WHAT IS SOFTWARE COMPOSITION ANALYSIS (SCA)?

Today’s software applications rely heavily on open-source components. Software Composition Analysis (SCA) is the process of automating visibility into the use of open source software (OSS) for the purpose of risk management, security, and license compliance. SCA helps ensure that the open source components that developers embed in their applications meet basic security standards and do not introduce risk to the organization.

Software Composition Analysis tools not only identify open source security risks and vulnerabilities of third-party components, they can also provide licensing and vulnerability information about each component. More advanced tools are able to automate the entire process of open source selection, approval, and tracking, saving developers precious time and increasing their accuracy significantly. Increasingly, SCA tools are becoming an essential part of application security portfolios.