When a Fortune 500 financial services firm began noticing gaps in how its software development teams tracked third-party code, the stakes were high. Regulatory pressure was mounting. The executive team needed assurance that product development didn't come at the expense of cybersecurity.
The company's sprawling network of development pipelines spanned multiple business units, making consistent security controls difficult to enforce. Despite investing in application security tools, the firm struggled with fragmented insights, especially around vulnerabilities in open-source libraries and custom code. "The complexity was such that no single team could confidently say they understood the full picture," said Rubi Arbel, CEO of Scribe Security.
Security leaders were especially concerned about their ability to meet requirements under Executive Order 14028 and new SEC cyber disclosure rules. Without centralized visibility, each business unit acted in isolation, producing software with varying levels of security rigor, often relying on manual documentation and siloed audits.
Security Without Slowing Development
Scribe Security was brought in to introduce what it describes as "continuous assurance"—a process that replaces periodic, checklist-style audits with automated, real-time analysis of software artifacts throughout the development lifecycle. The company's technology was deployed across the enterprise's CI/CD pipelines to generate high-accuracy Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) at multiple build stages.
This automation allowed for real-time mapping of assets as well as dependencies, in addition to immediate identification of vulnerabilities, outdated components, or tampering. "There's a growing awareness that security must be integrated with how software is actually built," Arbel noted. "We built Scribe to work with, not against, modern development practices."
Crucially, the firm didn't need to restructure its development workflows. By integrating with existing risk registries and public key infrastructure (PKI), Scribe's platform minimized friction while introducing cryptographic signing of every software artifact. This gave auditors verifiable proof that code had not been altered—a key concern following supply chain attacks like SolarWinds and Log4Shell.
Real-Time Risk Means Faster Decisions
One of the most significant results was how quickly teams could act on new security information. Scribe's policy engine allowed for risk scoring and automated gating based on security conditions. For example, a build older than 30 days or containing critical vulnerabilities could be flagged—or automatically blocked—before reaching production.
Security teams, previously overwhelmed by manual reviews, found they could prioritize real threats. Vulnerabilities were evaluated in context: Was the component reachable? Was it exploitable? Could it be replaced without disrupting downstream dependencies?
This shift from static dashboards to continuous, context-rich data helped teams move beyond compliance and toward a measurable reduction in attack surface. "The goal isn't just to pass an audit," said Arbel. "It's to know what's happening in your software factory—and to have the evidence to back it up, right now."
Measurable Reductions in Manual Work
The operational gains were immediate. The firm reported a 40% reduction in time spent preparing for audits, thanks to machine-readable attestations and automated SBOM generation. Previously, manual security reviews were replaced with 15 automated policies enforced across pipelines.
All software artifacts—100%—were cryptographically signed, creating an immutable trail of provenance. This was especially relevant for procurement, where federal contracts now require verifiable supply chain controls.
These changes weren't just technical. Developers began engaging more closely with security teams. With shared data and agreed-upon rules, tension between the groups gave way to cooperation. Security became less about gatekeeping and more about quality control.
Preparing for the Future of Regulation
Beyond internal risk reduction, the deployment of Scribe's technology helped the financial firm align with external pressures. Regulatory bodies such as SLSA (Supply Chain Levels for Software Artifacts) and the Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF) are converging around transparency standards.
Scribe's tools generated attestations compatible with these frameworks, ensuring that the company's security posture could be communicated not only to regulators but to clients and business partners. In highly regulated sectors like finance, such transparency is fast becoming a prerequisite.
Arbel believes this level of visibility is no longer optional. "We're seeing regulation shift from guidelines to expectations. Real-time, verifiable data is the only way forward."
A Model for Security at Scale
The quietness of this cybersecurity revolution is what makes it most notable. There were no massive infrastructure overhauls, no extended downtime, and no large-scale staff retraining. What changed was the visibility: the ability to see, verify, and act on risk in real-time.
As software development cycles accelerate, firms need ways to maintain control without creating bottlenecks. The success of this deployment offers a model, not just for financial firms but for any organization wrestling with complexity at scale.
The real achievement may not be the technology itself but how it reframed the conversation. Software supply chains are no longer an abstract concern for security teams. They're a daily operational priority for leadership, made manageable by automation, integration, and measurable feedback loops.
And as Arbel put it, "Cybersecurity doesn't need to be loud to be effective. Quiet control is still control."
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