Dedalus strengthens open-source risk control with CAST Highlight adoption

Dedalus, a European healthcare and diagnostic software provider, has successfully utilised CAST Highlight to maintain control of open-source risks across its extensive application portfolio. The implementation took a matter of weeks. This automation has enabled monitoring of potential risks without the disruption of developers' workflow.

With a portfolio of over 200 applications serving over 6,700 healthcare organisations globally, Dedalus needed an efficient way of managing open-source risks. These applications manage an excess of 540 million patient records and facilitate more than four billion diagnostic results. The diversity of technologies used, plus the physical spread of hosting platforms and third-party software libraries involved, created a complicated landscape for technological planning and global security risk management.

Dedalus' Group Chief Technology Officer, Daniel Becker, recognised that a groundbreaking solution was required to manage the extensive range of technologies and to prioritise actions towards a sustainable technology transformation program.

Dedalus turned to CAST Highlight, a software intelligence platform that helps organisations assess and manage their software portfolios. It provides insights into a company's software applications' health, risk, and cost. CAST Highlight analyses codebases to identify potential security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and areas for improvement. 

Following the implementation of CAST Highlight across more than 50 strategic applications, Dedalus has gained a comprehensive 'control tower' view of its software. This includes insights into Open Source Software (OSS) security risks, licensing issues, and intellectual property exposures across more than 2,000 components.

Romilla Kulshrestha, Director at Dedalus, praised CAST Highlight as an invaluable tool for shaping their security budget. The software has enabled them to create a comprehensive remediation plan and better allocate resources. "CAST Highlight has proven to be an invaluable instrument in shaping our security budget. It has allowed us to develop a comprehensive remediation plan and allocate resources more effectively,"  Romilla Kulshrestha said. 

CAST Highlight's product portfolio also offers an automated advisory service recommending which applications to focus on to lower security risks, reduce legal exposures and upgrade component versions. This clarity has provided Dedalus with increased visibility and better compliance. The system provides advanced warnings of emerging vulnerabilities that are not yet listed in the National Vulnerabilities Database.

CAST Highlight also creates an accurate and frequently updated software bill of materials (SBOM) for each application, which allows Dedalus to keep an updated inventory of the composition of their applications. Dedalus recently began utilising the Cloud Maturity Insights provided by CAST Highlight to optimise its cloud applications further.

This comprehensive method underscores Dedalus' commitment to upholding the highest software security and efficiency standards in the healthcare sector. Their partnership with CAST Highlight allows the effective management of technology, which is crucial in ensuring the seamless delivery of their services to healthcare organisations and patients worldwide.