Selecting Countermeasures for ICT systems Before They are Attacked

A 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

Preventing State-Led Cyberattacks Using the Bright Internet and Internet Peace Principles

The Internet has engendered serious cybersecurity problems due to its anonymity, transnationality, and technical shortcomings. This paper addresses state-led cyberattacks (SLCAs) as a particular source of threats. Recently, the concept of the Bright Internet was proposed as a means of shifting the cybersecurity paradigm from self-defensive protection to the preventive identification of malevolent origins through adopting five cohesive principles. To design a preventive solution against SLCAs, we distinguish the nature of SLCAs from that of private-led cyberattacks (PLCAs). We then analyze what can and cannot be prevented according to the principles of the Bright Internet. For this research, we collected seven typical SLCA cases and selected three illustrative PLCA cases with eleven factors. Our analysis demonstrated that Bright Internet principles alone are insufficient for preventing threats from the cyberterror of noncompliant countries. Thus, we propose a complementary measure referred to here as the Internet Peace Principles, which define that the Internet should be used only for peaceful purposes in accordance with international laws and norms. We derive these principles using an approach that combines the extension of physical conventions to cyberspace, the expansion of international cybersecurity conventions to global member countries, and analogical international norms. Based on this framework, we adopt the Charter of the United Nations, the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, Recommendations by the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts, the Tallinn Manual, and Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and others as reference norms that we use to derive the consistent international order embodied by the Internet Peace Principles

Trust and Privacy Solutions Based on Holistic Service Requirements

The products and services designed for Smart Cities provide the necessary tools to improve the management of modern cities in a more efficient way. These tools need to gather citizens’ information about their activity, preferences, habits, etc. opening up the possibility of tracking them. Thus, privacy and security policies must be developed in order to satisfy and manage the legislative heterogeneity surrounding the services provided and comply with the laws of the country where they are provided. This paper presents one of the possible solutions to manage this heterogeneity, bearing in mind these types of networks, such as Wireless Sensor Networks, have important resource limitations. A knowledge and ontology management system is proposed to facilitate the collaboration between the business, legal and technological areas. This will ease the implementation of adequate specific security and privacy policies for a given service. All these security and privacy policies are based on the information provided by the deployed platforms and by expert system processing

Understanding Malicious Attacks Against Infrastructures - Overview on the Assessment and Management of Threats and Attacks to Industrial Control Systems

This report describes approaches to the assessment and management of malicious threats and attacks relating to critical infrastructures in general, and electric power infrastructures in particular. Securing infrastructures implies taking into account both the natural and man-made (intentional) events. While protecting against the natural disruptive events is a feasible (yet not trivial) task, benefiting by well-established practices, dealing with intentional attacks comes up across many difficulties, especially due to the unpredictability of such events. The report outlines the state-of-the-art in dealing with threats and malicious attacks, considering both physical and cyber actions. Several approaches taken at national and international levels towards securing the critical infrastructures are also provided.JRC.G.6-Sensors, radar technologies and cybersecurit

ICT aspects of power systems and their security

This report provides a deep description of four complex Attack Scenarios that have as final goal to produce damage to the Electric Power Transmission System. The details about protocols used, vulnerabilities, devices etc. have been for obvious reasons hidden, and the ones presented have to be understood as mere (even if realistic) simplified versions of possible power systems.JRC.DG.G.6-Security technology assessmen

Revisiting Security Vulnerabilities in Commercial Password Managers

In this work we analyse five popular commercial password managers for security vulnerabilities. Our analysis is twofold. First, we compile a list of previously disclosed vulnerabilities through a comprehensive review of the academic and non-academic sources and test each password manager against all the previously disclosed vulnerabilities. We find a mixed picture of fixed and persisting vulnerabilities. Then we carry out systematic functionality tests on the considered password managers and find four new vulnerabilities. Notably, one of the new vulnerabilities we identified allows a malicious app to impersonate a legitimate app to two out of five widely-used password managers we tested and as a result steal the user's password for the targeted service. We implement a proof-of-concept attack to show the feasibility of this vulnerability in a real-life scenario. Finally, we report and reflect on our experience of responsible disclosure of the newly discovered vulnerabilities to the corresponding password manager vendors

A STUDY ON EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURES AGAINST CYBER ATTACKS IN SOUTH KOREA

Based on U.S. cybersecurity policy, this thesis proposes effective countermeasures for the Republic of Korea (ROK) to prepare for, deter, and recover from cyber threats posed by North Korea. This study identifies the most dangerous North Korean cyber strikes facing South Korea by reviewing several cases of North Korean cyberattacks, the ROK’s countermeasures, and the severity of the damage caused by the attacks. The study builds on the writings of academics and subject matter experts as well as publicly available government policy documents, although specifics on policy are limited due to national security concerns. In addition, the study acknowledges how the cybersecurity paradigm has shifted as a result of U.S. planning, reaction to, and establishment of follow-up measures for an attack of a similar type by a cyber superpower. The strategy of deterring an opponent's operations based on the past has evolved into a strategy of preparing for enemy attacks through information sharing and preemptive defense measures, and counterattack by rapid recovery and identification of the enemy through resilience and with tracking technologies. Although the ROK is a country with well-developed information technology, its cybersecurity knowledge, systems, and technology remain weak in comparison to North Korea's abilities. Consequently, it is conceivable that the ROK can respond effectively to North Korea’s cyber threats by applying the lessons learned from the United States.Major, Republic of Korea Air ForceApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Cyber resilience of e-government: comparative case analysis of Estonia and South Korea

E-government has evolved throughout modern times and shaped the new norm of governance. While global society pays more attention to this next-generation platform than before, it is also true that state actors should build up a robust security strategy to protect e-government and their extended territory in cyberspace. At the same time, a high level of digitalization does not always mean their e-government framework is also strong enough to endure external threats. This thesis examines the difference in security preparedness of e-government by comparing a set of countries that have similarly well-developed online government but are lagging in the cyber defense aspect. In order to examine this, the research used cyber resilience as a conceptual framework to analyze several factors that cause differences. This concept overcomes the blind spot of the traditional cyber security approach and points out the relation with conventional hard security study. To uncover the differences in cyber security of e-government, this study picks up Estonia as a successful model and South Korea as the opposite. Based on cyber resilience, the thesis identifies external and internal factors including regional security, nature of neighbors, and internal factors triggering variance within these countries.https://www.ester.ee/record=b5439277*es

Nature-inspired survivability: Prey-inspired survivability countermeasures for cloud computing security challenges

As cloud computing environments become complex, adversaries have become highly sophisticated and unpredictable. Moreover, they can easily increase attack power and persist longer before detection. Uncertain malicious actions, latent risks, Unobserved or Unobservable risks (UUURs) characterise this new threat domain. This thesis proposes prey-inspired survivability to address unpredictable security challenges borne out of UUURs. While survivability is a well-addressed phenomenon in non-extinct prey animals, applying prey survivability to cloud computing directly is challenging due to contradicting end goals. How to manage evolving survivability goals and requirements under contradicting environmental conditions adds to the challenges. To address these challenges, this thesis proposes a holistic taxonomy which integrate multiple and disparate perspectives of cloud security challenges. In addition, it proposes the TRIZ (Teorija Rezbenija Izobretatelskib Zadach) to derive prey-inspired solutions through resolving contradiction. First, it develops a 3-step process to facilitate interdomain transfer of concepts from nature to cloud. Moreover, TRIZ’s generic approach suggests specific solutions for cloud computing survivability. Then, the thesis presents the conceptual prey-inspired cloud computing survivability framework (Pi-CCSF), built upon TRIZ derived solutions. The framework run-time is pushed to the user-space to support evolving survivability design goals. Furthermore, a target-based decision-making technique (TBDM) is proposed to manage survivability decisions. To evaluate the prey-inspired survivability concept, Pi-CCSF simulator is developed and implemented. Evaluation results shows that escalating survivability actions improve the vitality of vulnerable and compromised virtual machines (VMs) by 5% and dramatically improve their overall survivability. Hypothesis testing conclusively supports the hypothesis that the escalation mechanisms can be applied to enhance the survivability of cloud computing systems. Numeric analysis of TBDM shows that by considering survivability preferences and attitudes (these directly impacts survivability actions), the TBDM method brings unpredictable survivability information closer to decision processes. This enables efficient execution of variable escalating survivability actions, which enables the Pi-CCSF’s decision system (DS) to focus upon decisions that achieve survivability outcomes under unpredictability imposed by UUUR

A review of cyber security risk assessment methods for SCADA systems

This paper reviews the state of the art in cyber security risk assessment of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. We select and in-detail examine twenty-four risk assessment methods developed for or applied in the context of a SCADA system. We describe the essence of the methods and then analyse them in terms of aim; application domain; the stages of risk management addressed; key risk management concepts covered; impact measurement; sources of probabilistic data; evaluation and tool support. Based on the analysis, we suggest an intuitive scheme for the categorisation of cyber security risk assessment methods for SCADA systems. We also outline five research challenges facing the domain and point out the approaches that might be taken