Comments on OMG SPECTRA for SySML v1 RFC 2nd reading sysa-24-11-01
March 13, 2025
Summary
The standard is aimed at cyber risk assessment with respect to three architectural quality attributes: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability.
These 3 attributes are foundational to system cyber security.
However, per latest DoD policy, there are additional cyber-related attributes for mission-critical and safety-critical systems that need to be addressed by the standard. These are cyber resiliency and survivability.
Details
As noted on pages 15 and 16:
“To be precise, a Cyber system (CS) involves computing devices, networks, and programs to process digital information. A Cyber-Physical System (CPS) is a cyber system that integrates physical processes with computational algorithms and networked sensors to monitor and control physical processes in real time. A cyber-physical system is a collection of computing devices communicating with one another and interacting with the physical world via sensors and actuators in a feedback loop.”
“Cyber Security is protection of digital information, as well as the integrity of the infrastructure housing and transmitting digital information. More specifically, cyber security includes the body of technologies, processes, practices and response and mitigation measures designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access so as to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability.”
The OMG SPECTRA standard is aimed at cyber risk assessment with respect to three architectural quality attributes: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability (CIA).
These 3 attributes, CIA, are foundational to system cyber security.
For mission- and safety-critical systems, this is a necessary but not sufficient condition. The DoD has instituted additional system attributes as follows.
Cyber Resiliency
NIST SP 800-160 Vol 2, Developing Cyber-Resilient Systems: A Systems Security Engineering Approach defines cyber resiliency as follows (line 442, page 6):
“Cyber resiliency is defined as “the ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to
adverse conditions, stresses, attacks, or compromises on systems that use or are enabled by
cyber resources.” Systems with this property are characterized by security
measures that are “built in” as a foundational part of the architecture and design. Moreover,
these systems can withstand cyber attacks, faults, and failures and can continue to operate even
in a degraded or debilitated state, carrying out mission-essential functions, and ensuring that
the other aspects of trustworthiness (i.e., safety and information security) are preserved.”
NIST 800-160 Vol 2, Appendix D describes cyber resiliency constructs. SPECTRA needs to address these.
System Survivability
DOD INSTRUCTION 5000.83 , TECHNOLOGY AND PROGRAM PROTECTION TO MAINTAIN TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE has codified the cyber resiliency attribute as follows (page 4):
“Programs will employ system security engineering methods and practices, including cybersecurity, cyber resilience, and cyber survivability in design, test, manufacture, and sustainment. Such methods and practices will ensure that systems function as intended, mitigating risks associated with known and exploitable vulnerabilities to provide a level of assurance commensurate with technology, program, system, and mission objectives.”
The policy also establishes System Survivability as a Key Performance Parameter (pages 15 & 16):
“Design for Security and Cyber Resiliency.
To design, develop, test, and acquire systems that can successfully operate in the face of threats, to include cyber threats, as well as in denied environments, lead systems engineers will:
(c) Ensure that key performance parameters and attributes establish:
1. System survivability and sustainment measures.”
OMG SPECTRA needs to embrace this and address this KPP.
Recommendations
Cyber threats are evolving constantly and at a fast pace. The US Government, especially the Department of Defense, has led the charge in ensuring that the systems procured by the DoD can operate successfully in a contested cyber environment. They must continue to perform mission-essential functions by gracefully degrading rather than crash and burn. They must also continue to operate safely, even in the face of cyber attacks by nation-state adversaries.
DoD has codified these needs as policy. NIST has published very helpful guides to implement cyber resiliency and survivability attributes into the DoD products.
Cyber risk assessment standards, such as OMG SPECTRA, must also evolve to embrace these architectural attributes such as those in NIST SP 800-160 in general, and specifically, Appendix D, and be able to model risks of resilient and survivable systems.