50,455 research outputs found
Exploratory Study of the Privacy Extension for System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA-Priv) to elicit Privacy Risks in eHealth
Context: System Theoretic Process Analysis for Privacy (STPA-Priv) is a novel
privacy risk elicitation method using a top down approach. It has not gotten
very much attention but may offer a convenient structured approach and
generation of additional artifacts compared to other methods. Aim: The aim of
this exploratory study is to find out what benefits the privacy risk
elicitation method STPA-Priv has and to explain how the method can be used.
Method: Therefore we apply STPA-Priv to a real world health scenario that
involves a smart glucose measurement device used by children. Different kinds
of data from the smart device including location data should be shared with the
parents, physicians, and urban planners. This makes it a sociotechnical system
that offers adequate and complex privacy risks to be found. Results: We find
out that STPA-Priv is a structured method for privacy analysis and finds
complex privacy risks. The method is supported by a tool called XSTAMPP which
makes the analysis and its results more profound. Additionally, we learn that
an iterative application of the steps might be necessary to find more privacy
risks when more information about the system is available later. Conclusions:
STPA-Priv helps to identify complex privacy risks that are derived from
sociotechnical interactions in a system. It also outputs privacy constraints
that are to be enforced by the system to ensure privacy.Comment: author's post-prin
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Model-Driven Cyber Range Training: A Cyber Security Assurance Perspective
Security demands are increasing for all types of organisations, due to the ever-closer integration of computing infrastructures and smart devices into all aspects of the organisational operations. Consequently, the need for security-aware employees in every role of an organisation increases in accordance. Cyber Range training emerges as a promising solution, allowing employees to train in both realistic environments and scenarios and gaining hands-on experience in security aspects of varied complexity, depending on their role and level of expertise. To that end, this work introduces a model-driven approach for Cyber Range training that facilitates the generation of tailor-made training scenarios based on a comprehensive model-based description of the organisation and its security posture. Additionally, our approach facilitates the auto- mated deployment of such training environments, tailored to each defined scenario, through simulation and emulation means. To further highlight the usability of the proposed approach, this work also presents scenarios focusing on phishing threats, with increasing level of complexity and difficulty
Attack-Surface Metrics, OSSTMM and Common Criteria Based Approach to “Composable Security” in Complex Systems
In recent studies on Complex Systems and Systems-of-Systems theory, a huge effort has been put to cope with behavioral problems, i.e. the possibility of controlling a desired overall or end-to-end behavior by acting on the individual elements that constitute the system itself. This problem is particularly important in the “SMART” environments, where the huge number of devices, their significant computational capabilities as well as their tight interconnection produce a complex architecture for which it is difficult to predict (and control) a desired behavior; furthermore, if the scenario is allowed to dynamically evolve through the modification of both topology and subsystems composition, then the control problem becomes a real challenge. In this perspective, the purpose of this paper is to cope with a specific class of control problems in complex systems, the “composability of security functionalities”, recently introduced by the European Funded research through the pSHIELD and nSHIELD projects (ARTEMIS-JU programme). In a nutshell, the objective of this research is to define a control framework that, given a target security level for a specific application scenario, is able to i) discover the system elements, ii) quantify the security level of each element as well as its contribution to the security of the overall system, and iii) compute the control action to be applied on such elements to reach the security target. The main innovations proposed by the authors are: i) the definition of a comprehensive methodology to quantify the security of a generic system independently from the technology and the environment and ii) the integration of the derived metrics into a closed-loop scheme that allows real-time control of the system. The solution described in this work moves from the proof-of-concepts performed in the early phase of the pSHIELD research and enrich es it through an innovative metric with a sound foundation, able to potentially cope with any kind of pplication scenarios (railways, automotive, manufacturing, ...)
To Share or Not to Share in Client-Side Encrypted Clouds
With the advent of cloud computing, a number of cloud providers have arisen
to provide Storage-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings to both regular consumers and
business organizations. SaaS (different than Software-as-a-Service in this
context) refers to an architectural model in which a cloud provider provides
digital storage on their own infrastructure. Three models exist amongst SaaS
providers for protecting the confidentiality data stored in the cloud: 1) no
encryption (data is stored in plain text), 2) server-side encryption (data is
encrypted once uploaded), and 3) client-side encryption (data is encrypted
prior to upload). This paper seeks to identify weaknesses in the third model,
as it claims to offer 100% user data confidentiality throughout all data
transactions (e.g., upload, download, sharing) through a combination of Network
Traffic Analysis, Source Code Decompilation, and Source Code Disassembly. The
weaknesses we uncovered primarily center around the fact that the cloud
providers we evaluated were each operating in a Certificate Authority capacity
to facilitate data sharing. In this capacity, they assume the role of both
certificate issuer and certificate authorizer as denoted in a Public-Key
Infrastructure (PKI) scheme - which gives them the ability to view user data
contradicting their claims of 100% data confidentiality. We have collated our
analysis and findings in this paper and explore some potential solutions to
address these weaknesses in these sharing methods. The solutions proposed are a
combination of best practices associated with the use of PKI and other
cryptographic primitives generally accepted for protecting the confidentiality
of shared information
Identifying attack surfaces in the evolving space industry using reference architectures
The space environment is currently undergoing a substantial change and many new entrants to the market are deploying devices, satellites and systems in space; this evolution has been termed as NewSpace. The change is complicated by technological developments such as deploying machine learning based autonomous space systems and the Internet of Space Things (IoST). In the IoST, space systems will rely on satellite-to-x communication and interactions with wider aspects of the ground segment to a greater degree than existing systems. Such developments will inevitably lead to a change in the cyber security threat landscape of space systems. Inevitably, there will be a greater number of attack vectors for adversaries to exploit, and previously infeasible threats can be realised, and thus require mitigation. In this paper, we present a reference architecture (RA) that can be used to abstractly model in situ applications of this new space landscape. The RA specifies high-level system components and their interactions. By instantiating the RA for two scenarios we demonstrate how to analyse the attack surface using attack trees
Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: literature review
Smart grids are expected to play a central role in any transition to a low-carbon energy future, and much research is currently underway on practically every area of smart grids. However, it is evident that even basic aspects such as theoretical and operational definitions, are yet to be agreed upon and be clearly defined. Some aspects (efficient management of supply, including intermittent supply, two-way communication between the producer and user of electricity, use of IT technology to respond to and manage demand, and ensuring safe and secure electricity distribution) are more commonly accepted than others (such as smart meters) in defining what comprises a smart grid.
It is clear that smart grid developments enjoy political and financial support both at UK and EU levels, and from the majority of related industries. The reasons for this vary and include the hope that smart grids will facilitate the achievement of carbon reduction targets, create new employment opportunities, and reduce costs relevant to energy generation (fewer power stations) and distribution (fewer losses and better stability). However, smart grid development depends on additional factors, beyond the energy industry. These relate to issues of public acceptability of relevant technologies and associated risks (e.g. data safety, privacy, cyber security), pricing, competition, and regulation; implying the involvement of a wide range of players such as the industry, regulators and consumers.
The above constitute a complex set of variables and actors, and interactions between them. In order to best explore ways of possible deployment of smart grids, the use of scenarios is most adequate, as they can incorporate several parameters and variables into a coherent storyline. Scenarios have been previously used in the context of smart grids, but have traditionally focused on factors such as economic growth or policy evolution. Important additional socio-technical aspects of smart grids emerge from the literature review in this report and therefore need to be incorporated in our scenarios. These can be grouped into four (interlinked) main categories: supply side aspects, demand side aspects, policy and regulation, and technical aspects.
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