Secure Deployment and Maintenance – A Technical Implementation Guide for Leaders and Engineers
Purpose
To ensure that software, once released, remains secure through the entirety of its operational lifecycle, from deployment to deprecation. This part addresses risks related to:
- Compromised software updates
- Undisclosed or unpatched vulnerabilities
- Lack of clarity around end-of-support timelines
- Ineffective communication following security incidents
This Software Security Code of Practice guide provides:
- A breakdown of the requirements
- Step-by-step developer guidance
- Governance-level evaluation mechanisms
- Recommended commercial and open-source tooling
- Strategies for executive and operational enablement
1. Secure Distribution of Software and Updates
What This Means
Ensure integrity and authenticity of software during distribution and update processes to prevent supply chain attacks.
Implementation
Code Signing & Verification
- Sign all distributed software artifacts (e.g., binaries, containers, libraries).
- Require signature verification before deployment on customer or internal systems.
Potentially useful tools:
- Commercial: Microsoft SignTool (for Windows), Cosign by Chainguard Enterprise
- Open Source: Sigstore (Cosign), GPG + gpg –sign
Secure Transport Channels
- Distribute software using TLS-encrypted channels (HTTPS, SFTP, SSH).
- Avoid unprotected mirrors or plaintext transport mechanisms (FTP, HTTP).
- Use HSTS, TLS 1.2+, and strong cipher suites.
Integrity Checking & Trusted Package Management
- Enforce checksums and cryptographic signature verification:
- Example: .sha256 hash files for installers
- GPG signatures for tarballs and release artifacts
Potentially useful tools:
- Commercial: JFrog Artifactory (supports checksum and GPG validation)
- Open Source: The Update Framework (TUF), DebSig-Verify
Deployment Pipelines with Verification Gates
- Include signature validation and hash verification as mandatory gates in CI/CD.
- Ensure rollback mechanisms exist for failed or suspicious updates.
2. Vulnerability Disclosure and Patch Management
What This Means
Enable rapid discovery, triage, and remediation of vulnerabilities across proprietary and third-party components.
Implementation
Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
- Host a security.txt at https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/security.txt
- Provide:
- A monitored security contact email or web form
- Preferred encryption key
- Expected response timelines
- Reference to your VDP (Vulnerability Disclosure Policy)
Potentially useful tools:
- Commercial: HackerOne or Bugcrowd (managed bug bounty and VDP platform)
- Open Source: Disclose.io templates
SBOM and Vulnerability Monitoring
- Generate and maintain a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) for all software releases.
- Continuously scan for:
- CVEs in open-source dependencies
- Zero-days in runtimes, containers, OS base images
Potentially useful tools:
- Commercial: Snyk, JFrog Xray
- Open Source: Trivy, OSV-Scanner, OSS Review Toolkit
Patch Timelines (SLAs)
Define internal SLAs by severity class (e.g., align with CVSS v3):
| Severity | Patch Deadline |
| Critical | ≤ 48 hours |
| High | ≤ 7 days |
| Medium | ≤ 14–30 days |
| Low/Informational | Optional / Quarterly |
Ensure:
- Each SLA is tracked in your issue tracker or ticketing system.
- Patches are backported to supported versions.
- CVE impact assessments are documented and communicated to stakeholders.
3. Security Incident Notification and Customer Reporting
What This Means
Ensure clear, timely, and transparent communication of security updates, patches, and incidents to affected stakeholders.
Implementation
Incident Response Integration
- Embed incident response (IR) workflows in your CI/CD and release cycle.
- Tag release branches or changelogs with security fixes (e.g., SEC-2024-001)
- Predefine customer communication triggers in IR playbooks.
Potentially useful tools:
- Commercial: PagerDuty + Jira Service Management
- Open Source: ZIncident + email or Slack automation
Customer-Facing Security Channels
- Maintain a security advisories page and RSS/email feed for high-severity updates.
- Provide:
- Patch details and affected versions
- Mitigation options
- Timeline of discovery and resolution
Version Support and EOL Communication
- Document and publish:
- Supported versions
- End-of-life (EOL) dates (at least 12 months in advance)
- Notify customers of upcoming deprecations via:
- Email campaigns
- Portal notifications
- Customer Success or Account Managers
Executive evaluation
As the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), assess your organisation using these self-assessment checkpoints:
Deployment & Distribution
- Are all software artifacts cryptographically signed?
- Are they distributed over secure, encrypted channels?
- Is signature validation mandatory in the deployment process?
Vulnerability Management
- Is there a public VDP with clear escalation paths?
- Are SBOMs generated for every release and monitored?
- Do patch SLAs reflect modern security expectations (e.g., <48h for critical)?
Customer Communication & Trust
- Can you produce past advisories and notifications?
- Do customers know how to report vulnerabilities securely?
- Are version support windows and EOL dates clearly published?
Organisational Enablers for Compliance
Leadership
- Assign cross-functional ownership: Security (for disclosure), DevOps (for patching), Product (for EOL lifecycle).
- Ensure executive sponsorship to make patch SLAs and release communications enforceable policies.
Governance
- Add secure update and patch review as a gating step in your release management process.
- Include security communications in quarterly customer health reviews and vendor due diligence packages.
Training and Culture
- Train developers and support teams on:
- Patch triage and CVSS scoring
- Secure changelog practices
- Writing effective customer-facing advisories
Summary Table
| Control Area | Minimum Expectation |
| Code Signing | All binaries and updates are signed and verified before deployment |
| Secure Distribution | TLS-only transport, checksum enforcement, use of trusted package sources |
| Vulnerability Disclosure | Public VDP or security.txt; monitored contact route; defined triage process |
| Patch Management | SLA-based remediation with evidence; tracked in CI and ticketing tools |
| Security Notification | Advisory publication process; changelogs and alert feeds |
| Lifecycle Support | Documented support periods and advance notice for EOL |
Final Recommendations
- Integrate this part of the UK’s Software Security Code of Practice with your existing incident response and release engineering functions.
- Assign cross-team champions for SBOMs, patch compliance, and secure communications.
- Use tooling to automate detection and notification, but maintain a human-in-the-loop process for validation, triage, and customer handling.
- Prepare auditable logs and evidence for external due diligence or public sector supply chain contracts.
Missed part 2? You can find it at Part 2 of: Aligning with the UK’s Software Security code of practice
Comments are closed