Measuring software reliability under the influence of an infected patch

Patching service provides software firms an option to deal with the leftover bugs and is thereby helping them to keep a track of their product. More and more software firms are making use of this concept of prolonged testing. But this framework of releasing unprepared software in market involves a huge risk. The hastiness of vendors in releasing software patch at times can be dangerous as there are chances that firms release an infected patch. The infected patch (es) might lead to a hike in bug occurrence and error count and might make the software more vulnerable. The current work presents an understanding of such situation through mathematical modeling framework; wherein, the distinct behavior of testers (during in-house testing and field testing) and users is described. The proposed model has been validated on two software failure data sets of Tandem Computers and Brazilian Electronic Switching System, TROPICO R-1500.