Definition
A software attestation is a verifiable, authenticated statement, proven with evidence, that a given piece of software meets predefined security and quality standards. This process is essential for confirming that software meets required policies, standards, or regulations before it is deployed.
Overview of Software Attestation
Software attestations provide a foundational layer of trust by creating a verifiable and auditable record of a software’s history and security posture. They are critical for building trust in the software supply chain, providing consumers with assurance about the software’s integrity and origins. The software attestation process involves generating a signed statement or document that contains claims about the software’s origin, build process, and the security measures applied during its development – essentially a cryptographic assurance of the software’s provenance and adherence to secure development practices.
Attestations are an important part of Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC), as a successful GRC plan hinges on an organization’s ability to collect attestations and act on them.
Importance of software attestations in secure software development
Software attestations are a critical component of a secure Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) because it provides a mechanism to validate the integrity of software components at every stage. Especially now, when software is increasingly made up of third-party and open-source components, attestations help ensure that every piece of code has been vetted and comes from a trusted source. This verification is vital for preventing the introduction of malicious code or vulnerabilities into the final product. By requiring attestations, organizations can enforce security policies and ensure that all software meets a consistent security baseline before being integrated or deployed, significantly reducing the risk of supply chain attacks.
Key stakeholders involved in the attestation process
Evidence Collection Across the SDLC
The software attestation process involves several key stakeholders at various stages in the SDLC, and each with distinct responsibilities:
- Developers are responsible for following secure coding practices and providing the initial evidence and metadata about the code they write.
- DevSecOps Engineers integrate attestation generation and verification into CI/CD pipelines, automating the process to ensure it is repeatable and scalable.
- Security Teams define the security policies and standards that the software must adhere to. They are often responsible for reviewing and validating the attestations to ensure compliance.
- Release Managers ensure that only software with valid and verified attestations is approved for deployment.
- Auditors, Regulators, or GRC Managers are the ultimate consumers of the attestation, using it to verify the integrity and trustworthiness of the software they receive.
The Role of Software Attestation in Security Compliance
Software attestation serves as a powerful mechanism for demonstrating adherence to regulatory and industry-specific security mandates. It provides tangible proof that an organization is following prescribed secure development practices.
How software attestation supports compliance with industry standards
Many industry standards and government regulations, such as the NIST Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF), require organizations to produce evidence of their secure development practices. Software attestation directly supports compliance by generating immutable, verifiable records that confirm adherence to these standards. For example, an attestation can prove that specific vulnerability scanning was performed, that code was built in a secure environment, or that all included components are from trusted sources. These attestations can be presented to auditors and regulatory bodies as concrete evidence of compliance, simplifying the audit process and reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties.
The relationship between software attestation and risk management
Software attestation is a key component of a robust operational risk management strategy. By providing a verifiable record of a software’s integrity and provenance, attestation helps organizations identify and mitigate risks associated with software tampering, unauthorized modifications, and the inclusion of vulnerable components. When an organization can trust the software it deploys, it reduces the operational risk of security breaches, system failures, and the associated financial and reputational damage. Attestation provides the data needed for risk assessments, allowing security teams to make informed decisions about which software is safe to use and where potential weaknesses in the supply chain exist.
Case studies demonstrating compliance through attestation
While specific internal case studies are often confidential, the impact of software attestation is evident in how government and highly regulated industries are adopting it. Following high-profile supply chain attacks, the U.S. government issued Executive Order 14028, which mandates federal agencies to obtain a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and attestation for software they procure.
Companies that supply software to the federal government now use attestations to prove their products meet these stringent new security requirements. For example, a software vendor can provide an attestation that their product was developed in accordance with the NIST SSDF, satisfying federal procurement rules and demonstrating a commitment to security that builds trust with their government clients.
Best Practices for Software Attestation
Implementing a successful software attestation process requires a combination of automated tooling, clear procedural guidelines, and a culture of security awareness. Adherence to best practices ensures that the attestations are both trustworthy and meaningful.
Steps to implement effective software attestation processes
A successful implementation of software attestation follows a structured approach:
- Define policies: Establish clear, organization-wide security and compliance policies that define what needs to be attested. This includes specifying required security scans, approved libraries, and secure build environments.
- Integrate into the SDLC: Embed the attestation process directly into the CI/CD pipeline. Attestations should be generated automatically at key stages, such as after a successful build or after passing security scans.
- Automate evidence collection: Use tools to automatically gather the necessary evidence, such as scan results, build logs, and code signing certificates. This minimizes manual effort and reduces the chance of human error.
- Generate and sign attestations: Create a standardized format for your attestations and cryptographically sign them to ensure their authenticity and integrity.
- Note: you can decode and verify SLSA, in-toto, and Sigstore with JFrog’s free DSSE Attestation Online Decoder.
- Store and verify: Store the signed attestations in a secure, accessible location, such as an artifact repository. Implement automated checks to verify the validity of attestations before any software is deployed.
Tools and technologies to streamline attestation efforts
Several tools and technologies are available to help automate and streamline the software attestation process. Signing tools like Sigstore are becoming industry standards for cryptographically signing software artifacts and attestations. CI/CD platforms such as Jenkins, CircleCI, and GitHub Actions can be configured to trigger attestation generation as part of the pipeline. Platforms like the JFrog Software Supply Chain Platform can serve as a central repository for storing and managing both the software artifacts and their corresponding attestations, providing a single source of truth for the security posture of your software.
Common challenges and solutions in software attestation
Organizations often face several common challenges when implementing software attestations:
- Complexity and scale: Manually generating and managing attestations for thousands of software components is not feasible. Solution: Automation. By integrating attestation into the CI/CD pipeline, the process can be scaled without overwhelming development teams.
- Lack of standardization: Without a consistent format, attestations can be difficult to interpret and verify. Solution: Adopting industry standards like in-toto attestations provides a common framework that simplifies the process.
- Resistance from development teams: Developers may view attestation as an additional burden. Solution: Use tools that are developer-friendly and integrate seamlessly into their existing workflows. Providing clear documentation and training can also help demonstrate the value of attestation and encourage adoption.
Enhancing Attestation with JFrog
Successfully implementing software attestation requires a comprehensive approach to managing the entire lifecycle of your software artifacts. From secure storage to vulnerability scanning and distribution, every step must be secured to ensure the integrity of your software supply chain.
JFrog Evidence Collection, as a core capability of the JFrog Platform, offers a definitive solution to this challenge, transforming attestation into a strategic enabler of secure, high-velocity software delivery.
Take the next step in securing your software supply chain. Start a free trial of the JFrog Platform to see how you can automate your software attestation process.
