What do ambulances in the UK, the Norwegian government, and a major Russian bank have in common? They were all victims of successful supply chain attacks in July 2023. Could you be next? It’s more likely than you think. Organizations entrust more sensitive data to vendors and third parties (like government agencies and critical infrastructure operators) than ever as part of their software development and operations.

There’s a growing array of risks lurking within the supply chain of the digital solutions we increasingly depend upon. Leaving gaps in your software supply chain security (SSCS) could spell disaster for your organization. Let’s explore how new analysis defines an end-to-end solution and why Veracode was ranked as an Overall Leader, Product Leader, Innovation Leader, and Market Leader in the Software Supply Chain Security Leadership Compass 2023 by KuppingerCole Analysts AG.

The escalation of international legislative interest in regulating the software supply chain has led to an increasing likelihood that tools such as software bills of materials (SBOMs) and AppSec solutions will become essential for companies doing business in the public sector or in highly regulated industries. However, the process of building and enforcing effective regulations presents challenges as well.

In the face of increasingly impactful malicious attacks, governments of leading economies have turned their attention to the software supply chain security. Regulations like the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) for financial institutions and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) for software and hardware providers Australia’s 2023-2030 cybersecurity strategy, and the U.S.

Software supply chain attacks, or digital supply chain attacks, have become increasingly prevalent over the last couple of years. According to a study by KPMG, 73% of organizations have experienced at least one significant disruption from a third-party in the last three years. What’s the best way to protect against potential software supply chain attacks? To get the answer, let’s define what those attacks are, how they happen, and how you can defend against them.

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We’re currently seeing a concerted effort from malicious actors to attack the supply chain through intentionally malicious packages. Our recent research shows a 315 percent rise in the publication of malicious packages to open source registries such as npm and RubyGems between 2021 and the end of Q3, 2022; about 85 percent of those packages stole credentials. This trend requires an urgent shift from detection to prevention.

Generative AI is the technology of the moment, and is actually being hyped as providing transformational benefits for years to come, including when it comes to software supply chain security. This subset of AI uses machine learning algorithms to generate new data and content. Given the increasing importance of the software supply chain, it is critical to use every measure possible to secure it. But this is no easy feat—96% of scanned codebases contain open source.

Recent events, including the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, shifts in demand, and labor shortages have shone a spotlight on supply chain resilience – or lack thereof. In response, business leaders recognize that becoming more resilient is a necessity and are looking at strategies for doing so. As a best practice, Gartner recommends that companies diversify their manufacturing networks, utilize regional or local supply chains, add buffer capacity, and more.