Internet users such as individuals and organizations are subject to different types of epidemic risks such as worms, viruses, spams, and botnets. To reduce the probability of risk, an Internet user generally invests in traditional security mechanisms like anti-virus and anti-spam software, sometimes also known as self-defense mechanisms. However, according to security experts, such software (an...

The integration of Information Technology (IT) systems (computations and communications–the cyber world) with sensor and actuation data (the physical world), can introduce new, and fundamentally different approaches to security research in the growing field of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), when compared to other purely-cyber systems. In our earlier work [4, 2, 1, 3], we have shown that because ...

Smart grid initiatives will produce a grid that is increasingly dependent on its cyber infrastructure in order to support the numerous power applications necessary to provide improved grid monitoring and control capabilities. However, recent findings documented in government reports and other literature, indicate the growing threat of cyber-based attacks in numbers and sophistication targeting ...

Cyber security exercises are a very effective way of learning the practical aspects of information security. But designing such exercises is not an easy task and requires the work of several people. This paper presents a number of steps and guidelines that should be followed when designing a new cyber security exercise. The steps include: defining the objectives, choosing an approach, designing...

The development and connection of information and communication technologies with industrial control systems in the so-called critical infrastructure have contributed to the emergence of new complex threats. The critical infrastructure has become a target of sophisticated cyber attacks which exploit several, also unknown, vulnerabilities in one course of an attack. The paper proposes an attack ...

Virtually every aspect of modern life is shaped by advancements in technology. While there are undeniable benefits to this ubiquitous use of technology and the Internet, we must also understand the security risks that come with them and take appropriate measures for preparedness. The challenges faced by government, industry, and academia continues to grow in volume and complexity as cyber secur...

Network security simulator is required for the study on the cyber intrusion and defense as cyber terrors have been increasingly popular. Until now, network security simulation aims at estimation of a small-size network or performance analysis of information protection systems. However, a systematic way to develop network security simulation is needed. In this paper, an ordered UML-based scenari...

We propose a new defense mechanism against undetected infiltration into controllers in cyber-physical systems. To this end, we cautiously design the outputs of the sensors that monitor the state of the system. Different from the defense mechanisms that seek to detect infiltration, the proposed approach seeks to minimize the damage of possible attacks before they have been detected. Controller o...

This work addresses the challenge “how do we make better security decisions?” and it develops techniques to support human decision making and algorithms which enable well-founded cyber security decisions to be made. In this paper we propose a game theoretic model which optimally allocates cyber security resources such as administrators’ time across different tasks. We first model the interactio...

Since all Department of Defense (DoD) missions depend on cyber assets and capabilities, a dynamic and accurate cyber dependency analysis is a critical component of mission assurance. Mission analysis aims to identify hosts and applications that are “mission critical” so they can be monitored, and resources preferentially allocated to mitigate risks. For missions limited in duration and scale (t...