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Everyone for Themselves? A Qualitative Study about Individual Security Setups of Open Source Software Contributors

Publikation: Beitrag in Buch/Bericht/Sammelwerk/KonferenzbandAufsatz in KonferenzbandForschungPeer-Review

Autorschaft

  • Sabrina Amft
  • Sandra Höltervennhoff
  • Rebecca Panskus
  • Karola Marky
  • Sascha Fahl

Organisationseinheiten

Externe Organisationen

  • Helmholtz-Zentrum für Informationssicherheit (CISPA)
  • Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Titel des SammelwerksProceedings - 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, SP 2024
Herausgeber (Verlag)Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Seiten1065-1082
Seitenumfang18
ISBN (elektronisch)9798350331301
ISBN (Print)979-8-3503-3131-8
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 19 Mai 2024
Veranstaltung45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, SP 2024 - San Francisco, USA / Vereinigte Staaten
Dauer: 20 Mai 202423 Mai 2024

Publikationsreihe

NameProceedings - IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy
ISSN (Print)1081-6011

Abstract

To increase open-source software supply chain security, protecting the development environment of contributors against attacks is crucial. For example, contributors must protect authentication credentials for software repositories, code-signing keys, and their systems from malware.Previous incidents illustrated that open-source contributors struggle with protecting their development environment. In contrast to companies, open-source software projects cannot easily enforce security guidelines for development environments. Instead, contributors' security setups are likely heterogeneous regarding chosen technologies and strategies.To the best of our knowledge, we perform the first in-depth qualitative investigation of the security of open-source software contributors' individual security setups, their motivation, decision-making, and sentiments, and the potential impact on open-source software supply chain security. Therefore, we conduct 20 semi-structured interviews with a diverse set of experienced contributors to critical open-source software projects.Overall, we find that contributors have a generally high affinity for security. However, security practices are rarely discussed in the community or enforced by projects. Furthermore, we see a strong influence of social mechanisms, such as trust, respect, or politeness, further impeding the sharing of security knowledge and best practices.We conclude our work with a discussion of the impact of our findings on open-source software and supply chain security, and make recommendations for the open-source software community.

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Zitieren

Everyone for Themselves? A Qualitative Study about Individual Security Setups of Open Source Software Contributors. / Amft, Sabrina; Höltervennhoff, Sandra; Panskus, Rebecca et al.
Proceedings - 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, SP 2024. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2024. S. 1065-1082 (Proceedings - IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy).

Publikation: Beitrag in Buch/Bericht/Sammelwerk/KonferenzbandAufsatz in KonferenzbandForschungPeer-Review

Amft, S, Höltervennhoff, S, Panskus, R, Marky, K & Fahl, S 2024, Everyone for Themselves? A Qualitative Study about Individual Security Setups of Open Source Software Contributors. in Proceedings - 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, SP 2024. Proceedings - IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., S. 1065-1082, 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, SP 2024, San Francisco, USA / Vereinigte Staaten, 20 Mai 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/SP54263.2024.00214
Amft, S., Höltervennhoff, S., Panskus, R., Marky, K., & Fahl, S. (2024). Everyone for Themselves? A Qualitative Study about Individual Security Setups of Open Source Software Contributors. In Proceedings - 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, SP 2024 (S. 1065-1082). (Proceedings - IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1109/SP54263.2024.00214
Amft S, Höltervennhoff S, Panskus R, Marky K, Fahl S. Everyone for Themselves? A Qualitative Study about Individual Security Setups of Open Source Software Contributors. in Proceedings - 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, SP 2024. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2024. S. 1065-1082. (Proceedings - IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy). doi: 10.1109/SP54263.2024.00214
Amft, Sabrina ; Höltervennhoff, Sandra ; Panskus, Rebecca et al. / Everyone for Themselves? A Qualitative Study about Individual Security Setups of Open Source Software Contributors. Proceedings - 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, SP 2024. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2024. S. 1065-1082 (Proceedings - IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy).
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