In our recent webinar, Mastering SBOMs: Demonstrations, speakers, including Ilkka Turunen, Field CTO, Sonatype, Robert Haas, Global DevSecOps Product Manager, DXC Technology, and Marc Luescher, Solution Architect, AWS, highlighted real-world applications of software bills of materials (SBOMs) through case studies and provided uses cases for SBOM optimization.
What are the common use cases for SBOMs?
Marc Luescher emphasized the effective ways SBOMs can help businesses mitigate software supply chain risks across the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
Luescher noted that SBOMs provide visibility into the software supply chain, allowing organizations to identify and assess the risk associated with each component and vendor, including:
- evaluating the security practices of suppliers;
- checking the stability and maintenance status of open source components; and
- searching for potential bottlenecks or even single points of failure in a supply chain.
SBOMs have emerged as indispensable instruments for identifying security vulnerabilities and ensuring adherence to licensing regulations. This webinar gave viewers a live demonstration of SBOM usage, focusing on real-world applications.
By providing transparency into third-party components, particularly those from open source origins, within the software supply chain, SBOMs serve as a protective measure against potential security threats.
What tools are best for SBOM creation and management?
During the webinar, Ilkka Turunen demonstrated the capabilities of the Sonatype Supply Chain Security Private Cloud Edition, readily available on the AWS Marketplace. Some of the key aspects to look for in an SBOM management tool include:
- Pairing SBOM with source code to create a snapshot of dependencies in a specific application version.
- Generating SBOMs in standard formats (CycloneDX or SPDX) and storing them with version control systems; and
- Introduction of Continuous Integration (CI) services to automate SBOM-related tasks.
In summary, the Sonatype Supply Chain Security Private Cloud Edition, available on the AWS Marketplace, offers comprehensive solutions for managing and securing software supply chains. Adopting best practices like pairing SBOMs with source code, utilizing standard formats, and automating processes with CI services enhances application security.
SBOMs are critical in optimizing software supply chain security. Access the webinar recording to watch the top 5 use cases for SBOM management.
We encourage organizations especially in regulated industries to catch part 1 of this series, SBOMs in Action: Best Practices, which we also covered in our blog, for a comprehensive understanding of SBOMs as a standard practice to fortify their software infrastructure.
