In IT organizations, chief information officers (CIOs) rank security as their top challenge as being one of their biggest weaknesses. It is estimated that 82% of companies are vulnerable to cyber threats in their own software supply chains. 

Because security threats continue to change and become increasingly sophisticated, developers must work closely with security teams. It is done to ensure the development lifecycle is managed effectively throughout the whole process. This is so that all measures are taken to ensure security is baked in from the ground up. 

Several factors, including this and others, have contributed to the emergence of cybersecurity as an issue that is becoming more expensive. A recently released report by McKinsey & Company predicted that in 2025, cybercrime would be worth approximately $10.5 trillion worldwide, an increase of 300% over today's figure. Meanwhile, governments all over the globe are taking note of the risks associated with the software supply chain by assessing the risks. There have been several cyber performance goals set by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to protect critical infrastructure across the country as part of its cyber performance goals. It appears, for now, that these guidelines may serve as a foundation for federal regulations if they are voluntary. There is evidence to support this, but for now, they are voluntary. 

It is encouraging to see that a positive trend is brewing, but as of now, there is one group increasingly strengthening its position on the front lines of defense when it comes to data security: software developers. 

There is a responsibility placed on security teams within their organizations to do whatever they can to protect the data of their company. Software supply chain attacks have been increasing in number and method over the past few years due to the increasing volume and nature of these attacks. Policies need to be enforced across a wide range of operations, in addition, security teams are also expected to implement best practices and compliance standards across these operations. As a result, many organizations have had their supply chain teams overworked, resulting in a "downhill" effect on development teams, who inevitably have been called to resolve and strengthen many of the many supply chain issues that have become backlogs in the process of supply chain integration. 

Unfortunately, most organizations cannot afford to have a person devoted solely to DevSecOps, and there are not enough leaders or engineers who can do so. Due to this fact, it is becoming increasingly common for security and development teams to work together. This is because they include security from the start of the development of applications and processes, thereby ensuring a secure product for users. 

Developers are now playing an increasingly critical role in the fight against data breaches, which means they have four things they need to keep in mind in their efforts to secure the software supply chain in this day and age: 

Software packages can simply be described as modules of code that are put together to form a complete application at their most basic level. Among malicious actors today, one of the most common strategies that they employ is to attack compromised packages that include more than just source code - these compromised packages might contain sensitive keys, configuration files, or other aspects that can make a company vulnerable to their attacks. 

To be able to detect issues within packages that cannot be detected solely by source code alone, developers must have both the tools and knowledge required. A full understanding of potential exploits will allow them to be able to determine the full impact of their introduction. 

In addition to developing software packages, developers must learn and understand the context within which software operates to best protect it from harm. Particularly, they must identify and recognize the misuse of open-source libraries, the ongoing insecurity of services, the exposure of secrets, as well as issues with infrastructure-as-code configurations (IACs). A vulnerability in the application must then be identified to determine whether it is appropriate for them and whether they are likely to exploit it. 

An application's configuration, use of authentication mechanisms, and exposure of keys can all make a difference as to whether common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) can be exploited and exploited successfully. Along with the security team, developers should ensure that the libraries, services, daemons, and IAC they rely on within a software supply chain, such as on-premises, in the cloud, and at the edge, are not misused or misconfigured, regardless of where they are located. 

In an ideal situation, all the artifacts and repositories that are needed to support a development project should be managed in one place, creating an all-encompassing point of truth for the organization. The process of securing a product becomes a natural part of the development process when the development team has control over everything in their portfolio - this single source of facts becomes a single source of trust. 

DevOps requirements and tools require and incorporate security as part of their design and implementation when they are managed correctly. It is the goal of the project to unify, accelerate, and secure the delivery of software from the development stage to the deployment stage. Teams involved in the security set policies and strategies, followed by teams involved in development resolving, or managing any codebase issues. A workflow that works for core DevOps teams does not just work for security and developer teams. Instead, it has to work for all teams, whether it is an infrastructure team, an integration team, a release team, or a flow team.

To detect vulnerabilities that can be exploited, most organizations should partner with a third-party or open-source community, which has advanced research experience, to assist them in uncovering them before they are exploited by attackers. As a result, businesses can make quick decisions to combat upcoming attacks as they become commonplace in their line of business. This in turn enables them to update databases rapidly with contextual analysis that mimics the work of researchers. 

Security needs to be implemented across the entire development process of an application to allow developers to actually develop. This means that if they follow the strategies above, they won’t spend all their time dealing with security issues that they do not understand. Instead, they can get their work done. In this way, they can solve vulnerabilities easier and faster and make sure that they are fixing everything that is wrong with the vulnerabilities. There is no doubt that security is a real and vital concern. However, to win, organizations must make it a priority throughout the entire software supply chain rather than just in the IT department. This allows developers to develop more innovative software, which in turn allows the business to move forward and innovate.