computer science

Trustworthy Software Foundation

Trustworthy Software Foundation is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Trustworthy Software Foundation rather than just read about it. In short: The Trustworthy Software Foundation (TSFdn) is a UK not-for-profit organisation, with stated aim of improving software. Trustworthiness The work is based around there being five facets of trustworthiness: Safety - The ability of the system to operate without harmful states Reliability - The ability of the system to deliver services as specified Availability - The ability of the system to deliver services when reques…

Key takeaways

Trustworthy Software Foundation belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Trustworthy Software Foundation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Trustworthy Software Foundation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Trustworthy Software Foundation (TSFdn) is a UK not-for-profit organisation, with stated aim of improving software.

Trustworthiness The work is based around there being five facets of trustworthiness:

Safety - The ability of the system to operate without harmful states Reliability - The ability of the system to deliver services as specified Availability - The ability of the system to deliver services when requested Resilience - The ability of the system to transform, renew, and recover in timely response to events Security - The ability of the system to remain protected against accidental or deliberate attacks This definition of trustworthiness is an extension of a widely used definition of dependability, adding as a 5th Facet of Resilience based on the UK Government approach.

Objectives TSFdn primarily aims to provide a living backbone for signposting to diverse but often obscure sources of Good Practice, with a secondary objective to address other aspects of the 2009 Trustworthy Software Roadmap. This focuses on engaging with partners for promulgation of Software Trustworthiness across Education, in particular through the IAP, BCS, and the IET

Governance and Operation TSFdn operates as a not-for-profit Company Limited by Guarantee, jointly owned by the subscriber organisations – UK professional bodies. It formal interface to a cross section of stakeholders is carried out through the independent Advisory Committee on Trustworthy Systems (ACTS).

History TSFdn, alongside the Advisory Committee on Trustworthy Systems, evolved from a number of previous activities:

A study by the Cabinet Office, Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA) in 2004-5 which identified a pervasive lack of secure software development practices as a matter for concern A Department of Trade and Industry (DTI – predecessor of BIS) Global Watch Report in 2006 which noted a relative lack of secure software development practices in the UK The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (CSKTN) Special Interest Group (SIG) on Secure Software Development (SSD, 2007–8) The TSB / Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Science and Innovation Network (SIN) Multinational Workshop “Challenges to building in … information security, privacy and assurance”, held in Paris in March 2009 The Secure Software Development Partnership (SSDP) Study Period, funded jointly by the UK government' TSB and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) organisations, which ran in 2009–2010 The Trustworthy Software Initiative (TSI—originally Software Security, Dependability and Resilience Initiative—SSDRI), a UK public good activity sponsored by CPNI between 2011 and 2016

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Trustworthy Software Foundation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Trustworthy Software Foundation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Trustworthy Software Foundation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Trustworthy Software Foundation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Trustworthy Software Foundation

In research: Trustworthy Software Foundation appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Trustworthy Software Foundation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Trustworthy Software Foundation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computer security in the United Kingdom, Information technology management, Information technology organisations based in the United Kingdom, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Trustworthy Software Foundation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Trustworthy Software Foundation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Trustworthy Software Foundation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Trustworthy Software Foundation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Trustworthy Software Foundation in simple terms?

The Trustworthy Software Foundation (TSFdn) is a UK not-for-profit organisation, with stated aim of improving software. Trustworthiness The work is based around there being five facets of trustworthiness: Safety - The ability of the system to operate without harmful states Reliability - The ability…

Why does Trustworthy Software Foundation matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Trustworthy Software Foundation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Trustworthy Software Foundation.