Secure Coding mailing list archives

"Bumper sticker" definition of secure software


From: thesp0nge at gmail.com (Paolo Perego)
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 16:32:12 +0200

Hi list, I'll introduce myself with a claim:
"Software is like Titanic, pleople claim it was unsinkable. Securing is
providing it power steering"

thesp0nge

On 7/18/06, Gadi Evron <ge at linuxbox.org> wrote:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006, Rajeev Gopalakrishna wrote:
Reliability is concerned only with accidental failures while security
has
to consider malicious attacks as well. The difference is in the intent
of
the software user: benign or malicious.

And for a bumper sticker, here is one for the pessimists:

"Secure Software is a Myth"

and another version for the skeptics:

"Is Secure Software a Myth?"

:)

Again, this would speak only to a very small percentage of the
population. You me, maybe 10K people around the world if we are generous.


-rajeev


On Mon, 17 Jul 2006, Peter G. Neumann wrote:

You suggest:

  Secure software is software that remains dependable despite efforts
to
  compromise its dependability.

You need a bigger-picture view that encompasses trustworthiness
and assurance.

"Dependable systems are systems that remain dependable despite
would-be compromises to their dependability."

"Trustworthy systems are systems that are worthy of being trusted
to satisfy their requirements (for security, reliability,
survivability,
safety, or whatever)."

Security is generally too narrow by itself, because a system that is
not reliable is not likely to be secure, especially when in
unreliability mode!

The principle of Keep It Simple is inherently unworkable with respect
to
security.  Security is inherently complex.  Trustworthiness is broader
and
even more complex.  But if you don't think about trustworthiness more
broadly, what you get is not likely to be very secure.

Forget the bumper sticker approach.

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AngeL core developer: http://www.sikurezza.org/angel
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