Contributions are usually vetted by the maintainers of a specific open-source project, a largely volunteer corps as opposed to a full-time managerial team. Support is also a factor for users who can’t immediately update their tools. Previous versions of open-source software remain available for several reasons, such as for tracking changes or research. In 2021, hackers got into the County Clerk’s systems via a known vulnerability in the Log4j software, which was followed by a ransomware attack in September 2022 against county networks. New York’s Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, at podium, flanked by staff. “You need to do some due diligence, there’s some risk management that you need to do to protect yourself and to make sure that you understand what you’re using,” saidĬhair of the technical advisory council at OpenSSF. That means unpatched and vulnerable versions of software, as well as software with faulty and sometimes malicious code, makes its way into corporate networks and commercial products. But those who use open-source code often don’t know what’s inside, analysts say. Open-source software, which is free and built by volunteer coders around the world, allows companies to get a jump on developing their own programs by using software that’s already written for common functions. The attack forced the shutdown of key municipal services for months, and cost over $5 million to investigate and recover. In December 2021, hackers used the vulnerability just days after it was disclosed to gain access to the County Clerk’s systems in Suffolk County, N.Y., an intrusion that later resulted in a ransomware demand on local government systems.
Vulnerable versions of Log4j can lead to significant damage. “When 30% of are being consumed today into new builds, that’s going in the stuff they’re selling now, not stuff they were selling two years ago,” said Fox, who is also a board member of the Open Source Security Foundation, a trade association that advocates for secure open-source software development.
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