Software updates and TUF
TUF Love
Downloaded software can be compromised in several ways. You need a software update system that handles various attacks and provides end-to-end signing of the data. TUF can help.
Software in the modern world is connected, usually to the Internet, which means it is exposed to all kinds of attacks. The upside of connectivity is that people can use their phones to check email, websites, and the weather, as well as get driving directions with traffic data in real time. The downside is that users have never been more exposed to attack, and that exposure will only increase.
As problems in software are identified, the software is updated, and these updates are made available to customers who then deploy them (I hope). A typical Linux vendor fixes more than a thousand security issues a year, and other large vendors aren't far behind. They also ship updates to fix non-security related bugs, add new capabilities, and generally make better products.
Modern Building Blocks
Like interconnected systems, the value of software increases as it becomes more interconnected. Rather than reinvent the wheel and write your own HTTP(S) client, you simply call the best one offered by whatever language you're using. Developers have been doing this for decades through shared libraries, and it has become easier as vendors have added package management and as software languages have added repositories.
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