Fuzzy expert system shell development with computer security assessment application

The paper describes development of the universal fuzzy Basic Expert System Shell (BESS). The goal of the Bess system is to provide a fuzzy expert system development framework that is not only language independent, but is not attached to a specific expert system shell either. An expert system that is written in Bess may be written exactly once regardless of the number of shell implementations and modifications on which it is intended to run; the only changes required in the system are the additions of new data, or the modifications of existing data. This arrangement completely separates the knowledge and data bases in an expert system from the rules engine used to make inferences. Bess is built on top of a simple, easy to use XML compliant language for describing expert systems in terms that are commonly used for this purpose. This software is used for developing an expert system for computer security evaluation.