When almost every application uses multiple open-source elements, securing your open-source code is more important than ever. However, open-source scanning doesn’t have to be a hassle.
Discover why open-source scanning is essential, and how tools like Kiuwan can make it easier for developers.
🔍 What Is Open-Source Scanning?
Open-source scanning is the process of using code-scanning tools to detect potential security vulnerabilities in open-source components. The most robust versions of these tools can cross-reference vulnerability databases against your open-source software’s code to find the weakest parts of your application and prioritize them in terms of urgency.
🛠️ Why Use Open-Source Scanning Tools?
At over 97 percent on average, the overwhelming majority of applications use at least one open-source component. The prevalence of open-source projects has made it easier than ever for developers to build new apps quickly. However, with that convenience comes an increased risk of security breaches.
Software composition analysis tools allow developers and security teams to more easily find and mitigate vulnerabilities and implement critical updates to open-source components.
Here are just some of the reasons why open-source scanning tools are essential for creating a better application.
✅ Identify Security Vulnerabilities
Because open-source code is free to use, it allows businesses to develop apps even faster. However, with that convenience comes the risks of security vulnerabilities that anyone can see and potentially try to exploit. These are some of the most common security risks hackers can exploit in open-source components.
Misconfigurations
This is one of the most common types of vulnerabilities associated with open-source components. They include errors and mistakes in the application’s configurations and how they interact with the open-source code. Failure to detect these vulnerabilities can include allowing bad actors to expose data, disrupt app operations, and otherwise gain unauthorized access.
Cross-Site Request Forgeries
This type of attack is a common next step for hackers using phishing or other forms of social engineering. From there, it can force users to request changes to their credentials, money transfers, or even worse outcomes if the victim’s account has administrative access to the app.
Cross-Site Scripting
Tools like Kiuwan that scan open-source code components can also detect and provide prevention against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. By testing your application for potential XSS risks, you can mitigate the likelihood of cross-site scripting that can harm your web applications and leave users at risk.
SQL Injections
When hackers successfully use SQL injection attacks, they can insert bogus input data into your application. This allows them to access the information in your database, change or delete data, make administrative changes inside the database, or recover the content of sensitive or deleted files. The only limit to the severity of a SQL attack is the attacker’s skill and imagination, making preventative countermeasures essential for preventing them and mitigating their effects.
✅ Ensure License Compliance
Maintaining compliance with the licensing requirements for your open-source software is essential. Not only does this make sure your app’s elements are compliant with the licensing agreements for your open-source components, but it also protects your brand by preventing you from using outdated code.
✅ Improve Software Quality
For software, security and quality go hand in hand. Regularly scanning your app helps you identify potential security flaws, in addition to helping you find ways to improve UX and how the app runs.
The best open-source code scanning tools also come with robust reporting capabilities. By being able to view all potential security issues and areas of improvement from a single reporting dashboard, your team can easily find new ways to improve how your software runs. In turn, your user satisfaction will increase and you’ll be more likely to attract new customers.
✅ Manage Dependencies
Dependencies can be hugely beneficial for developers, as they allow them to deliver updates faster using a known library of coding elements. Although dependencies can make the process much easier and take the tediousness out of the development process, they also come with major security risks.
By using dependencies, you’re effectively relying on a team of external developers to write, test, and maintain their code in order for your application to work.
Open-source scanning allows you to manage and minimize the potential negative effects of dependencies in your software. This reduces your app’s surface area for attacks, making it harder for them to get what they want.
✅ Facilitate DevSecOps
There’s a tendency for developer teams to treat security as an afterthought in the process. In turn, this can make it harder for your team to respond to hacking attempts. However, adopting a DevSecOps approach to building and maintaining your application allows you to put security at the forefront.
Using open-source scanning early in development allows you to adopt DevSecOps as part of your process. This in turn makes hacking attempts easier to prevent and spot when they do occur.
✅ Build Trust with Customers
Most of your customers aren’t used to thinking about app security. If they do, it tends to be after something has already gone wrong. Taking a more proactive approach to app security can change all that—and allow you to earn their trust more easily.
🛡️Kiuwan’s Open-Source Vulnerability Scanning Tools
Kiuwan is a scanning tool that allows developers to detect potential vulnerabilities in both first-party and open-source code with SAST and SCA tools. It constantly scans your code for known security risks against the NIST database. Even more, it allows you to detect potential flaws in your code early in the development lifecycle, making it easier to resolve these problems and adopt a DevSecOps approach to QA.
Robust SCA tools like Kiuwan ensure your customers and users are always able to use your app safely.
Why Choose Kiuwan?
Kiuwan helps developers identify potential security risks in their code early in the development process. This way, they can start building a more secure application from the start—rather than waiting until later in the development lifecycle to fix any potential security risks.
In addition, Kiuwan is beneficial for developers because it:
- Enables seamless automation: Security automation is most effective when it’s included from the start of the development process. Kiuwan enables developers to use SAST and SCA tools from the very beginning.
- Enhances security best practices: Most security breaches take advantage of vulnerabilities that are at least two years old. Developing an app with Kiuwan as part of your arsenal of security tools prioritizes security just as much as app functionality.
- Guarantees regulatory compliance: Taking a DevSecOps approach with Kiuwan ensures you’re compliant with industry regulations and best practices with regular scanning.
- Reduces development costs: Because Kiuwan’s automated code scanning tools find vulnerabilities much faster than manual processes, it saves time and resources that would otherwise protract the cost and length of the project. This ultimately increases the overall ROI on the project for your developers.
- Increases app sales: Kiuwan constantly, and rigorously tests your app’s security during the development process. Because of this, users are more likely to trust and purchase your app—and recommend it to others.
🚀 Start a Free Trial of Kiuwan
Ready to make it even easier to protect your source code and allow your developers to focus on the bigger picture with code security? Start your free trial of Kiuwan’s SAST and SCA tools today.
