System attack surface based MTD effectiveness assessment model
XIONG Xinli1, ZHAO Guangsheng2,3, XU Weiguang1, LI Bo1
1. College of Command and Control Engineering, Army Engineering University of PLA, Nanjing 210007, China; 2. College of Computer, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China; 3. College of Cyberspace Security, PLA Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Abstract：Moving target defense (MTD) is a proactive method that protects against advanced persistent threats (APT) in cybersecurity. Although partial MT techniques have been employed in systems, there are no good effectiveness assessments, which hinders the use of multilayer MTD systems world-wide. This paper presents an MTD effectiveness evaluation method based on a system attack surface model with shifting parameters (SASSP) using an enlarged definition of the Attack Surface. The SASSP sequence is used in the MTD effectiveness assessment model to establish a relationship between the attacking states and the SASSP to evaluate the multi-layer MT techniques in larger topologies. A case study is given to illustrate the assessment effectiveness to guide the effectiveness and cost trade-off optimization of MTD systems.
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2019, Vol. 59 
