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Start by assigning owners and defining which products, development work, and release processes are in scope. Then map existing practices to NIST’s Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF), make dependencies visible, put open-source management and SBOM use into routine workflows, and agree on how suppliers and teams will handle vulnerabilities. This is a practical sequence, not an order that NIST or CISA requires every organization to follow.
What does “securing the software supply chain” mean in practice?
It means managing security across the people, software components, development and release processes, suppliers, and customer handoffs that contribute to or depend on a software product. No single tool or document covers all of those relationships.
NIST SP 800-218, the Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF) Version 1.1, sets out high-level practices intended to fit into different software development life cycle (SDLC) models. NIST describes the framework as a way to reduce vulnerabilities, limit the impact of vulnerabilities that are missed or remain unaddressed, and address causes so they are less likely to recur. Its practices also give software producers and purchasers shared terminology for discussing security.
CISA’s 2024 guide, Securing the Software Supply Chain: Recommended Practices for Managing Open Source Software and Software Bill of Materials, connects open-source management, internal repositories, maintenance and crisis management, and SBOM creation and validation with SSDF practice groups. Together, these resources provide a useful starting framework; they do not make a particular tool or rollout sequence universal.
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Who should own the work, and what should be in scope?
Name accountable people before selecting controls or buying tooling. One person may cover several responsibilities in a small organization, but the responsibilities still need clear owners and handoffs.
- Development security: coordinates how secure development practices fit into the SDLC.
- Dependency management: oversees how components are selected, tracked, updated, and retired.
- Release integrity: owns the security steps around preparing and distributing releases.
- Vulnerability response: coordinates impact assessment, remediation, and communications when issues are disclosed.
- Supplier and customer relationships: handles security expectations and information exchanged during procurement, delivery, and deployment.
Set a manageable boundary for the first pass: identify the products and the development, build, release, and supplier relationships that matter to them. Record where responsibility passes between teams or organizations. This scoping step is an organizational synthesis of the role-specific activities in NIST and CISA guidance, not a formally mandated first step.
How can a team use the SSDF without replacing its SDLC?
Use the SSDF as a map, not a separate development process. Compare the practices already in place with the framework’s high-level recommendations, then prioritize gaps according to the organization’s products and risks. The framework is designed to integrate with different SDLC implementations rather than prescribe one model.
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- Describe the current process. Map the stages and handoffs used to develop, release, maintain, and support the software in scope.
- Map existing practices to SSDF. Note what is already addressed, what is unclear, and where ownership is missing.
- Choose the highest-priority gaps. Focus first on gaps that affect component visibility, release and maintenance responsibilities, or the ability to respond to vulnerabilities.
- Assign an owner and a place in the workflow. A practice is more actionable when teams know who performs it and when it happens.
The SSDF supplies a common vocabulary; it does not, by itself, decide an organization’s priorities or specify a universal implementation schedule.
How should teams make software dependencies visible?
Establish how teams choose, track, update, and retire open-source components. The aim is to make component use manageable over time, not merely to produce a list once. CISA’s 2024 guide explicitly addresses open-source software management, a secure internal open-source repository, and maintenance, support, and crisis management.
Set a component-management process
- Define who is responsible for evaluating and maintaining the components used in the products in scope.
- Decide how teams will keep track of component use and determine when a component needs attention, an update, or retirement.
- Where appropriate for the organization, consider a controlled internal repository and establish how it is maintained.
- Connect dependency maintenance to vulnerability handling so newly disclosed issues can be assessed and acted on.
The cited guidance supports these areas of work, but the available evidence does not establish one required repository design, tool, or component policy for every team.
What is an SBOM, and how should a team use one?
A software bill of materials (SBOM) is a formal record of software components and their relationships. CISA’s 2023 SBOM consumption guidance describes it as a nested inventory. Its value depends on whether the information can be validated, shared with the right recipients, and used when assessing or responding to vulnerability issues—not simply on whether a file exists.
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Make SBOM production operational
- Decide which products or releases need an SBOM and when it should be produced.
- Define how the team will validate the inventory and its component relationships.
- Identify who may receive or use the SBOM, and how it will be made available to them.
- Specify how the inventory supports vulnerability assessment and response.
The 2023 CISA consumption-guide extract names SPDX and CycloneDX as widely used machine-readable formats in that publication’s context. That is not a current comparative ranking or a universal recommendation. Choose a format based on the organization’s needs and those of its intended recipients.
CISA’s SBOM resources library points to materials on creating, sharing, and consuming SBOMs. An SBOM is an inventory and transparency artifact; publishing one alone does not establish a complete software security program.
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What should suppliers and software buyers do differently?
Responsibilities depend on where an organization sits in the software relationship. CISA, NSA, and ODNI published role-specific guidance for developers, suppliers, and customers; CISA’s 2022 announcement describes customer practices during procurement and deployment. Use the guidance that fits the role instead of treating every organization as the software producer.
| Role | Starting focus |
|---|---|
| Software developer or producer | Use SSDF terminology to describe development practices; manage dependencies; produce and validate SBOMs where appropriate; and establish vulnerability and maintenance response responsibilities. |
| Supplier | Clarify what security information and support the organization provides to customers, and how vulnerability or crisis communications are handled. |
| Customer or purchaser | Bring structured security questions into procurement and deployment. Ask how supplier practices, component information, and vulnerability communications support the customer’s needs. |
For smaller organizations assessing vendors, CISA’s SMB vendor and supplier assessment fact sheet describes structured questions for supply-chain risk planning when purchasing ICT hardware, software, and services. It is a relevant option for procurement planning, not a substitute for deciding which risks matter to a particular deployment.
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Agree on the response before an issue arrives. CISA’s 2024 guide includes maintenance, support, and crisis management, while NIST’s SSDF emphasizes mitigating the impact of vulnerabilities that escape detection or remain unaddressed and addressing root causes.
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- Triage: decide who assesses whether a disclosed issue affects the organization’s software and dependencies.
- Remediation: determine who coordinates fixes, updates, or other mitigations and how those actions reach affected products.
- Communication: establish how teams inform relevant suppliers, customers, and internal stakeholders.
- Learning: consider whether a response reveals a process gap that should be addressed to reduce recurrence.
Tailor the detailed procedure to the software and organization. The cited sources establish the importance of maintenance and response, not a single incident playbook that fits every team.
What is a sensible first milestone?
Choose a product or product group, name its owners, and document its current development and dependency-management practices. Map that picture to the SSDF, identify a priority gap, and decide how SBOM information and vulnerability response will fit into the workflow. For a buyer, make the parallel milestone a structured set of procurement and deployment questions for the relevant supplier.
Then review whether the assigned owners can carry out the work and whether information moves across the relevant handoffs. Expand the scope as those responsibilities become clear. The sequence is a practical way to begin, not a claim that every organization must follow the same order.
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