Gary McGraw and Brian Chess introduce a software security framework (SSF) to
help understand and plan a software security initiative, the framework of
which is being used to build an associated maturity model.

  _____  

By understanding and measuring ten real software security intitiatives, we
are building a maturity model for software security using a software
security framework devloped after a decade of commercial experience.

Software security is coming into its own as a discipline. There are now at
least twenty large scale software security inititives underway that we are
either aware of or directly involved in. Though particular methodologies
differ (think OWASP CLASP, Microsoft SDL, or the Cigital Touchpoints), many
initiatives share common ground. In this article we introduce a software
security framework (SSF) to help understand and plan a software security
initiative. This framework is being used to build an associated maturity
model.


A Software Security Framework


These days many developers and development managers have some basic
understanding of why software security is important. In 1999 when John Viega
and McGraw started writing Building
<http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=020172152X>  Secure
Software as a series of articles for developerworks, there was very little
published software security work. The idea of software security, though
compelling, was a new one in the commercial software world. After a decade
of hard work, we are pleased with the progress the field has made. Business
numbers <http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1237978>  from the
field provide objective evidence of the tremendous growth software security
is experiencing.

By 2006, a critical point was realized in software security with the
publication of two books describing what kinds of activities an organization
should carry out in order to build secure software (Software
<http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321356705>  Security and
The Security <http://safari.informit.com/0735622140>  Development
Lifecycle). Today, over 20 large-scale software security inititives are
underway in organizations as diverse as multi-national banks, independent
software vendors, the U.S. Air Force, and embedded systems manufacturers.

Over the years we have come to know that getting security right requires
more than just the technical chops necessary to do things like create a
better sorting algorithm. Security encompasses business, social, and
organization aspects as well.

Our aim with the software security framework is to capture an overall
high-level understanding that encompasses all of the leading software
security initiatives. Note that individually these initiatives follow
different methodologies (including the top three mentioned above or a
homegrown approach). Regardless of methodology, we have identified a number
of common domains and practices shared by most software security
initiatives. Our SSF provides a common vocabulary for describing the most
important elements of a software security initiative, thereby allowing us to
compare initiatives that apply different methodologies, operate at different
scales, or create different work products.

Software security is the result of many activities. People, process, and
automation are all required. The SSF allows us to discuss them all without
becoming mired in details. To that end, we believe a simple approach that
gets to the heart of the matter trumps an exhastive approach with a
Byznantine result.

The table below shows the SSF. There are twelve practices organized into
four domains. The domains are:

*       Governance: Those practices that help organize, manage, and measure
a software security inititive. Staff development is also a central
governance practice.
*       Intelligence: Practices that result in collections of corporate
knowledge used in carrying out software security activities throughout the
organization. Collections include both proactive security guidance and
organizational threat modelling.
*       SDL Touchpoints: Practices associated with analysis and assurance of
particular software development artifacts and processes. All software
security methodologies include these practices.
*       Deployment: Practices that interface with traditional network
security and software maintenance organizations. Software configuration,
maintenance, and other environment issues have direct impact on software
security.


Governance

Intelligence

SDL Touchpoints

Deployment


Strategy and Metrics

Attack Models

Architecture Analysis

Penetration Testing


Compliance and Policy

Security Features and Design

Code Review

Software Environment


Training

Standards and Requirements

Security Testing

Configuration Management and Vulnerability Management

There are three practices under each domain. We are currently in the process
of fleshing out a maturity model for each practice. To provide some idea of
what a practice entails, we include a one or two sentence explanation of
each.

In the governance domain, the strategy and metrics practice encompasses
planning, assigning roles and responsibilities, identifying software
security goals, determining budgets, and identifying metrics and gates. The
compliance and policy practice is focused on identifying controls for
compliance regimens such as PCI and HIPAA, developing contractual controls
such as Service Level Agreements to help control COTS software risk, setting
organizational software security policy, and auditing against that policy.
Training has always played a critical role in software security because
software developers and architects often start with very little security
knowledge.

The intelligence domain is meant to create organization-wide resources.
Those resources are divided into three practices. Attack models capture
information used to think like an attacker: theat modelling, abuse case
development and refinement, data classification, and technology-specific
attack patterns. The security features and design practice is charged with
creating usable security patterns for major security controls (meeting the
standards defined in the next practice), building middleware frameworks for
those controls, and creating and publishing other proactive security
guidance. The standards and requirements practice involves eliciting
explicit security requirements from the organization, determining which COTS
to recommend, building standards for major security controls (such as
authentication, input validation, and so on), creating security standards
for technologies in use, and creating a standards review board.

The SDL Touchpoints domain is probably the most familiar of the four. This
domain includes essential software security best practices that are
integrated into the SDLC. The two most important software security practices
are architecture analysis and code review. Architecture analysis encompasses
capturing software architecture in concise diagrams, applying lists of risks
and threats, adopting a process for review (such as STRIDE or Architectural
Risk Analysis), and building an assessment and remediation plan for the
organization. The code review practice includes use of code review tools,
development of customized rules, profiles for tool use by different roles
(for example, developers versus analysts), manual analysis, and
tracking/measuring results. The security testing practice is concerned with
pre-release testing including integrating security into standard quality
assurance processes. The practice includes use of black box security tools
(including fuzz testing) as a smoke test in QA, risk driven white box
testing, application of the attack model, and code coverage analysis.
Security testing focuses on vulnerabilities in construction.

By contrast, the penetration testing practice involves more standard outside
→in testing of the sort carried out by security specialists. Penetration
testing focuses on vulerabilities in final configuration, and provides
direct feeds to defect management and mitigation. The software environment
practice concerns itself with OS and platform patching, Web application
firewalls, installation and configuration documentation, application
monitoring, change management, and ultimately code signing. Finally, the
configuration management and vulnerability management practice concerns
itself with patching and updating applications, version control, defect
tracking and remediation, incident handling, and security signoff by the
PMO.


Science and pragmatism


As you can see, the SSF covers lots of ground, and the practices deserve a
more detailed treatment. The next step is to create a maturity model based
on the SSF that reflects reality.

A maturity model is appropriate because improving software security almost
always means changing the way an organization works -- something that
doesn't happen overnight. We aim to create a way to assess the state of an
organization, prioritize changes, and demonstrate progress. We understand
that not all organizations need to achieve the same security goals, but we
believe all organizations can be measured with the same yardstick.

One could build a maturity model for software security theoretically (by
pondering what organizations should do) or one could build a maturity model
by understanding what a set of distinct organizations have already done
successfully. The latter approach is both scientific and grounded in the
real world, and it is the one we are taking with the SSF. Towards that end,
we have scheduled fact-finding interviews with executives in charge of ten
of the top software security initiatives. Once we have gathered and
processed data from those interviews, we will construct a realistic maturity
model.

NOTE

This article describes a joint project of Cigital and Fortify Software.
Thanks to Pravir Chandra who built a draft maturity model and thereby
sparked this project. Thanks to John Steven for building the first software
security framework described in Chapter 10 of Software <http://www.informit.
com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321356705>  Security. Thanks to Sammy Migues,
Roger Thornton and Cigital's SSG for helping us hammer out the SSF
described here.

 

 

 

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