Communications of the ACM
Fighting the Next Generation of Cyberattacks
Researchers are trying to develop software that can detect a new kind of vulnerability that is nearly impossible to identify through conventional means.
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Researchers at the University of Utah and the University of California, Irvine recently received a $3-million U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency grant to develop software that can identify a new kind of vulnerability that is nearly impossible to find with conventional technology.
The researchers aim to create an analyzer that can stop algorithmic attacks that target the set of rules or calculations a computer must follow to solve a problem.
Algorithmic attacks do not rely on typical vulnerabilities that occur when programmers make mistakes while creating their programs. Instead, they can secretly monitor how an algorithm is running or track how much energy a computer is using to discover secret data the computer is processing. In addition, algorithmic attacks can disable a computer by forcing it to use too much memory or driving its central processing unit to overwork.
"These algorithmic attacks are particularly devious because they exploit weaknesses in how resources like time and space are used in the algorithm," says Utah professor Suresh Venkatasubramanian.
The researchers will develop software that can perform an audit of programs to detect algorithmic vulnerabilities in the code. The analyzer then will perform a mathematical simulation of the software to predict what will happen in the event of an attack.
From University of Utah News
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