Visible to the public Biblio

Filters: Keyword is Threat Landscape  [Clear All Filters]
2020-07-20
Lekidis, Alexios, Barosan, Ion.  2019.  Model-based simulation and threat analysis of in-vehicle networks. 2019 15th IEEE International Workshop on Factory Communication Systems (WFCS). :1–8.
Automotive systems are currently undergoing a rapid evolution through the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) technologies. The main focus of this evolution is to improve the driving experience, including automated controls, intelligent navigation and safety systems. Moreover, the extremely rapid pace that such technologies are brought into the vehicles, necessitates the presence of adequate testing of new features to avoid operational errors. Apart from testing though, IoT and SDN technologies also widen the threat landscape of cyber-security risks due to the amount of connectivity interfaces that are nowadays exposed in vehicles. In this paper we present a new method, based on OMNET++, for testing new in-vehicle features and assessing security risks through network simulation. The method is demonstrated through a case-study on a Toyota Prius, whose network data are analyzed for the detection of anomalies caused from security threats or operational errors.
2020-02-24
Ahmadi-Assalemi, Gabriela, al-Khateeb, Haider M., Epiphaniou, Gregory, Cosson, Jon, Jahankhani, Hamid, Pillai, Prashant.  2019.  Federated Blockchain-Based Tracking and Liability Attribution Framework for Employees and Cyber-Physical Objects in a Smart Workplace. 2019 IEEE 12th International Conference on Global Security, Safety and Sustainability (ICGS3). :1–9.
The systematic integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) into the supply chain to increase operational efficiency and quality has also introduced new complexities to the threat landscape. The myriad of sensors could increase data collection capabilities for businesses to facilitate process automation aided by Artificial Intelligence (AI) but without adopting an appropriate Security-by-Design framework, threat detection and response are destined to fail. The emerging concept of Smart Workplace incorporates many CPS (e.g. Robots and Drones) to execute tasks alongside Employees both of which can be exploited as Insider Threats. We introduce and discuss forensic-readiness, liability attribution and the ability to track moving Smart SPS Objects to support modern Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) within a defence-in-depth strategy. We present a framework to facilitate the tracking of object behaviour within Smart Controlled Business Environments (SCBE) to support resilience by enabling proactive insider threat detection. Several components of the framework were piloted in a company to discuss a real-life case study and demonstrate anomaly detection and the emerging of behavioural patterns according to objects' movement with relation to their job role, workspace position and nearest entry or exit. The empirical data was collected from a Bluetooth-based Proximity Monitoring Solution. Furthermore, a key strength of the framework is a federated Blockchain (BC) model to achieve forensic-readiness by establishing a digital Chain-of-Custody (CoC) and a collaborative environment for CPS to qualify as Digital Witnesses (DW) to support post-incident investigations.
2019-10-23
Zieger, Andrej, Freiling, Felix, Kossakowski, Klaus-Peter.  2018.  The $\beta$-Time-to-Compromise Metric for Practical Cyber Security Risk Estimation. 2018 11th International Conference on IT Security Incident Management IT Forensics (IMF). :115-133.

To manage cybersecurity risks in practice, a simple yet effective method to assess suchs risks for individual systems is needed. With time-to-compromise (TTC), McQueen et al. (2005) introduced such a metric that measures the expected time that a system remains uncompromised given a specific threat landscape. Unlike other approaches that require complex system modeling to proceed, TTC combines simplicity with expressiveness and therefore has evolved into one of the most successful cybersecurity metrics in practice. We revisit TTC and identify several mathematical and methodological shortcomings which we address by embedding all aspects of the metric into the continuous domain and the possibility to incorporate information about vulnerability characteristics and other cyber threat intelligence into the model. We propose $\beta$-TTC, a formal extension of TTC which includes information from CVSS vectors as well as a continuous attacker skill based on a $\beta$-distribution. We show that our new metric (1) remains simple enough for practical use and (2) gives more realistic predictions than the original TTC by using data from a modern and productively used vulnerability database of a national CERT.

2019-07-01
Zieger, A., Freiling, F., Kossakowski, K..  2018.  The β-Time-to-Compromise Metric for Practical Cyber Security Risk Estimation. 2018 11th International Conference on IT Security Incident Management IT Forensics (IMF). :115–133.

To manage cybersecurity risks in practice, a simple yet effective method to assess suchs risks for individual systems is needed. With time-to-compromise (TTC), McQueen et al. (2005) introduced such a metric that measures the expected time that a system remains uncompromised given a specific threat landscape. Unlike other approaches that require complex system modeling to proceed, TTC combines simplicity with expressiveness and therefore has evolved into one of the most successful cybersecurity metrics in practice. We revisit TTC and identify several mathematical and methodological shortcomings which we address by embedding all aspects of the metric into the continuous domain and the possibility to incorporate information about vulnerability characteristics and other cyber threat intelligence into the model. We propose β-TTC, a formal extension of TTC which includes information from CVSS vectors as well as a continuous attacker skill based on a β-distribution. We show that our new metric (1) remains simple enough for practical use and (2) gives more realistic predictions than the original TTC by using data from a modern and productively used vulnerability database of a national CERT.

2019-03-15
Kettani, Houssain, Cannistra, Robert M..  2018.  On Cyber Threats to Smart Digital Environments. Proceedings of the 2Nd International Conference on Smart Digital Environment. :183-188.

Cyber threats and attacks have significantly increased in complexity and quantity throughout this past year. In this paper, the top fifteen cyber threats and trends are articulated in detail to provide awareness throughout the community and raising awareness. Specific attack vectors, mitigation techniques, kill chain and threat agents addressing Smart Digital Environments (SDE), including Internet of Things (IoT), are discussed. Due to the rising number of IoT and embedded firmware devices within ubiquitous computing environments such as smart homes, smart businesses and smart cities, the top fifteen cyber threats are being used in a comprehensive manner to take advantage of vulnerabilities and launch cyber operations using multiple attack vectors. What began as ubiquitous, or pervasive, computing is now matured to smart environments where the vulnerabilities and threats are widespread.