Systems thinking for safety and security

Abstract

The fundamental challenge facing security professionals is preventing losses, be they operational, financial or mission losses. As a result, one could argue that security professionals share this challenge with safety professionals. Despite their shared challenge, there is little evidence that recent advances that enable one community to better prevent losses have been shared with the other for possible implementation. Limitations in current safety approaches have led researchers and practitioners to develop new models and techniques. These techniques could potentially benefit the field of security. This paper describes a new systems thinking approach to safety that may be suitable for meeting the challenge of securing complex systems against cyber disruptions. SystemsTheoretic Process Analysis for Security (STPA-Sec) augments traditional security approaches by introducing a top-down analysis process designed to help a multidisciplinary team consisting of security, operations, and domain experts identify and constrain the system from entering vulnerable states that lead to losses. This new framework shifts the focus of the security analysis away from threats as the proximate cause of losses and focuses instead on the broader system structure that allowed the system to enter a vulnerable system state that the threat exploits to produce the disruption leading to the loss.

A Case Study of FMVEA and CHASSIS as Safety and Security Co-Analysis Method for Automotive Cyber-physical Systems

“…Young and Leveson [27] proposed to take a system thinking approach to safety and security analysis. As a result, a loss or disruption of the system is caused by interactions among various factors including safety hazards and security vulnerabilities.…”

Developing Dependability Requirements Engineering for Secure and Safe Information Systems with Knowledge Acquisition for Automated Specification

“…Furthermore, the approaches used in the hazard analysis for security (STPA-sec) do not differ much from the approaches used in threat analysis for safety. This is clear in the phase "Identifying unsafe/unsecure control actions" (Table 9) STPA-sec as security and safety are inseparable as mentioned by Young [29] [30].…”

“…Using the concepts in SaS information domain model (Section 5.1) here to explain STAMP; Scenario-based [29] [30] in a narrative way. @RemoteSurgery, A surgeon that is well trained on using the console is considered one of the important assets.…”

Safety in the Online World of the Future

“…Safety is often associated with unintended disruption, and security is often associated with intended disruption; both concepts affect the proper operation of cyber-based systems and infrastructure. Safety properties include security properties (Burns et al, 1992;Leveson, 2013;Young & Leveson, 2013). Safety is the foundation that promotes scientific progress and the arts within a society that is ever more connected on a global scale; it enables the global knowledge commons that is an engine of human progress.…”