Intelligent Adversary Simulator for Network Vulnerability Assessment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for cyber threat detection and vulnerability assessment are inefficient, as they often misallocate security resources and can compromise network devices during testing, and lack the ability to simulate how threats spread through a network.
Innovation Solution
An intelligent-adversary simulator constructs a virtualized network graph to simulate cyber-attack scenarios, identifying critical devices and paths of least resistance, using historical connectivity and behavior patterns to prioritize resource allocation and generate targeted security recommendations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If vulnerability scanners test actual network devices, then security vulnerabilities can be detected, but network devices may be compromised or adversely affected during testing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtualized copy of the network environment that mirrors the actual network topology, devices, and connectivity. This virtual replica allows security scanning and vulnerability assessment to be performed on the copy rather than the actual devices, eliminating the harmful side effects while preserving detection accuracy. The virtualized instance includes virtual network devices that replicate the structural and connectivity characteristics of the real network.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtualized network instance serves as an intermediary between the vulnerability scanner and the actual network devices. All scanning operations are routed through this intermediate virtual environment, which absorbs the harmful effects of testing while transmitting useful security information back to analysts without exposing real devices to compromise.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive path analysis is performed to identify all possible attack routes, then complete security assessment is achieved, but computing cycles and memory storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and analyzes only the critical paths and high-risk routes within the network graph, rather than exhaustively analyzing every possible path. By identifying and focusing on paths that lead to critical devices or represent significant security risks, the system achieves comprehensive security assessment of essential areas while reducing computational complexity and resource requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The analysis applies different levels of scrutiny to different parts of the network based on their security importance. Critical devices and high-risk pathways receive detailed path analysis, while less critical areas receive simplified assessment. This localized quality approach ensures thorough evaluation of security-critical paths without the computational overhead of analyzing every possible route in the entire network.
3Productivity
If security resources are allocated based on traditional vulnerability scanning, then coverage is achieved, but resources may be misallocated to non-critical devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical vulnerability scanning with an intelligent simulation system that uses graph theory and path analysis to identify critical devices. This substitution enables automated, data-driven identification of security priorities based on network topology and potential attack pathways, replacing manual or simplistic scanning-based allocation methods with a more precise analytical approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary path analysis and critical device identification before security resources are deployed. By pre-calculating which devices represent critical security nodes based on their position in the network graph and their role in potential attack paths, the organization can proactively allocate resources to the most critical devices rather than reacting to scan results or distributing resources uniformly.
Data Source
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AI summary
An intelligent-adversary simulator can construct a graph of a virtualized instance of a network including devices connecting to the virtualized instance of the network as well as connections and pathways through the virtualized instance of the network. Running a simulated cyber-attack scenario on the virtualized instance of the network in order to identify one or more critical devices connecting to the virtualized instance of the network from a security standpoint, and then put this information into a generated report to help prioritize which devices should have a priority. During a simulation, the intelligent-adversary simulator calculates paths of least resistance for a cyber threat in the cyber-attack scenario to compromise a source device through to other components until reaching an end goal of the cyber-attack scenario in the virtualized network, all based on historic knowledge of connectivity and behaviour patterns of users and devices within the actual network under analysis.