Virtually every aspect of our lives is touched by information technology running a diverse range of software; from the way we listen to music, the phones we carry with us, the vehicles we drive, to the computers that support the information economy. The trend to embed software in everyday items is accelerating. Our daily lives and industrial processes are now heavily reliant on a wide range of underpinning software. Yet the root cause of many problems is untrustworthy software There is a pressing need to address the quality and robustness of our software – to establish its “trustworthiness”. The TSFdn aims to collect, organise and share the wealth of knowledge, experience and capabilities that already exist in the UK public and private sectors and in academia about trustworthy software to give people a joined-up, curated view of the information that is available.
No software is perfect, and all software can fail or be hacked as a result of inherent bugs and vulnerabilities. Trustworthy software is software in which vulnerabilities have been reduced to an appropriate level. Trustworthy software is software that does what it should, when it should. Trustworthy Software is software which can be relied upon.
Software Trustworthiness has 5 facets. They are Safety, Reliability, Availability, Resilience and Security. All software needs these facets to be present, in varying amounts depending on its criticality and use, to be appropriately trustworthy. All business sectors have a growing need for Trustworthy Software, which has a direct impact upon the safety and security of our society.
Educational resources for those teaching Trustworthy Software principles
Material and resources for those learning the principles of Trustworthy Software and how to write it
Material to help those procuring and using Trustworthy Software in their lives and businesses