecosystem. In the European Union (EU), similar directives like NIS2, DORA, and CRA are being enforced to strengthen organizations security against evolving cybersecurity threats. 

Best practices for improving software security

Adopt a shift-left mentality

Software security should be a priority at every phase of the software development life cycle (SDLC). It should not be an afterthought or limited to security experts. Every team member must be equipped to recognize security risks, follow best practices, and use modern tools that simplify secure software development.

For example, developers should be able to see component security intelligence before they add a dependency to a project. Good decisions during development reduce risk throughout the entire SDLC. When organizations make a conscious effort to shift-left, they are using software security best practices earlier in the SDLC. 

Secure your software supply chain

Your business’s software likely depends on third-party components. These components, often open source, are essential to modern software development. But they must be treated with suspicion.

Software supply chain management tools reduce risk by continuously monitoring your supply chain for vulnerable and malicious components. They ensure harmful components are identified early in the development process and throughout the software’s life.

Use automated security tools

How many open source components does your business use? How many transitive dependencies do your direct dependencies have? The average Java app has 148 dependencies. Each one is updated multiple times per year.

Manually auditing every dependency and update would be enormously expensive. That’s why no one does it. They balance the risk and the benefit, cross their fingers, and hope the nightmare scenario doesn’t happen to them.

But you don’t have to accept that risk. Automated software component analysis tools like Sonatype Lifecycle can constantly review open source components for potential vulnerabilities. As soon as a vulnerable component is identified, developers are alerted. They’ll have the information they need to quickly and confidently remediate open source software security risks.

Audit component use

Many businesses are ill-equipped to understand the security of software components and their dependencies. But it’s worse than that. They may not even know which components their software depends on. You can’t verify a component’s security if you don’t know it’s integrated into your software.

A Software Bill of Materials provides a complete inventory of software components, their dependencies, licenses, version history, update status, and more. SBOMs support automated vulnerability detection, reducing the window of exposure to potential security threats.

Embed software security throughout development

Business open source software use ranges from 20% to 85% of the overall software stack. Without open source software, we wouldn’t have today’s dynamic software and technology industries. But with those benefits come security risks.

Software security tools, including SBOMs, software lifecycle management, and repository firewalls empower enterprises to use third-party software components safely and securely.