Autonomous Cybersecurity Probing via Distributed Attack Nodes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cybersecurity systems face challenges in efficiently and cost-effectively testing and preparing large, interconnected systems for complex cyberattacks, as penetration testing can be expensive and incomplete, and may miss vulnerabilities in complex systems.
Innovation Solution
An automated cybersecurity system using a distributed command mechanism with a Blackboard Architecture-based command system for autonomous networked testing, which includes ingest, attack, and verifier nodes to simulate attacks and detect vulnerabilities, allowing for rapid and thorough testing without requiring extensive coding changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If penetration testing is performed manually by experts, then testing accuracy and vulnerability detection quality improve, but cost and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-testing through automated penetration testing nodes that independently scan, exploit, and verify vulnerabilities without continuous human intervention. The autonomous nodes execute predefined attack scenarios and automatically generate reports, enabling the system to service its own security assessment needs while maintaining high accuracy through expert-level automated analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical penetration testing processes with automated computational systems. Expert hackers' knowledge is encoded into automated scanning algorithms, exploit frameworks, and verification mechanisms that systematically test systems without human physical intervention, thereby maintaining detection accuracy while dramatically improving testing efficiency and scalability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the scope of penetration testing is expanded to cover entire enterprise systems, then testing coverage improves, but cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The penetration testing system is divided into independent, modular nodes including scanning nodes, exploitation nodes, and verification nodes. Each node operates autonomously and can be deployed independently across different enterprise systems. This segmentation allows the system to scale coverage to entire enterprise networks by simply adding more nodes without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated penetration testing nodes are designed as universal platforms capable of testing diverse enterprise systems including web applications, mobile apps, APIs, and network infrastructure. The nodes execute multiple attack scenarios and support various protocols and technologies, enabling single nodes to perform multiple testing functions across different system types, thereby expanding coverage without linearly increasing complexity.
3Productivity
If distributed automated testing nodes are deployed, then testing speed and coverage improve, but system footprint and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The penetration testing nodes are designed as lightweight, containerized software packages with minimal resource footprints. Each node operates as a thin client that performs scanning, exploitation, and verification functions without requiring substantial local computing resources. The nodes can be deployed on standard hardware or cloud infrastructure, enabling rapid distribution across enterprise networks while maintaining small individual footprints and efficient resource utilization.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for autonomous cybersecurity probing includes a scanning module adapted to convert a target computing device or network scan to machine readable form. The scanning module includes an ingest module which processes the scan to create nodes representing the target ports, port status, and vulnerabilities. A command module includes a plurality of nodes representing facts, rules, actions, and verifiers associated with one or more vulnerabilities identified by the scanning module. The command module is configured to determine whether to launch an attack. An attack module is configured to, on receipt of instructions from the command module, assign an attack based on a one of the one or more vulnerabilities. A verifier module is configured to determine success or failure of the assigned attack and to return an indicator of the determined success or failure to the command module. Methods for cybersecurity probing using the described system are provided.