The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is asking software analysis experts and mission owners to work with several government agencies to identify research priorities to help address the national gap in software understanding.
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In a blog post published Wednesday, CISA said it is working on the initiative with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Security Agency, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the National Nuclear Security Agency.
CISA noted that it is leading an interagency effort to improve the ability to build and analyze software to understand its safety, security, and functionality before using it.
According to the post, having an adequate capacity for software understanding could enable the U.S. to strengthen critical infrastructure against state-sponsored activity and gain an advantage in geopolitics.
‘Closing the Software Understanding Gap’ Report
In January, CISA, DARPA, OUSD R&E and NSA released a report outlining recommended actions to address the software understanding gap.
The report Closing the Software Understanding Gap recommended implementing policies that require characterizing software behavior before it is deployed into critical systems. The document also called for using artificial intelligence and other technologies to develop reliable and affordable capabilities.
