Enterprise Security Tools Without Breaking The Bank

When building a new security tool, we faced a problem. How do you convince security-conscious users to install software that requires system-level permissions? The answer: radical transparency backed by enterprise-grade security tooling.

We’re asking users to trust us with the ability to lock their computers, wipe their data, or shut down their systems. That’s not a responsibility we take lightly.

What We Built

MagSafe Guard is a modern take on the dead-man’s switch concept, inspired by the excellent BusKill project. Where BusKill uses a dedicated USB cable, we realised that Mac users already have a magnetic breakaway connection – their power cable. When armed, MagSafe Guard monitors your power connection and triggers security actions if it’s suddenly disconnected.

The concept is simple: you’re working in a coffee shop with your laptop plugged in. Someone grabs your MacBook and runs. The power cable disconnects, and within milliseconds, your screen locks, Find My activates, and your sensitive data is protected. All this happens before the thief even reaches the door.

WHY SECURITY MATTERS

From my perspective, security tools face the highest scrutiny – and rightfully so. Users need to know:

The code is secure and audited
No hidden vulnerabilities exist
Dependencies are safe
Development practices are transparent

We’re not just building software; we’re building trust. And trust, in the security world, needs to be earned through radical transparency.

SECURITY TOOLCHAIN

Let’s look at what enterprise-grade security actually looks like for an open source project. Rather than hiding our security status, we put it front and centre. Every badge tells a story. Every green checkmark represents hours of setup, configuration, and continuous monitoring. You can see our live QA Dashboard – updated in real-time with every commit.

Here’s our entire security stack – every single tool is free for open source projects:

GitHub Advanced Security Suite (GHAS)

We started with GitHub’s native security features. CodeQL performs semantic analysis on our Swift code, understanding data flows and catching vulnerabilities that simple pattern matching would miss. Secret scanning runs continuously, checking for over 100 credential patterns. Dependency review blocks any PR that introduces vulnerable packages.

The result? Zero security alerts since launch. Not because we’re perfect, but because issues are caught before they merge.

Snyk – Real-Time Security Intelligence

After GHAS, Snyk became our second line of defence – and what a difference it made. Through their free open source partnership program, we gained access to enterprise-grade security scanning that transformed our development workflow.

Snyk doesn’t just scan dependencies weekly or daily – it provides real-time analysis during development. As we code, Snyk monitors our dependency choices, alerts us to vulnerabilities, and even suggests secure alternatives. It’s like having a security expert looking over your shoulder, but in a helpful way.

The integration is seamless. Snyk automatically creates PRs with security fixes, complete with explanations of the vulnerabilities and their impact. We’ve had instances where a vulnerability was disclosed, patched, and merged within hours – all while we slept.

Code Quality & Coverage

Quality and security go hand in hand. Codecov tracks our test coverage – currently sitting at over 80% for critical paths. SonarCloud goes deeper, identifying code smells, potential bugs, and security vulnerabilities. SwiftLint enforces secure coding patterns at the syntax level.

Together, they ensure our codebase remains maintainable and auditable. When a security researcher wants to verify our claims, they can navigate clean, well-tested code.

Supply Chain Security

Beyond Snyk’s real-time protection, we’ve layered additional supply chain defences. OSSF Scorecard evaluates our project against 18 security best practices, from branch protection to code review requirements. Dependabot provides a backup layer, creating automated PRs for any updates Snyk might miss.

Together with Snyk, these tools ensure we currently have zero known vulnerabilities in our dependency chain. That’s not luck – it’s defence in depth.

Additional Security Layers

Beyond the basics, we’ve added specialised tools. Semgrep runs custom SAST rules tailored for Swift security patterns. TruffleHog scans our entire git history for accidentally committed secrets. Release Please automates our release process with signed commits and detailed changelogs.

Each tool serves a specific purpose, creating defence in depth.

TIME INVESTMENT REALITY

Again, my recommendation is to be realistic about time investment. Here’s our actual data:

Initial setup: 3-4 hours total (spread over a week)
Weekly maintenance: 30 minutes (mostly reviewing auto-generated PRs)
Per-PR overhead: 2-3 minutes for security checks to complete
Monthly security reviews: 1 hour to analyse trends and adjust rules

The security toolchain unlocks capabilities beyond just “finding bugs”:

Enterprise Adoption: Security teams can complete their reviews in hours, not weeks. Every tool we use is industry standard. Every result is publicly auditable.

Contributor Confidence: New contributors see our security commitment and raise their own standards. We’ve had PRs where contributors proactively added security tests because “it seemed like the MagSafe Guard way”.

Rapid Issue Response: When the next Log4j-style vulnerability drops, we’ll know within hours if we’re affected. Automated PRs will have fixes ready before we’ve finished reading the advisory.

Compliance Ready: Need an SBOM for regulatory compliance? It’s auto-generated. Security audit questionnaire? Point them to our dashboard.

YOUR 30-MINUTE TRANSFORMATION

These are the tools that give maximum security impact for minimal time investment:

GitHub Advanced Security (5 min) – It’s already there, just flip the switch
Snyk (10 min) – Apply for their free open source program, get enterprise-grade protection
Codecov or SonarCloud (10 min) – Pick one for visibility, we use Codecov for basic coverage, but SonarCloud is great at identifying code smells and anti-patterns
Dependabot config (5 min) – Backup automated updates
Quality dashboard (5 min) – Make security visible, pride drives improvement

That’s it. In half an hour, you’ve got 80% of the security benefit. Snyk’s free partnership for open source projects is particularly valuable – it’s the same tool Fortune 500 companies pay thousands for.

What we intentionally didn’t use and why:

Container scanning (Trivy) – Great tool, but irrelevant for native Mac applications
Multiple SAST tools doing the same thing – Pick one good one (we chose Semgrep)
Complex secret management – GitHub’s secret scanning is sufficient for most projects
Paid tools with free alternatives – Every paid tool has a free equivalent for open source

Remember: perfect is the enemy of good. Start with the essentials.

BUILDING TRUST THROUGH OPENNESS

Every security scan, every test result, every dependency – it’s all public. Check our QA Dashboard right now. You’ll see real-time security status, updated with every commit.

This transparency creates a virtuous cycle. Users trust the software because they can verify our claims. Security researchers contribute because they can see we take their input seriously. Enterprises adopt without lengthy reviews because our practices are already documented. Contributors maintain high standards because the bar is visible and clear.

We’ve turned security from a black box into a competitive advantage.

RESOURCES FOR YOUR PROJECT

Want to implement this for your project? Everything is open source and ready to copy:

Complete implementation: github.com/lekman/magsafe-buskill
Copy our workflows: .github/workflows/security.yml – battle-tested and ready to use
Quality dashboard template: docs/QA.md – modify the badges for your tools
Snyk for open source: snyk.io/opensourceprojects – apply for free access

The configurations we’ve spent months refining are yours in minutes.

Every tool mentioned is free for open source projects. Not “free trial” or “free tier” – properly free. Snyk offers their complete platform through their open source partnership program. GitHub provides GHAS at no cost for public repositories. The question isn’t whether you can afford security – it’s whether you can afford not to have it.

CONCLUSION

Building MagSafe Guard taught us that enterprise-grade security isn’t about budget – it’s about commitment. With free tools and 3-4 hours of setup, any open source project can achieve the same security standards as Fortune 500 companies. The difference? We do it in public.

Security theatre is easy. Real security is hard. But with modern tools and a commitment to transparency, it’s achievable for any project.

Check out MagSafe Guard at github.com/lekman/magsafe-buskill. See our security practices in action. Copy what works for you.

If you need help implementing similar security practices in your projects – open source or enterprise – we specialise in DevSecOps transformation. Contact us now for more information.