[DL.SCM.1] Use a version control system with appropriate access management

Category: FOUNDATIONAL

Version control systems enable tracking and managing of changes to code over time. They allow multiple developers to work on a project concurrently, provide a history of changes, and make it possible to revert to a previous version if necessary. Version control systems play a role in maintaining the integrity of software components, as they provide an auditable trail of all modifications made to the code base, authorizes users as they access the code base, and help to ensure that changes to the code base can be reverted or rolled back.

Implement access management policies on the version control systems which supports a culture of code sharing and collaboration amongst teams in your organization. Having a mix of both open and private repositories allows for a balance between promoting code reuse and collaboration, and safeguarding sensitive information. For open repositories, developers can share code freely to encourage collaboration and learning, while confidential projects or sensitive parts of the code base can use private repositories.

Consider implementing role-based access control (RBAC) in your version control system. Using RBAC, you can restrict write (commit) access to specific roles or individuals and can protect the main code base from inadvertent or inappropriate alterations. This also allows granting broad, organization-wide read access to open repositories, while reserving the ability to limit access to sensitive or confidential private repositories.

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