Protecting Sensitive Data While Outsourcing Software Development Projects by

As the outsourcing of software development becomes more widespread, organizations must take efforts to protect their sensitive data. While an outsourcing partner handling portions of a project can yield great efficiencies, how can the contracting organization be assured that their trade secrets will be protected by workers that they have never vetted? How can government contractors take advantage of outsourcing efficiencies but still keep the trust of their government clients? Finally, how can an organization share data with offshore partners without violating export restrictions and compromising national security? This paper provides an overview of how outsourcing is currently performed in the software industry, presents case studies of outsourcing where data sensitivity issues have arisen, examines the categories of risks to proprietary data, and finally presents strategies for dealing with these problems. Acknowledgements I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Dorota Huizinga, my project advisor at California State University, Fullerton, for her guidance. Additional thanks go to Dr. Bin Cong for serving as a reviewer. There are also other individuals that assisted with specific parts of my research. Mister William Kirsanoff of the Boeing Company helped with vital direction for the discussion of Expor