A Comparative Study of Software Security Pattern Classifications

Software security patterns can be the building blocks of secure software systems. They provide reliable solutions for recurring security problems. The rapid increase in the number of security patterns creates difficulty in the selection of appropriate security patterns for particular security problems. Researchers provide several classification schemes based on unique selection criteria for choosing appropriate security patterns. These schemes are very helpful for software designers to select security patterns for particular security problems. In this paper, we survey various security pattern classification schemes. Further, we compare and contrast these classification schemes using their classification objectives, attributes, dimensions, and quality metrics. The result is helpful for selecting a suitable classification scheme based on the desirable classification attributes and quality metrics. The right selection of classification improves the capability of software designers to select appropriate security patterns for recurring security problems in a specific security context.