What is SCA?
Software Composition Analysis is an automated process that aims to identify open-source software in the codebase. This is done to evaluate security, code quality, and license compliance. For example, let’s say a software developer is using an open-source library for handling user authentication in their web application. An SCA tool can scan the code and determine if the library has any known security vulnerabilities, such as cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities. If a vulnerability is found, the developer can be notified and take action to resolve the issue, such as upgrading to a newer version of the library that has the vulnerability fixed or finding an alternative library. This helps to ensure that the software being developed is secure and free from any potential legal issues that could arise from the use of third-party components.
- Helps to set and enforce policies: SCA spotlights the need to set the open source software policies, respond to license compliance, and provide OS training across the company.
- Enables continuous monitoring: SCA continues to monitor for security and vulnerability issues to better manage workloads and increase productivity.
- Enables users to create alerts: SCA enables users to create actionable alerts for newly discovered vulnerabilities in both current and shipped products.
- Track all open source: SCA tools allow companies to uncover all open source used in source code, binaries build dependencies, sub-components, and modified OS components.
- Integrated into SDLC: SCA can be integrated into the software development life cycle by running SCA scans at various stages of the development process, such as during code review, during testing, and before deployment.
SCA – Software Composition Analysis
SCA (Software Composition Analysis) is the process of identifying and managing the open-source and third-party components used in software development. The goal of SCA is to identify potential security vulnerabilities, licensing issues, or outdated components in the software being developed or used.