configsynth: a formal framework for network security ...configsynth: a formal framework for network...

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

ConfigSynth: A Formal Framework for Network Security Design Synthesis

Mohammad Ashiqur Rahman and Ehab Al-Shaer

CyberDNA Research Center, UNC Charlotte

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Motivation • Complexity of Security Configuration is a major source of network

vulnerability: – “inappropriate or incorrect security configurations were responsible for

80% of United States Air Force vulnerabilities.”, Center for Strategic and International Studies Report on "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency“, December 2008.

– “human error is blamed for 50 to 80% of network outages.” , Juniper Networks Report, May 2008

– “the human factor” themselves cause more than 30% of network outages, “a major concern for carriers and causes big revenue-loss.” , British Telecom 2009

• Lack of security design analytics and automation tools

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Security Design Automation Problem

Automating the design synthesis of security configurations by determining security countermeasures along with device placements that reduces risk (attack surface) while satisfying different constraints: – Security requirements – Business (Usability and Cost) constraints – Mission objective (Connectivity requirements)

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Challenge: 1 – Contention between the security and

usability constraints. – Lack of metrics to measure these factors. – Budget constraints. – Security architecture should consider large-scale networks.

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Challenges: 2 – Contention between the security and usability constraints.

– Lack of metrics to measure these factors. – Budget constraints. – Security architecture should consider large-scale networks.

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Challenge: 3 – Contention between the security and usability constraints. – Lack of metrics to measure these factors.

– Budget constraints. – Security architecture should consider large-scale networks.

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Challenge: 4 – Contention between the security and usability constraints. – Lack of metrics to measure these factors. – Budget constraints.

– Security architecture should consider large-scale networks.

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Architecture

Security

Usability

Cost Security-Device Placements

Security Policy

Configuration Synthesis

SMT Solver

Security Specifications

Usability Specifications

Device Placement Model

Isolation, Usability, and Cost Model

Constraint Model

Network Topology and Placement Strategy

Connectivity Requirements

User-defined Constraints

ConfigSynth

Cost Specifications

ConfigSynth

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Architecture

Security

Usability

Cost Security-Device Placements

Security Policy

Configuration Synthesis

SMT Solver

Security Specifications

Usability Specifications

Device Placement Model

Security, Usability, and Cost Model

Constraint Model

Network Topology and Placement Strategy

Connectivity Requirements

User-defined Constraints

ConfigSynth

Cost Specifications

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Architecture

Security

Usability

Cost Security-Device Placements

Security Policy

Configuration Synthesis

SMT Solver

Security Specifications

Usability Specifications

Device Placement Model

Security, Usability, and Cost Model

Constraint Model

Network Topology and Placement Strategy

Connectivity Requirements

User-defined Constraints

ConfigSynth

Cost Specifications

Evaluation

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Security in terms of Isolation • Security requirements are indicated by isolation measures

between the hosts. • An isolation pattern signifies the type of security

resistance. • Network level isolation patterns:

– Access deny – Trusted communication, i.e., authenticated/encrypted communication. – Payload inspection. – Source identity hiding communication. – Traffic forwarding through proxy.

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Isolation Model

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Isolation Score

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Isolation Requirement

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Usability Constraint

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Cost Constraint

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Miscellaneous Constraints

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Analytical Result

The maximum possible isolation with respect to the usability constraint considering a fixed cost constraint

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Evaluation

The model synthesis time with respect to the number of hosts.

Science of Security Lablet

Security Metrics-Driven Evaluation, Design, Development, & Deployment

Summary • Our work has been accepted for publication in IEEE

ICDCS 2013 (13% acceptance rate). • Future works

– We are investigating the methodologies for the risk evaluation of the synthesized security design, and hypothesis generation for feedback controls to the synthesis engine.

– Interactive security analytics

Thanks