A Formal Application of Safety and Risk Assessment in Software Systems
Abstract
The current state of the art techniques of Software Engineering lack a formal method and metric for measuring the safety index of a software system. The lack of such a methodology has resulted in a series of highly publicized and costly catastrophic failures of high assurance software systems. This dissertation introduces a formal method for identifying and evaluating the weaknesses in a software system using a more precise metric, counter to traditional methods of development that have proven unreliable. This metric utilizes both a qualitative and quantitative approach employing principles of statistics and probability to determine the level of safety, likelihood of hazardous events, and the economic cost benefit of correcting flaws through the lifecycle of a software system. This dissertation establishes benefits in the fields of Software Engineering of high assurance systems, improvements in Software Safety and Software Reliability, and an expansion within the discipline of Software Economics and Management.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA427219
Entities
People
- Christopher L. Williamson
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School