Product Overview: Snyk
Snyk is a comprehensive developer security platform designed to help organizations secure their entire software development lifecycle, from the initial lines of code to the deployment and operation of applications in the cloud.
What Snyk Does
Snyk focuses on identifying and fixing vulnerabilities across four key areas: proprietary code, open-source dependencies, container images, and cloud infrastructure. This holistic approach ensures that security is integrated into every stage of the software creation and deployment process.
Key Features and Functionality
1. Snyk Code
Snyk Code is a Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tool that secures proprietary code as it is written. It automatically scans and fixes code in real-time, integrating into the development process without requiring additional builds. This tool provides remediation advice powered by Snyk’s knowledge base, leveraging machine learning and expert security measures.
2. Snyk Open Source
This feature is a software composition analysis (SCA) tool that uncovers and prioritizes vulnerabilities in open-source dependencies. It integrates into the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) from the first line of code, allowing developers to create and deploy applications securely. Snyk Open Source builds a dependency tree, visualizes component interactions, and automates the creation of a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) to track and manage dependencies.
3. Snyk Container
Snyk Container secures container images from the base image to runtime. It analyzes container images for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, ensuring that containers are secure throughout their lifecycle. This tool integrates with container registries and provides actionable fix advice to rectify identified issues.
4. Snyk Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Snyk IaC helps developers write secure infrastructure as code configurations. It evaluates IaC templates for security weaknesses and misconfigurations, providing remediation advice to fix issues before deployment. This feature ensures cloud infrastructure is secure from the design phase onwards.
5. Snyk AppRisk
Snyk AppRisk is an Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) solution that empowers application security teams to govern and scale their security programs. It facilitates seamless collaboration between developer and security teams, providing visibility into software supply chain risk posture and overall application security program performance for C-suite stakeholders.
Additional Key Functionality
- Automation and Integration: Snyk integrates seamlessly with developer workflows, Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), and source control managers (SCMs). This ensures that security checks are automated and part of the existing development process.
- Vulnerability Scanning and Remediation: Snyk scans code, dependencies, containers, and IaC templates for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable insights to prioritize and fix these vulnerabilities. It suggests feasible remediation options such as patches, dependency upgrades, and configuration changes.
- Software Bill of Materials (SBOM): Snyk helps create an SBOM in seconds, identifying all components and their interactions. This feature is crucial for managing supply chain security and tracking dependencies.
- Compliance and Reporting: The platform helps meet compliance requirements and generates comprehensive security reports on identified vulnerabilities, remediation progress, and overall security posture.
- Cloud Security: Snyk detects cloud security issues from the design phase, providing expert guidance to developers and security teams. It catches issues at runtime in cloud and containers, detects infrastructure drift, and fixes issues at their source.
Architecture and Workflow
Snyk operates as a cloud-based service with distributed scanning engines that analyze code, dependencies, containers, and IaC templates. It maintains a constantly updated vulnerability database and uses APIs to integrate with developer workflows. The platform’s architecture includes frontend, API gateway, scanning layer, code analyzers, dependency scanners, container scanners, and IaC scanners, ensuring fast and efficient vulnerability detection and remediation.
In summary, Snyk is a powerful developer security platform that embeds security into every aspect of the software development lifecycle, ensuring that applications are secure from the outset and remain so throughout their entire lifecycle.