The Software Assurance (SwA) Competency Model was developed to create a foundation for assessing and advancing the capability of software assurance professionals. To help organizations and individuals determine SwA competency across a range of knowledge areas and units, this model provides a span of competency levels 1 through 5, as well as a decomposition into individual competencies based on knowledge and skills. This model also provides a framework for an organization to adapt the model’s features to the organization’s particular domain, culture, or structure. Download the report.

ThreadStrong's Secure Application Development E-Learning Classes

Denim Group donated its ThreadStrong secure software development courses to U.S. universities to help students learn how to build more secure software. According to Denim Group’s press release, students of universities who offer these e-learning courses learn how to “mitigate complex threats presented by a variety of software development languages, including mobile platforms such as Android and Apple's iOS. By taking security into account at the beginning of a software development project, these students can then avoid the common trap of unknowingly introducing security vulnerabilities into their software. These courses also demonstrate how to strike a real-world balance between functionality and security to enable a secure and agile enterprise that can protect its information while exceeding business performance goals.” The press release includes this information for universities to begin offering the courses at no charge: “ThreadStrong licensing is being donated to all eligible accredited universities and offers unlimited access to all available course materials enabling each student to review the training classes even after training is complete to refresh their knowledge. Universities are encouraged to contact Denim Group at (210) 572-4400 or at http://www.threadstrong.com/educational_partners.html to apply for a ThreadStrong complimentary license.”

The IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) have recognized the Master of Software Assurance (MSwA) Reference Curriculum as appropriate for a master’s program in software assurance. This formal recognition signifies to the educational community that the MSwA Reference Curriculum is suitable for creating graduate programs or tracks in software assurance. The IEEE-CS and ACM have developed several computing curricula and are community leaders in curricula development. This MSwA curriculum includes focused curriculum recommendations for software assurance—the first curriculum developed for this specific field. [Read the IEEE press release...]

The Software Assurance (SwA) Education Project team is looking for materials to share with educators interested in adopting elements of the software assurance curricula. The team has developed the Master of Software Assurance (MSwA) Reference Curriculum that can be used to establish a graduate program or track, syllabi to support the development of courses to be used in an MSwA curriculum, undergraduate SwA course outlines, and SwA community college courses. While these materials can help educators get started in SwA education, more resources are needed to support wider adoption of undergraduate and graduate SwA courses, programs, and tracks. The team is seeking materials related to software assurance, including case studies, homework assignments, examples, lecture slides, and notes.

Authors will retain their own copyright. Materials submitted will be subject to peer review for relevance to the SwA course topics. If selected, materials will either be posted as submitted on this page, or a link to the author’s site will be posted.

If you are interested in submitting materials to help support the SwA education community, please send them, along with an indication of the appropriate course and topic, to swa-education [@] sei.cmu.edu.

The following resources are available for faculty interested in creating a standalone Master of Software Assurance (MSwA) degree program or an MSwA track within existing software engineering or computer science master’s degree programs.

• The Master of Software Assurance Reference Curriculum is the first curriculum ever to be developed that focuses on assuring the functionality, dependability, and security of software and systems.
• Master of Software Assurance Course Syllabi support the development of a set of courses to be used in a master of software assurance curriculum.
• Undergraduate Course Outlines are intended to provide students with fundamental skills for either entering the field directly or continuing with graduate-level education.
• Community College Education focuses on community college courses for software assurance.
• The Software Assurance Curriculum Master Bibliography (pdf) is a compilation of all references from all Software Assurance Curriculum reports.
• The MSwA Curriculum Overview Presentation to Faculty can be used to brief faculty on the MSwA Curriculum.
• How to Get Started in Software Assurance Education Workshop is a 40-minute workshop presentation including slides and video.
• Lectures and Artifacts are available for use in a software assurance program or track.

Connect to a highly engaged group of software assurance education professionals through the Software Assurance Education group on LinkedIn. This group of more than 160 members regularly participates in discussions about a wide range of software assurance education topics. Members also post important announcements about available materials, calls for papers, and other opportunities.

Join our LinkedIn group.