In recent years, Git has become the most widely used version control system in the world. Its popularity has grown among developers due to its ease of use and ability to manage code collaboratively. However, like any other tool, Git comes with its own set of security concerns that must be addressed. Fortunately, there are several Git security scanning tools available that can help identify and fix potential security issues. In this article, we will compare seven of the most popular Git security scanning tools.

The tools

GitGuardian

GitGuardian is a Git security scanning tool that helps developers find and remediate sensitive information such as API keys, secrets, and passwords that are accidentally committed to Git repositories. It integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and other Git platforms to scan and monitor repositories for secrets. GitGuardian also provides a CLI tool and an API for developers to integrate with their existing workflows.

GitLeaks

GitLeaks is a command-line tool for detecting sensitive information such as API keys, passwords, and access tokens in Git repositories. It works by scanning Git history for known patterns of sensitive information and raising an alert if it finds any matches. GitLeaks can be integrated into existing CI/CD pipelines or run locally as a standalone tool.

TruffleHog

TruffleHog is a Git security scanning tool that helps identify and remove sensitive information such as passwords, API keys, and other secrets from Git repositories. It works by searching the Git history for high entropy strings that could potentially represent sensitive information. TruffleHog can be run as a command-line tool or integrated into a CI/CD pipeline.

Gitrob

Gitrob is a Git security scanning tool that helps identify sensitive information such as API keys, credentials, and other secrets that are accidentally committed to Git repositories. It works by scanning Git repositories for patterns that match known sensitive information and alerting users if any matches are found. Gitrob can be run as a command-line tool or integrated into a CI/CD pipeline.

GitWatchman

GitWatchman is a Git security scanning tool that helps identify and remediate sensitive information such as passwords, API keys, and other secrets in Git repositories. It works by scanning Git repositories for patterns that match known sensitive information and raising an alert if any matches are found. GitWatchman can be integrated into existing CI/CD pipelines or run locally as a standalone tool.

SecretScanner

SecretScanner is a Git security scanning tool that helps identify and remediate sensitive information such as passwords, API keys, and other secrets in Git repositories. It works by scanning Git repositories for patterns that match known sensitive information and raising an alert if any matches are found. SecretScanner can be run as a command-line tool or integrated into a CI/CD pipeline.

ScoutSuite

ScoutSuite is a Git security scanning tool that helps identify security risks and compliance violations in Git repositories. It works by scanning Git repositories for security vulnerabilities such as weak passwords, open ports, and other security issues. ScoutSuite can be run as a command-line tool or integrated into a CI/CD pipeline.

Examples of usage

GitLeaks

Certainly! Here are some examples of how to use gitleaks:

Basic Scan

The simplest way to use gitleaks is to run a scan on a local repository. To do this, navigate to the root directory of the repository and execute the following command:

gitleaks --repo-path .

This will scan the entire repository for any leaked credentials or other sensitive information.

Scan Specific Branches

You can also specify specific branches to scan by adding the --branch flag followed by a comma-separated list of branches. For example, to scan only the master and develop branches, you can run:

gitleaks --repo-path . --branch master,develop

Scan Remote Repository

To scan a remote repository, use the --url flag followed by the URL of the repository. For example:

gitleaks --url https://github.com/username/repository.git

You can also use the --remote-name flag to specify the name of the remote. For example, to scan the origin remote of a repository, run:

gitleaks --url https://github.com/username/repository.git --remote-name origin

Ignore Commits

If you want to ignore specific commits, you can use the --exclude-commit flag followed by a comma-separated list of commit hashes. For example:

gitleaks --repo-path . --exclude-commit 0123456789abcdef,9876543210fedcba

Custom Configuration

Gitleaks comes with a default configuration that scans for commonly leaked secrets. However, you can create your own custom configuration file to scan for specific patterns. To use a custom configuration file, use the --config-path flag followed by the path to the configuration file. For example:

gitleaks --repo-path . --config-path /path/to/custom-config.toml

These are just a few examples of how to use gitleaks. For more information, you can check out the official documentation: https://github.com/zricethezav/gitleaks.

Gitrob

First, install GitRob by following the instructions on the official GitRob repository:
Once installed, you can run GitRob using the following command:
```
gitrob <github-username-or-organization>
```
For example, to scan the GitHub organization “example-org”, you would use:
```
gitrob example-org
```
GitRob will then start scanning the organization’s public repositories for sensitive information such as AWS keys, API keys, passwords, and more.
Once the scan is complete, GitRob will display a report with any findings. For example:
```
Analyzing 50 repositories...

Found 2 hits for 'aws_key' in 1 repositories:
Repository: example-repo
File: config/aws.yml

Found 1 hits for 'password' in 1 repositories:
Repository: example-repo2
File: db/seeds.rb

Found 1 hits for 'api_key' in 1 repositories:
Repository: example-repo3
File: lib/api.rb
```
This output shows that GitRob found AWS keys in the repository “example-repo” in the file “config/aws.yml”, a password in “example-repo2” in the file “db/seeds.rb”, and an API key in “example-repo3” in the file “lib/api.rb”.
From here, you can investigate the findings and take appropriate action to secure your organization’s sensitive information.

Note: It’s important to keep in mind that GitRob only scans public repositories. It’s still important to properly secure private repositories and sensitive information.

GitWatchman

First, you’ll need to install GitWatchman. You can do this using pip by running the following command:
```
pip install gitwatchman
```
Once you’ve installed GitWatchman, you can use it to monitor a Git repository. For example, let’s say you want to monitor the “myrepo” repository located at “https://github.com/myusername/myrepo.git". To do this, navigate to the directory where you want to store your local copy of the repository and run the following command:
```
gitwatchman add https://github.com/myusername/myrepo.git
```
GitWatchman will now start monitoring the repository for changes. You can view the current status of the repository by running the following command:
```
gitwatchman status
```
This will show you the current status of all repositories being monitored by GitWatchman.
If you want to receive notifications when changes are made to the repository, you can configure GitWatchman to send email notifications. To do this, run the following command:
```
gitwatchman config --email=myemail@example.com
```
Replace “myemail@example.com” with the email address where you want to receive notifications.
That’s it! GitWatchman will now send you email notifications whenever changes are made to the repository. You can also view the current status of the repository at any time by running the “gitwatchman status” command.

Note: GitWatchman can also be used to monitor multiple Git repositories at once. Simply repeat steps 2-4 for each repository you want to monitor.