Static code analysis is the process of examining your software’s source code early in the development lifecycle. It can identify potential vulnerabilities and errors in your code, as well as help you better adhere to security and compliance standards.
Here is how Kiuwan’s Insights makes implementing static code analysis into your development process easier.
Code quality goes far beyond not having any bugs—it means having software that’s reliable, sophisticated, and secure. Using static code analysis allows you to update or eliminate obsolete code so your entire application can run better. It also makes your app:
This also has security implications. By having unnecessary or obsolete code in your software, your application has a broader attack surface area that hackers can use to get where they don’t belong. Improving your code quality reduces the surface area for them to use.
Bad actors and other attackers are constantly looking for vulnerabilities in open-source code. While patches are released fairly frequently, many hackers will still use the time between update releases and when applications start implementing them to their advantage.
As we’ve seen time and time again with data breaches, taking a reactive approach to security can potentially put your users’ information at risk and leave you liable for millions of dollars in damages.
However, using sophisticated code analysis tools like Kiuwan enables you to take a proactive approach to app security by staying up to date with open-source code patches as soon as they’re available. Taking the steps of conducting code analysis, in turn, can save you millions of dollars and help protect your app’s brand reputation.
Nobody likes dealing with an app that’s sluggish or unresponsive—obsolete open-source components are often the culprit. Using static code analysis gives you the tools you need to make your application more efficient. Efficient code conserves system resources and optimizes your app’s performance so it can operate faster.
At a glance, here are the steps that your team needs to take with static code analysis, whether you’re doing it manually—which we don’t recommend due to the risk of human error—or using automated tools.
The initial phase of static code analysis involves analyzing your code in-depth to search for issues like syntax errors and style violations. Doing this ensures that the code analysis tools you’re using will be able to correctly parse your program’s source code and more easily identify potential security flaws.
Static code tools use data flow analysis to trace the flow of data within the code. With data flow analysis, developers using these tools can detect issues relating to variable usage and data dependencies, alongside potential runtime errors.
What makes Kiuwan one of the most effective static analysis tools is that it offers both real-time alerts and detailed reports on the vulnerabilities it identifies in your source code. Your team can prioritize how to address the issues the static code scan finds to ensure the biggest potential threats and vulnerabilities are addressed first.
Just like any change in process, implementing static code analysis as a practice may seem daunting at first. However, with the right tools, it can be easy to fold it into your software development process. These are the steps involved in integrating static code analysis with your overall development lifecycle.
The right static code analysis tools can help you identify any potential issues or vulnerabilities with each scan. With tools like Kiuwan, you can take the process a step further because the program allows you to automate the management of open-source components and security vulnerabilities.
Kiuwan also provides detailed information about license terms and conditions.
The continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline refers to a software development approach where developers combine the code changes they make in a centralized hub multiple times throughout a development sprint. As a result, this automates and streamlines the software release process.
Integrating static code analysis within the CI/CD pipeline allows your team to detect and correct potential bugs early, streamline the development process, and increase your productivity. Many static code analysis tools work with CI/CD platforms for a more seamless approach to security open-source code.
Once you’ve conducted your first static code analysis, the tool you use should make it easy to identify security risks and obsolete code. It helps you more easily manage and isolate dependencies so you can easily see how your program’s components interact with each other.
However, this shouldn’t be a one-off process that ends after you’ve corrected the last vulnerability or updated the last obsolete line of code. Ideally, it should be a continuous process. By scanning continuously, you can be proactive with security and handle small issues before they become serious problems.
Keeping track of all the licenses for your software’s open-source components doesn’t have to be a headache.
Kiuwan makes managing license compliance easier by identifying the licenses associated with a project’s open-source components. Because of this capability, your organization can avoid the legal risks involved with improper use of open-source software. It allows you to take a proactive approach to license compliance and protect your application and team from potential fines and legal issues.
Kiuwan can integrate seamlessly with your development process, but that’s not all it can do. Kiuwan cross-references vulnerability databases against your code so you can always be sure your code meets the highest security standards.
Some other integration capabilities Kiuwan’s static code analysis tools have include:
Even more, these tools work perfectly in tandem with our Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools, for even better coverage. When your team uses both Kiuwan’s SCA and SAST tools together in the static code analysis process, you can shift-left your entire development process and get better results.
Threat modeling helps your team better understand how hackers can exploit your code—everything from minor debugging attempts to cross-site scripting attacks and beyond. Kiuwan’s Insights makes it easier to establish a baseline and set up simulations of real-world attacks.
With SCA tools, you can more easily validate the efficacy of your threat model and adjust as needed to keep your application safe.
It’s essential to manage your software component management so your projects are compliant and protected from security risks. See how Kiuwan Software Composition Analysis can make your open-source code sharper and keep your application safer. Request your free demo today!
