In this guide, we will talk about whether GitHub is a safe place for source code. So, let’s begin!
What is GitHub?
GitHub is the most widely utilized version control system which is known as the Git remote repository hosting service and development resource. It is helpful in code sharing with other team members and provides a friendly user web-based GUI. GitHub is also known as the world’s large coding community.
Many organizations use it for collaboration while having multiple employees working on the same projects to facilitate project management. Due to GitHub’s stunning features, it has “73 million” developers on board with more than “61 million” new repositories and “16 million” users. The programmers utilize the command-line interface for connecting Git local repositories and Git remote repositories.
In a team, developers utilize the local repositories for creating, deleting, updating, or adding something to projects anywhere around the globe. After performing these operations and completing their project modules, they push all local repository data to the remote repository utilizing the command line and update the other members about the work. Everyone can view the project files and folders that have permission on GitHub from their organization.
Features of GitHub
GitHub has some more valuable features which are stated below:
- Workflow visualization
- Repositories and branches
- Labels and milestones for projects
- Commits and pull request
- Collaboration and code view
- Built-in bug tracker
- Supports more than 330 languages and data formats
- Huge user community
- View branches comparison
Is GitHub a Safe Place for your Source Code?
Yes! GitHub is a safe place for source code. It never loses even a single line of code. To make secure repositories and metadata, first, users should make a backup. To secure the repositories and their metadata, make a backup and ensure the uninterrupted software delivery process. For this purpose, connect the GitHub account to easily set up daily GitHub backups or source code, such as activities, wikis, pull requests, problems, and many more. If you create a new repo on GitHub, it will be automatically added to the GitHub backup plan as well.
Some risks might occur while using the GitHub hosting service, as stated below:
- GitHub Server Down
- Team negligence
- Malware uploaded to GitHub
- Hacker Attacks
Let’s have a look at the above-listed risks one by one!
GitHub Server Down
Sometimes while using GitHub, users encounter that it does not work properly. This state occurs when GitHub becomes down due to multiple users’ utilization at the same time. This state may lead to delays in software development and affect major financial losses.
Team negligence
During software development, some developers forget and leave the repositories open to anyone. This unintentional negligence of employees may reveal credentials or other important data in unprotected public repositories. Unfortunately, embedding credentials in code or saving them in a config file is still pretty common.
Malware uploaded to GitHub
When developers download the repositories from GitHub, they are required to be cautious because this forum does not perform antivirus scans on uploading files and it could lead to costly problems.
Hacker Attacks
If users don’t set the password or do not take the right measures with credentials and sensitive information, it may increase the chances of a security breach to your account. Multiple repositories are held for ransomware attacks by hackers that can delete all source code from the repository.
To prevent your source code from hackers or malware attacks, make it more secure through strong credentials and backups.
Conclusion
Yes, GitHub is a safe place for user source code. Users should make backups and ensure strong security through credential information. It is a free hosting service that helps developers to track huge projects efficiently. In this guide, we have demonstrated that GitHub is a safe place for source code.
