Enable branch protection

[rhensel]

Could you look into enabling branch protection?
Not having branch protection enabled on a GitHub repository exposes your codebase to several critical security and stability risks. By default, any collaborator with write access can modify the repository's primary history or push code without any oversight.
Key security issues include:

Malicious Code Injection: Without required reviews, an attacker with compromised collaborator credentials (or a malicious insider) can push backdoors or malware directly to the production branch.
Bypassing Security Scans: Branch protection allows you to require "status checks" (like automated vulnerability scanners or CI/CD tests) to pass before merging. Without this, broken or insecure code can be merged even if it fails security audits.
Unauthorized Force Pushing: If protection is disabled, users can "force push" to a branch, which allows them to rewrite or delete the commit history. This can be used to hide malicious changes or accidentally wipe out months of work.
Accidental Branch Deletion: Critical branches (like main or production) can be permanently deleted by any collaborator with write access, potentially leading to significant data loss or service downtime.
Identity Spoofing: Without requiring signed commits, an attacker can push code that appears to come from a trusted contributor by simply changing their local Git email configuration.