Arguing Security - Creating Security Assurance Cases
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
Topic or Tag
Abstract
An assurance case is a body of evidence organized into an argument demonstrating that some claim about a system holds, i.e., is assured. An assurance case is needed when it is important to show that a system exhibits some complex property such as safety, security, or reliability. In this article, our objective is to explain an approach to documenting an assurance case for system security, i.e., a security assurance case or, more succinctly, a security case.
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Cite This SEI Report
Weinstock, C., Lipson, H., & Goodenough, J. (2013, July 5). Arguing Security - Creating Security Assurance Cases. Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/arguing-security-creating-security-assurance-cases/.
@techreport{weinstock_2013,
author={Weinstock, Charles and Lipson, Howard and Goodenough, John},
title={Arguing Security - Creating Security Assurance Cases},
month={Jul},
year={2013},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/arguing-security-creating-security-assurance-cases/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Aug-16}
}
Weinstock, Charles, Howard Lipson, and John Goodenough. "Arguing Security - Creating Security Assurance Cases." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, July 5, 2013. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/arguing-security-creating-security-assurance-cases/.
C. Weinstock, H. Lipson, and J. Goodenough, "Arguing Security - Creating Security Assurance Cases," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, 5-Jul-2013 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/arguing-security-creating-security-assurance-cases/. [Accessed: 16-Aug-2026].
Weinstock, Charles, Howard Lipson, and John Goodenough. "Arguing Security - Creating Security Assurance Cases." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 5 Jul. 2013. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/arguing-security-creating-security-assurance-cases/. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.
Weinstock, Charles; Lipson, Howard; & Goodenough, John. Arguing Security - Creating Security Assurance Cases. Software Engineering Institute. 2013. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/arguing-security-creating-security-assurance-cases/