This glossary contains a list of terms relevant to the Risk Management Framework. The terms defined here are general and are not tied only to the RMF.
architectural risk assessment
A representation of system risks that exist in the software architecture, including design flaws that directly impact the security of the software. This includes a measurement of impact according to the business situation, an understanding of attacker resources, and likely attack patterns. Sometimes this activity is called threat modeling (though this is a misuse of the term threat according to the security literature).
A product or byproduct of the software development process. Examples include source code, architecture diagrams, requirements documents, a written test plan, results of code reviews, and a report of test results. Analysis of artifacts can provide evidence of a system's quality with respect to various attributes, such as security.
A review of system security (or software security) in order to provide assurance that the system's security posture is adequate. Comprehensive auditing is a good security practice, but specific kinds of auditing may also be mandated by government, regulatory, or contractual considerations. During software development, this term is often used to refer to a code review or to an architectural risk assessment. In an operational environment, auditing refers to a review of security logs or other data collected during ongoing monitoring of operations to identify actual or attempted security breaches and to evaluate the quality of a system?s security. Such auditing should be done frequently, but, unlike intrusion detection approaches, auditing is typically not expected to be a real-time activity.
A software security defect that can be detected locally through static analysis.
A manual or automated review of computer software, usually source code.
An implementation or design vulnerability. A defect may lie dormant in software for years and then surface in a fielded system with major consequences.
Federal Information Processing Standard; a set of standards, sometimes related to security, from NIST.
A software security defect at the architecture or design level. Flaws may not be apparent given only source code of a software system.
The International Electrotechnical Commission, founded in 1906. The IEC develops global standards in all areas of electrotechnology. http://www.iec.ch
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a division of the United States Department of Commerce. NIST issues guidelines and standards for computer security. http://www.nist.gov
Flaws and bugs lead to risk. Risks are not failures. Risks capture the probability that a flaw or a bug will impact the purpose of the software. Risk measures also take into account the potential damage that can occur. A very high risk is not only likely to happen but also likely to cause great harm. Risks can be managed by technical and non-technical means.
See architectural risk assessment.
An actor or agent who exploits security vulnerabilities and risks.
See architectural risk assessment.
A defect or weakness in system security procedure, design, implementation, or internal control that an attacker can exploit. A vulnerability can exist in one or more of the components making up a system, even if those components aren't necessarily involved with security functionality.
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