Cyber Attack Propagation Simulation for Information System Vulnerability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional intrusion testing for cyber security, such as Red Team exercises, is limited in scalability, time-dependent, auditor-dependent, and does not evaluate the efficacy of security measures, making it difficult to assess cyber attack risks across an entire organization and over time.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method simulating cyber attacks through Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the probability of success, considering the sophistication of both attack and defense procedures, allowing for scalable, updatable, and harmonized risk analysis without actual testing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If intrusion testing (Red Team exercise) is conducted to evaluate cyber security, then accurate results reflecting real defence conditions are obtained, but the approach cannot be upscaled to test all operating modes against the entirety of a large organization's information system
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the information system architecture and security controls, allowing simulated attacks to be run on this digital replica rather than requiring physical intrusion tests on the actual system. This enables comprehensive testing of multiple attack scenarios and operating modes simultaneously, achieving both accuracy and scalability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis by automatically discovering and mapping the information system's architecture, assets, and security controls before conducting attack simulations. This preparatory phase enables the subsequent simulated attacks to be executed efficiently across the entire organization without requiring time-consuming manual intrusion testing for each scenario.
2Measurement precision
If intrusion testing is conducted to assess cyber vulnerability, then a photograph of the defence state at a given time is obtained, but any change in operating mode or system structure requires updating through new intrusion tests
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous automated monitoring and re-evaluation of the information system architecture, continuously updating the virtual model as changes occur. This allows the vulnerability assessment to remain current without requiring periodic manual intrusion tests, eliminating time loss while maintaining accurate snapshots of the defence state.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that automatically detect changes in the information system's operating modes and structure, triggering automatic updates to the vulnerability assessment model. This feedback loop ensures the assessment remains current without requiring manual intervention or repeated full-scale intrusion tests.
3Ease of manufacture
If intrusion testing is conducted by auditors, then security recommendations can be generated, but the results are biased by auditor-specific tooling, experience, and knowledge leading to complexification of harmonization
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the vulnerability assessment and generates security recommendations automatically through automated attack simulation and analysis, eliminating dependence on individual auditors' skills and tooling. This self-service approach ensures consistent, harmonized results across the entire organization while maintaining comprehensive security analysis capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system standardizes the assessment methodology by transforming various attack techniques and security controls into comparable quantitative parameters and scores. This parameterization enables consistent evaluation and harmonization of results across different parts of the organization, eliminating auditor-specific biases while preserving the ability to generate actionable security recommendations.
4Ease of manufacture
If intrusion testing is conducted to generate security recommendations, then potential security improvements are identified, but evaluation of the planned efficacy of securing operations requires deployment followed by comparative intrusion testing
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary evaluation of security controls by simulating attacks against the virtual model of the information system before actual security investments are deployed. This allows organizations to assess the expected efficacy of security measures in advance, enabling informed decision-making about security investments without requiring time-consuming post-deployment comparison tests.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for analyzing the vulnerability of an information system to a cyber attack, the attack propagating from a starting computer asset on a compromise path consisting of a succession of computer assets, the method comprising: carrying out simulations of the propagation of the attack, in which each simulation comprises, for each of the assets on the compromise path, steps of: pseudo-randomly determining a capability of a cyber security procedure providing passive, respectively active, defence for the asset to block the cyber attack and a capability of the attack to compromise the cyber security procedure providing the passive, respectively active, defence; determining the downfall of the asset by comparing the capability of the cyber security procedure providing the passive defence to block the attack with the capability of the attack to compromise the cyber security procedure providing the passive defence, and by comparing the capability of the cyber security procedure providing the active defence to block the attack with the capability of the attack to compromise the cyber security procedure providing the active defence; determining compromising of the asset in the event of the determined downfall of said asset and of each of the one or more computer assets upstream of said asset in the compromise path when said asset is not the starting computer asset; determining an indicator of vulnerability of a computer asset on the compromise path on the basis of the number of simulations for which a compromise of said asset was determined.