Snyk and Its Benefits

Snyk is a cloud‑based security platform that protects the code you write. It offers four main types of scans:

Scan type What it finds Typical target
SAST Vulnerabilities in your own source code Code written in languages such as Java, JavaScript, etc.
SCA Vulnerabilities in third‑party libraries Open‑source or proprietary dependencies (e.g., Log4j, Jackson)
Container Misconfigurations and secrets in container images Docker images or Kubernetes pods
IaC Configuration mistakes in infrastructure code CloudFormation, Terraform, Azure Resource Manager, etc.

These scans run automatically in your CI/CD pipeline, giving you early feedback on both code and dependency security.

Creating a Snyk Account

  1. Visit snyk.io.
  2. Click Sign up.
  3. Choose an authentication provider (GitHub, Bitbucket, Google, Azure AD, or Docker Hub; you can also use SAML for SSO).
  4. Authorise Snyk to access your chosen account.
  5. Your Snyk dashboard is now ready—no credit‑card details required.

Integrating Snyk SCA into a GitLab DevSecOps Pipeline

Objective: Run a Software Composition Analysis scan every time code is pushed.

1. Add the Snyk Maven Plugin

Edit your pom.xml and add:

<plugin><groupId>io.snyk</groupId><artifactId>snyk-maven-plugin</artifactId><version>2.0.0</version><configuration><orgName>myorg</orgName> *<!-- Your Snyk organization -->*</configuration></plugin>

2. Create a Snyk Auth Token

  1. In the Snyk dashboard, open My Account → Auth Tokens.
  2. Click the empty token box; the token is generated.