On the Feasibility of Utilizing Security Metrics in Software-Intensive Systems

Security measurement of software-intensive systems is an emerging field, rapidly gaining momentum. Well-designed security metrics offer credible and sufficient evidence of security level and performance for security decision-making. In this study, we introduce a novel security metrics feasibility validation approach, consisting of validation criteria and an associated validation process that takes into account the used measurement approaches and the use of security metrics. The approach is based on the identification of needs for and challenges in using security metrics, and the identification of good properties of security metrics from related work.