Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Podcast Series

In this SEI Podcast, Dr. Leigh Metcalf and Dr. Jonathan Spring, both researchers with the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute's CERT Division, discuss the application of scientific methods to cybersecurity. As described in their recently published book, Using Science in Cybersecurity, Metcalf and Spring describe a common-sense approach and practical tools for applying scientific rigor to the field of cybersecurity.

Zero trust adoption is a security initiative that an enterprise must understand, interpret, and implement. Enterprise security initiatives are never simple, and their goal to improve cybersecurity posture requires the alignment of multiple stakeholders, systems, acquisitions, and exponentially changing technology. This alignment is always a complex undertaking and requires cybersecurity strategy and engineering to succeed. In this SEI Podcast, Geoff Sanders, a senior network defense analyst in the CERT Division at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, discusses zero trust adoption and its benefits, applications, and available resources.

In this SEI Podcast, Dr. Eric Heim, a senior machine learning research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute (SEI), discusses the quantification of uncertainty in machine-learning (ML) systems. ML systems can make wrong predictions and give inaccurate estimates for the uncertainty of their predictions. It can be difficult to predict when their predictions will be wrong. Heim also discusses new techniques to quantify uncertainty, identify causes of uncertainty, and efficiently update ML models to reduce uncertainty in their predictions. The work of Heim and colleagues at the SEI Emerging Technology Center closes the gap between the scientific and mathematical advances from the ML research community and the practitioners who use the systems in real-life contexts, such as software engineers, software developers, data scientists, and system developers.

In this SEI Podcast, Aaron Greenhouse, a senior architecture researcher with Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, talks with principal researcher Suzanne Miller about use of the Bell–LaPadula mathematical security model in concert with the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) to model and validate confidentiality. Greenhouse and Miller also discuss 11 analysis rules that must be enforced over an AADL instance to ensure the consistency of a security model. Mapping Bell–LaPadula to AADL allows the expression of key concepts within the AADL model so that they can be analyzed automatically.

Nataliya (Natasha) Shevchenko and Mary Popeck, both senior researchers in the CERT Division at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, discuss the use of model-based systems engineering (MBSE), which, in contrast to document-centric engineering, puts models at the center of system design. MBSE is used to support the requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation associated with the development of complex systems.

Author Daniel H. Pink recently examined the factors that lead to job satisfaction among knowledge workers and summarized them in three components: autonomy, skill mastery, and purpose. In this SEI Podcast, Hasan Yasar, technical director of Continuous Deployment of Capability at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, relates these components to DevSecOps and summarizes a recent survey affirming that DevSecOps practices do indeed make developers and other stakeholders in their organizations happier.

In this SEI Podcast, digital transformation lead Dr. Rachel Dzombak and research scientist Carol Smith, both with the SEI's Emerging Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, discuss how AI Engineering can support organizations to implement AI systems. The conversation covers the steps that organizations need to take (as well as the hard conversations that need to occur) before they are AI ready.

The robustness and security of artificial intelligence, and specifically machine learning (ML), is of vital importance. Yet, ML systems are vulnerable to adversarial attacks. These can range from an attacker attempting to make the ML system learn the wrong thing (data poisoning), do the wrong thing (evasion attacks), or reveal the wrong thing (model inversion). Although there are several efforts to provide detailed taxonomies of the kinds of attacks that can be launched against a machine learning system, none are organized around operational concerns. In this podcast, Jonathan Spring, Nathan VanHoudnos, and Allen Householder, all researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, discuss the management of vulnerabilities in ML systems as well as the Adversarial ML Threat Matrix, which aims to close this gap between academic taxonomies and operational concerns.

In this SEI Podcast, Rachel Dzombak and Jay Palat discuss growth in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and how organizations can hire and train staff to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by AI and machine learning—and the critical need for an AI engineering discipline to grow the AI workforce.

DevSecOps is a set of principles and practices that provide faster delivery of secure software capabilities by improving the collaboration and communication between software development teams, IT operations, and security staff within an organization, as well as with acquirers, suppliers, and other stakeholders in the life of a software system. In this SEI podcast, Hasan Yasar, technical director of the Continuous Deployment of Capability group in the Software Solutions Division of the SEI, discusses the transition from DevOps to DevSecOps.

In this SEI Podcast, Keith Korzec discusses the Mission-Based Prioritization method for prioritizing Agile backlogs. This method overcomes the shortcomings of prioritization based on "weighted shortest job first" and utilizes objective, mission-focused criteria while allowing ongoing re-prioritization to be conducted with minimal overhead.

Digital engineering is an integrated digital approach that uses authoritative sources of systems data and models as a continuum across disciplines to support lifecycle activities from concept through disposal. With digital engineering, models are developed for everything, not just for software, but for all components of a system of systems, hardware and software. The models and associated data are stored in a singular repository of knowledge and are the single source that is used by all contractors and everyone working on the project. In this SEI Podcast, David Shepard, a researcher with the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, discusses digital engineering and its relationship with DevSecOps.

Brett Tucker, a technical manager for cyber risk in the SEI CERT Division, discusses the Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation for the Enterprise (OCTAVE FORTE) Model, which helps organizations evaluate security risks and use principles of enterprise risk management to bridge the gap between executives and practitioners. In this SEI Podcast, Tucker outlines OCTAVE FORTE's 10-step framework to guide organizations in managing risk.

If organizations take more steps to address security-related activities now, they will be less likely to encounter security incidents in the future. When it comes to application containers, security is achieved through adopting a series of best practices and guidelines. In this SEI Podcast, Tom Scanlon and Richard Laughlin, researchers with the SEI's CERT Division, discuss seven steps that developers can take to engineer security into ongoing and future container adoption efforts.

In this SEI Podcast, Marisa Midler and Tim Shimeall, network defense analysts within the SEI's CERT Division, discuss the growing problem of ransomware including the rise of ransomware as a service threats. Ransom payments from Quarter 3 of 2019 were on average $42,000, and in Quarter 1 of 2020, that average increased $70,000 to $112,000. The volume of attacks also increased by 25 percent in Quarter 4 of 2019 and by another 25 percent in Quarter 1 of 2020. The sophistication of the attacks has increased alongside their severity. Midler and Shimeall discuss steps and strategies that organizations can adopt to minimize their exposure to the risks and threats associated with ransomware.

Software vulnerability coordination at the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) has traditionally relied on a hub-and-spoke model, with reports submitted to analysts at the CERT/CC analysts who would then work with contact affected vendors. To scale communications and increase the level of collaboration between vulnerability reporters, coordinators, and software vendors, the CERT/CC team has created a web-based platform for software vulnerability reporting and coordination called the Vulnerability Information and Coordination Environment (VINCE). In this SEI Podcast, Emily Sarneso, the architect of VINCE, and Art Manion, technical manager of the Vulnerability Analysis Team in the SEI's CERT Division, discuss the rollout of VINCE, how to use it, and future work in vulnerability coordination.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced significant changes in enterprise work practices, including an increased use of telecommunications technologies required by the new work-from-home policies that most organizations have instituted in response. In this podcast, Phil Groce, a senior network defense analyst in the CERT Division of the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, discusses the security implications of this dramatic increase in the number of people in organizations who are working from home, examines the threats and vulnerabilities associated with the increase in remote work, and offers practical solutions to individuals and enterprises for operating securely in this new environment.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) suppliers defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute and architects of the model, discuss the CMMC assessment guides, how they were developed, and how they can be used.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) suppliers defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, architects of the CMMC model and researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, discuss the Level 3 Assessment Guide for the CMMC and how it differs from the Level 1 Assessment Guide.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) suppliers defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, architects of the CMMC model, discuss the Level 1 Assessment Guide for the CMMC.

Authority to Operate (ATO) is a process that certifies a system to operate for a certain period of time by evaluating the risk of the system's security controls. ATO is based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Risk Management Framework (NIST 800-37). In this podcast, Shane Ficorilli and Hasan Yasar, both with the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, discuss continuous ATO, including challenges, the role of DevSecOps, and cultural issues that organizations must address.

A pervasive belief in software engineering is that some programmers are much, much better than others (the times-10, or 10x, programmer), and that the skills, abilities, and talents of these programmers exert an outsized influence on that organizations' success or failure. Bill Nichols, a researcher with the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, recently examined the veracity and relevance of this widely held notion. Using data from a study conducted at the SEI, Nichols found evidence that not only challenges the idea that some programmers are inherently far more skilled or productive than others but that the truth if far more nuanced.

Many organizations use the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) to prioritize actions during vulnerability management. This podcast—which highlights the latest work in prioritizing actions during vulnerability management—presents a testable Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization (SSVC) that avoids some problems with CVSS. SSVC takes the form of decision trees for different vulnerability management communities. During this podcast, CERT vulnerability researchers Eric Hatleback, Allen Householder, and Jonathan Spring discuss SSVC and also take audience members through a sample scoring vulnerability.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) suppliers defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, architects of the CMMC model, discuss the Level 5 process maturity requirements, which are standardizing and optimizing a documented approach for CMMC.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) suppliers defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, architects of the CMMC model, discuss reviewing and communicating CMMC activities and measuring those activities for effectiveness, which are requirements of Level 4 of the model.

Situational awareness makes it possible to get relevant information from across an organization, to integrate that information, and to disseminate it to help leaders make more informed decisions. In this SEI Podcast, Angela Horneman and Timothy Morrow, researchers in the SEI's CERT Division, discuss the importance of looking beyond the network to acquire situational awareness for cybersecurity.

While actual quantum computers are available from several different companies, we are currently in the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era. Working in the NISQ era presents a number of challenges, and the SEI is working to use NISQ devices not only to solve specific mission applications for the Department of Defense, but also to help determine when they will demonstrate so-called quantum advantage: a quantum computer solving a problem of practical interest faster than a classical computer. In this episode, the latest from the SEI Podcast Series, Dr. Jason Larkin, a researcher in the SEI's Emerging Technology Center, discusses the challenges of working in the NISQ era and the work that the SEI is doing in this area. Dr. Larkin also provides a list of resources in quantum computing.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) suppliers defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, architects of the CMMC model, discuss how assessed DIB organizations are scored according to the model.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, architects of the CMMC model, present guidelines for developing an effective CMMC policy.

The culture of computers and information technology changes quickly. The Future of Cyber Podcast series explores the future of cyber and whether we can use the innovations of the past to address the problems of the future. In our latest episode, Bobbie Stempfley, director of the SEI's CERT Division, interviews Dr. Diana Burley, executive director and chair of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection, or I3P, and vice provost for research at American University. Their discussion focused on educating the cybersecurity workforce in a way that closes the gap between what students are taught in school and the skills they'll need to use in the workplace.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, architects of the CMMC model, discuss process documentation, a Level 2 requirement.

Software development is shifting to incremental delivery to meet the demand for software quicker and at lower costs. With the current cyber threat climate, the demand for cybersecurity is growing but existing compliance processes focus on a completed product and do not support incremental delivery. Cybersecurity must be carefully woven into each increment deliver results with sufficient security and quality. Previous SEI research has shown that improved quality results in improved cybersecurity. In this SEI Podcast, Dr. Carol Woody and Will Hayes discuss an approach that allows organizations to integrate cybersecurity into the agile pipeline.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from Defense Industrial Base (DIB) entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all the CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, architects of the CMMC model, discuss CMMC Levels 1-3 and what steps organizations need to take to move beyond NIST 800-171.

For more than 30 years, the cybersecurity community has worked to increase the effectiveness of our cybersecurity and resilience efforts. Today we face an explosion of devices, the pervasiveness of software, the threat of adversarial capability, and the dependence of national capabilities on the cyber domain. These challenges demand that we think about how to achieve the future we need, which is the subject of a new series of podcasts, The Future of Cyber. In this episode, Bobbie Stempfley, director of the CERT Division of the SEI, explores the future of secure coding with Steve Lipner, the executive director of SAFECode and former director of software security at Microsoft, where he created Microsoft's Security Development Lifecycle.

In this SEI podcast, Hasan Yasar and Jose Morales discuss challenges to implementing DevOps in highly regulated environments (HREs), exploring issues such as environment parity, the approval process, and compliance. This podcast is the second to explore DevOps in HREs.

The culture of computers and information technology evolves quickly. In this environment, how can we build a culture of security through regulations and best practices when technology can move so much faster than legislative bodies? The Future of Cyber Podcast Series explores whether we can use the innovations of the past to address the problems of the future. In this SEI Podcast, David Hickton, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security, sits down with Bobbie Stempfley, director of the SEI's CERT Division, to talk about the future of cybercrime.

Artificially intelligent (AI) systems hold great promise to empower us with knowledge and enhance human effectiveness. As a senior research scientist in human-machine interaction at the Software Engineering Institute's Emerging Technology Center, Carol Smith works to further understand how humans and machines can better collaborate to solve important problems and also understand our responsibilities and how that work continues once AI systems are operational. In this podcast, Smith discusses a framework that builds upon the importance of diverse teams and ethical standards to ensure that AI systems are trustworthy and able to effectively augment warfighters.

In this podcast, Allen Householder and David Warren discuss the CERT Guide to Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure, which is intended for use by security researchers, software vendors, and other stakeholders in navigating the complexities of informing others about security vulnerabilities.

Computers and information technology are getting more and more integrated into our daily lives, so they need to be easy to use. But recent, historically large data breaches have demonstrated the need to make systems more secure and to protect information about individuals. How will the security−privacy−usability triangle successfully accommodate the challenges that the future will bring? In this podcast, Dr. Lorrie Faith Cranor, director of CyLab, sits down with Bobbie Stempfley, director of the SEI's CERT Division, to talk about the future of cyber in security and privacy.

For more than 30 years, the cybersecurity community has worked to increase the effectiveness of our cybersecurity and resilience efforts. Today we face an explosion of devices, the pervasiveness of software, the threat of adversarial capability, and the dependence of national capabilities on the cyber domain. These challenges demand that we think about how to achieve the future we need. In this podcast, the first in a series exploring The Future of Cyber, Bobbie Stempfley, director of the CERT Division of the SEI, and Dr. Michael McQuade, vice-president for research at Carnegie Mellon University, explore past and present technologies that have helped to secure our digital infrastructure and how past advancements will help us secure future architectures.

In this podcast, Jeff Gennari and Cory Cohen discuss updates to the Pharos Binary Analysis Framework in GitHub, including a new plug-in to import OOAnalyzer analysis into the NSA's recently released Ghidra software reverse engineering tool suite.

Successful management of incidents that threaten an organization's computer security is a complex endeavor. Frequently an organization's primary focus is on the response aspects of security incidents, which results in its failure to manage incidents beyond simply reacting to threatening events. In this SEI Podcast, Robin Ruefle and Mark Zajicek discuss recent work that provides a baseline or benchmark of incident management practices for an organization and detail how important it is to focus on preparation for incident management along with coordination and communication of analysis and response activities.

April Galyardt, Angela Horneman, and Jonathan Spring discuss seven key questions that managers and decision makers should ask about machine learning to effectively solve cybersecurity problems.

Solving the technical aspects isn't enough to build reliable, enduring, resilient software and systems. Human decision making, behavioral factors, and cultural factors influence software engineering, acquisition, and cybersecurity. In this podcast roundtable, Andrew Mellinger, Suzanne Miller, and Hasan Yasar discuss the human factors that impact software engineering, from communication tools they use to the environment that they work in.

In this podcast, the authors discuss a 2019 paper that outlines challenges with the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) and proposes changes to improve it.

Today's major defense systems rely heavily on software-enabled capabilities. However, many defense programs acquiring new systems first determine the physical items to develop, assuming the contractors for those items will provide all needed software for the capability. But software by its nature spans physical items: it provides the inter-system communication that has a direct influence on most capabilities, and thus must be architected intelligently, especially when pieces are built by different contractors. As Dr. Sarah Sheard discusses in this SEI Podcast, if this architecture step is not done properly, a software-reliant project can be set up to fail from the first architectural decision.

The Software Assurance Framework (SAF) is a collection of cybersecurity practices that programs can apply across the acquisition lifecycle and supply chain. The SAF can be used to assess an acquisition program's current cybersecurity practices and chart a course for improvement, ultimately reducing the cybersecurity risk of deployed, software-reliant systems. In this podcast, Dr. Carol Woody discusses the selection of metrics for measuring the software assurance of a product as it is developed and delivered to function in a specific system context.

In 2017 and 2018, the world witnessed a record number of climate and weather-related disasters. Government agencies are increasingly interested in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help first responders in locating survivors, identifying structures in satellite imagery, and removing debris after a disaster. Ritwik Gupta, a machine learning research scientist in the SEI's Emerging Technology Center, discusses the use of AI in humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) efforts.

Classifying errors in a component-based system is challenging. Components, and the systems that rely on them, can fail in myriad, unpredictable ways. It is nonetheless a challenge that should be addressed because component-based, software-driven systems are increasingly used for safety-critical applications. In this podcast, SEI researchers Peter Feiler and Sam Procter present the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) EMV2 Error Library, which is an established taxonomy that draws on a broad range of previous work in classifying system errors.

In this SEI Podcast, Dr. Giulia Fanti, an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses her latest research including privacy problems in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space and generative adversarial networks.