Investigating software artifact provenance

“出处”是一个艺术术语，描述了一系列关于艺术作品的历史或所有权的证据。特定物品的出处可能包括可信的文件、对材料和艺术风格的特殊目的分析，以及一般的历史知识。这个术语也越来越多地用于计算机安全等技术领域，其中第三方组件的来源--通常通过加密和可信审计跟踪等机制确定--可能决定该组件如何被允许访问机密数据和系统的运行时环境。然而，随着软件系统变得越来越普遍，故障、恶意软件、许可违规和专利诉讼的风险要求我们谨慎对待各种软件实体的来源。我们不仅必须检查可执行组件，还必须检查影响软件系统及其创建的所有开发构件。我们必须问：这个类定义、库、特性、错误修复是从哪里来的？随着时间的推移，它是如何演变的？那么有什么证据呢？也就是说，我们必须确定文物的来源。

"Provenance" is a term from the arts that describes a set of evidence concerning the history or ownership of an artistic work. The provenance for a particular object may include trusted documentation, special purpose analyses of the materials and artistic styles, and general historical knowledge. Increasingly, the term is also being used in technical contexts such as in computer security, where the provenance of a third-party component -- often determined through mechanisms such as cryptography and trusted audit trails -- may determine how the component is allowed to access confidential data and the system's run-time environment. However, as software systems become more pervasive, the risk of failure, malware, license violations, and patent lawsuits requires us to be circumspect about where various kinds of software entities come from. We must examine not only executable components, but all development artifacts that impact upon the software system and its creation. We must ask: Where did this class definition, library, feature, bug fix originate? How has it evolved over time? And what is the evidence? That is, we must ascertain the artifact's provenance.