LO-FAT: Low-Overhead Control Flow ATtestation in Hardware

Attacks targeting software on embedded systems are becoming increasingly prevalent. Remote attestation is a mechanism that allows establishing trust in embedded devices. However, existing attestation schemes are either static and cannot detect control-flow attacks, or require instrumentation of software incurring high performance overheads. To overcome these limitations, we present LO-FAT, the first practical hardware-based approach to control-flow attestation. By leveraging existing processor hardware features and commonly-used IP blocks, our approach enables efficient control-flow attestation without requiring software instrumentation. We show that our proof-of-concept implementation based on a RISC-V SoC incurs no processor stalls and requires reasonable area overhead.Comment: Authors' pre-print version to appear in DAC 2017 proceeding

Hyp3rArmor: reducing web application exposure to automated attacks

Web applications (webapps) are subjected constantly to automated, opportunistic attacks from autonomous robots (bots) engaged in reconnaissance to discover victims that may be vulnerable to specific exploits. This is a typical behavior found in botnet recruitment, worm propagation, largescale fingerprinting and vulnerability scanners. Most anti-bot techniques are deployed at the application layer, thus leaving the network stack of the webapp’s server exposed. In this paper we present a mechanism called Hyp3rArmor, that addresses this vulnerability by minimizing the webapp’s attack surface exposed to automated opportunistic attackers, for JavaScriptenabled web browser clients. Our solution uses port knocking to eliminate the webapp’s visible network footprint. Clients of the webapp are directed to a visible static web server to obtain JavaScript that authenticates the client to the webapp server (using port knocking) before making any requests to the webapp. Our implementation of Hyp3rArmor, which is compatible with all webapp architectures, has been deployed and used to defend single and multi-page websites on the Internet for 114 days. During this time period the static web server observed 964 attempted attacks that were deflected from the webapp, which was only accessed by authenticated clients. Our evaluation shows that in most cases client-side overheads were negligible and that server-side overheads were minimal. Hyp3rArmor is ideal for critical systems and legacy applications that must be accessible on the Internet. Additionally Hyp3rArmor is composable with other security tools, adding an additional layer to a defense in depth approach.This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) awards #1430145, #1414119, and #1012798

CARTT: Cyber Automated Red Team Tool

Military weapon systems are often built using embedded, non-IP (Internet Protocol) based computer systems that are not regularly updated and patched due to their isolation. As adversaries expand their capability to exploit and penetrate these systems, we must be able to verify they are not susceptible to cyber-attack. Currently, cyber red teams are employed to assess the security of systems and networks in isolated environments, however, this method can be costly and time-consuming, and the availability of red teams is limited. To address this need and resource shortfall, we have developed the Cyber Automated Red Team Tool (CARTT) that leverages open source software and methods to discover, identify, and conduct a vulnerability scan on a computer system’s software. The results of the vulnerability scan offer possible mitigation strategies to lower the risk from potential cyber-attacks without the need for a dedicated cyber red team operating on the target host or network

The Malware Analysis Body of Knowledge (MABOK)

The ability to forensically analyse malicious software (malware) is becoming an increasingly important discipline in the field of Digital Forensics. This is because malware is becoming stealthier, targeted, profit driven, managed by criminal organizations, harder to detect and much harder to analyse. Malware analysis requires a considerable skill set to delve deep into malware internals when it is designed specifically to detect and hinder such attempts. This paper presents a foundation for a Malware Analysis Body of Knowledge (MABOK) that is required to successfully forensically analyse malware. This body of knowledge has been the result of several years of research into malware dissection

Recommendations for Applying Security-Centric Technology Utilizing a Layered Approach in the Era of Ubiquitous Computing: (A Guide for the Small Business Enterprise).

The purpose of this work is to advise and assist Small Business in applying security centric technology to better manage and secure their information assets. Computer Crimes and Incursions are growing exponentially, in complexity, and in their sinister application. In the face of this onslaught small businesses, indeed organizations everywhere, need to accept this as a business constant or reality, identify the threats, acknowledge the vulnerabilities, and make plans to meet these challenges

Uncovering Network Perimeter Vulnerabilities in Cisco Routers According to Requirements Defined in Pci Dss 2.0

According to the Payment Card Industry (PCI), over 500 million records containing sensitive cardholder data have been breached since January 2005. Merchants accepting credit and debit cards are at the center of payment card transactions, making it crucial that standard security procedures and technologies are employed to thwart cardholder data theft. Numerous organizations have experienced embarrassing breaches, which lead to losses of credit card data, including Starbucks, California Pizza Kitchen, and TJX Companies. This paper examined an action research methodology to test the security of a network router and remediate all the vulnerabilities that caused it to fail the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). The basic functions of a router include packet forwarding, sharing routing information with adjacent routers, packet filtering, network address translation (NAT), and encrypting or decrypting packets. Since a router is traditionally installed at the perimeter of a network, it plays an important role in network security. By following the approach of this study, administrators should understand how employing a network vulnerability scanner to test a host can illuminate hidden security risks. This study also demonstrated how to use the results of the vulnerability scan to harden a host to ensure it complied with the Payment Card Industry\u27s (PCI DSS) requirements

Flow analysis based on role and pattern matching

Flow analysis has always been a great concern for a network system. An attacker can gain important information through several ways by monitoring the frequency and timing of network packets or by impersonating another user through remote access. Access to a network system based on single-factor authentication is nothing but monitoring the perimeter around the network leaving a company\u27s a network wide open for the inside threat. There is a necessity to develop a classic network to reduce or eliminate threats within the organization. This thesis will analyze the flows to inspect every activity performed within the network in order for the untrusted flows to earn their way in becoming trusted flows based on notion of flow activity matching a specified pattern affiliated with the role