Dear friends of SIGAda:
The DC SIGAda will have a presentation next Thursday, 10 October. Chuck
Howell from the MITRE Corporation will be speaking on "Structured
Argumentation Support for Information Assurance". I realize that most of
you are not local to the area, but if you are in town, you are very
welcome to attend. Also, should you know of anyone local to the DC area
who might be interested in attending, you might want to forward this
announcement to them. Thank you,
v/r
Currie Colket
Chair ACM SIGAda
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Announcement follows:
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Attention:
To Members and Friends of DC SIGAda
Next Meeting:
Thursday, 10 October 2002, 7:30 P.M. (Refreshments and
Social at 7:00 P.M.) at the new MITRE2 Building in McLean,
Virginia. DC SIGAda and Baltimore SIGAda will feature the
following presentation:
Title:
Structured Argumentation Support for Information
Assurance
Abstract:
Software is increasingly used in systems, which may (should the
software malfunction) threaten life, health, national security, the
environment, or the economy. Often, when software-intensive
safety-critical or security-critical systems are specified, there
are
associated regulations, standards of practice, or acquisition
guidelines that explicitly call for the development and
maintenance of some sort of "assurance argument". The
assurance argument lays out the evidence for accepting the
system as adequate with respect to specific risks.
We use the phrase "assurance argument" broadly; in some
contexts it may be called a safety argument, a certification case,
an assurance case, or something similar. Examples of domains
where an assurance argument may be required include:
U.S. DOD weapons systems (MIL-STD 882D and a
safety case)
Civilian avionics (DO-178B and a certification case)
Security-critical systems (the Common Criteria and an
assurance case)
It is essential that the framework for developing and assessing
assurance arguments be effective, since it is the basis for
making critical decisions about software systems where the
consequences of failure may be substantial. But it is equally
important for the framework to be efficient - that is, to require
resources appropriate to the size and nature of the software
being assessed. Otherwise, when software is developed in
safety-critical or security-critical contexts, the costs and
constraints of making the assurance argument can overwhelm
those for the software development itself. A framework for
assurance arguments includes a description of what assurance is
required for the system, how the case will be made that the
required confidence is justified, what evidence is to be gathered,
and how the evidence will be combined and evaluated. Some
such frameworks exist and are being used. However, it is our
observation that, in general, frameworks for assurance
arguments could be much improved.
This talk will describe the rationale and current issues for
various kinds of assurance arguments, and then describe some
research MITRE is pursuing related to assurance arguments.
Presenter:
Chuck Howell is consulting engineer for software assurance in
the Center for Innovative Computing and Informatics at the
MITRE Corporation. The Center focuses on exploring,
evaluating, and applying advanced information technologies in
critical systems for a wide range of organizations. He is the
coauthor of Solid Software (Prentice Hall, 2001). His current
interests include techniques to calibrate and reduce residual
doubt about the behavior of critical systems, and approaches to
making large Networked Information Systems more robust (i.e.,
less fragile). He is the chair of a DARPA Panel developing a
research agenda for Building Trustworthy Systems, and the
Principal Investigator for a MITRE research project on High
Confidence Software. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and
a member of the ACM.
Chuck Howell
Consulting Engineer
The MITRE Corporation
Mailstop W643
7515 Colshire Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102-7508
Phone: +1 (703) 883-7615
Email: [log in to unmask]
Venue/Directions
MITRE2
Room 1N100 A/B
The MITRE Corporation
7515 Colshire Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102-7508
Directions:
MITRE2 is on Colshire Drive just inside the beltway south of
Route 123. Colshire Road is known as "Scotts Xing" on the
North side of Route 123.
Colshire Road is located on Route 123, East of I-495 and West
of the Dulles Access Highway.
Going Northbound on 123 from I-495, Colshire Road is
located 2 stoplights on the right.
Going Southbound on 123 from the Dulles Access
Highway, Colshire Road is located at the first stoplight on
the left.
Once on Colshire Road, MITRE2 is the building immediately in
front of you. A tiny traffic circle is designed to take you to the
front of MITRE2 and to MITRE1 (the Hayes Building). The
directions below route you to the parking garage behind the
MITRE2 Building. This is a logical left-hand turn at the traffic
circle. After the turn, MITRE2 will be on your right.
From I-495 south of Route 123 (Dolley Madison Boulevard):
1. Take Exit 46B (McLean, Route 123);
2. Go North onto Route 123;
3. Turn right onto Colshire Drive (at second light);
4. Take third right off of the small traffic circle;
(a logical left hand turn);
5. Proceed ~ 50 meters; Turn right into parking garage.
6. Visitor Parking is located on Levels 2 and 3
(the walkway to the lobby is on Parking Level 2)
7. If door is locked, contact Security using phone by door
(at entrance to MITRE2 from the Parking Garage)
8. Check in with Security at Security desk in lobby
(You will need a photo ID)
From Dulles Access Toll Road or I-495 north of the Dulles
Access Toll Road:
1. Take the Dulles Airport Access and Toll Road to Exit
19;
(From I-495, this is labeled "To East I-66");
2. Take Exit 19A;
(following signs to Route 123 South, Tysons Corner);
3. Bear right onto Route 123 (towards Tysons Corner)
4. Turn left onto Colshire Drive (at first light);
5. Take third right off of the small traffic circle;
(a logical left hand turn);
6. Proceed ~ 50 meters; Turn right into parking garage.
7. Visitor Parking is located on Levels 2 and 3
(the walkway to the lobby is on Parking Level 2)
8. If door is locked, contact Security using phone by door
(at entrance to MITRE2 from the Parking Garage)
9. Check in with Security at Security desk in lobby
(You will need a photo ID)
To obtain a map of MITRE2 Building and the MITRE Campus,
visit =>
http://www.acm.org/sigada/locals/dc/Directions_MITRE2.html.
Please Put on Your Calendar
The next two meetings are:
Tuesday, 14 November will be the next Baltimore SIGAda
meeting.
Thursday, 9 January 2003 will be the next DC SIGAda
Chapter meeting.
DC SIGAda Home Page and Maillist
Please visit the DC SIGAda Web site at
http://www.acm.org/sigada/locals/dc/ for additional information.
Please provide suggestions on the Web site and its contents. We
are particularly interested in ways the DC SIGAda Home Page
can serve you better.
Consider subscribing to our e-mail list. Simply send an email to:
[log in to unmask]
with the body containing:
subscribe SIGAda-DC Your Name
To be removed from the list, send an email request to:
[log in to unmask]
with the body containing:
signoff SIGAda-DC
Business:
We will have light foods and refreshment at 7:00. The meeting
begins at 7:30 pm.
Many thanks to all earlier participants, contributors, speakers,
advisors, and friends, who are involved in helping to produce
and attend the meetings.
Please forward this message to people who might be interested
in attending. We welcome all new members as our attendance
and interests grow.
Consider registering for inclusion on our e-mail list. Registration
instructions are provided on the DC SIGAda Web site.
Jeff Castellow, Chair, DC SIGAda
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