How to improve source code security and avoid IP theft

Gain actionable visibility through dashboards and risk indicators that spotlight high-value repos and paths.

Source code is ranked as one of the top three most valuable IP data types, especially for technology, medical device, and software companies. Yet, protecting it from unsanctioned use is difficult for security teams. 88% of security leaders wish they had more visibility into source code that is sent to repositories to ensure it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.

The most recent update from the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property estimates the cost of U.S. intellectual property theft (IP) at between $180 billion and $540 billion. Having a way to accurately detect and respond to IP theft helps businesses avoid financial loss, protect their competitive advantage, and yes, ensure no damage is done to their reputation.

For example, software developers utilize Git to create source code. Much of their Git usage is sanctioned as part of their everyday work: creating or pulling existing code and pushing it to corporate and/or open-source repositories. However, engineers who want to exfiltrate IP could also use Git to send code to a personal code repository service, such as GitHub.

Incydr watches all Git activity to identify if the code came from your corporate repository. This allows security to accurately pinpoint source code exfiltration and speed response times without getting in the way of sanctioned development or impacting engineering team productivity.

What good source code security looks like

Effective source code security programs do three things exceptionally well: they see, know, and act. Strong visibility allows teams to see code movement in context — tracking pushes, pulls, copies, compressions, uploads, and shares across endpoints, browsers, terminals, IDEs, cloud drives, personal email, external repositories, and paste sites. This continuous awareness helps identify when legitimate collaboration ends and potential exfiltration begins.

The second element is knowing what activity is sanctioned and what isn’t. Security teams must distinguish trusted corporate repositories and approved collaboration spaces from personal or unknown destinations. This distinction minimizes unnecessary noise by allowing legitimate pushes, pulls, and automated operations to continue uninterrupted while spotlighting true risks.