The Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) has introduced a new email mailing list called Siren, with the goal of spreading threat intelligence related to open source projects. This initiative comes in response to the increasing national security concerns surrounding the security of open source projects, particularly after recent incidents involving Log4j, XZUtils, and OpenJS.
Siren is designed to be publicly viewable and will only require registration to post on the list. OpenSSF General Manager Omkhar Arasaratnam shared that a tabletop exercise was conducted at a recent open source event, where members of the community simulated a security incident involving the discovery of a zero-day vulnerability. Through this exercise, they identified a gap in effectively disseminating information widely within the open source ecosystem.
Arasaratnam highlighted the need for a centralized platform where indicators of compromise (IOCs) and threats could be shared to help the community identify and respond to security threats. While existing tools like the oss-security mailing list aid in communicating vulnerabilities within the community, there is still a lack of efficient channels for sharing information about exploits with a broader audience.
The Siren mailing list aims to address this gap by encouraging public discussions on security flaws, concepts, and practices within the open source community. It will focus on operational impact and response, rather than just vulnerability coordination, to keep the community informed about threats and activities post-disclosure. Members of the list will receive real-time updates about emerging threats relevant to their projects.
Christopher Robinson, director of security communications at Intel, and OpenSSF ecosystem strategist Bennett Pursell emphasized the importance of open source software, which powers up to 90% of modern software. Despite its significance, there has been no efficient means of communicating information about exploits with the broader downstream audience, making Siren a crucial post-disclosure tool for sharing threat information.
OpenSSF hopes that the Siren mailing list will foster a culture of shared responsibility and collective defense within the open source community. By leveraging the collective knowledge and expertise of community members and security experts, projects of all sizes can enhance their cybersecurity defenses and increase their awareness of malicious activities.
Those interested can sign up for the Siren mailing list, and OpenSSF encourages sharing the email list with other members of the open source community. Robinson, who also chairs the OpenSSF Technical Advisory Council, expressed the need for a focused effort on sharing details about active exploits with downstream consumers and enterprise defenders, expecting government agencies, security researchers, and defenders to participate in this initiative.
