Securing Source Code in Repositories is Essential: How To Get Started

Securing your source code in repositories is crucial to safeguarding your intellectual property and data integrity. Implementing security measures can help keep your code secure in repositories like GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure, allowing you to confidently collaborate with your team and share your code while keeping it safe from threats and unauthorized access.

Keep reading to discover:

• What is source code security, and why is it important?

• Six source code security best practices 

• Source code security: 7 tools and solutions

• How Snyk keeps your source code secure

What is source code security, and why is it important?

Source code security is the steps taken to protect the integrity and confidentiality of a software application's source code. It is critical because source code contains underlying logic and sensitive information, and a breach could lead to intellectual property theft, unauthorized access, and potential vulnerabilities in the software. 

Keeping your source code secure helps safeguard it against data breaches, maintains user trust, and helps to prevent potential financial losses or reputational damage.

Three reasons why you need to secure your source code

There are three main reasons why it’s critical to secure your source code:

1. It's part of software supply chain security: Ensuring your source code's integrity and security is vital to maintaining a secure software supply chain, preventing unauthorized alterations or malicious code injections.

2. It protects against malicious actors: Securing your source code safeguards it from being stolen or tampered with by malicious actors, reducing the risk of intellectual property theft and potential vulnerabilities.

3. It protects privacy and company secrets: Source code often contains sensitive information, including proprietary algorithms and business logic. Proper security measures help maintain the confidentiality of company secrets, preventing unauthorized access and data breaches.

Six source code security best practices

Adhering to best practices will significantly enhance the security of your source code and protect it from potential threats and vulnerabilities. Some best practices to consider: 

1. Secure identities and perimeter

   • Implement robust authentication mechanisms to control access to repositories.

   • Utilize RBAC and principles of least privilege to ensure only authorized individuals can interact with the source code.

   • Regularly review and update user permissions to minimize potential security risks, or tie permissions into your organizational directory.

2. Sign and authenticate code commits

   • Enforce code signing for commits to ensure code integrity and authenticity.

   • Verify the authenticity of commits using cryptographic signatures, preventing unauthorized code modifications.

3. Implement secrets management best practices

   • Avoid hardcoding sensitive information directly into the source code, such as API keys or passwords.

   • Use a secure secrets management system to store and manage sensitive data separately from the code.

4. Establish a source code protection policy

   • Define and enforce a clear source code security and access controls policy.

   • Educate developers and team members about security best practices and the importance of code protection.

5. Monitor source code

   • Use automated vulnerability scanning tools to monitor the source code for vulnerabilities continuously.

   • Stay informed about the latest security advisories and patches related to the libraries and frameworks used in the codebase.

6. Prevent vulnerable code in production

   • Implement code review processes to identify and fix security issues before code reaches production.

   • Ensure that no one person can change the codebase without approvals on their requests.

Source code security: 7 tools and solutions

Implementing a combination of tools and solutions will significantly enhance the security of your source code and protect it from potential threats throughout the development and deployment lifecycle.

1. Vulnerability scanners and continuous monitoring

   • SAST (static application security testing) tools such as Snyk Code identify potential security vulnerabilities in the source code by analyzing it without running the application. 

   • SCA (software composition analysis) tools  like Snyk Open Source detect and manage open source vulnerabilities in the code and its dependencies.

2. Secrets Management Tools: These tools securely store and manage sensitive information outside the source code repository, such as API keys and passwords.

3. ASPM (application security posture management): ASPM solutions consolidate data from various security tools and data streams to gain visibility into security posture and enforce policies effectively. They may include security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) capabilities.

4. Authorization/RBAC (role-based access control) tools: These tools enforce fine-grained access controls, ensuring that users only have appropriate permissions based on their roles and responsibilities.

5. Network security: Network security solutions protect the communication channels and infrastructure where the source code resides or is accessed.

6. Endpoint protection tools: Endpoint security tools safeguard the devices used to access and develop the source code, protecting against malware and unauthorized access.

7. Supply chain security tools: Supply chain security solutions help you secure critical components of your software supply chain, including first-party code, open source libraries, container images, and cloud infrastructure

How Snyk keeps your source code secure 

Snyk has a number of solutions available to keep your source code secure and ensure that your code is free from security issues and risks, like:

• Snyk Code: Secure your code as it’s written with static application security testing built by, and for, developers. Snyk Code works alongside your developers to prevent vulnerabilities in code reaching production with real time security scanning and fix advice.

• Snyk Open Source: a developer-first SCA solution, helping developers find, prioritize, and fix security vulnerabilities and license issues in open source dependencies.

• Snyk Container: Container and Kubernetes security that helps developers and DevOps find, prioritize, and fix vulnerabilities throughout the SDLC — before workloads hit production.

• Snyk Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Build, deploy, and operate securely in the cloud with security embedded in developer workflows from code to cloud. Snyk IaC provides security feedback and fixes in-line with code across the SDLC and running cloud environments.

With Snyk, you can proactively address security concerns and maintain a more secure and reliable codebase.

Source code security by repository at a glance

Here is how Snyk can keep your source code secure in the following repositories: