Network Security, Vulnerability Management

GitHub introduces new security alert feature

GitHub has added a new security feature to its version control platform for code developers that will notify users when a vulnerability is detected in one of their object dependencies.

In such cases, the new service will suggest known bug fixes from the GitHub community, GitHub announced in a Nov. 16 blog post.

Users will receive alerts whenever they enable their dependency graph to track instances when one object relies on another to function properly. Public projects will automatically provide this service, but for projects hosted in private repositories, users need to officially opt in or allow access in the dependency graph section of their repository's Insights tab.

"When we notify you about a potential vulnerability, we'll highlight any dependencies that we recommend updating. If a known safe version exists, we'll select one using machine learning and publicly available data, and include it in our suggestion," GitHub explains in its blog post.

The new feature currently supports Javascript and Ruby, and will support Python in 2018.

Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

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