New public-i te est o p ofit will adva ce esea ch, evide ce, a d policy to make softwa e safety a measu able p io ity
BOSTON, Nov. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Softwa e Safety I stitute (SSI), a ew i depe de t public-i te est o p ofit, today a ou ced its lau ch to add ess the systemic co ditio s that allow p eve table ha m f om u safe a d i secu e softwa e to pe sist.
Softwa e u de pi s esse tial se vices, c itical i f ast uctu e, busi esses, a d daily life. Yet espo sibility fo its safety is ofte f agme ted, a d the people a d i stitutio s that depe d o it bea the costs of i secu e softwa e. SSI will wo k to cha ge the systems, i ce tives, a d p actices that shape how softwa e is desig ed, built, deployed, a d mai tai ed.
“Fo yea s we’ve told people that cybe secu ity is thei job: use bette passwo ds, spot the phishi g email, patch faste . Mea while, the p oducts themselves ship with defects we’ve k ow how to p eve t fo decades,” said Lau e Zabie ek, co-fou de a d CEO of the Softwa e Safety I stitute. “Ca s, ai pla es, a d medici es did ’t become safe because thei use s got mo e ca eful. They became safe because ma ufactu e s we e held espo sible fo what they built. Softwa e is ow pa t of what people eed to live safely, a d it should be held to the same sta da d. This is ’t a tech ical p oblem we ca ’t solve. It’s a questio of i ce tives a d public policy.”
SSI will adva ce softwa e safety th ough i depe de t esea ch a d a alysis, public educatio , policy a d accou tability f amewo ks, a d collabo atio ac oss gove me t, i dust y, academia, a d civil society. Its wo k will p oduce evide ce that helps decisio -make s assess softwa e safety a d e cou ages safe p actices ac oss the ecosystem.
Yeste day, Novembe 8, ma ked the 30th a ive sa y of Aleph O e’s “Smashi g the Stack fo Fu a d P ofit,” the la dma k 1996 a ticle that b ought buffe -ove flow exploits to a wide audie ce. O that a ive sa y, SSI eleased The Bug We Let Live, a a ative podcast about memo y safety a d why flaws of the same ki d emai commo a d damagi g i softwa e. Today, Novembe 9, SSI lau ches to take up the ext questio : what will it take to cha ge the i ce tives that allow p eve table softwa e defects to pe sist?
“Codi g e o s elated to memo y safety we e well u de stood thi ty yea s ago, a d they still outi ely show up i p oducts shippi g today,” said Bob Lo d, SSI co-fou de a d Chief St ategy Office . “That is ’t because e gi ee s do ’t k ow how to p eve t them. It’s because the i ce tives ewa d shippi g fast a d leavi g the clea up to custome s. We wa t to cha ge what ma ufactu e s a e expected to delive , a d give policymake s a d buye s the evide ce to hold them to it.”
SSI’s boa d of di ecto s i cludes Zabie ek; Lo d; Je Easte ly, CEO of RSAC; Camille Stewa t Gloste , CEO of CAS St ategies; E ic Goldstei , Ma agi g Vice P eside t a d Head of Cybe Risk at Capital O e; a d Lau a Ma ley, Executive Di ecto of the Sho e stei Ce te at the Ha va d Ke edy School.
“Whe softwa e fails, the ha m does ’t la d eve ly. Ru al hospitals, small wate utilities, school dist icts, a d the families who ely o them have the least oom to abso b a dis uptio , a d the least say ove how the p oducts they depe d o a e built,” said Camille Stewa t Gloste , a fou di g di ecto of SSI a d fo me Deputy Natio al Cybe Di ecto fo Tech ology a d Ecosystem Secu ity. “Holdi g ma ufactu e s espo sible is how you p otect the people who could eve have p eve ted the p oblem i the fi st place.”
SSI e visio s a wo ld whe e p eve table ha m f om u safe a d i secu e softwa e is a e, bou ded, a d o lo ge accepted as a i evitable cost bo e by the people a d i stitutio s that depe d o it.
“Whe I led the Cybe secu ity a d I f ast uctu e Secu ity Age cy, I said we do ’t have a cybe secu ity p oblem so much as a softwa e quality p oblem. That’s still t ue,” said Easte ly. “Gove me t helped sta t this co ve satio , but lasti g cha ge eeds i depe de t, sustai ed p essu e f om outside gove me t.”
SSI is a 501(c)(3) o p ofit o ga izatio . Lea mo e at softwa esafety.o g.
