Information Assurance Aspects of Rapid Software Reprogramming

Anyone who administers a personal computer, either on the job or at home, is familiar with the concept of Rapid Software Reprogramming (RSR). Operating system and many application software vendors perform reprogramming via electronically-delivered patches, service packs, or similar means. In the battlefield, RSR extends to embedded systems, both hand-held and vehicle-mounted, as well as to the military applications of conventional computers. All of these systems' missions have changed during the decades that software has been used in combat and, without reprogramming, the systems would be quickly obsolete.