The road to trustworthy systems

Abstract

Computer systems are routinely deployed in life- and mission-critical situations, yet their security, safety or dependability can in most cases not be assured to the degree warranted by the application. In other words, trusted computer systems are rarely really trustworthy. We believe that this is highly unsatisfactory, and have embarked on a large research program aimed at bringing reality in line with expectations. In this paper we describe NICTA's research agenda for achieving true trustworthiness in systems. We report on what has been achieved to date, and what our plans are for the next 3-5 years.