During the last few years, the adoption of open-source solutions has grown tremendously. It has multiple advantages. One of them, in many cases, is the low or no cost it has, another refers to the possibility of contributing to its improvement or customizing it to suit your needs. However, it is good not to ignore the risks involved in its adoption since Due to community building and its largely unregulated distribution, the use of open source software carries a number of risks, including some cybersecurity risks.
First things first, many companies and products – 90% by some estimates – use at least one open source component, even if they are not aware of it. Open source software is software whose code is available for public inspection, modification, and improvement. Typically, this software is created through community collaboration and is maintained and updated on a voluntary basis.
Open source software can be used under a variety of licenses, depending on what the creators have implemented. Linux OS, Apache Web Server, WordPress are an example of what this is and something we must never forget is that even open source security programs themselves could further compromise our network infrastructure.
Risks on Open Source Systems
▸Lack of standards for its use
This is the most important risk. If we already come across one or more open-source projects, we will have realized that there is no specific standard. Each project and its responsible team build one according to the end of said project. Likewise, each community formed by each project is responsible for ensuring that the good practices of the standard created are met and that misuse is avoided.
▸Lack of security
Open source software has no security claims or legal obligations and community support informs you of how to implement it safely may be insufficient. The developers responsible for creating software are often not security experts and may not know how to implement best practices.
▸Vulnerabilities are public knowledge
This means that if you are negligent in maintaining the latest versions or updating components, you expose yourself to risks, since vulnerabilities are often identified and exploited by cybercriminals as it is made public.
▸There is no guarantee
Open source software does not come with any guarantees as to its security, support, or content. Although many projects are supported, they are carried out by volunteers and their development can be abandoned without prior notice.
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Open Source advantages and disadvantages
