Modern software development is based on open-source components, third-party libraries, and modular structures. This complexity increases the possibility of hidden vulnerabilities in production environments. Without visibility into the program composition, security management becomes proactive and inefficient. A Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) is a structured inventory of all components in a software application. It allows organizations to check dependencies, identify risks, and respond to weaknesses quickly. SBOMs are becoming an important part of secure software supply chain management.

This blog will dive deep into understanding SBOM, its importance, and its benefits. Learn about who should have SBOM and its standards and formats.

Let’s get started!!

What is Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)?

Source: softteco

A Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) is a complete list of all the components, libraries, and dependencies that make a software application. It has information like component names, versions, origins, and licensing terms. SBOMs provide flexibility to the software supply chain and improve risk management. They are organized and can be read by machine, which allows to easily connect with security technology.  SBOMs provide continuous monitoring and compliance throughout the software lifecycle. Maintaining an SBOM ensures that all software assets are taken into account and accessible.

Importance of a Software Bill of Materials

An SBOM is more than just a software inventory; it is an essential security and compliance tool. It allows organizations to monitor risks, respond more quickly to incidents, and maintain control over complex software ecosystems.

Vulnerability Management

SBOMs help security engineers to find if a vulnerable component exists in their systems. This improves response times for zero-day incidents. Instead of scanning entire environments, they can focus on identified components. They can identify them quickly which reduces exposure and promotes effective patching procedures. It gives remediation advice according to targeted risk.

Compliance and Licensing

Many software components have different licensing terms that affect usage and distribution. SBOMs help organizations in tracking and complying with these responsibilities. If organizations fail to meet license requirements it may lead to legal and financial damages. SBOMs provide traceability for audits and regulatory reporting. They contribute to the overall transparency of software assets.

Supply Chain Security

Modern applications depend on third-party and open-source software. SBOMs make it easier to track each external component that enters the environment. This simplicity reduces the possibility of unauthorized or stolen components. To increase overall software supply chain security, organizations should set up strict sourcing standards and trust limits.

Incident Response and Forensics

When a vulnerability is found, security engineers should respond to it on time. SBOMs allow security engineers to quickly find harmed components within their stack. This functionality reduces interruption and reduces every possible risk. It also improves forensic investigations by providing a complete perspective of component history and providing data to make the right decisions.

Operational Efficiency

Without SBOMs, teams should spend important effort manually identifying software components. Automating this procedure reduces errors and also saves engineering resources. SBOMs connect with CI/CD processes to provide continuous visibility to enhance both workflow productivity and security posture. It ensures that software transparency is built into the development process from the start.

Benefits of SBOM

SBOMs are essential to protect modern software systems and to ensure operational efficiency. Here are few benefits for risk management, compliance, and overall software quality.

Enhanced Visibility

SBOMs provide organizations with an accurate inventory of all software components, which helps them to find outdated, vulnerable, or unauthorized code. It ensures complete awareness of what is in the software stack. It also allows visibility in a system that helps for better decision-making and governance. It creates a strong framework and allows continuous risk management and supports secure development practices in the software lifecycle.

Faster Vulnerability Response

Using an SBOM, security engineers can quickly find affected components during a vulnerability exposure, which speeds up the investigation and substantially decreases remediation time.  This level of accuracy reduces operational interruptions and reduces inefficiencies related to manual investigations.  SBOMs strengthen both security posture and business continuity, provide faster incident response, and enhance overall system performance.

Improved Compliance

By continuously tracking software component licenses, versions, and sources, SBOMs help to ensure legal, regulatory, and contractual compliance. It makes audits easier by keeping regular, reliable records. Teams avoid last-minute compliance shocks. SBOMs lower the risk of exposure associated with non-compliant software use.

Strengthened Supply Chain Security

Modern applications rely on third-party and open-source libraries. SBOMs expose all external components, ensuring that nothing enters the environment undetected. They help detect and prevent compromised dependencies. Organizations can confidently enforce their sourcing policies. SBOMs enable a safe and traceable supply chain.

Increased Operational Efficiency

Maintaining an SBOM reduces the need for manual inventory and analysis. It automates software tracking across the whole development lifecycle. Security engineers spend less effort on reactive duties. Continuous visibility makes all the procedures easy and increases productivity. SBOMs ensure that security is aligned with quick development.

Who Should Have an SBOM?

SBOMs are essential for any organization that develops, maintains, or distributes software. They are used by organizations to improve security monitoring, regulatory compliance, and operational control. Here is who can use SBOMs:

Software Producers

Software producers should monitor their components and dependencies using SBOMs. This ensures that security is used in the building process. It also allows vulnerability monitoring and license compliance. SBOMs allow teams to monitor risks that may have occurred during development. They form part of the organization's safe software lifecycle.

Software Consumers

Organizations that purchase or connect third-party software require SBOMs to identify what is entering their environment. This increases trust between buyers and vendors. Customers use SBOMs to find risk before installation and also monitor vulnerabilities after the program is in use. SBOMs defend systems from possible weaknesses in a code supplied by the vendor.

Security Engineers

Security engineers use SBOMs to discover vulnerable components and monitor risk across environments. SBOMs allow organizations to respond quickly to new threats. They provide automatic scanning, monitoring, and reporting. This enhances the incident response and vulnerability management workflows. SBOMs provide actionable intelligence for security operations.

Compliance and Legal Teams

SBOMs help security engineers to ensure regulatory and licensing compliance. They provide the documentation required for audits and due diligence. Tracking component licenses reduces the possibility of legal liability. SBOMs allow to continuously monitoring of license obligations and help organizations in following the industry and regulatory standards.

Procurement and Risk Teams

Procurement and risk teams use SBOMs to check the security posture of third-party software. This ensures that the newly purchased software fulfills the internal risk standards. SBOMs allow the standardized vendor evaluation and acquisition processes. They support secure sourcing throughout the organization and make software risk measurable and manageable.

SBOM Formats and Standards

Standardized SBOM formats ensure that software component data is uniform, machine-readable, and interchangeable with other tools. Here are the SBOM formats and standards:

SPDX (Software Package Data Exchange)

SPDX is an open standard that is developed by the Linux. It defines a standardized format by collecting metadata about software components, licensing, and relationships. SPDX can provide both human-readable and machine-readable outputs. It is used in both open source and commercial environments. SPDX is known as a standard by ISO/IEC (ISO/IEC 5962:2021).

CycloneDX

CycloneDX is a lightweight SBOM format created primarily for security applications. It collects accurate data on program components, dependencies, and vulnerabilities. CycloneDX easily fits into DevSecOps pipelines and supports JSON, XML, and Protocol Buffers. It focuses on performance, automation, and security intelligence. The format is handled by the OWASP Foundation.

SWID (Software Identification) Tags

SWID tags are an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 19770-2) that identify installed software on systems. They provide data about software items, versions, and manufacturers. SWID is used in enterprise asset management and auditing. It allows connection with configuration management systems and endpoint detection technologies and allows to monitor and control of software components across the environment. It is not a complete SBOM, but it improves software visibility.

Format Interoperability and Tooling

SBOM tools offer various formats to maximize flexibility. Security engineers use these tools to transform, validate, and combine SBOMs from multiple sources. Standardization allows organizations to use SBOM data with CI/CD, vulnerability scanners, and compliance platforms. It ensures a standardized and automated approach to software transparency.

SBOM Examples

Here are software bill of materials examples, each with a unique structure or format used by an organization:

Basic JSON SBOM

A basic JSON SBOM includes essential information like the name, version, and license. It is simple to develop and perfect to get a quick visibility into third-party libraries. This format is suitable for lightweight contexts in which deeper metadata is not needed. However, it lacks fields for tracking dependencies and interpreting vulnerabilities. It serves as the foundation for software composition analysis.

{
  "components": [
    { "name": "express", "version": "4.17.3", "license": "MIT" }
  ]
}

CycloneDX SBOM

OWASP manages CycloneDX, an established SBOM format for software security. It accepts rich metadata like component relationships, hashes, and external references. This format is commonly used in secure software development workflows. CycloneDX allows security engineers to automate risk analysis and increase supply chain visibility. It is available in a variety of formats, including JSON and XML.

{
  "bomFormat": "CycloneDX",
  "components": [
    { "name": "react", "version": "18.2.0", "license": "MIT" }
  ]
}

SPDX Tag-Value SBOM

SPDX uses a tag-value format for simple, text-based SBOMs. It was created by the Linux Foundation and is regarded as an international standard. This format is simple to read and audit, which makes it perfect for compliance and open-source projects. SPDX also provides additional features like file-level attribution and license tracking. It is available in several serial formats, including RDF, JSON, and YAML.

Final Thoughts

As software supply chains become complicated, SBOMs become essential to secure development and proactive risk management.  Security engineers consider SBOMs as essential components that help to maintain visibility, control, and responsibility. SBOMs give flexibility, reduce blind spots, and build trust across the software lifecycle.

Akto effectively helps security engineers secure APIs and environments through features like API discovery, vulnerability identification, and CI/CD integration.  Schedule a free demo with Akto to increase API security and improve software risk management.