Despite the continued demand for open source security software, a gap in the identification of success factors related to the success of open source security software persists. There are no studies that accurately assess the extent of this persistent gap, particularly with respect to the strength of the relationships of open source software development attributes and the number of security software downloads. The research conducted in this study investigates the strength of the relationships of particular open source software project development factors against a particular measure of open source security software success. This research focuses on open source software development with an emphasis on anti-virus, firewall and intrusion detection software. Additionally, reviewed in this study are some key cyber-security events that have shaped the cyber landscape as well as descriptions of some security technologies that have emerged as a result of those events. A level of correlation between the dependent variable "number of software downloads" and the independent variables "project team size" and "number of software project events" are analyzed in this research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]