diff --git a/.github/actions/dependencies/install-shellcheck/action.yml b/.github/actions/dependencies/install-shellcheck/action.yml
index eecd97c..946453d 100644
--- a/.github/actions/dependencies/install-shellcheck/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/dependencies/install-shellcheck/action.yml
@@ -21,3 +21,4 @@ runs:
       env:
         VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
         INPUTS_ARCHITECTURE: ${{ inputs.architecture }}
+        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}   # avoids API rate limits when looking up the asset digest
diff --git a/.github/actions/dependencies/install-shellcheck/setup_shellcheck.sh b/.github/actions/dependencies/install-shellcheck/setup_shellcheck.sh
index aa0e230..662f736 100755
--- a/.github/actions/dependencies/install-shellcheck/setup_shellcheck.sh
+++ b/.github/actions/dependencies/install-shellcheck/setup_shellcheck.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,22 @@ if [ "$ARCH" == "arm64" ]; then
     ARCH="aarch64"
 fi
 
-curl -fL --retry 3 -o shellcheck.tar.xz "https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/releases/download/v${VERSION}/shellcheck-v${VERSION}.linux.${ARCH}.tar.xz"
+FILE="shellcheck-v${VERSION}.linux.${ARCH}.tar.xz"
+curl -fL --retry 3 -o shellcheck.tar.xz "https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/releases/download/v${VERSION}/${FILE}"
+
+# ShellCheck publishes no checksum file, so use the SHA-256 digest GitHub records for the release asset.
+# GitHub records digests only for assets uploaded since mid-2025 (ShellCheck v0.11.0 and newer).
+AUTH=()
+if [ -n "${GITHUB_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
+    AUTH=(-H "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}")
+fi
+EXPECTED=$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 "${AUTH[@]}" "https://api.github.com/repos/koalaman/shellcheck/releases/tags/v${VERSION}" \
+    | jq -r --arg file "${FILE}" '.assets[] | select(.name == $file) | .digest // empty' | sed 's/^sha256://')
+if [ -z "${EXPECTED}" ]; then
+    echo "::error::No SHA-256 digest published for ${FILE}; use ShellCheck v0.11.0 or newer"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "${EXPECTED}  shellcheck.tar.xz" | sha256sum -c -
 tar xf shellcheck.tar.xz -C /tmp --strip-components 1
 rm -f shellcheck.tar.xz
 chmod +x /tmp/shellcheck
diff --git a/.github/actions/dependencies/install-syft/install_syft.sh b/.github/actions/dependencies/install-syft/install_syft.sh
index 8d47f1d..fc2ca8f 100755
--- a/.github/actions/dependencies/install-syft/install_syft.sh
+++ b/.github/actions/dependencies/install-syft/install_syft.sh
@@ -6,9 +6,12 @@ if [ -z "$ARCH" ]; then
     ARCH="amd64"
 fi
 
-curl -fL --retry 3 -o syft.tar.gz "https://github.com/anchore/syft/releases/download/v${VERSION}/syft_${VERSION}_linux_${ARCH}.tar.gz"
-tar xf syft.tar.gz -C /tmp
-rm -f syft.tar.gz
+BASE_URL="https://github.com/anchore/syft/releases/download/v${VERSION}"
+FILE="syft_${VERSION}_linux_${ARCH}.tar.gz"
+curl -fL --retry 3 -o "${FILE}" "${BASE_URL}/${FILE}"
+curl -fsSL --retry 3 "${BASE_URL}/syft_${VERSION}_checksums.txt" | grep " ${FILE}$" | sha256sum -c -
+tar xf "${FILE}" -C /tmp
+rm -f "${FILE}"
 chmod +x /tmp/syft
 sudo mv /tmp/syft /usr/bin
 syft version
diff --git a/.github/actions/dependencies/install-yq/install_yq.sh b/.github/actions/dependencies/install-yq/install_yq.sh
index 1f6ecec..e1e745a 100755
--- a/.github/actions/dependencies/install-yq/install_yq.sh
+++ b/.github/actions/dependencies/install-yq/install_yq.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,13 @@ if [ -z "$ARCH" ]; then
     ARCH="amd64"
 fi
 
-curl -fL --retry 3 "https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/download/${VERSION}/yq_linux_${ARCH}" -o yq
+BASE_URL="https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/download/${VERSION}"
+FILE="yq_linux_${ARCH}"
+curl -fL --retry 3 "${BASE_URL}/${FILE}" -o yq
+# The checksums file lists many hashes per file; checksums_hashes_order gives their order
+SHA256_INDEX=$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 "${BASE_URL}/checksums_hashes_order" | grep -n '^SHA-256$' | cut -d: -f1)
+EXPECTED=$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 "${BASE_URL}/checksums" | awk -v file="${FILE}" -v column="$((SHA256_INDEX + 1))" '$1 == file { print $column }')
+echo "${EXPECTED}  yq" | sha256sum -c -
 chmod +x yq
 sudo mv yq /usr/bin/
 yq --version
diff --git a/.github/actions/dependencies/setup-kind/setup-kind.sh b/.github/actions/dependencies/setup-kind/setup-kind.sh
index bf98c57..c4cec54 100755
--- a/.github/actions/dependencies/setup-kind/setup-kind.sh
+++ b/.github/actions/dependencies/setup-kind/setup-kind.sh
@@ -45,7 +45,9 @@ function install_kubectl {
     if [ "${TEST_KUBECTL_VERSION:-latest}" = "latest" ]; then
         TEST_KUBECTL_VERSION=$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)
     fi
-    curl -fL --retry 3 -o kubectl "https://dl.k8s.io/release/${TEST_KUBECTL_VERSION}/bin/linux/${ARCH}/kubectl"
+    KUBECTL_URL="https://dl.k8s.io/release/${TEST_KUBECTL_VERSION}/bin/linux/${ARCH}/kubectl"
+    curl -fL --retry 3 -o kubectl "${KUBECTL_URL}"
+    echo "$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 "${KUBECTL_URL}.sha256")  kubectl" | sha256sum -c -
     chmod +x kubectl
     sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin
     kubectl version --client
@@ -69,6 +71,7 @@ function install_kubernetes_provisioner {
     KIND_URL=https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/download/${KIND_VERSION}/kind-linux-${ARCH}
 
     curl -fL --retry 3 -o kind "${KIND_URL}"
+    echo "$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 "${KIND_URL}.sha256sum" | awk '{ print $1 }')  kind" | sha256sum -c -
     chmod +x kind
 
     # Move the binary to a globally accessible location
diff --git a/.github/actions/dependencies/setup-minikube/setup-minikube.sh b/.github/actions/dependencies/setup-minikube/setup-minikube.sh
index 3c40ef0..152d367 100755
--- a/.github/actions/dependencies/setup-minikube/setup-minikube.sh
+++ b/.github/actions/dependencies/setup-minikube/setup-minikube.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ function install_kubectl {
     if [ "${TEST_KUBECTL_VERSION:-latest}" = "latest" ]; then
         TEST_KUBECTL_VERSION=$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)
     fi
-    curl -fL --retry 3 -o kubectl "https://dl.k8s.io/release/${TEST_KUBECTL_VERSION}/bin/linux/${ARCH}/kubectl"
+    KUBECTL_URL="https://dl.k8s.io/release/${TEST_KUBECTL_VERSION}/bin/linux/${ARCH}/kubectl"
+    curl -fL --retry 3 -o kubectl "${KUBECTL_URL}"
+    echo "$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 "${KUBECTL_URL}.sha256")  kubectl" | sha256sum -c -
     chmod +x kubectl
     sudo cp kubectl /usr/local/bin
     kubectl version --client
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ if [ "$TEST_CLUSTER" = "minikube" ]; then
     fi
 
     curl -fL --retry 3 -o minikube "${TEST_MINIKUBE_URL}"
+    echo "$(curl -fsSL --retry 3 "${TEST_MINIKUBE_URL}.sha256")  minikube" | sha256sum -c -
     chmod +x minikube
     sudo cp minikube /usr/local/bin
     minikube version
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-dependencies.yml b/.github/workflows/test-dependencies.yml
index 0388db5..14384a7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-dependencies.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-dependencies.yml
@@ -83,9 +83,9 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         architecture:
           - 'amd64'
+        # Older releases have no SHA-256 digest on GitHub, so the install action rejects them
         version:
           - '0.11.0'
-          - '0.10.0'
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
         with:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1c46143..b28e01b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Actions for installing tools and setting up Kubernetes clusters.
 | `dependencies/setup-java`           | Installs Java and Maven                                            | `javaVersion` (21), `mavenVersion` (3.9.9), `javaDistro` (temurin)                            |
 | `dependencies/install-helm`         | Installs Helm and helm-unittest plugin                             | `helmVersion` (v3.20.0), `helmUnitTestVersion` (v1.0.3)                                       |
 | `dependencies/install-yq`           | Installs yq YAML processor                                         | `version` (v4.6.3), `architecture` (amd64)                                                    |
-| `dependencies/install-shellcheck`   | Installs ShellCheck linter                                         | `version` (0.11.0), `architecture` (amd64)                                                    |
+| `dependencies/install-shellcheck`   | Installs ShellCheck linter                                         | `version` (0.11.0, minimum 0.11.0), `architecture` (amd64)                                    |
 | `dependencies/install-syft`         | Installs Syft SBOM generation tool                                 | `version` (1.20.0), `architecture` (amd64)                                                    |
 | `dependencies/install-oras`         | Installs ORAS CLI for OCI artifacts                                | `version` (1.3.6)                                                                             |
 | `dependencies/install-ascii-doctor` | Installs Ascii Doctor tool                                         | `rubyVersion` (3.2)                                                                           |
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ Actions for building, testing, and releasing Strimzi components.
 | `build/push-oci-artifact`  | Pushes a file to an OCI registry (GHCR by default) via ORAS | `file`, `name`, `tag` (required), `mediaType` (application/x-tar), `containerRegistry` (ghcr.io), `containerOrg` (repo owner). Outputs: `image` (full OCI ref with digest) |
 | `build/pull-oci-artifact`  | Pulls an OCI artifact from a registry via ORAS            | `image` (required), `outputDir` (.)                                                  |
 
+> [!NOTE]
+> Dependency actions verify the SHA-256 checksum of every binary they download and fail on a mismatch.
+
 > [!IMPORTANT]
 > Build actions do **not** install their own dependencies (Java, yq, Helm, Docker, Shellcheck, Syft, etc.).
 > Callers must install the required dependencies using the appropriate dependency actions **before** invoking a build action.