Predicting Total Life Cycle Cost for Commercial Solutions for Classified
Open Access DepositedThe National Security Agency (NSA) safeguards the U.S. Government’s National Security Systems (NSS) with the most advanced encryption technology. In recent years, the NSA has approved commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products configured as layered protection for NSS, known as CSfC. The technology applied in CSfC is commercial and advancing rapidly, making it a benefit for the Department of Defense (DoD) to utilize. The same characteristic, however, also increases the cost of using CSfC, as the procedure employed in the DoD is often slow and rigid. This research praxis presents a model for predicting the TLC of a CSfC project, confirming the theory that a predictive TLC model is imperative for planning lifetime maintenance of the NSS with a CSfC solution. The simulation model demonstrates that the CSfC TLC yields an average of 70% growth from the initial cost. This praxis also provides an overview of the requirements needed to comply with NSA mandates and guidance related to NSS.While CSfC is intended for use in the U.S. Government and defense industries that are intimately involved in supporting cybersecurity for the DoD, the benefits of CSfC can also be applied to the private sector to enhance cybersecurity features. This TLC prediction model, developed through research and analysis, can be applied to various security systems, making it relevant and applicable to an expansive range of cybersecurity experts across the information technology and engineering community.
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