Ensuring Trust and Security with Enterprise Code Signing: 5 Practices and Strategies 

Software is ruling the world and advancing in norms and tools. As such, enterprise code signing is the trending factor for creating more secure software. This coding helps improve digital identity, reducing the day-to-day security activities and data integrity in business applications.  

To this effect, there are security gaps, leading to an ever-growing thirst to counter these attacks. Finding an effective way to overcome these obstacles is paramount to ensuring trust in a business. This article summarizes the practices and strategies to build trust and improve security via enterprise code signing.  

The Open-Source Security Issue 

 
Open-source security is operated by a few developers who take their time and expertise to create reusable software for a large community. However, some developers do not make enough profit, and there is no pressure to prevent vulnerabilities in the software. 

In addition, some have little knowledge of creating coding security barrels strong enough to handle sophisticated attacks. Some efforts to bombard the software with security features lead to slow performance or changes in the user experience.  

Code security is becoming a primary problem in enterprise applications that have open-source libraries. For example, Log4j got hit through its open-source Java logging library. The attention of national security is working to forge executive orders and hiring cybersecurity professionals to safeguard the nation's security computers.  

The new executive order includes policies to harden security vulnerability for open source software, the ability to identify threats, amend defects, reducing fixing time and implementation. Thus, the private sector needs to make security amendments to its open-source software to prevent business issues via applications.  

This article explores five practices to ensure trust with enterprise code signing. Read on to know more.  

• Ensure the Visibility of Your IT Environment 

It is challenging to protect something invisible. Therefore, list out the primary information of code signing certificates. The information should include the expiration date and development location. Remove expired keys and voided certificates and manage maps and dependencies, like external libraries.  

Many codes attached to the software are open source. You need a software bill of materials (SBOM) to enlist the code's components and check and update them. Many people use software like Dependabot, Sonatype, or Snyk to help run this activity effortlessly. 

• Use an Automated PKI Life Cycle Management Tool 

Manually securing your code signing keys is challenging. The process is complex and risky for professionals as well as amateurs. Therefore, the best option is to use a code signing management tool. Risking your organization's system security and data via manual methods is not worth it. Perhaps, the process may fail, leading to more damage.  

For instance, there are up to 50,000 certificates, and companies use 137 keys for daily tracking. Allowing a certificate to slip through can result in a huge disaster.  

To overcome this problem, ensure you use public key infrastructure as a service (PKIaaS) and automate your PKI process by storing them in clouds or outsourcing systems. These simple methods will save you the worry of managing your public and private PKI.  

Regardless of the code signing approach, automating the process is the best strategy to cover the entire code signing system. The practice covers development, update, and renewal. In addition, automation will prevent human errors and improve rotation and trust.  

• Protect Your Private Keys 

Your private key protects your organization's data, and there are strategic ways to guard the castle. The first step is to limit access to the key using a zero-trust baseline. You can also implement access control policies like the least privilege principle to code signing keys. Start by setting zero trust or deny by default to minimize the number of users accessing the key.  

Another step is to store your code signing key on hardware security modules (HSMs), FIPS 140 level 2 approved devices, or hardware security tokens. These tools are hack-resistant and physically used to protect and manage coding signing keys.    

The third step is to use a strong password. Forge a strong code signing key password using a password meter to facilitate the task. In addition, store passwords using different methods, like algorithms, instead of in the plain text.   

Another step is to keep the keys in rotation. This step is effortless via automatic recycling and renewal of keys. The feature minimizes data breaches and outages, thus limiting security threats caused by expired certificates or missing keys.  

Lastly, ensure you secure the password with algorithms. Your password algorithms should be up to date to avoid a breach.  

• Infuse Code Signing Into Your Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) 

Many developers and software engineers use shortcuts in building their codes. The shortcuts make the work faster and cheaper. However, these profits might cost the application users. You can avoid this by incorporating code signing into the application's SDLC. The method may be challenging, but your team can easily accomplish the task by upgrading the software development life cycle (SDLC) to a modern secure SDLC.  

The upgrade will make it easy to integrate code signing at all stages of development. The upside is that you can use ready-made frameworks, like NIST's SSDF. Secondly, use multiple signing certificates to make the process more secure, preventing the use of missing keys.   

Ensure your team uses self-signed certificates when building the app but converts them to public-trusted keys when releasing the application. By the way, avoid releasing the software with a self-signed certificate to prevent easy attacks. 

• Track the Certificates and Keys Vulnerabilities 

Organizing certificates is cumbersome, leading to complications and making it impossible. You can manage and protect code signing certificates when you know who's attacking them. The best way to know your enemies is to continue tracking code-signing keys and certificates.  

Many organizations monitor their data by spreadsheets. However, much software has brought automation to every stage of the process. You can use software like Digicert, Section Certificate Manager, or CertCentral Enterprise to upgrade the monitoring system. The automation will monitor keys to prevent expired keys and vulnerabilities in the system.   

Another step is using reporting tools, like Xray or Sourcegraph. This software quickly confirms your system complies with privacy and security regulations. The reporting tool ensures your software is under the EU payment service directive (PSD2) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).  

Conclusion 

When you utilize some or all these strategies, your code signing security will be robust enough to prevent external threats. In addition, it also builds trust through the software's user-friendly interface. Now is the right time to act to secure and manage your code signing keys before it is too late.