1,720,974 research outputs found
Selecting Countermeasures for ICT systems Before They are Attacked
Full text linkA countermeasure is any change to a system to reduce the probability it is successfully attacked. We
propose a model based approach that selects countermeasures through multiple simulations of the
behaviors of an ICT system and of intelligent attackers that implement sequences of attacks. The
simulations return information on the attacker sequences and the goals they reach we use to compute
the statistics that drive the selection. Since attackers change their sequences as countermeasures are
deployed, we have defined an iterative strategy where each iteration selects some countermeasures,
updates the system models and runs the simulations to discover any new attacker sequence. The
discovery of new sequences starts a new iteration. The Haruspex suite automates the proposed approach.
Some of its tools acquire information on the target system and on the attackers and build
the corresponding models. Another tool simulates the attacks through the models of the system and
of the attackers. The tool to select countermeasures invokes the other ones to discover how countermeasures
influence the attackers. We apply the whole suite to three systems and discuss how the
connection topology influences the countermeasures to adop
Considering Application Vulnerabilities in Risk Assessment and Management
No full textThe Haruspex suite is an integrated set of tools that adopts a scenario approach to automate ICT
risk assessment and management. Each scenario includes an ICT infrastructure under attack by some
intelligent attackers with some predefined goals. An attacker can reach its goals only by sequentially
composing the attacks. This is the only strategy to overcome the infrastructure complexity and its
large number of nodes. The suite applies a Monte Carlo method with multiple simulations of the
attacker behavior to discover the sequences of each attacker. This simulation exploits a formal model
of the target infrastructure that describes the infrastructure nodes, the vulnerabilities of the components
these nodes run, and the logical topology. The multiple simulations of the Monte Carlo method
support the discovering of alternative sequences and return a statistical sample of these sequences.
This sample supports the computation of statistics to assess and manage the risk. This paper proposes
an extension to the original model of the infrastructure to describe in a more accurate way how the
implementation hierarchy and the interactions affect the attacks. After describing this extension, we
show how it supports the modeling of web applications. In the end, we adopt the new model to assess
a critical infrastructure that supervises and manages gas distribution
Automating the Assessment of ICT Risk
No full textWe present a pair of tools to assess the risk of an \{ICT\} system through a scenario-based method. In each scenario, rational threat agents compose attacks against the system to reach some predefined goal. The first tool builds a description of the target system by automatically discovering and classifying the vulnerabilities in its components and the attacks they enable. Starting from this description and from the one of the agents, the other tool applies a Monte Carlo method to simulate step by step each agent and its attacks. By collecting samples on the agent attacks, the number of times they reach a goal and the corresponding impact this tool returns a database to compute statistics to support the assessment. After describing both tools, we exemplify their adoption in the assessment of an industrial control system that supervises a power production plant.
Iterative selection of countermeasures for intelligent threat agents
No full textWe describe a model-based approach to select cost-effective countermeasures for an information and communication technology infrastructure under attack by intelligent agents. Each agent tries to reach some predefined goals through a sequence of attacks. The proposed approach builds the models of the infrastructure and of the agents, and then it applies a Monte Carlo method that runs multiple, independent simulations of the agent attacks. These simulations produce a statistical sample that is used to assess the risk. The selection of countermeasures works in an iterative way where each iteration selects some countermeasures and applies the Monte Carlo method to evaluate any residual risk. In this way, it takes into account that an intelligent agent may select distinct attacks to replace those affected by the countermeasures. To improve cost effectiveness, the selection focuses on useful attacks to reach a goal. The Haruspex suite is an integrated set of tool to support this approach. Some of its tools build the models of the agents and the one of the system. Another tool uses these models to apply the Monte Carlo method and simulate the agent attacks. This tool is iteratively invoked by the one that select countermeasures. We describe the adoption of the suite to assess and manage the risk of three industrial control system
Assessing and Managing the ICT Risk of Power Generation
No full textWe describe a model-based assessment of information and communication technology (ICT) risk that produces statistical samples by simulating the attacks of intelligent agents. To support this assessment, we have developed an integrated set of tools, the Haruspex suite. Some of its tools build the models of the target system and those of the agents that other tools apply to simulate the agent attacks. Further tools analyze the output of the simulation. After outlining the proposed approach and the suite, we describe the assessments of two industrial control systems that supervise, respectively, a thermoelectric generation plan and a hydroelectric one. To simplify the presentation of the output of these assessments, we introduce the security stress, a synthetic measure of how a system resists to attacks
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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