COMPUTER SECURITY PLAN DEVELOPMENT USING AN EXPERT SYSTEM*

The Computer Security Plan Assistant (SPA) is an expert system for reviewing Department of Energy (DOE) Automated Data Processing (ADP) Security Plans. DOE computer security policies require ADP security plans to be periodically reviewed and updated by all DOE sites. SPA is written in XI-Plus, an expert system shell. SPA was developed by BDM International, Inc., under sponsorship by the DOE Center for Computer Security at Los Alamos National Laboratory. SPA runs on an IBM or compatible personal computer. It presents a series of questions about the ADP security plan being reviewed. The SPA user references the ADP Security Plan and answers the questions. The SPA user reviews each section of the security plan, in any order, until all sections have been reviewed. The SPA user can stop the review process after any section and restart later. A Security Plan Review Report is available after the review of each section of the Security Plan. The Security Plan Review Report gives the user a written assessment of the completeness of the ADP Security Plan. SPA is being tested at Los Alamos and will soon be available to the DOE community.