Open-source software is freely available to the public, and can be used for any purpose, in most cases. This type of technology is critical for improving our collective fight against fraud and boosting cybersecurity overall. 

However, open-source technology isn’t perfect, and we need to understand both its critical advantages and drawbacks if we’re going to incorporate it properly – and keep our organizations secure.

The Growing Threat of Fraud

Fraud is everywhere. The expansive reach of the internet has allowed us to connect and communicate with each other in novel ways, even if we’re reaching people on the other side of the world. 

We have access to mind-boggling technologies that simplify and expedite practically every aspect of daily life. But, unfortunately, this connective potential and sheer number of technologies in use has made it both easier and more attractive for people to commit fraud for personal gain.

It can threaten you as an individual or in your business. For example, fraud can be a problem for your accounts payable (AP) department. Invoice fraud, check fraud, vendor fraud, and various billing schemes could all hit your business (from outside or from within).

Why are open-source technologies so valuable in pursuit of better defenses?

The Role of Open-Source Technology

These are just some of the ways that open-source technology makes it easier for us to fight against fraud:

• Free and open information. One of the advantages of open-source technology is that the information associated with it is free and open. Developers of all backgrounds are free to examine the technology, learn from it, and use those findings to advance any pursuits they wish. It’s like every project is an open, public library.
• Collective observation and analysis. Collectively working on open-source software is also ideal for observation and analysis. When there are hundreds, or even thousands of developers all working on the same project and scrutinizing it in close detail, it’s much easier to identify potential security vulnerabilities or opportunities for committing fraud. When these red flags are identified, developers can start working on a solution.
• Opportunities for branches and improvements. Forks and branches provide even better opportunities for improvements. Individual developers can take the project in different directions, without compromising the original direction, and with enough time and enough iterations, they can effectively generate dozens of experimental variations.
• Greater flexibility and agility. Generally, open-source projects offer greater flexibility and agility. Because there are no confines and there are so many creative people involved, the project can go in an unlimited number of directions. It can also respond to threats much quicker in some cases.
• Access to a thriving community. Though it’s not true of every project, more successful open-source projects typically have access to a thriving community. Experts can exchange information with each other freely, ask questions, and help each other.
• Potential for talent acquisition. Tapping into open-source projects is also a great vector for talent acquisition. If you find an open-source platform that has excellent fraud protections, you may be able to track down the person responsible for adding those protections and recruit them into your team.
• Shared maintenance costs. Tapping into the power of open-source communities also has the incidental benefit of reducing maintenance costs by sharing them.

The Drawbacks of Open-Source

However, there are some drawbacks to this model that we need to consider as well:

• Public visibility. The public visibility of open-source projects can be both a blessing and a curse. Vulnerabilities are identified much quicker, so developers can patch them, but this also means that fraudsters have more transparent knowledge of how these platforms work – and might be able to exploit certain elements before they’re corrected.
• Reliance on external parties. There’s no single source of accountability for open-source software. If you use it for any important purpose, you’ll effectively be relying on external parties, at least to some extent.
• Potentially limited support. Not all open source projects are equally well-supported. In some cases, there may be thin communities or even no communities; if you have questions or need help making an improvement, you might be out of luck altogether.
• Lack of talent. Salary is the most important consideration for most job-seekers. But working on open-source software, by itself, doesn’t pay anything. Accordingly, the talent pool for open-source developers isn’t always rich – and the best developers don’t always have time to work on these as side projects.

Ultimately, to push back against fraud and all forms of cybercrime, we need to use every combination of technological advancement and human ingenuity that we can. By incorporating better information and drawing upon the active communities of open-source technologies, we can get an edge over fraud in many scenarios. But we must also incorporate other models and other types of communities to produce a more robust defense.