An Impact Assessment Model for Distributed Adaptive Security Situation Assessment

Overview

The goal of any intrusion detection, anti-virus, firewall or other security mechanism is not simply to stop attacks, but to protect a computing resource so that the resource can continue to perform its function. Sometimes, the efforts made to stop an attack on a resource may be as bad as the attack itself in terms of affecting the overall ability of the system to complete its mission. What is needed is a method of choosing responses to attacks on components that still allows the system to achieve its goals. This paper presents a model of computing resources and of how the loss or degradation of resources impacts the ability of a system to complete its mission.