RunSafe Security unveiled a new strategy for the emerging Operational Software Assurance (OSA) market, a new cybersecurity category focused on protecting the fielded software that powers U.S. defense, critical infrastructure, and other mission-critical systems throughout their operational lifecycle.
The move comes as the White House’s new National Security Science and Technology Strategy (NSSTS) elevates cybersecurity across U.S. technology and homeland defense priorities, and new independent research identifies a critical gap in protecting software already operating across defense and critical infrastructure.
Research from Brad LaPorte and Rob Smith of Lionfish Tech Advisors defines OSA as the next evolution of software security. It extends assurance beyond development and the software supply chain to software already deployed in weapons systems, critical infrastructure, vehicles, medical devices, and industrial equipment.
The report, The Call for a Digital Golden Dome, defines OSA around three capabilities: Identify, Protect, and Comply. As a part of its new strategy, RunSafe delivers offers those capabilities through a platform that:
- Identifies what is present in compiled software and firmware, including vulnerabilities, dependencies, and whether vulnerabilities are reachable.
- Protects deployed binaries and firmware against exploitation through runtime protection without requiring source code changes or waiting for a patch.
- Demonstrates compliance through continuous assurance evidence and artifacts supporting cybersecurity, regulatory, and mission requirements.
Know What’s On Software
“Cybersecurity has spent decades getting better at finding vulnerabilities, but finding more vulnerabilities doesn’t protect the software already operating our aircraft, weapons platforms, energy systems, factories, and other critical infrastructure,” said Joseph M. Saunders, founder and chief executive at RunSafe Security. “AI is making that gap impossible to ignore. Operational Software Assurance is about knowing what’s actually in your software, protecting it while it runs, and continuously proving that protection.”
The White House’s NSSTS, released August 18, reinforces the timing of the emerging OSA market. The strategy places the maintenance of a next-generation missile defense shield under a Golden Dome for America alongside the protection of critical data, networks, assets, and infrastructure against cyberattacks and espionage as priorities for countering strategic threats to the homeland.
The strategy also maps critical and emerging technologies against priority national security needs. Information security and cybersecurity span every mission represented, including battlefield advantage, undersea superiority, national-security AI and autonomy, border security, nuclear deterrence and missile defense, cyber defense, and biological weapons defense.
Click here to learn more about RunSafe’s Operational Software Assurance.