What's in the SOSS? An OpenSSF Podcast

OpenSSF
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Technology
  • Updated Biweekly

What's in the SOSS? features the sharpest minds in security as they dig into the challenges and opportunities that create a recipe for success in making software more secure. Get a taste of all the ingredients that make up secure open source software (SOSS) and explore the latest trends at the intersection of AI and security, vulnerability management, and threat assessments. Each episode of What's in the SOSS? is packed with valuable insight designed to foster collaboration and promote stronger security practices for the open source software community.About Christopher Robinson (aka CRob), hostCRob is a 43rd level Dungeon Master and a 26th level Securityologist. He is a leader within several Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) efforts and is a frequent speaker on cyber, application, and open source security. He enjoys hats, herding cats, and moonlit walks on the beach.

  1. 2d ago

    Watering the Community Garden: Navigating the EU CRA for Open Source with Roman Zhukov

    The clock is ticking toward the European Union’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) deadlines, yet a staggering 66% of organizations remain completely unaware of what is coming. In this episode of What’s in the SOSS? host Sally sits down with Roman Zhukov, co-chair of the OpenSSF Global Cyber Policy Working Group and Security Communities Lead at Red Hat, to demystify this sweeping regulation. Using a brilliant "community garden" analogy, Roman breaks down the distinct roles of maintainers, stewards, and manufacturers under the law, illustrating why the traditional "consume and forget" model of open source is officially dead. They dive deep into the newly released 2026 CRA Awareness and Readiness Report, exposing the staggering $250,000+ engineering tax of maintaining private forks and detailing how active upstream collaboration is no longer just good citizenship—it’s a business and legal necessity. Tune in to discover actionable strategies, free educational resources, and how we can collectively bake "compliance as code" into the open source ecosystem.  Chapters: 00:01 – Introduction: The CRA Countdown is On02:04 – Tomatoes, Gardens, and Restaurants: Defining the CRA Personas06:40 – Reality Check: Shocking Findings from the 2026 Readiness Report10:12 – The Awareness Gap: Why Are We Ignoring the Warning Signs?15:01 – The End of "Consume and Forget"17:49 – The Private Fork Tax: A $250K Engineering Trap23:34 – Red Hat’s Blueprint & Free Community Security Tools28:44 – Taming the AI Vulnerability Tsunami31:27 – Build Your Program Now: Action Steps for Manufacturers36:12 – Supporting SMEs & Navigating Free Resources40:30 – Carrying the Torch as an OpenSSF Ambassador43:35 – Rapid Fire & How to Get InvolvedEpisode links: Roman Zhukov’s LinkedIn pageCyber Resilience Act - ImplementationGlobal Cyber Policy Working GroupLinux Foundation 2026 CRA Awareness and Readiness ReportCase Study: Defending the Open Source Supply Chain in a New Regulatory EraOpenSSF’s Global Cyber Policy Working Group European Union Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) Information, Resources & Guides PageOpen Source Project Security Baseline (OSPS)SLSAGemaraGUACOpenSSF ProjectsUnderstanding the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) (LFEL1001)Global Cyber Policy GitHub RepositoryGet involved with the OpenSSFSubscribe to the OpenSSF newsletterFollow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn

    Watering the Community Garden: Navigating the EU CRA for Open Source with Roman Zhukov

  2. Aug 11

    CRA Readiness: Practical Strategies for Open Source Communities with Megan Knight

    In this episode of What's in the SOSS, host Sally sits down with Megan Knight, Director of Software Communities at ARM, OpenSSF Board Member, and Chair of the Awareness SIG within the Global Cyber Policy Working Group. Together, they break down the upcoming European Union Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and address the persistent gap in ecosystem awareness. Megan outlines concrete, practical strategies for maintainers and organizations, highlights the vital role of community collaboration across working groups like ORBIT and ORC, and shares key resources to help lower the barrier to compliance. Stick around for a fun rapid-fire round where favorite open source mascots steal the spotlight!  Chapters: 00:24 - Introduction and Welcome 01:44 - The current CRA landscape and key findings from recent LF Research reports.  04:23 - Actionable compliance steps for maintainers and organizations  07:16 - The mission of the OpenSSF Global Cyber Policy Working Group  10:28 - How to get involved  13:25 - Rapid-fire 15:12 - Key takeaways and resources for a deeper dive into CRA readiness Episode links: Megan Knight’s LinkedIn pageCyber Resilience Act - ImplementationGlobal Cyber Policy Working Group (policy.openssf.org)Linux Foundation 2025 CRA Awareness and Readiness ReportLinux Foundation 2026 CRA Awareness and Readiness ReportOpen Regulatory Compliance Working GroupOpen Resources for Baselines, Interoperability and Tooling (ORBIT) Working GroupOpen Source Project Security (OSPS) BaselineOpenSSF’s Global Cyber Policy Working Group European Union Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) Information, Resources & Guides PageLF Training Course: Understanding the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) (LFEL1001)Global Cyber Policy GitHub RepositoryAdd any other applicable links related to the episodeOpenSSF Community CalendarGet involved with the OpenSSFSubscribe to the OpenSSF newsletterFollow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn

    CRA Readiness: Practical Strategies for Open Source Communities with Megan Knight

  3. Aug 4

    Funding the Future: Community Collaboration and the Spirit of Open Source with Mila Zhou

    Join host Yesenia as she sits down with Mila Zhou, Open Source Program Manager at AWS, to explore the fascinating intersection of finance, strategy, and security in the open source ecosystem. Mila shares her unique journey from forensic auditing to spearheading AWS funding initiatives, breaking down how strategic financial backing transforms vulnerable "long tail" projects and empowers dedicated security champions. Discover how full-time security engineers at foundations are securing critical repositories like PyPI, why community-driven forks like Valkey represent the true spirit of collaboration, and how the OpenSSF Ambassador Program is helping close the gap between developers and security experts.  Chapters: 00:25 - Welcome & Introductions01:03 - From Accounting to AWS OSPO06:26 - A Day in the Life of an OSPO Program Manager09:53 - Navigating Critical Funding & The Long Tail13:25 - Valkey and Community-Driven Innovation15:29 - The Invisible Power of Dedicated Security Engineers28:46 - Marketing, Non-Code Contributions, and the Ambassador Program36:25 - Rapid Fire Fun37:05 - Final Thoughts & Closing Episode links: Miaolai (Mila) Zhou’s LinkedIn pageAlpha-Omega WebsiteAlpha-Omega Public RepositoryValkeyMike Fiedler’s LinkedInSeth Larson’s LinkedInYesenia’s Blog on Building a Team of Open Source Security Engineers in ResidenceThe Hidden Heroes: How Non-Code Contributors Find Their Place in Open Source Communities - Miaolai Zhou & Lahari Chowtoori, AWSOpenSSF Ambassador ProgramGet involved with the OpenSSFSubscribe to the OpenSSF NewsletterFollow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn

    Funding the Future: Community Collaboration and the Spirit of Open Source with Mila Zhou

  4. Jul 28

    Turning AI into the Ultimate Open Source Maintainer Power Tool with Michael Winser

    In this episode of What’s in the SOSS?, host CRob welcomes back open source security champion Michael Winser to reflect on Alpha-Omega’s spectacular milestone of surpassing $20 million in security grants. Michael breaks down how their mission has evolved from simply chasing bugs to acting as a catalyst for sustainable, long-term security culture across critical projects. The two dive deep into the unsustainable economics of package repositories—the "app stores" of software development —and address how a massive partnership with frontier AI model providers is aiming to flip the script on AI. Instead of fueling endless, low-context vulnerability "slop," Alpha-Omega is working to put AI assists directly into the hands of maintainers as their ultimate defensive power tool.  Chapters: 00:24 - Welcome Back, Michael Winser!01:10 - The Origin Story of a $20 Million Milestone04:54 - Evolving Beyond Audits to "Sustainable Security"11:18 - The Messy Economics of Package Registries20:28 - Turning AI into the Maintainer’s Power Tool29:01 - Vision for 2026: The Security Trust Graph Episode links: Michael Winser’s LinkedIn pageAlpha-Omega WebsiteAlpha-Omega Public RepositoryLearn more about the Security Engineers in Residence (SEIR) Roles Andrew Nesbitt OpenSSF Securing Software Repositories Working GroupGet involved with the OpenSSFSubscribe to the OpenSSF newsletterFollow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn

    Turning AI into the Ultimate Open Source Maintainer Power Tool with Michael Winser

  5. Jul 14

    Signing the Future: Securing AI and ML Artifacts with Mihai Maruseac

    In this episode of What’s in the SOSS?, host Yesenia Yser sits down with Mihai Maruseac, the lead of the OpenSSF AI/ML Working Group and Security and Privacy expert at OpenAI, to dive deep into the unique security challenges facing artificial intelligence. Unlike traditional software packages, AI models cannot simply be inspected for malware by looking at their weights – malicious code only exposes itself upon execution. Mihai outlines how the community is answering this threat through the evolution of the OpenSSF Model Signing (OMS) specification. Discover how OMS creates an unshakeable chain of custody for models, data sets, and agent workflows, the structural shift toward implementation-agnostic toolchains, and what the future looks like for a fully realized, end-to-end secure AI supply chain. Chapters: 00:22 – Welcome: Yesenia introduces AI/ML Working Group lead Mihai Maruseac.00:51 – From TensorFlow to OpenAI: Mihai’s journey navigating open source security and AI.01:47 – Core Risks of Model Tampering: A look at hidden risks inside uninspectable model weights.03:27 – Establishing Chain of Custody: How cryptographic signatures verify file integrity from training to deployment.05:04 – Evolution of the OMS Spec: Why the community standardized on forward-compatible, framework-agnostic formats.07:17 – Tracking Iteration (v1.1 & v1.2): An overview of newly introduced security keys and community features.08:26 – Choosing Your PKI Tooling: Why the OMS specification remains highly flexible for users.10:22 – Real-World Integration: Early success stories with Kaggle, NVIDIA, and the path to PyTorch.12:42 – Looking Ahead to Version 2: Overcoming "attestation sprawl" by unifying multiple security claims.15:29 – The Ideal AI Supply Chain: Using signed artifacts with GUAC to automatically map vulnerabilities.17:09 – How to Get Involved: Immediate opportunities to contribute to signature format convergence.18:11 – Rapid Fire Segment: Mihai shares his favorite retro games, hiking, and love for Vim.19:37 – Final Words of Advice: Why contributors of all skill levels are welcome to join.Episode links: Mihai Maruseac’s LinkedIn PageOpenSSF Model Signing (OMS)OpenSSF Model Signing Spec GitHub RepoOpenSSF AI/ML Working GroupOpenSSF Guide: Visualizing Secure MLOps (MLSecOps): A Practical Guide for Building Robust AI/ML Pipeline SecurityGraph for Understanding Artifact Composition (GUAC)SigstoreIn-totoOllamaGet involved with the OpenSSFSubscribe to the OpenSSF newsletterFollow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn

    Signing the Future: Securing AI and ML Artifacts with Mihai Maruseac

  6. Jun 30

    The Heartbeat of the Kernel: Why Upstream is the Ultimate Security Strategy with Greg Kroah-Hartman

    What does it feel like to wake up and realize your weekend passion project is now the critical infrastructure powering the planet? In this episode of What’s in the SOSS?, CRob sits down with Linux kernel maintainer and open source icon Greg Kroah-Hartman. Greg takes us on a journey from his early days writing firmware for printer and hospital ATMs to managing the relentless, everyday engineering task of maintaining the Linux kernel over decades. He breaks down the realities of modern kernel security, dismantles the myth that maintainers know every single vulnerability exploit , and details how looming global regulations like the EU's Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) are shifting the compliance burden onto vendors. If your organization uses Linux, Greg has a simple, urgent message for you: stop fearing change, build your testing infrastructure, and update your systems.  Chapters: 00:03 - Welcome: Host CRob introduces Linux kernel legend Greg Kroah-Hartman.01:04 - From Printers to Richard Stallman: Greg shares his origin story in embedded engineering and his introduction to free software.  02:00 - The Weekend Driver and the Dopamine Hit: How a quick weekend project turned Greg into a lifelong kernel contributor.04:20 - Realizing Linux is Critical Infrastructure: The moment the telcos and banks moved in, signaling that Linux was everywhere.05:28 - 2005: The Year the Kernel Grew Up: Implementing stable releases, the security team, and the rule to never break user space.07:05 - What People Get Wrong About Kernel Security: Linus's mantra that "a bug is a bug," and the reality of handling 35 fixes a day.09:32 - The Historic Fear of Updating: Why lagging behind for "stability" is actually incurring massive risk.12:17 - Global Regulation and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA): How upcoming laws are changing vendor responsibility and why the open source community is exempt.13:51 - How OpenSSF is Reducing the Burden: Applauding the cross-ecosystem collaboration that protected maintainers from onerous drafts.17:05 - Pay Your Employees to Contribute: Greg’s best piece of advice for downstream enterprises relying on open source.18:39 - Inside the Kernel Security Alias: How the ad-hoc security team handles triage and assigns CVEs.21:11 - The CVE Numbers Game: Why the kernel ranks #2 in CVE creation and the trouble with automated severity scores.25:39 - We are Already There: AI Slop and Static Analysis: Greg addresses the recent surge of AI-generated bug reports and patches.31:20 - Rapid Fire Round: Spicy food, coffee, Star Wars, and the ultimate call to action. Episode links: Greg Kroah-Hartman’s LinkedIn pageThe Linux Foundation CRA Stewards PlaybookOpenSSF Global Cyber Policy Working GroupThe Linux Kernel Archive (Keep your systems current with the latest stable kernel releases)The Value of Open Source SoftwareAdditional ResourcesGet involved with the OpenSSFSubscribe to the OpenSSF newsletterFollow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn

    The Heartbeat of the Kernel: Why Upstream is the Ultimate Security Strategy with Greg Kroah-Hartman

  7. Jun 16

    Consuming with Intent: Driving Enterprise Security and Career Growth Through Open Source with Jamie Thomas (IBM)

    In this episode of Big Thoughts, Open Sources, host CRob sits down with Jamie Thomas, IBM Enterprise Security Executive and OpenSSF Governing Board Member (former Chair!), to tackle the vital shifting dynamics of enterprise open source engagement. From IBM's historical "billion-dollar bet" on Linux to modern supply chain wake-up calls like SolarWinds and Log4j, Jamie pulls back the curtain on what it truly means to move from accidental consumption to intentional stewardship. Tune in to discover how active participation in neutral foundations like the OpenSSF acts as a fast track for engineering career trajectories, why soft skills like "the art of influence" are critical for upstream collaboration, and how organizations can protect their crown jewels while implementing a powerful "give-back strategy." Chapters: 00:00 – Intro Music + Promo Clip00:21 – Introduction & Welcoming Luminary Jamie Thomas01:32 – Wearing the Enterprise Security Hat at IBM02:10 – Supply Chain Wake-up Calls: From SolarWinds to Log4j03:14 – Unlocking Open Ecosystems: IBM’s Early History with Java and Linux05:21 – Mainframe Debates and Portability: The Evolution of Open Source Adoption06:24 – The Red Hat Acquisition and Monetizing the Developer Ecosystem08:20 – The Myth of "Free" Software: Securing Regulated Enterprise Deployment10:15 – Why a Seat at the Table Matters: The Value of Neutral Foundations11:29 – The Art of Influence: Upstream Contributions as a Career Catalyst13:50 – Moving Innovation from Open Source Kernels to Commercial Value16:12 – Storming, Norming, and Conversation: Lessons from the Kubernetes Era17:38 – Pitching Upstream Time: Helping Developers Sell Open Source to Management19:30 – Beyond Code: Bringing Domain Expertise and Soft Skills Upstream21:40 – Conquering the Chasm: Automating CI/CD Pipelines and Testing at Scale23:00 – Consuming with Intent: Active Stewardship and the OpenSSF Scorecard25:21 – Rapid Fire Round: Mainframes, AI-Generated Code, and Star Trek nostalgia27:53 – Call to Action: Crafting Your Organization's "Give-Back Strategy"Episode links: Jamie Thomas’ LinkedIn pageLearn more about IBM’s Strong History and Commitment to Open SourceRed HatEclipse FoundationCNCFGet involved with the OpenSSFLearn more about the OpenSSF Governing BoardSubscribe to the OpenSSF NewsletterFollow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn

  8. Jun 2

    The Ghost in the Dependency Tree: Navigating Open Source End-of-Life with HeroDevs

    In this episode of What’s in the SOSS, host CRob sits down with Isaac Wuest, Product Line Leader at HeroDevs, to explore the critical and often overlooked "gray area" of the software supply chain: End-of-Life (EOL) software. While the industry heavily relies on CVEs to track vulnerabilities, Isaac explains how maintainer abandonment creates a vacuum where risks are present but remain undiscovered and unreported. From the origins of HeroDevs supporting AngularJS to the nuances of the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), this conversation provides a practical framework for distinguishing between inherent hazards and actual risk in your dependency tree. Chapters: 00:04 - CRob welcomes Isaac Wuest from HeroDevs 00:45 - The HeroDevs origin story: How Google sunsetting AngularJS created a need for secure drop-in replacements. 02:44 - Isaac’s path to open source: Transitioning from product management to supporting maintainers. 04:06 - Exploring the "Gap" in CVEs: Why dictionary-based vulnerability tracking misses EOL and malicious packages. 07:03 - The challenge of "Maintainer Attestation": Why most open source projects lack a formal EOL calendar. 09:52 - Compliance and Risks: How EOL dependencies create blank spots for security professionals and auditors. 11:27 - The Shark in the Tank: Using a food regulation analogy to differentiate between hazard and risk. 13:22 - Navigating the EU Cyber Resilience Act: Preparing for increased manufacturer accountability in software. 14:08 - Maintainer Abandonment: Identifying the moment a project stops receiving patches without formal notice. 16:14 - Scanning for Gaps: Why standard industry tools currently struggle to provide a complete EOL picture. 18:49 - Practical Remediation: Recommendations for researching upgrade paths using tools like endoflife.date. 20:49 - Analyzing SBOMs: How engineers can leverage free datasets to identify and fix deep dependency risks. 23:00 - Rapid Fire: Coffee, Star Wars, spicy food, and the favorite apocalyptic robot. 25:01 - Final Thoughts: A call to action for educating yourself on your application's EOL exposure. Episode links: Isaac Wuest’s LinkedIn pageHeroDevsFree Tool: End of Life Data SetCommunity Resource: endoflife.dateGet involved with the OpenSSFSubscribe to the OpenSSF newsletterFollow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn

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About

What's in the SOSS? features the sharpest minds in security as they dig into the challenges and opportunities that create a recipe for success in making software more secure. Get a taste of all the ingredients that make up secure open source software (SOSS) and explore the latest trends at the intersection of AI and security, vulnerability management, and threat assessments. Each episode of What's in the SOSS? is packed with valuable insight designed to foster collaboration and promote stronger security practices for the open source software community.About Christopher Robinson (aka CRob), hostCRob is a 43rd level Dungeon Master and a 26th level Securityologist. He is a leader within several Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) efforts and is a frequent speaker on cyber, application, and open source security. He enjoys hats, herding cats, and moonlit walks on the beach.

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