The notion of allowing the general public to view, use, and modify source was totally new back then. Dec 12, 2017 open source is not less secure or more secure than commercial software, and by now the open source vs commercial code security debate is moot. Sep 11, 2019 according to the report, titled dod needs to fully implement program for piloting open source software, officials from 11 components within the dod said there would be efficiency and financial benefits. News addressed the topic of open source software oss. The department of defense dod and open source software. It is an issue that can and must be addressed by budget owners, supported by it staff and buyers. Many decisionmakers feel that opensource software and open standards are above all a subject for and of information technologists. December 2015 uscybercom genadmin 150173 cryptographic modernization and changes to trust new pki certificates.
Use of open technologies will change traditional dod. It has been three and a half years since software tech news addressed the topic of open source software oss. Proprietary software is inherently more secure than open source software. Opensource software fits this practice well because it reduces a governments reliance on a single vendor. Oracle customers use commercial oracle software products together with open source technologies in missioncritical environments to.
However, there were disparate views on how to manage the cybersecurity risk of using open source software, the gao wrote. I think that everything that we said in the paper open source software in government. I use open source software on the windows pc i am supplied with at work, to make up for limitations in the windows os. The future of open source survey conducted by black duck software and north bridge revealed that more than 78% of business today use opensource software. Military it folks wondering if their use of apache, perl, linux and other open source software is copacetic with the brass will soon get some answers from the defense departments office of the chief information officer. Open source software is examined by dozens or hundreds of people at all stages of development, testing, and distribution. Why the air force put kubernetes in an f16 defense systems.
The report helped end a debate about whether foss should be banned from u. Softwareforge is currently built on the open source subversion version control system and collabnet teamforge application life cycle management tool. In particular, the memo will make it clear that government defense programs should evaluate open source as legally equivalent to commercial off the shelf. We still dont have multiple desktops, and you cant logon multiple sessions concurrently. Its the secure remote access solution that delivers your trusted desktop through the cloud. The first is to reuse open source software from established projects. Oracle customers use commercial oracle software products together with open source technologies in.
But a commercial licence doesnt guarantee security. The idea of running a business based on open source software was groundbreaking. Us dhs issues a report on open source software in government. The briefing begins with a definition of free open source software, i.
To browse, join and collaborate on dod community source and internal open source software projects, visit softwareforge. The security audit of the open source fileanddiskencryption utility truecrypt was a step in the right direction, but the information security industry needs to do more, according to robert. Open source software oss is software for which the humanreadable source code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, enhancement, and redistribution by the users of that software. Given the dods advanced threat landscape and large software acquisition community, we hope to see broader embracing and adoption of. Cybersecurity and the case for zerotrust network model. Vistas legacy technical architecture makes it difficult and expensive to maintain and upgrade. To a large degree, the software world has seen the benefits of moving to free and open source software. Use of open technologies will change traditional dod software. Achieving efficiency, transparency, and innovation through reusable and open source software the u. Dod opensources more than 1m lines of code network world. That concept was based on a model created by john kindervag, a vice president and principal analyst at the time with forrester research, and now field chief technology. Nov 08, 2016 theres a fundamental confusion there, i think, about the difference between trust in the general sense and trustworthy software in this sense.
While using open source comes with cost, flexibility, and speed advantages, it can also pose some unique security challenges. Use updown arrow keys to increase or decrease volume. The government often wants what commercial already has but with the secureometer turned all the way clockwise. Whatever happens, even if the initial solution provider fails to complete an implementation or no longer supports its product, governments retain the right to use and modify the opensource software. Open source is also visible to bad actors, but in most cases we can expect theyll be outnumbered by good guys. However, itd be misleading to say nothing has changed. The defense department is pursuing an aggressive software development program, called the dod enterprise devsecops initiative. Enterprises are leveraging a variety of open source products including operating systems, code libraries, software, and applications for a range of business use cases. Although a 2003 department policy allows its use, many still believe that open source software poses an increased security risk to networks and that it is not supported as well as commercial products. Us department of defence dod open source software oss faq an educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software oss in the department of defense dod. An educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software in the dod. Earlier this month, dod issued guidance that clarifies the use of opensource software, or software whose code is made freely available for others to use and modify. Open source software is generally free, and so is a world of support through the vibrant communities surrounding each piece of software. Open source software oss, unlike proprietary software, is software that keeps the code open so it professionals can alter, improve, and distribute it.
The benefits and challenges of open source software. Guidance urges department to treat opensource as it does other forms of commercial software. A state court ruling last year said that accused drunk drivers are entitled to receive details about the in. In that time, as kane mclean writes in his article, military open source community growing, its use in the department of defense dod has grown significantly, widely adopted and implemented in a variety of systems. Open source software oss has come a long way since pioneers unleashed the development in the late 80s. When one person finds and fixes a bug, all the users of that update potentially benefit. There are two senses in which we may use open source in our programs. As the department of defense increases adoption of open architectures and open source software, one unavoidable consequence will be changes to existing business models. Department of defense is a 2003 report by the mitre corporation that documented widespread use of and reliance on free software termed foss within the united states department of defense dod. Nov 05, 2010 open source software is generally free, and so is a world of support through the vibrant communities surrounding each piece of software. Foss is distinctive because it gives users the right to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve it as they see fit, without having to ask permission from or make fiscal payments to any external group or person. This comes after mitre, a defense contractor, published a report stating that not only does the department of defense use opensource, but is recommend on using it more. Va, dod to incorporate open source in ehr healthcare it news. A valid dod common access card cac or approved external pki certificate.
A major milestone along the way was in 1999, when ibm announced its support for the open source linux operating system. Opensource ip in government electronics breakfast bytes. Code can be reused for different apps that will run on any platform, especially important at dod where there are myriad classified, disconnected environments. The department of defense pushed back on an oversight report urging the launch of an open source pilot program in keeping with office of management and budget requirements and mandated in the 2018 national defense authorization act. It never fails to amaze me just how primitive w10 is. The open source approach rethinks what are the resources, products, processes, and production environments necessary to develop largescale, easy to use, and highly reliable software system applications. Frequently asked questions regarding open source software oss and the department of defense dod this page is an educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software oss in the department of defense dod. Cultural changes key to reducing barriers to open source software. Jason chaffetz came out with recommendations that all government agencies adopt a zerotrust approach to cybersecurity. According to the report, titled dod needs to fully implement program for piloting open source software, officials from 11 components within the dod said there would be efficiency and financial benefits. With this guide, we are attempting to make it clear that opting for opensource software is primarily a sourcing issue. With a simple, intuitive enduser experience and total trust, mobikey is the costeffective solution for protecting dataatrest, datainuse and for guarding against. Feb 24, 2017 about 5 years ago, there was a fair amount of open source software being ran in disa for supporting the branches and the software that they wrote, but, there was little open sourcing of that software, even amongst the individual branches of service the marines might write something that the army could use, but, there were political or other.
Open source software and the department of defense. Open source software is defined by the department of defense as software for which the humanreadable source code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, enhancement, and redistribution by the users of that software. Meanwhile, disa has licensed its corporate management information system cmis to the open source software institute to develop an open source version of the 50odd applications that disa uses to manage its workforce. Office of personnel management data breach in 2015, thenrep. Sep 23, 2008 as the department of defense increases adoption of open architectures and open source software, one unavoidable consequence will be changes to existing business models. Open acquisition is a new concept that combines the best practices from advanced electronic government techniques with those from open source. Afei has assembled industry and government leaders to address this issue at the 4th dod open technologies conference on october 29th. Most every linux distribution, for instance, has an online. The department of defense dod announced the launch of code. Mobikey is the unvpn secure remote access solution route1. The joint ehr will include both proprietary and open source software.
Dod must release at least 20 percent of its custom software as open source through a pilot required by a 2016 office of management and budget directive and the 2018 national defense authorization act. Jan 03, 2020 open source software is examined by dozens or hundreds of people at all stages of development, testing, and distribution. Defense department sectors reluctant to employ this technology. Although it has been around since relatively early in the history of computers, in the past several years oss has truly taken off, in what some might see as a surprising example of a successful communal collaboration. Blackman said government and the military are more interested in the free as in freedom aspects of open source software, as opposed to free as in beer, adding that foss is ideal for such applications because of its flexible and customizable nature. Government is committed to improving the way federal agencies buy, build, and deliver information technology it and software solutions to better support cost efficiency, mission effectiveness, and the consumer. Open source tools are a great start and can be a catalyst or building block of a strong software security engineering program. While the rate of change in technology grows exponentially. Use of free and open source software foss in the u.
Getting specific oss components thru theany dod software security approval processes requires a. Don open source software guidance don cio memo publish date. This memo provides guidance for all navy and marine corps commands regarding the use of open source software, which supports the department of defense goal. Nevertheless, there is significant overlap between open source software and free software. Provides software enterprise services with collaboration tools, cybersecurity tools, source code repositories, artifact repositories, development tools, devsecops as a service, chats etc. Hardens the 172 dod enterprise containers databases, development tools, cicd tools, cybersecurity tools etc. Open source software and the department of defense center. Defense departments devsecops initiative is on the move. Some of the key best practices that are applicable to dod software programs include. The department of defense has not fully implemented mandates from the office of management and budget omb and the 2018 national defense authorization act ndaa to increase its use of opensource software and release code, according to a september 10. Four reasons you dont want to use open source software. Although im pleased to see the widespread consump tion of open source software in the dod, we can do so much more.
Oss rapidly gained considerable validity and huge popularity. Department of defense dod is one of the largest consumers of open source in the world. Unlike proprietary software, open source projects are transparent about potential vulnerabilities. Cultural changes key to reducing barriers to open source. The effort is focused on bringing automated software tools, services and standards to dod programs so that warfighters can create, deploy and operate software applications in a secure, flexible and interoperable manner, explained nicolas chaillan, chief software. Army runs at least one piece of open source software. The department of defenses congressionally mandated efforts to create an open source software program arent going so well. We re using the same collaboration approach to speed the development of dod systems. The open source foundation avoids vendor lock in at the infrastructure and platform layers. According to the free software movements leader, richard stallman, the main difference is that by choosing one term over the other i. Is open source software really more trustworthy and secure.
Frequently asked questions regarding open source software oss and the department of defense dod this page is an educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software oss in the united states department of defense dod. A working group meeting is going to be held at georgia tech in atlanta, august 12, 2009. Jan 21, 2006 open source software is not an issue to them. Given the dods advanced threat landscape and large software acquisition community, we hope to see broader embracing and adoption of open source software security tools and practices. Misconceptions about open source software have made many u.
Open source has had a huge impact on the business world, and has long since found its place therein. How to use more open source in your next federal it acquisition. Jan 31, 2018 open source ip permits increased use of unique dod security approaches security is actually a big one. Nov 26, 2014 but the use of more open source software in the federal government can help to offset these two problems, and as good stewards, it is our duty to do so where possible. Much of the information collected there is applicable to other federal agencies. Oct 09, 2008 it will provide additional guidance on the use of open source software in defense and is meant to make it easier for the government to obtain the benefits that come with open source. Licensing policies, principles, and resources project open data.
Devsecops software development these are software engineering practices that include source code. Va must accelerate the modernization of vista, developed initially in the 1970s, even as it is collaborating with dod on a common ehr. A dod approved os software list would fall within the need for dod open source infrastructure osi. Dod and open source software 2 many people think of open source software as free software, but, as we shall see in this paper, this perspective does not consider the entire story. Software choice group tells dod not to use open source. Open source software security risks and best practices. Thats why open source is run on all supercomputers, 90% of the cloud, 82% of the smartphone market, and 62% of the embedded systems market. Software assurance adoption through open source tools csiac.
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