Investigating Advances in the Acquisition of Secure Systems Based on Open Architectures

Abstract

This report presents results from a continuing investigation of techniques for reducing the acquisition costs of complex software systems. It investigates how the interaction between system requirements and software architecture can either increase or decrease the cost of software system acquisition. Software architecture modeling techniques, notational schemes, and formal logic that support construction of open architecture systems using proprietary and open source software components are developed. Such capabilities allow for increased flexibility for how best to satisfy system requirements such as security policies and intellectual property strategies through alternative software architectures. This flexibility accommodates different components and system configurations in ways that help reduce system acquisition costs.