Engineering safe and secure software systems

Offers a detailed understanding of software systems engineering from both security and safety perspectives. This book explains how processes relevant to the creation and operation of software systems should be determined and improved, how projects should be managed, and how products can be assured.

Author Notes

C. Warren Axelrod is the president of C. Warren Axelrod, LLC. He is also a senior consultant with Delta Risk LLC and the research director for financial services for the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit. He was chief privacy officer and business information security officer for U.S. Trust and a senior information technology and information security executive at such companies as HSBC Securities, Bank of America, and Pershing LLC. He has contributed to numerous conferences and seminars, and has published extensively. Dr. Axelrod is a coeditor of Enterprise Information Security and author of Privacy and Outsourcing Information Security (Artech House 2009, 2004). He holds a Ph.D. in managerial economics from Cornell University, as well as a B.Sc. in electrical engineering and an M.A. in economics and statistics from Glasgow University. He is certified as a CISSP and CISM.

Preface	p. xvii
Foreword	p. xxi
1 Introduction	p. 1
Preamble	p. 1
Scope and Structure of the Book	p. 3
Acknowledgments	p. 4
Endnotes	p. 5
2 Engineering Systems	p. 7
Introduction	p. 8
Some Initial Observations	p. 8
Deficient Definitions	p. 11
Rationale	p. 12
What are Systems?	p. 13
Deconstructing Systems Engineering	p. 16
What Is Systems Engineering?	p. 19
Systems Engineering and the Systems Engineering Management Process	p. 20
The DoD Text	p. 22
Another Observation	p. 22
More on Systems Engineering	p. 23
The Systems Engineering Process (SEP)	p. 23
Summary and Conclusions	p. 26
Endnotes	p. 26
3 Engineering Software Systems	p. 29
Introduction	p. 29
The Great Debate	p. 31
Some Observations	p. 32
Rationale	p. 33
Understanding Software Systems Engineering	p. 34
Deconstructing Software Systems Engineering	p. 34
What Is Software?	p. 35
What Are Software Systems?	p. 36
Are Control Software Systems Different?	p. 42
What is Software Systems Engineering?	p. 42
The Software Systems Engineering Process	p. 44
Steps in the Software Development Process	p. 44
Omissions or Lack of Attention	p. 48
Nonfunctional Requirements	p. 48
Testing Nonfunctional Attributes	p. 49
Verification and Validation	p. 49
Creating Requisite Functional and Nonfunctional Data	p. 52
Resiliency and Availability	p. 55
Decommissioning	p. 56
Summary and Conclusions	p. 56
Endnotes	p. 57
4 Engineering Secure and Safe Systems, Part I	p. 59
Introduction	p. 59
The Approach	p. 60
Security Versus Safety	p. 60
Four Approaches to Developing Critical Systems	p. 63
The Dependability Approach	p. 64
The Safety Engineering Approach	p. 65
The Secure Systems Approach	p. 67
The Real-Time Systems Approach	p. 68
Security-Critical and Safety-Critical Systems	p. 68
Summary and Conclusions	p. 70
Endnotes	p. 70
5 Engineering Secure and Safe Systems, Part 2	p. 73
Introduction	p. 73
Approach	p. 75
Reducing the Safety-Security Deficit	p. 76
Game-Changing and Clean-Slate Approaches	p. 77
A Note on Protection	p. 81
Safety-Security Governance Structure and Risk Management	p. 83
An Illustration	p. 83
The General Development Life Cycle	p. 84
Structure of the Software Systems Development Life Cycle	p. 86
Life Cycle Processes	p. 89
Governance Structure for Systems Engineering Projects	p. 92
Risks of Security-Oriented Versus Safety-Oriented Software Systems	p. 94
Expertise Needed at Various Stages	p. 95
Summary and Conclusions	p. 95
Endnotes	p. 96
6 Software Systems Security and Safety Risk	p. 99
Introduction	p. 99
Understanding Risk	p. 100
Risks of Determining Risk	p. 100
Software-Related Risks	p. 101
Motivations for Risk Mitigation	p. 103
Defining Risk	p. 104
Assessing and Calculating Risk	p. 105
Threats Versus Exploits	p. 107
Threat Risk Modeling	p. 111
Threats from Safety-Critical Systems	p. 114
Creating Exploits and Suffering Events	p. 116
Vulnerabilities	p. 119
Application Risk Management Considerations	p. 120
Subjective vs. Objective vs. Personal Risk	p. 121
Personalization of Risk	p. 122
The Fallacies of Data Ownership, Risk Appetite, and Risk Tolerance	p. 122
The Dynamics of Risk	p. 124
A Holistic View of Risk	p. 125
Summary and Conclusions	p. 126
Endnotes	p. 128
7 Software System Security and Safety Metrics	p. 131
Introduction	p. 131
Obtaining Meaningful Data	p. 133
Defining Metrics	p. 133
Differentiating Between Metrics and Measures	p. 135
Software Metrics	p. 138
Measuring and Reporting Metrics	p. 140
Metrics for Meeting Requirements	p. 143
Risk Metrics	p. 146
Consideration of Individual Metrics	p. 146
Security Metrics for Software Systems	p. 150
Safety Metrics for Software Systems	p. 151
Summary and Conclusions	p. 152
Endnotes	p. 153
8 Software System Development Processes	p. 157
Introduction	p. 157
Processes and Their Optimization	p. 158
Processes in Relation to Projects and Products/Services	p. 159
Some Definitions	p. 161
Chronology of Maturity Models	p. 164
Security and Safety in Maturity Models	p. 165
FAA Model	p. 165
The +SAFE VI .2 Extension .	p. 167
The +SECURE V1.3 Extension	p. 167
The CMMI® Approach	p. 167
General CMMI®	p. 167
CMMI® for Development	p. 168
Incorporating Safety and Security Processes	p. 169
+SAFE V1.2 Comparisons	p. 169
+SECURE V1.2 Comparisons	p. 172
Summary and Conclusions	p. 173
Endnotes	p. 175
9 Secure SSDLC Projects in Greater Detail	p. 177
Introduction	p. 177
Different Terms, Same or Different Meanings	p. 178
Creating and Using Software Systems	p. 180
Phases and Steps of the SSDLC	p. 182
Summary and Conclusions	p. 191
Endnotes	p. 193
10 Safe SSDLC Projects in Greater Detail	p. 195
Introduction	p. 195
Definitions and Terms	p. 196
Hazard Analysis	p. 198
Software Requirements Hazard Analysis	p. 199
Top-Level Design Hazard Analysis	p. 200
Detailed Design Hazard Analysis	p. 201
Code-Level Software Hazard Analysis	p. 201
Software Safety Testing	p. 201
Software/User Interface Analysis	p. 202
Software Change Hazard Analysis	p. 203
The Safe Software System Development Lifecycle	p. 204
Combined Safety and Security Requirements	p. 207
Summary and Conclusions	p. 208
Endnotes	p. 209
11 The Economics of Software Systems' Safety and Security	p. 211
Introduction	p. 211
Closing the Gap	p. 212
Technical Debt	p. 214
Application of Technical Debt Concept to Security and Safety	p. 215
System Obsolescence and Replacement	p. 217
The Responsibility for Safety and Security by Individuals and Groups	p. 218
Basic Idea	p. 218
Extending the Model	p. 219
Concept and Requirements Phase	p. 219
Design and Architecture Phase	p. 222
Development	p. 223
Verification	p. 224
Validation	p. 224
Deployment, Operations, Maintenance, and Technical Support	p. 225
Decommissioning and Disposal	p. 226
Overall Impression	p. 226
Methods for Encouraging Optimal Behavior	p. 226
Pricing	p. 227
Chargeback	p. 227
Costs and Risk Mitigation	p. 228
Management Mandate	p. 228
Legislation	p. 229
Regulation	p. 229
Standards and Certifications	p. 229
Going Forward	p. 230
Tampering	p. 231
Tamper Evidence	p. 231
Tamper Resistance	p. 232
Tamperproofing	p. 232
A Brief Note on Patterns	p. 234
Conclusions	p. 236
Endnotes	p. 238
Appendix A Software Vulnerabilities, Errors, and Attacks	p. 239
Ranking Errors, Vulnerabilities, and Risks	p. 240
The OWASP Top Security Risks	p. 241
The CWE/SANS Most Dangerous Software Errors	p. 244
Top-Ranking Safety Issues	p. 244
Enumeration and Classification	p. 246
WASC Threat Classification	p. 248
Summary and Conclusions	p. 250
Endnotes	p. 250
Appendix B Comparison of IS0/IEC 12207 and CMMP®-DEV Process Areas	p. 253
Appendix C Security-Related Tasks in the Secure SSDLC	p. 257
Task Areas for SSDLC Phases	p. 258
Involvement by Teams and Groups for Secure SSDLC Phases	p. 262
A Note on Sources	p. 288
Endnotes	p. 288
Appendix D Safety-Related Tasks in the Safe SSDLC	p. 289
Task Areas for Safe SSDLC Phases	p. 289
Levels of Involvement	p. 309
A Note on Sources	p. 309
Endnotes	p. 313
About the Author	p. 315
Index	p. 317

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