Software Engineering Institute

Modern society depends on software systems of ever-increasing scope and complexity. Virtually every sphere of human activity is impacted by these systems, from social interaction in our personal lives to business, energy, transportation, education, communication, government, and defense. Because the consequences of failure can be severe, dependable functionality and security are essential. As a result, software assurance is emerging as an important discipline for the development, acquisition, and operation of software systems and services that provide requisite levels of dependability and security. 

This report is the second volume in the Software Assurance Curriculum Project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The first volume, the Master of Software Assurance Reference Curriculum (CMU/SEI-2010-TR-005), presented a body of knowledge from which to create a Master of Software Assurance degree program, as both a standalone offering and as a track within existing software engineering and computer science master’s degree programs. This report focuses on an undergraduate curriculum specialization for software assurance. The seven courses in this specialization are intended to provide students with fundamental skills for either entering the field directly or continuing with graduate-level education.