Security characterization for evaluation of software architectures using ATAM

Significant technological advancement in the current electronic era has influenced the work processes of private and government business entities. E-Government is one such area where almost every country is emphasizing and automating their work processes. Software architecture is the integral constituent of any software system with not only cumbersome modeling and development but require heedful evaluation. Considering this aspect we have highlighted in this paper, security evaluation of an ongoing e-society project ESAM using Architectural Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM). ESAM is a Web based system intended to provide e-services to the Swedish community residents. ATAM is primarily used for architectural evaluation aligned with the quality goals i.e. performance, availability and modifiability of an organization. We present research analysis for characterization, stimuli, and architectural decisions to evaluate software architecture with respect to security measures using ATAM. This security characterization will serve as a tool to evaluate security aspects of a software architecture using ATAM. We believe that ATAM capability of evaluating software security will provide potential benefits in secure software development.