This Cyber Trust project investigates the use of compound exposure graphs, and network and adversary models as the foundation a comprehensive information security risk management architecture that spans these domains. Understanding the nature and severity of threats to enterprise networks is critical for effective prevention and response. Network administrators and security professionals must have tools to measure risk and devise remediation plans and to develop a mature risk management process. The project addresses these areas of national concern by developing techniques for scalable analysis and compound exposures, designing and validating security risk metrics, and constructing a software engine that binds analytical tools and metrics in a facilitated risk assessment process.
The intellectual merit of this project lies in both the strength of the project team and the significance of the problem addressed. The PI and others involved all have significant expertise to offer to the project, which is high risk and difficult but also has high potential for return. The project has the potential to provide technological advances in grasping the vulnerability of complex systems and provide defense mechanisms.
The broader impacts of the project lie in education and outreach activities that build relationships between academic, industrial, and government partners to deploy and evaluate the technologies that are developed. The project actively incorporates participation of undergraduate students and members of underrepresented groups via established mentoring programs. Research tools and results are strategically integrated into the information assurance courses and curriculum to provide current and effective models of information security risk management education and training.
