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Decepticon: a Theoretical Framework to Counter Advanced Persistent Threats

Author

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  • Rudra P. Baksi

    (University at Buffalo, SUNY)

  • Shambhu J. Upadhyaya

    (University at Buffalo, SUNY)

Abstract

Deception has been proposed in the literature as an effective defense mechanism to address Advanced Persistent Threats (APT). However, administering deception in a cost-effective manner requires a good understanding of the attack landscape. The attacks mounted by APT groups are highly diverse and sophisticated in nature and can render traditional signature based intrusion detection systems useless. This necessitates the development of behavior oriented defense mechanisms. In this paper, we develop Decepticon (Deception-based countermeasure), a Hidden Markov Model based framework where the indicators of compromise (IoC) are used as the observable features to aid in detection. This theoretical framework also includes several models to represent the spread of APTs in a computer system. The presented framework can be used to select an appropriate deception script when faced with APTs or other similar malware and trigger an appropriate defensive response. The effectiveness of the models in a networked system is illustrated by considering a real APT type ransomware.

Suggested Citation

  • Rudra P. Baksi & Shambhu J. Upadhyaya, 2021. "Decepticon: a Theoretical Framework to Counter Advanced Persistent Threats," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 897-913, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:23:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10796-020-10087-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10796-020-10087-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Boldizsár Bencsáth & Gábor Pék & Levente Buttyán & Márk Félegyházi, 2012. "The Cousins of Stuxnet: Duqu, Flame, and Gauss," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-33, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sanjay K. Sahay & Nihita Goel & Murtuza Jadliwala & Shambhu Upadhyaya, 2021. "Advances in Secure Knowledge Management in the Artificial Intelligence Era," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 807-810, August.

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