The use of third-party code in enterprise software projects is growing fast, but the used code often has known flaws Companies that develop enterprise applications download over 200,000 open-source components on average every year and one in every 16 of those components has security vulnerabilities. This is indicative of the poor state of the software supply chain, a problem that’s only getting worse with the increased reliance on third-party code combined with bad software inventory practices. According to software development lifecycle firm Sonatype, third-party components account for 80 percent to 90 percent of the code found in a typical enterprise application today. The number of downloads from the largest largest public repository of open-source Java components reached 31 billion last year, a 82 percent increase over 2014, the company found. Sonatype runs the hosting infrastructure for the Central Repository, the default repository for Apache Maven, SBT and other Java software building tools. The company does not police what goes in and out of the repository; that task falls to the community of open source developers who contribute components to it. The average company downloads more than 229,000 components annually, but only around 5,000 of them are unique, Sonatype said in its State of Software Supply Chain report released Monday. Of those downloaded components, 1 in 16 has security defects. This is reflected in production too. An analysis of 25,000 enterprise applications revealed that 6.8 percent of the components used in them had at least one known vulnerability. Components that are over two years old account for 80 percent of the risk, but unfortunately they also represent over half of all components used in applications. Sonatype estimates that it would cost an enterprise with 2,000 applications about US$7.4 million to remediate only 10 percent of the defects and vulnerabilities introduced by consuming components. Supply chain management practices that are common in other industries, such as manufacturing,would help software developers reduce their maintenance costs considerably. These include doing a strict selection of component suppliers, choosing only the highest quality components and tracking when and where those components were used. Related content analysis BGP: What is border gateway protocol, and how does it work? BGP is how the autonomous networks that make up the internet share routing information to find the best route for IP traffic. CISA describes BGP as 'the most important part of the internet you’ve probably never heard of.' By Keith Shaw May 17, 2024 11 mins Routers Internet Network Security feature Red Hat seeks to be the platform for enterprise AI By Maria Korolov May 17, 2024 12 mins Linux Network Management Software news FCC proposes BGP security measures Protecting the Border Gateway Protocol is as important as protecting the border. By Gyana Swain May 17, 2024 4 mins Regulation Network Security brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler 5 Must-haves for your next DSPM solution Elevating cloud security: Navigating the data storm with DSPM By Kalie Radsmikham, Sr. Director of Product Marketing, Cloud Security May 16, 2024 7 mins Cloud Computing PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe