What is Software Composition Analysis?

Software composition analysis (SCA) tools help reduce vulnerabilities created by software development teams using open source software (OSS) elements. The tools also help organizations comply with the licensing terms of different open source elements they might use.

The accelerated software development cycles associated with DevOps initiatives are leading to a significant increase in the use of OSS by developers. Because OSS components are already built, they can be plugged into the software development process rapidly.

However, OSS can also contain significant vulnerabilities. SCA tools analyze applications to detect open-source software components known to have security and/or functionality vulnerabilities, or commercial or third-party products that require proper licensing.