Uncovering the intricate architecture of digital supply chain
Tags: digitalsuppychain, softwarebillofmaterials, cybersecurity, opensource
Published: 2023-03-08 10:22:19

In our digital world, software networks are more interconnected than ever before; thus, it is essential to guarantee the dependability and quality of the products and services we receive. This way, everyone can rest assured that safety standards are properly met so that no one will be at risk from a compromised supply chain.

In light of the ever-growing complexity and interconnectedness of global networks, it can seem almost impossible to preserve a level of trustworthiness and transparency. Fortunately, our fears have been alleviated by IETF's (Internet Engineering Task Force) recent work; they've provided an efficient way for us to create consistent information through digital supply chains within our frameworks.

This report presents useful solutions to elevate audibility, accountability, trustworthiness and visibility in respective networks. In this blog post, we'll dive deeper into this research by exploring its innovative solutions further as it seeks to enhance transparency within our digital supply chains. 

## Architecture overview

![IETF Transparency Service Architecture](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/cyfxhz31yjlljto2r5j8.jpeg)

Image source: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-scitt-architecture/

Titled "An Architecture for Trustworthy and Transparent Digital Supply Chains" the study document describes a decentralized architecture that aims to enhance the audibility and accountability of various supply chains by enforcing three security guarantees: statements made by issuers about supply chain artefacts that must be 1 - identifiable, 2 - authentic, and 3 - non-repudiable.

Additionally, these assertions must be registered on a secure append-only Registry to provide provenance and history, which can then undergo consistent independent audits. With this process in place, issuers can efficiently demonstrate the registration of their claims to any other party.

This study is structured around a distributed public key infrastructure, an indelible and transparent Registry, and a Merkle Tree data structure. Compared to Certificate Transparency's architecture, this one generalizes how each Transparency Service (TS) functions and enforces regulations for registering claims. The overall goal of this architecture is to achieve global interoperability and hold issuers accountable for their claims and the TS accountable for the consistency of its Registry.

## Software Bills of Materials (SBOM) and Confidential Computing

IETF delves deeper into the use of Software Bills of Materials (SBOM) and Confidential Computing to enhance transparency and accountability within the digital supply chain. An SBOM is an easy way to track down where a software component comes from as well as any potential weaknesses associated with it; however, these can't be effectively utilized if those supplying them cannot be held responsible for their contents.

Confidential Computing utilizes hardware-backed secure execution environments (TEEs) to preserve the secrecy of data processed by cloud services but relies on remote attestation to confirm its software hash with customers. To ensure increased transparency and accountability in these fields, this research suggests a supply chain that monitors consecutive releases for machine-learning models and runtimes - tracking their provenance as well as measurements of their associated software.

## Significance of the Transparency Service

The investigation also drills into the significance of the Transparency Service (TS). In addition to managing a Registry, TS formulates its Registration policy that all items in the registry must follow. To guarantee unique identification, an Issuer is required to generate a DID before producing any Claims; this distinguishable marker is then included on every Claim's Envelope for simple recognition.

In conclusion, the IETF research offers a complete and organized framework to bolster transparency and responsibility in the digital supply chain. A combination of SBOMs and Confidential Computing with this decentralized architecture promises an effective approach that can help tackle provenance issues as well as restore trustworthiness within the digital supply chain. The study's emphasis on global interoperability, coupled with its demand for both issuers and TS to take responsibility for their actions, is commendable. Taking the time to read this report not only equips individuals with a comprehensive technical understanding of digital supply chain management but also provides them with insight into increasing transparency and trust in these systems.

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Thanks for reading! 

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Article source and for more about this IEFT study:
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-scitt-architecture/