diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2bd7143061
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# To get started with Dependabot version updates, you'll need to specify which
+# package ecosystems to update and where the package manifests are located.
+# Please see the documentation for all configuration options:
+# https://docs.github.com/github/administering-a-repository/configuration-options-for-dependency-updates
+
+version: 2
+updates:
+  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
+    directory: "/"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "monthly"
+    groups:
+      workflow-actions:
+        patterns:
+          - "*"
+    allow:
+      - dependency-name: "actions/*"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_test.yml b/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
index e851ba9994..3076dfeeab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
@@ -9,20 +9,18 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
     - name: Checkout PR Branch
-      uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
       with:
         ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
         fetch-depth: 0
 
     - name: Setup Java 8
-      uses: actions/setup-java@v1
+      uses: actions/setup-java@3a4f6e1af504cf6a31855fa899c6aa5355ba6c12 # v4.7.0
       with:
         java-version: 8
-        java-package: jdk
-        architecture: x64
+        distribution: temurin
 
     - name: Build and Test
-      uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@v1
-      with: 
-        run: mvn clean install 
-
+      uses: GabrielBB/xvfb-action@b706e4e27b14669b486812790492dc50ca16b465 # v1.7
+      with:
+        run: mvn clean install