Architecture-Derived CBOMs for Cryptographic Migration: A Security-Aware Architecture Tradeoff Method
This addresses cryptographic migration challenges for organizations facing algorithm deprecation and regulatory changes, though it appears incremental as an adaptation of existing architecture evaluation methods.
The paper tackles the problem of cryptographic migration planning by introducing SATAM, a method that derives architecture-grounded Cryptographic Bills of Materials (CBOMs) to capture migration-relevant context, improving information availability for informed planning and cryptographic agility.
Cryptographic migration driven by algorithm deprecation, regulatory change, and post-quantum readiness requires more than an inventory of cryptographic assets. Existing Cryptographic Bills of Materials (CBOMs) are typically tool- or inventory-derived. They lack architectural intent, rationale, and security context, limiting their usefulness for migration planning. This paper introduces Security-Aware Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (SATAM), a security-aware adaptation of scenario-based architecture evaluation that derives an architecture-grounded, context-sensitive CBOM. SATAM integrates established approaches: ATAM, arc42, STRIDE, ADR, and CARAF. These are included to identify and analyze security-relevant cryptographic decision points and document them as explicit architectural decisions. These artifacts are used to annotate CBOM entries with architectural context, security intent, and migration-critical metadata using CycloneDX-compatible extensions. Following a Design Science Research approach, the paper presents the method design, a conceptual traceability model, and an illustrative application. The results demonstrate that architecture-derived CBOMs capture migration-relevant context that is typically absent from inventory-based approaches. Thereby, SATAM improves availability of information required for informed cryptographic migration planning and long-term cryptographic agility.