The importance of improving supply chain security in open source

GitHub's Octoverse 2022 report highlights the increasing importance of supply chain security in the open source software (OSS) ecosystem, as vulnerabilities have been exploited by malicious actors to compromise major projects. With much of modern digital infrastructure relying on open source, the rapid development pace can sometimes lead to inherited vulnerabilities. GitHub is actively working to enhance security measures through initiatives like the GitHub Security Lab, Dependabot, and GitHub Advanced Security, which aim to help developers quickly identify and address vulnerabilities. Additionally, GitHub is collaborating with the Open Source Security Foundation to implement signing, attestations, and policies to ensure safer dependencies. The report stresses the need for a collective commitment from companies, developers, and governments to improve OSS security, alongside the development of advanced alerting tools and practices that focus on building secure code from the outset.