Bayesian Network Models in Cyber Security: A Systematic Review

Bayesian Networks (BNs) are an increasingly popular modelling technique in cyber security especially due to their capability to overcome data limitations. This is also instantiated by the growth of BN models development in cyber security. However, a comprehensive comparison and analysis of these models is missing. In this paper, we conduct a...

Cybersecurity as a Politikum: Implications of Security Discourses for Infrastructures

In the cybersecurity community it is common to think of security as a design feature for systems and infrastructures that may be difficult to balance with other requirements. What is less studied is how security requirements come about, for which reasons, and what their influence is on the actions the system facilitates. Security is for example...

The Navigation Metaphor in Security Economics

The navigation metaphor for cybersecurity merges security architecture models and security economics. By identifying the most efficient routes for gaining access to assets from an attacker's viewpoint, an organization can optimize its defenses along these routes. The well-understood concept of navigation makes it easier to motivate and...

The attack navigator

The need to assess security and take protection decisions is at least as old as our civilisation. However, the complexity and development speed of our interconnected technical systems have surpassed our capacity to imagine and evaluate risk scenarios. This holds in particular for risks that are caused by the strategic behaviour of adversaries...

Socio-technical security metrics

Report from Dagstuhl seminar 14491. This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 14491 “Socio-Technical Security Metrics”. In the domain of safety, metrics inform many decisions, from the height of new dikes to the design of nuclear plants. We can state, for example, that the dikes should be high enough to guarantee...

Security-by-Experiment: Lessons from Responsible Deployment in Cyberspace

onceiving new technologies as social experiments is a means to discuss responsible deployment of technologies that may have unknown and potentially harmful side-effects. Thus far, the uncertain outcomes addressed in the paradigm of new technologies as social experiments have been mostly safety-related, meaning that potential harm is caused by...

Refining the ethics of computer-made decisions: A classification of moral mediation by ubiquitous machines

In the past decades, computers have become more and more involved in society by the rise of ubiquitous systems, increasing the number of interactions between humans and IT systems. At the same time, the technology itself is getting more complex, enabling devices to act in a way that previously only humans could, based on developments in the...

Security-by-Experiment: Lessons from Responsible Deployment in Cyberspace

Conceiving new technologies as social experiments is a means to discuss responsible deployment of technologies that may have unknown and potentially harmful side-effects. Thus far, the uncertain outcomes addressed in the paradigm of new technologies as social experiments have been mostly safety-related, meaning that potential harm is caused by...

Quantitative Penetration Testing with Item Response Theory (extended version)

Existing penetration testing approaches assess the vulnerability of a system by determining whether certain attack paths are possible in practice. Thus, penetration testing has so far been used as a qualitative research method. To enable quantitative approaches to security risk management, including decision support based on the cost...

Obligations to enforce prohibitions: On the adequacy of security policies

Security policies in organisations typically take the form of obligations for the employees. However, it is often unclear what the purpose of such obligations is, and how these can be integrated in the operational processes of the organisation. This can result in policies that may be either too strong or too weak, leading to unnecessary...

Quantitative penetration testing with item response theory

Existing penetration testing approaches assess the vulnerability of a system by determining whether certain attack paths are possible in practice. Therefore, penetration testing has thus far been used as a qualitative research method. To enable quantitative approaches to security risk management, including decision support based on the cost...

System Abuse by Service Composition: Analysis and Prevention

We know that several chemicals can be combined to form explosives. Therefore, we do not want these to end up in airplanes together. Similarly, in the architecture of complex systems, it is often possible to combine the results of several system services to acquire illegitimate benefits or disrupt operation. For example, in what is called...

Gevoel voor kennis: Emoties in de kennissamenleving