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Chapter 36
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8111-8.ch036
Integrated Security Process
Improvement Framework
for Systems and Services
ABSTRACT
Security of systems and services has been dominant research area in recent years as today’s cloud services,
big data and networked systems, especially when they provide wireless application access where personal
and confdential data to be transmitted across the networked systems. Numerous tools and technologies
are available to ensure system’s security; however, external threats to computer systems and applications
residents thereon, are also becoming more and more sophisticated and on the increase. Therefore, the
key aim of this research is to integrate security engineering techniques and process with systems devel-
opment life-cycle and process improvement frameworks. This paper presents a framework that consists
of two components: 1) a security assessment model to looks at the existing security infrastructure of an
organisation to determine its security maturity level; and 2) a security improvement maturity model to
suggest an improvement mechanism for the organisation to progress from one maturity level to the next
higher level. The intention is to provide a scheme to improve the organisation’s Systems and network
security with the aim that it becomes more efcient and efective than before.
1. INTRODUCTION
In the information society of the 21
st
century, the
information and communication technologies have
revolutionised human lives. Wireless telephony,
cloud computing, mobile clouds, electronic com-
merce and online transactions are now common
place and within easy reach of general public. All
this has become possible through the prolifera-
tion of computing technologies and use of the
Systems. There is no doubt that World Wide Web,
or the Systems, is the binding and enabling force
behind all this.
Since the use of the Systems is growing, the
demand for the associated products, applications
and services is also growing. As a bi-product,
the concerns with respect to the security of in-
formation, confidentiality of data and reliability
of services are also growing. Previously, when
the computing systems were used as standalone
Muthu Ramachandran
Leeds Metropolitan University, UK