Attendees are urged to improve asset management, use SBOMs, and collaborate with government cybersecurity agencies to better ensure software integrity.

Given the significant cybersecurity problems that the SolarWinds, Log4j and other software supply chain infections created over the past two years, it’s no surprise that software security emerged as a hot topic at this year’s RSA conference. Ahead of the event, ReversingLabs released a survey it commissioned of over 300 senior software employees on the struggles their firms face in detecting supply chain attacks

Despite the recent spate of high-profile software supply chain security incidents, the ReversingLabs study found that fewer than four in ten companies say they can detect tampering with developed code. In addition, less than 10% of companies are reviewing software at each product lifecycle stage for evidence of tampering or compromises.

SBOM usage is sparse but expected to grow rapidly

When it comes to one crucial emerging tool that can better ensure software security, a software bill of materials (SBOM), ReversingLabs survey found that only 27% of the IT professionals surveyed said their employer generates and reviews SBOMs before releasing software. Of those respondents who do not develop SBOMs, 44% cited a lack of expertise and staffing needed to do so, while 32% cited a lack of budget for implementing SBOM. Only 7% of respondents at companies that don’t produce SBOMs said the reason was that an SBOM wasn’t needed.

The sparse usage of SBOMs is quickly becoming a thing of the past for two primary reasons, Allan Friedman, senior advisor and strategist at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), told RSA attendees. First, because of events like SolarWinds, organizations are starting to demand SBOMs for the software they use as a security measure to identify problematic code.

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