Individuals are identified and assigned key roles for executing the Risk Management Framework

Asset Information - SBOM data augments asset information by enabling organizations to understand their physical and virtual assets, including software components’ location, usage patterns, and characteristics. This data enhances visibility into security measures, compliance requirements, and maintenance needs. SBOM may also improve license management by allowing organizations to track software components and ensure compliance with licensing agreements, avoiding legal complications and optimizing cost management. These improvements contribute to a more robust asset management framework, enabling organizations to make informed decisions, enhance security, and streamline operations.

Continuous Monitoring Strategy - SBOM data provides the list of underlying component software to be added to the continuous monitoring strategy for real-time and historical software status, allowing organizations to have an up-to-date list of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures and other indicators of risk. This comprehensive view enables a deeper understanding of potential operational risks. Without an SBOM, organizations are limited to monitoring and assessing only a portion of their assets, significantly hindering their ability to manage overall risk effectively. By incorporating SBOM data, organizations can conduct continuous monitoring and vulnerability management with greater precision, proactively address vulnerabilities, and mitigate potential risks.

Information about other systems that interact with the systems - SBOMs provide comprehensive information about the component software in an organization’s systems, enabling consumers to assess the target system and the systems with which it interacts. This expanded view allows for a thorough evaluation of the entire ecosystem. For instance, while the system under review may not contain a vulnerable instance of Log4j, the systems it interacts with might. By incorporating SBOM data, organizations can gain insights into the software components present in the interconnected systems, identifying potential vulnerabilities and their potential impact on the overall security posture. With this knowledge, organizations can proactively address risks stemming from system interactions.

Risk Determination - SBOMs provide insights into Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, maintenance history, foreign-developed components, foreign-controlled components, and other risk indicators. By incorporating SBOM data into the risk assessment process, consumers gain a better view of the potential risks associated with software components. This augmented information empowers organizations to assess the components security, make informed risk determinations, and manage potential impacts. By leveraging SBOM data, organizations can proactively identify and mitigate risks, enhancing their overall risk management approach and ensuring a more secure and resilient environment.

Risk management strategy — SBOMs offer information about software components and dependencies, enabling organizations to assess risks related to their supply chain, system-level operations, and organizational resilience. SBOM data can contribute to comprehensive risk assessments. These assessments are a foundation for developing a robust, business-wide risk management strategy. With the inclusion of SBOM data, organizations can identify potential vulnerabilities, dependencies, and risks associated with software components throughout their ecosystem. This information allows for informed decision-making, proactive risk mitigation, and the implementation of appropriate measures to strengthen the organization’s risk management framework. By integrating SBOM data, organizations can enhance their ability to navigate complex risk landscapes, prioritize mitigation efforts, and ensure a more secure and resilient business environment.

Supply chain information — SBOMs provide a comprehensive augmentation to supply chain information by offering details about software provenance, components, risks, and dependencies. By incorporating SBOM data into the supply chain information, organizations gain enhanced visibility into the origins and characteristics of the software components used within their supply chain ecosystem. This includes insights into potential vulnerabilities, known risks, and dependencies associated with those components. With SBOM data, organizations can make informed decisions about their supply chain, assess the potential impact of software components on overall operations, and manage supply chain risks effectively. By leveraging SBOM data, organizations can strengthen their supply chain resilience, mitigate potential risks, and ensure the integrity and security of their software supply chain.

Supply chain risk assessment result — SBOMs provide supply chain information relevant to risk assessments of software supply chains. This includes insights into the software components, their origins, dependencies, and associated risks. By leveraging SBOM data, organizations can conduct more precise and informed risk assessments, allowing them to identify and evaluate potential vulnerabilities or threats that could impact their operations. This augmented information enables organizations to develop targeted mitigation strategies and make informed decisions to enhance supply chain resilience. With SBOM data, organizations can proactively manage supply chain risks, enhance security measures, and ensure the integrity and reliability of their software supply chains.

System component inventory — SBOMs provide detailed information about software components, offering a higher level of granularity about an organization’s systems and software infrastructure. By incorporating SBOM data into the system component inventory, organizations gain enhanced visibility into their systems’ specific software components including components’ origins, dependencies, and potential risks. With SBOM data, organizations can achieve a more comprehensive and accurate representation of their software landscape, enabling them to make informed decisions regarding system management, security, and maintenance. By leveraging SBOM data, organizations can improve system inventory accuracy, identify potential vulnerabilities, and optimize resource allocation for system maintenance and updates. This enhances operational efficiency, reduces risk, and strengthens software ecosystem management.

System and system element information — SBOMs provide a higher level of granularity about the system and its elements. By incorporating SBOM data, organizations understand their systems’ software components better, enabling a more precise assessment of their structure and functionality. With a more thorough and accurate representation of their systems, organizations can better manage, secure, and maintain these systems. By leveraging SBOM data, organizations can optimize their decision-making processes, streamline operations, and proactively address vulnerabilities and risks associated with their system and its elements. Integrating SBOM data into the system and system element information improves overall system understanding, enhances security measures, and supports efficient system management.

System-level security risk assessment results/report — SBOMs provide information on software components that may not have been previously assessed, providing organizations with a more comprehensive understanding of their exposure to risks associated with that software. By incorporating SBOM data, organizations can improve their assessment of software supply chain risk, system-level risk, and organizational-level risk. This augmented information enhances the accuracy and effectiveness of risk assessments. With SBOM data, organizations can make informed decisions, develop targeted mitigation strategies, and prioritize efforts to enhance security and minimize risks across their systems and operations. By leveraging SBOM data in system-level security risk assessment, organizations can proactively identify and address potential security threats, fortify their defenses, and ensure resilient and secure systems.