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Title: Defense on the Move: Ant-Based Cyber Defense

Journal Article · · IEEE Security & Privacy, 12(2):36-43
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/MSP.2014.21· OSTI ID:1158971

Many common cyber defenses (like firewalls and IDS) are as static as trench warfare allowing the attacker freedom to probe them at will. The concept of Moving Target Defense (MTD) adds dynamism to the defender side, but puts the systems to be defended themselves in motion, potentially at great cost to the defender. An alternative approach is a mobile resilient defense that removes attackers’ ability to rely on prior experience without requiring motion in the protected infrastructure itself. The defensive technology absorbs most of the cost of motion, is resilient to attack, and is unpredictable to attackers. The Ant-Based Cyber Defense (ABCD) is a mobile resilient defense providing a set of roaming, bio-inspired, digital-ant agents working with stationary agents in a hierarchy headed by a human supervisor. The ABCD approach provides a resilient, extensible, and flexible defense that can scale to large, multi-enterprise infrastructures like the smart electric grid.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1158971
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-97342; 830403000
Journal Information:
IEEE Security & Privacy, 12(2):36-43, Journal Name: IEEE Security & Privacy, 12(2):36-43
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English