OpenSSF Scorecards: Improving Open Source Security Best Practices

Sep 14, 2022 •

Brittany Day

1 min read

Topics Covered

open source software development risk mitigation security guidelines scorecards

There is no shortage of challenges when it comes to securing open source software and no shortage of ideas for how to mitigate risks.

It is the stated mission of the OpenSSF (Open Source Security Foundation) to help improve the state of open source security, and that is precisely what it is doing. The OpenSSF is part of the Linux Foundation and has multiple ongoing efforts across different aspects of the software development lifecycle.

On September 7, 2022 the organization announced the latest iteration of its Scorecards effort, an initiative designed to help open source projects and their users identify the state of security within a project. The updated scorecards come a week after the OpenSSF issued new guidance and best practices on how to secure npm, which is a widely used, and often abused, open source package management system for JavaScript.