Software Recommendation memo

Beginwith an investigation of supply chain risk management (SCRM). SCRM is the implementation of strategies to manage risks associated with the selection, installation, implementation and use of products with the goal of reducing vulnerabilities and assuring secure operations. It is important to understand SCRM in order to make informed decisions regarding the selection of products.

Review Supply chain risk management concepts and theories.

As you read about SCRM, document the following:

• SCRM best practices—Identify best practices and successful implementation. Describe supply chain risk management practices and the software risk analysis process.
• SCRM threats—List and describe supply-chain cybersecurity threats and the technologies and policies that can be used to mitigate the threats.
• SCRM challenges—Determine the SCRM challenges in your organization given its business and culture and the concerns that John cited during your meeting. Evaluate the various approaches to developing secure code in a cost-effective manner in light of your organization’s Software Assurance needs and expectations, software assurance objectives, and software assurance coding and development plan. You will want to optimize the effectiveness of your software procurement by addressing early on your organization’s information security requirements and risk management in the supply chain germane to your workplace.

The Software development life cycle (SDLC) is a process used to develop, maintain, replace, and change software. The overall purpose of SDLC is to improve the quality of software through the development and implementation process. (Review Systems Software, Application Software, Software Interaction and Programming if you do not already have a working understanding of these topics.)

As part of your assessment, include the following information:

• Note how various entities are currently utilizing SDLC to implement software.
• Identify and take note of successful implementations, describing the results.
• Identify software development methodologies for common software applications and cybersecurity standards organizations.

Now you are ready to guide your own organization through the process of developing software.

You start by considering the needs of your organization. Currently, the accounting month-end closing procedures involve extracting data from the accounting database into spreadsheets, running macros within the spreadsheets, uploading new data into the accounting database, and emailing generated spreadsheet reports and word processing memos. Brenda, the Director of Accounting Systems, would like this process automated without putting financial data at risk during or after the implementation. (Review Databases for operational data, Database Management Systems, and How a DBMS works if you do not already have a working understanding of these topics.)

Based on this need’s analysis, you decide to focus on the SDLC maintenance phase:

• Identify the factors key to successful maintenance and the implementation of this phase.
• Identify potential obstacles to success and ways to anticipate and mitigate them.

Businesses depend on the safe operations of systems. The level of confidence a business or other entity has that its software is free from vulnerabilities is referred to as Software Assurance (SwA). As the final step before your assessment, research SwA and other topics related to preventing and fixing software vulnerabilities.

In your research, make sure to complete the following:

• Evaluate the major steps, underlying theory, and relative usefulness of software security testing, white box and black box software security testing, the Common Criteria/Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme (CCEVS), and the Common Criteria (CC) for Information Technology Security Evaluation.
• Identify and evaluate state and federal cybersecurity policies underlying the application, scope, and selection of secure software development methodologies.
• Determine when to perform a risk analysis.
• Evaluate security concerns that arise during the acceptance phase of software development.
• Describe the testing and validation process from a cybersecurity policy standpoint.
• Identify the ways in which SwA ensures trustworthiness, predictable execution, and conformance.
• Identify SwA best practices.
• Identify innovations in the provision of SwA that you have found in your research.

Whether you are developing or purchasing software, the key to successful software installation and use is a maintenance plan that ensures updates are implemented in a timely manner and that guards against improper uses which could jeopardize the integrity of the software. Using key tenets of the maintenance elements of the SLDC, develop a software maintenance plan. In preparation for the development of your maintenance plan, you will need to do the following:

• Describe the software, the features, and the security improvements.
• Develop a schedule to implement the recommended software.
• Identify potential impacts to mission, risks, and likelihood of success.

Question

write your memo recommending an approach to software acquisition for the organization. Address it to procurement, with coordination through the chief information officer. This memo will educate leadership on the importance of making the right software decisions for the organization, so the memo will describe the software development life cycle (SDLC) and its applicability to the current needs of your organization. The two-page memorandum should accomplish the following:

• Articulate the software needs of the organization.
• Identify the software options that best meet the organization’s needs.
• Make a recommendation for your organization supported by a rationale.
• Describe the key attributes of the software development life cycle (SDLC).
• Describe the weaknesses of commonly used software (word processing, spreadsheets, email platforms).
• Identify any known risks of your recommendation and describe supply chain risk management your organization could implement.
• Detail the costs involved in your recommendation.
• Cite contract language that would be used to ensure that supply chain, system, network, and operational security were met.