2,991 research outputs found
Database Intrusion Detection Using Role Profiling
Insider threats cause the majority of computer system security problems and are also among the most challenging research topics in database security. An anomaly-based intrusion detection system (IDS), which can profile inside users’ normal behaviors and detect anomalies when a user’s behaviors deviate from his/her profiles, is effective to protect computer systems against insider threats since the IDS can profile each insider and then monitor them continuously. Although many IDSes have been developed at the network or host level since 1980s, there are still very few IDSes specifically tailored to database systems. We initially build our anomaly-based database IDS using two different profiling methods: one is to build profiles for each individual user (user profiling) and the other is to mine profiles for roles (role profiling). Detailed comparative evaluations between role profiling and user profiling are conducted, and we also analyze the reasons why role profiling is more effective and efficient than user profiling. Another contribution of this thesis is that we introduce role hierarchy into database IDS and remarkably reduce the false positive rate without increasing the false negative rate
AI Solutions for MDS: Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Misuse Detection and Localisation in Telecommunication Environments
This report considers the application of Articial Intelligence (AI) techniques to
the problem of misuse detection and misuse localisation within telecommunications
environments. A broad survey of techniques is provided, that covers inter alia
rule based systems, model-based systems, case based reasoning, pattern matching,
clustering and feature extraction, articial neural networks, genetic algorithms, arti
cial immune systems, agent based systems, data mining and a variety of hybrid
approaches. The report then considers the central issue of event correlation, that
is at the heart of many misuse detection and localisation systems. The notion of
being able to infer misuse by the correlation of individual temporally distributed
events within a multiple data stream environment is explored, and a range of techniques,
covering model based approaches, `programmed' AI and machine learning
paradigms. It is found that, in general, correlation is best achieved via rule based approaches,
but that these suffer from a number of drawbacks, such as the difculty of
developing and maintaining an appropriate knowledge base, and the lack of ability
to generalise from known misuses to new unseen misuses. Two distinct approaches
are evident. One attempts to encode knowledge of known misuses, typically within
rules, and use this to screen events. This approach cannot generally detect misuses
for which it has not been programmed, i.e. it is prone to issuing false negatives.
The other attempts to `learn' the features of event patterns that constitute normal
behaviour, and, by observing patterns that do not match expected behaviour, detect
when a misuse has occurred. This approach is prone to issuing false positives,
i.e. inferring misuse from innocent patterns of behaviour that the system was not
trained to recognise. Contemporary approaches are seen to favour hybridisation,
often combining detection or localisation mechanisms for both abnormal and normal
behaviour, the former to capture known cases of misuse, the latter to capture
unknown cases. In some systems, these mechanisms even work together to update
each other to increase detection rates and lower false positive rates. It is concluded
that hybridisation offers the most promising future direction, but that a rule or state
based component is likely to remain, being the most natural approach to the correlation
of complex events. The challenge, then, is to mitigate the weaknesses of
canonical programmed systems such that learning, generalisation and adaptation
are more readily facilitated
A Fuzzy approach for detecting anomalous behaviour in e-mail traffic
This paper investigates the use of fuzzy inference for detection of abnormal changes in email traffic communication behaviour. Several communication behaviour measures and metrics are defined for extracting information on the traffic communication behaviour of email users. The information from these behaviour measures is then combined using a hierarchy of fuzzy inference systems, to provide an abnormality rating for overall changes in communication behaviour of suspect email accounts. The use of fuzzy inference is then demonstrated with a case study investigating the email traffic behaviour of a person’s email accounts from the Enron email corpus
A GENERIC ARCHITECTURE FOR INSIDER MISUSE MONITORING IN IT SYSTEMS
Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) have been widely deployed within many
organisations' IT nenvorks to delect network penetration attacks by outsiders and
privilege escalation attacks by insiders. However, traditional IDS are ineffective for
detecting o f abuse o f legitimate privileges by authorised users within the organisation i.e.
the detection of misfeasance. In essence insider IT abuse does not violate system level
controls, yet violates acceptable usage policy, business controls, or code of conduct
defined by the organisation. However, the acceptable usage policy can vary from one
organisation to another, and the acceptability o f user activities can also change depending
upon the user(s), application, machine, data, and other contextual conditions associated
with the entities involved. The fact that the perpetrators are authorised users and that the
insider misuse activities do not violate system level controls makes detection of insider
abuse more complicated than detection o f attacks by outsiders.
The overall aim o f the research is to determine novel methods by which monitoring and
detection may be improved to enable successful detection of insider IT abuse. The
discussion begins with a comprehensive investigation o f insider IT misuse, encompassing
the breadth and scale of the problem. Consideration is then given to the sufficiency of
existing safeguards, with the conclusion that they provide an inadequate basis for
detecting many o f the problems. This finding is used as the justification for considering
research into alternative approaches.
The realisation of the research objective includes the development of a taxonomy for
identification o f various levels within the system from which the relevant data associated
with each type of misuse can be collected, and formulation of a checklist for
identification of applications that requires misfeasor monitoring. Based upon this
foundation a novel architecture for monitoring o f insider IT misuse, has been designed.
The design offers new analysis procedures to be added, while providing methods to
include relevant contextual parameters from dispersed systems for analysis and reference.
The proposed system differs from existing IDS in the way that it focuses on detecting
contextual misuse of authorised privileges and legitimate operations, rather than detecting
exploitation o f network protocols and system level \ailnerabilities.
The main concepts of the new architecture were validated through a proof-of-concept
prototype system. A number o f case scenarios were used to demonstrate the validity of
analysis procedures developed and how the contextual data from dispersed databases can
be used for analysis of various types of insider activities. This helped prove that the
existing detection technologies can be adopted for detection o f insider IT misuse, and that
the research has thus provided valuable contribution to the domain
Data security in European healthcare information systems
This thesis considers the current requirements for data security in European healthcare systems and
establishments. Information technology is being increasingly used in all areas of healthcare
operation, from administration to direct care delivery, with a resulting dependence upon it by
healthcare staff. Systems routinely store and communicate a wide variety of potentially sensitive
data, much of which may also be critical to patient safety. There is consequently a significant
requirement for protection in many cases.
The thesis presents an assessment of healthcare security requirements at the European level, with a
critical examination of how the issue has been addressed to date in operational systems. It is
recognised that many systems were originally implemented without security needs being properly
addressed, with a consequence that protection is often weak and inconsistent between establishments.
The overall aim of the research has been to determine appropriate means by which security may be
added or enhanced in these cases.
The realisation of this objective has included the development of a common baseline standard for
security in healthcare systems and environments. The underlying guidelines in this approach cover
all of the principal protection issues, from physical and environmental measures to logical system
access controls. Further to this, the work has encompassed the development of a new protection
methodology by which establishments may determine their additional security requirements (by
classifying aspects of their systems, environments and data). Both the guidelines and the
methodology represent work submitted to the Commission of European Communities SEISMED
(Secure Environment for Information Systems in MEDicine) project, with which the research
programme was closely linked.
The thesis also establishes that healthcare systems can present significant targets for both internal
and external abuse, highlighting a requirement for improved logical controls. However, it is also
shown that the issues of easy integration and convenience are of paramount importance if security is
to be accepted and viable in practice. Unfortunately, many traditional methods do not offer these
advantages, necessitating the need for a different approach.
To this end, the conceptual design for a new intrusion monitoring system was developed, combining
the key aspects of authentication and auditing into an advanced framework for real-time user
supervision. A principal feature of the approach is the use of behaviour profiles, against which user
activities may be continuously compared to determine potential system intrusions and anomalous
events.
The effectiveness of real-time monitoring was evaluated in an experimental study of keystroke
analysis -a behavioural biometric technique that allows an assessment of user identity from their
typing style. This technique was found to have significant potential for discriminating between
impostors and legitimate users and was subsequently incorporated into a fully functional security
system, which demonstrated further aspects of the conceptual design and showed how transparent
supervision could be realised in practice.
The thesis also examines how the intrusion monitoring concept may be integrated into a wider
security architecture, allowing more comprehensive protection within both the local healthcare
establishment and between remote domains.Commission of European Communities
SEISMED proje
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