Viruses remain a significant threat to modern networked computer systems. Despite the best efforts of those who develop anti-virus systems, new viruses and new types of virus that are not dealt with by existing protection schemes appear regularly. In addition, the rate at which a virusSubmission category: regular paper. Approximate word count: 8,500This material has been cleared through the authors affiliation. 1.Contact author. Report Documentation Page SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S) SPONSOR/MONITOR'S REPORT NUMBER(S) DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENTApproved for public release; distribution unlimited SUPPLEMENTARY NOTESThe original document contains color images. ABSTRACTViruses remain a significant threat to modern networked computer systems. Despite the best efforts of those who develop anti-virus systems, new viruses and new types of virus that are not dealt with by existing protection schemes appear regularly. In addition, the rate at which a virus can spread has risen dramatically with the increase in connectivity. Defenses against infections by known viruses rely at present on immunization yet, for a variety of reasons, immunization is often only effective on a subset of the nodes in a network and many nodes remain unprotected. Little is known about either the way in which a viral infection proceeds in general or the way that immunization affects the infection process. In this paper we present the results of a simulation study of the way in which virus infections propagate through certain types of network and of the effect that partial immunization has on the infection. The key result is that relatively low levels of immunization can slow an infection significantly.

Traditionally, network administrators rely on labor-intensive processes for tracking network configurations and vulnerabilities. This requires a great deal of expertise, and is error prone because of the complexity of networks and associated security data. The interdependencies of network vulnerabilities make traditional point-wise vulnerability analysis inadequate. We describe a Topological Vulnerability Analysis (TVA) approach that analyzes vulnerability dependencies and shows all possible attack paths into a network. From models of the network vulnerabilities and potential attacker exploits, we compute attack graphs that convey the impact of individual and combined vulnerabilities on overall security. TVA finds potential paths of vulnerability through a network, showing exactly how attackers may penetrate a network. From this, we identify key vulnerabilities and provide strategies for protection of critical network assets. TVA provides predictive context for network hardening, intrusion detection deployment and alarm correlation, and optimal attack response. Further, it employs efficient algorithms that scale well to larger networks.

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Abstract-MEERKATS is a novel architecture for cloud environments that elevates continuous system evolution and change as first-rate design principles. Our goal is to enable an environment for cloud services that constantly changes along several dimensions, toward creating an unpredictable target for an adversary. This unpredictability will both impede the adversary's ability to achieve an initial system compromise and, if a compromise occurs, to detect, disrupt, and/or otherwise impede his ability to exploit this success. Thus, we envision an environment where cloud services and data are constantly in flux, using adaptive (both proactive and reactive) protection mechanisms and distributed monitoring at various levels of abstraction. A key element of MEERKATS is the focus on both the software and the data in the cloud, not just protecting but leveraging both to improve mission resilience. MEERKATS seeks to effectively exploit "economies of scale" (in resources available) to provide higher flexibility and effectiveness in the deployment and use of protection mechanisms as and where needed, focusing on current and anticipated application and mission needs instead of an inefficient, "blanket" approach to protecting "everything the same way, all the time". We outline our vision for MEERKATS and describe our approach toward prototyping it.

Survivability architectures enhance the survivability of critical information systems by providing a mechanism that allows the detection and treatment of various types of faults. In this paper, we discuss four of the issues that arise in the development of such architectures and summarize approaches that we are developing for their solution.