C5-DEC CAD Version 1.0 release on 7 May 2025

/ C5-DEC, CyFORT / By

We are happy to announce the stable release of C5-DEC CAD Version 1.0 on GitHub.

C5-DEC CAD is a comprehensive tool designed to support the creation and evaluation of secure IT systems according to the Common Criteria (CC) standards, from secure software development and meticulous documentation management, to Common Criteria-based security evaluations and project management.

C5-DEC CAD version 1.0 features the creation of development environments for IT secure solutions packed with a suite of integrated tools for carrying out the software development life cycle according to the C5-DEC methodology. This release also includes enhancements, and fixes to the previous releases, mainly improving the capabilities and layouts of ETR reports and project documentation templates.

Key features of C5-DEC CAD

Preset development environment: Create new projects in the C5-DEC development framework with a simple command
Common Criteria Toolbox (CCT): Navigate CC databases using a GUI, create evaluation checklists, and automate the creation of Evaluation Technical Reports (ETRs)
Project Management Tools: Convert OpenProject time report exports into user-defined format, consolidate time reports, and perform detailed resource and cost computations efficiently.
Document Processing Engine: Leverage a flexible, easily extensible, and complete publishing solution based on Quarto (an open-source scientific and technical publishing system), enhanced by our configurations, dedicated behind-the-scenes TeX customizations and pre/post-render scripts providing a baseline automated publishing pipeline, for smart documents (with code) and sophisticated reports and documentation, as well as converting documents between formats.
Enhanced Templates and Automation: Utilize pre-built templates, automation scripts, and integrations with open-source tools like Doorstop for integrated artifact traceability and documentation.
Containerized Environments: Ensure seamless development and deployment with fully containerized setups.
Cryptographic Toolbox: Make use of open-source cryptographic software for classical and post-quantum cryptography (PQC), natively integrated in the C5-DEC platform.
AI-friendly approach: The C5-DEC method lends itself to AI-powered capabilities, which can enhance the generation and processing of technical specifications, documentation, and design artifacts, including requirements, test cases, and technical reports.

What’s new in C5-dEC v1.0?

New Project Creation
Create a ready-to-use project setup based on the C5-DEC methodology with a simple command.

Enhanced DocEngine
Experience streamlined project documentation and smart report generation with improved layouts, such as dynamic color-coded ETR verdicts. All this, thanks to the new templates, automation scripts, and integrated document processing software.

ETR Evaluation Tools
Automate work unit verdict computation with spreadsheet formulas and Markdown compilation.

Interactive Session Modes
Run C5-DEC CAD in session mode without the need for Visual Studio Code.

Cryptographic Software Integration
Leverage tools like Kryptor and Cryptomator CLI in the containerized cryptography environment, and OQS-OpenSSL for Post-Quantum Cryptography

Fully Containerized DocEngine
Create, export and transform documents in the C5-DEC CAD development environment thanks to the integration of external software dependencies (e.g., quarto).

Redesign of the TUI
Experience a simpler Textual User Interface. Menus for Cyber-physical System Security Assessment (CPSSA), Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SSDLC), Cryptography, and Transformer have been migrated to the CLI.

User Manual Updates
Learn how to use the new modules with our comprehensive guides. These include the Cryptography, SSDLC, CPSSA, and Transformer modules.

Get started

Download the latest version from our GitHub repository and explore the full documentation. We welcome feedback and questions at info@abstractionslab.lu.

Roadmap

We will continue to enhance C5-DEC CAD with new features and improvements. Some of the planned features include:

  • Integrating locally stored generative AI (GenAI) models and implementing a GenAI assistant for the C5-DEC method enhancing its AI-enabled design and technical specification approach with privacy-aware features and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) capabilities;
  • Enhancing our cryptographic dependencies (e.g., OQS-OpenSSL, OpenSSH) with verified implementations, e.g., EverCrypt and HACL*.
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