Automated Methods for Creating Diversity in Computer Systems
From Santa Fe Institute Events Wiki
| Global IP Fellows Meeting |
Gabriela Barrantes
Escuela de Ciencias de la Computación e Informática, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica
Automated Methods for Creating Diversity in Computer Systems
The pervasive homogeneity of computer systems attached
to the Internet represents a serious security threat.
Once an effective attack is crafted against one
machine, it can quickly and easily be used against
thousands of identical systems. A possible response to
this situation can be found using biological diversity
as inspiration. In nature, diversity provides a
defense against unpredictable threats by maximizing
the probability that some individuals will survive.
Diversity in computer systems could confer security
benefits by protecting against attacks that rely on
homogeneity. Reducing the uniformity in existing
systems is, however, a non-trivial task, as
standardization must be maintained at many interface
points.
In this talk I will discuss the costs and benefits of automated diversity showing our results from the implementation of three different diversifications.