As software size, complexity, and interconnectedness has grown, software modernization within the Department of Defense (DoD) has become more important than ever. In this discussion moderated by Matthew Butkovic, technical director of risk and resilience in the SEI CERT Division, SEI director Paul Nielsen outlines the SEI’s work with the DoD on software modernization, including controlling the attack surface, incorporating industry practices such as DevSecOps, and the interplay between software, cybersecurity, and AI.

Containerization allows developers to run individual software applications in an isolated, controlled, repeatable way. With the increasing prevalence of cloud computing environments, containers are providing more and more of their underlying architecture. In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Sasank Venkata Vishnubhatla and Maxwell Trdina, both engineers in the SEI CERT Division, sit down with Tim Chick, technical manager of the Applied Systems Group, to explore issues surrounding containerization, including recent vulnerabilities. 

Software cost estimation is an important first step when beginning a project. It addresses important questions regarding budget, staffing, scheduling, and determining if the current environment will support the project. In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Anandi Hira, a data scientist on the SEI’s Software Engineering Measurement and Analysis team sits down with Bill Nichols, principal engineer and SEI data science team lead, to discuss software cost estimation including various metrics, best practices, and common challenges when developing or building a model.

One of the biggest challenges in collecting cybersecurity metrics is scoping down objectives and determining what kinds of data to gather. In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Bill Nichols, who leads the SEI’s Software Engineering Measurements and Analysis Group, discusses the importance of cybersecurity measurement, what kinds of measurements are used in cybersecurity, and what those metrics can tell us about cyber systems.

To make secure software by design a reality, engineers must intentionally build security throughout the software development lifecycle. In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Timothy A. Chick, technical manager of the Applied Systems Group in the SEI’s CERT Division, discusses building, designing, and operating secure systems.

Harmful biases in large language models (LLMs) make AI less trustworthy and secure. Auditing for biases can help identify potential solutions and develop better guardrails to make AI safer. In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Katie Robinson and Violet Turri, researchers in the SEI’s AI Division, discuss their recent work using role-playing game scenarios to identify biases in LLMs.

In the wake of widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in critical infrastructure, education, government, and national security entities, adversaries are working to disrupt these systems and attack AI-enabled assets. With nearly four decades in vulnerability management, the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI) recognized a need to create an entity that would identify, research, and identify mitigation strategies for AI vulnerabilities to protect national assets against traditional cybersecurity, adversarial machine learning, and joint cyber-AI attacks. In this SEI podcast, Lauren McIlvenny, director of threat analysis in the SEI’s CERT Division, discusses best practices and lessons learned in standing up an AI Security Incident Response Team (AISIRT).  

The exposed and public nature of application programming interfaces (APIs) come with risks including the increased network attack surface. Zero trust principles are helpful for mitigating these risks and making APIs more secure. In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI), McKinley Sconiers-Hasan, a solutions engineer in the SEI CERT Division, discusses three API risks and how to address them through the lens of zero trust.  

Capability-Based Planning (CBP) defines a framework that has an all-encompassing view of existing abilities and future needs for strategically deciding what is needed and how to effectively achieve it. Both business and government acquisition domains use CBP for financial success or to design a well-balanced defense system. The definitions understandably vary across these domains. In this SEI podcast, Anandi Hira, a data scientist, and William R. Nichols, an initiative lead for Software Engineering Measurement and Analysis, introduce CBP and its use and application in software acquisition.