diff --git a/doc/mrva-business.org b/doc/mrva-business.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3790fa1 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/mrva-business.org @@ -0,0 +1,101 @@ +* MRVA for CodeQL: A Business View +** Introduction + The companion documents in this directory are mostly technical. The purpose of + this document is to explain, from a business perspective, what MRVA is and why + it matters. + + To illustrate its impact, consider two real-world cases: + +*** Case 1: Preventing Costly Security Failures + One of our customers faced a significant lawsuit due to inadequate security. + The root cause? Unaddressed technical risks in their code. The work we do + directly prevents similar vulnerabilities from reaching this stage. + + While lawsuits of this scale are rare, security failures are not. More common + consequences include: + + - Compliance violations (e.g., GDPR, SOC2 penalties) + - Security breaches leading to reputation damage + - Productivity loss from disruptive technical failures + + Lawsuits may be exceptional, but code security failures occur daily. Our role + isn’t just about preventing catastrophic losses—it’s about avoiding the small, + accumulating failures that erode security, compliance, and trust over time. + +*** Case 2: Identifying Hidden Risks at Scale + Another customer manages a massive software portfolio of 120,000+ distinct + codebases—a scale at which traditional security tools and manual review + processes become impractical. + + - A few known vulnerabilities had already been identified and patched. + - Our analysis uncovered 30 additional high-risk instances, previously undetected. + + These findings were critical because: + + - Traditional security tools break down at scale. Most solutions work well for + isolated codebases but lack the capability to analyze patterns across + 120,000 repositories. + - Complexity hides risk. Identifying these vulnerabilities required specialized + techniques beyond simple scanning—capable of handling variations, + context, and subtle exploit paths. + - Existing security processes failed to detect these vulnerabilities. Without + proactive intervention, these risks would have remained undetected until + a potential breach occurred. + + This case highlights a critical gap in standard security practices. By leveraging + advanced, scalable analysis, we identified and mitigated risks that would have + otherwise gone unnoticed—demonstrating the value of proactive security + at scale. + +** Why This Matters + These examples, along with others, reinforce the importance of proactive + security—especially in the context of MRVA. Security risks don’t just exist + in theory; they have tangible business consequences. + + MRVA provides a scalable, systematic approach to identifying and addressing + risks before they escalate—ensuring that security is a strategic advantage, not + just a cost. + +** What is MRVA? + MRVA stands for /Multi-Repository Variant Analysis/. The concept is straightforward: + + 1. A /problem/ is identified in one codebase. + 2. Variations of this problem (/variants/) can be defined. + 3. The organization manages many code repositories (/multi-repository/). + 4. A systematic /analysis/ is required to detect these variants across all repositories. + + In practice: + - Steps 1 & 2: Defined through CodeQL queries, often custom-written for this purpose. + - Steps 3 & 4: Can be done manually but come with significant challenges. + +*** Challenges of Manual Execution + Manually searching for these variants across multiple repositories is possible + but inefficient and error-prone due to: + + - /High bookkeeping overhead/ – Tracking thousands of repositories is + cumbersome. + - /Heavy scripting requirements/ – Expert /Unix scripting skills/ are + necessary. + - /Scaling limitations/ – Analyzing /thousands of repositories sequentially/ + is slow, and manual parallelization is impractical. + - /Cumbersome review process/ – Results are stored as /raw text files/, + requiring multiple processing steps for meaningful analysis. + +*** MRVA: A Streamlined, Integrated Solution + Instead of relying on manual effort, MRVA is designed to /automate and + integrate/ the process. + + - The system is designed to be /machine-driven/ and integrated into an + automated pipeline. + - Once incorporated, MRVA leverages the /CodeQL VS Code plugin/ to provide a + /seamless user experience/. + - How it works: + - Users submit queries through the UI. + - Results are retrieved and displayed dynamically as they become available. + - The entire workflow is automated, scalable, and significantly more + efficient than manual methods. + + By eliminating manual inefficiencies, MRVA enables organizations to identify + and resolve security issues across massive codebases at scale, ensuring both + accuracy and speed in vulnerability detection. +