Title :
Estimating a System´s Mean Time-to-Compromise
Author :
Leversage, David John ; James, E.
Author_Institution :
British Columbia Inst. of Technol, Burnaby
Abstract :
Mean time-to-compromise is a comparative security metric that applies lessons learned from physical security. To address this need in the SCADA world specifically and the corporate IT security world more generally, we propose a mean time-to-compromise (MTTC) interval as an estimate of the time it will take for an attacker with a specific skill level to successfully impact a target system. We also propose a state-space model (SSM) and algorithms for estimating attack paths and state times to calculate these MTTC intervals for a given target system. Although we use SCADA as an example, we believe our approach should work in any IT environment.
Keywords :
DP management; SCADA systems; computer crime; computer networks; MTTC security metric; SCADA security; attack path estimation; corporate IT security; mean time-to-compromise intervals; network security; physical security; state time estimation; state-space model; Companies; Costs; Data security; Electrical equipment industry; Industrial control; Intelligent systems; Petroleum industry; Resource management; SCADA systems; System testing; Attack Path; Compromise; Computer Security; Critical Infrastructure; Critical Infrastructure Protection; MTTC; Markov; Mean Time-to-Compromise; Network Security; Predator; Process Control; SCADA; SCADA Security; Security; State Space Model; Time-to-Compromise;
Journal_Title :
Security & Privacy, IEEE
