Automated Repository Trust Scoring via Security Criteria
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for determining trusted repositories are subjective, time-consuming, and inconsistent, especially when evaluating hundreds or thousands of repositories, as they rely on human review and do not account for objective metrics, leading to potential security vulnerabilities.
Innovation Solution
A computer system identifies and applies security criteria to a repository under evaluation, comparing the results to a trust baseline derived from a set of trusted repositories to generate scores and make recommendations on trustworthiness, thereby automating the trust review process and reducing subjectivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human review is used to determine trusted repositories, then subjective judgment can be applied, but the process becomes time-consuming and inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual human review process with an automated computer-based system that applies security criteria and generates trust scores. This substitution eliminates the time-consuming nature of human review while maintaining reliability through objective, consistent evaluation metrics applied uniformly across all repositories.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the subjective human judgment process into an objective parameter-based evaluation system. By defining specific security criteria parameters (e.g., code scanning results, update frequency, user activity metrics) and measuring repositories against these parameters, the system achieves consistent, repeatable results without human subjectivity or time constraints.
2Ease of operation
If human review is used to evaluate repositories, then individual judgment is applied, but consistency and reliability decrease due to subjective variability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts subjective human judgment into objective parameter measurement. By establishing defined security criteria parameters (code scanning vulnerabilities, repository update frequency, release history, user fork activity, owner trust status) and measuring each repository against these parameters, the system eliminates reviewer subjectivity and ensures consistent results across all evaluations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where repositories are evaluated against established security criteria parameters, generating standardized trust scores. This feedback loop ensures that all repositories are assessed using the same objective metrics, eliminating the inconsistency that arises from different human reviewers applying varying subjective standards.
3Reliability
If code scanning is performed to identify vulnerabilities, then security detection is improved, but the process remains separate from trust determination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the previously separate code scanning process with the trust determination process. By integrating security criteria evaluation (including code scanning results) into the unified trust score calculation, the system eliminates process fragmentation. The trust score now comprehensively incorporates security findings alongside other factors like update frequency and user activity, creating a single integrated evaluation mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A method performs a trust review of repositories is provided. A computer system identifies security criteria for the trust review. The computer system applies the security criteria on a repository under evaluation. The computer system determines a recommendation for the repository under evaluation using a comparison of a result of applying the security criteria on the repository under evaluation to a trust baseline for a set of trusted repositories. According to other illustrative embodiments, a trust system and a computer program product for performing a trust review are provided.