Steps to make open source apps safe – Understand the risk of open source

code, lockOpen source is amazing for applications’ possibilities. The more breaches in security you have (even minor ones), the more attractive and exposed to cyber–attack you are. Usually, they are active if the software is outdated or didn’t have updates for a long time.

Open source possible breaches are publicly shared, which becomes a problem. On one side, it is important to make everybody aware of the possible issue. On the other side, hackers also use this information to plan attacks. However, if the vulnerabilities information is kept secret, it makes open source still a target to attacks, as the software would be unpatched.

Everybody is interested in the well–being of open source. Users find vulnerabilities and patches and updates to continue using it.

Usual testing tools fail to find problems in apps

National Security Agency reports the usual SAST tool is only 14% efficient for finding a problem in any app. The clear majority of vulnerabilities are tracked by the users, not by the developers, who use DAST and SAST app security tools.

Lots of organizations are unaware about open source they use

As you already know, almost 10 new vulnerabilities are found every day, which is 10% more than in 2015. That’s why open source security needs to be supervised all the time. Lots of companies are simply unaware of the open source and license risks, so they don’t know which codes they use that are a potential window for troubles.

The most important step you can take

You could have estimated that manually checking open source will involve great deal of time, money, and professionals. It is the reason many companies try an automated solution. It eases the control of the risks and keeps track of the code used in the application. Also, it helps check vulnerabilities in the open source based apps and uses its policies correctly, eliminating and preventing financial risks.

What you need to extract from this story is that, if you use open source based app, you need to have solid management involved. The vulnerabilities of an application are the direct vulnerabilities to your company and business. If you don’t pay attention to possible security issues, lack of management and track of open space elements in your app, you can leave your company open to hackers.

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