DESEREC: Dependability and Security by Enhanced Reconfigurability

DESEREC, an ICT for Trust and Security project

DESEREC:Dependability and Security by Enhanced Reconfigurability

2 DESEREC, an ICT for Trust and Security project

Overview

The fast growth of highly interconnected Communications and Information Systems (CIS), and the use of them to carry out critical activities, has open an important issue regarding the resilience, reliability and security of these CISs. This strong interdependence increases the consequences of accidents, failures, attacks and implies high vulnerabilities.

Current approaches to protect such infrastructures are scattered into separate scientific fields, such us detection, modelling, simulation, redundancy & reconfiguration.

Interesting research projects are Polyander, SecPol and POSITIF Information representation standards and working groups: WBEM, PCIM, SAML,

XACML, IPSP Simulations standards and working groups: EUROSIS, SCS, NS-2, OPNET, etc. Intrusion and incident detection: CIDF, CISL, IDMEF

DESEREC proposes a joint step forward to improve the CISs supporting those critical services. Following this approach, DESEREC proposes to respond efficiently to:

Attacks from the outside Intrinsic failures Misbehaviour or malicious internal use


Objective

To define a framework to increase the dependability of existing and new networked Information Systems by means of an architecture based on the following modules:

Modelling & simulation: DESEREC devises and develops innovative approaches and tools to

design, model, simulate, and plan critical infrastructures to improve their resilience

Fast reconfiguration with priority to critical activities DESEREC provides a framework to respond in a quick and appropriate

way to a large range of incidents to mitigate the threats to the dependability and thwarts the problem

Incident detection and quick containment DESEREC integrates various detection mechanisms to ensure fast

detection of severe incidents and avoid any impact propagation


Today scenario

malicious internal use

Attack from the outside

Specific detection, reaction, monitoring and reconfiguration processes by device, service or application …..

Attacks Detection &

Reaction

Attacks Detection &

Reaction

Attacks Monitoring/

Reconfiguration

Attacks Monitoring/

Reconfiguration

Internal use Detection &

Reaction

Internal use Detection &

Reaction

Internal use Monitoring/

Reconfiguration

Internal use Monitoring/

Reconfiguration

Intrinsic failures

Failures Detection &

Reaction

Failures Detection &

Reaction

Failures Monitoring/

Reconfiguration

Failures Monitoring/

Reconfiguration


ModellingModelling

SimulationSimulation

Planning and Validation


Decision Module

Decision Module

Deployment & Reconfiguration


Event Monitoring

Event Monitoring

Serious Incident Detection


TranslatorTranslator

Fast CicatrisationFast Cicatrisation

DESEREC objective

malicious internal use

Attack from the outside

Common framework to model, reconfigure and detect attacks, malicious internal use or internal failures.

Intrinsic failures


Objectives

First objective - prevent keep every incident local

Second objective - react sustain or quickly resume the critical applications

Third objective – plan reallocate optimally the resources to recover the full range of services


Objectives

DESEREC includes three response loops working on 3 different answering times:

A few seconds to locally respond to a severe and well-characterized incident and to launch emergency curative procedure to avoid escalation process or dramatic damage.

Some minutes to detect very complex problem and to readjust the system

Some hours to build a new configuration optimized to resist to a new situation and validated through modelling and simulation


A multi-level response infrastructure

Incident

Incident still presentIncidentcleared,

OK

No critical impact,

OK

A critical service has stopped

Emergency configuration applied

Counter- measures1s

Scope shaping10s

Select an existing configurationor build an emergency one

2 min

hours

dela

y

Detection

Containment

Reconfiguration

ModellingConfiguration

is optimal,OK

Reconfiguration

Run simulation

Optimal configuration applied


Project architecture

WP1 - General architecture, requirementsWP1 - General architecture, requirements

WP8 - Integration, validation and demonstrations

WP8 - Integration, validation and demonstrations

WP2 – Operational PlanningModelling, Simulation

WP2 – Operational PlanningModelling, Simulation

WP3 – Deployment,

Hot Reconfiguration

WP3 – Deployment,

Hot Reconfiguration

WP4 – Intrusion and IncidentDetection, Response

WP4 – Intrusion and IncidentDetection, Response W

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WP1: Horizontal processes

Ensure that the DESEREC approach addresses the requirements and

needs of a representative user community Collection of user cases from different organisations:

Users requirements concerning dependability, resilience and security Description of the user’s requirements in an analytical way Collection of the basic information for the definition of the system architecture.

ModellingModelling




Decision Module

Decision Module



Event Monitoring

Event Monitoring





Entities information and requirementsEntities information and requirements


WP2: Operational Planning

Deals with models of information systems, their intended behaviour (policies), and risks (foreseen faults and attacks also unforeseen failures)

Checks the expected behaviour of the system when configured in a specific way and it is subject to specific inputs and faults

To create the needed tools to manage information and scenarios needed to configure the target system and react to faults and attacks

ModellingModelling




Decision Module

Decision Module



Event Monitoring

Event Monitoring





ModellingModelling




Decision Module

Decision Module



Event Monitoring

Event Monitoring






WP3: Deployment and hot reaction

Provide mechanisms to ensure the setup and deployment of an operational planning and its hot adaptation following the detection of abnormal events (incident, failure, misbehaviour) on the system

Define and design an efficient toolbox for the day-to-day management of complex system

ModellingModelling




Decision Module

Decision Module



Event Monitoring

Event Monitoring






WP4: Fast cicatrisation

Provide the basic conceptual and technical tools for implementing incident detection and fast reaction.

Questions to be resolved: How do we know an incident affecting a system’s dependability is underway? How do we detect it? Once an incident has been detected, what can we do to avoid or minimize it?

ModellingModelling




Decision Module

Decision Module



Event Monitoring

Event Monitoring






WP5: Dissemination and exploitation

Coordination of the collection of research and technical results coming out from the other work packages, and reaching the maximum number of potential end-users in the European ICT community in order to promote their widespread adoption

Organization of two DESEREC dissemination workshops and the submission of technical papers to international conferences and scientific journals

Preparation of training material for the user community.


WP6: Training

Professional Training to staff involved in the project development, implementing the demonstrations, and potential users of the tools and methodologies from outside the consortium

Training workshops foreseen during the project duration: Workshop on “The Concepts and Requirements for Increasing

Dependability and Security of Information Systems” Workshop on “The Mechanisms used for Increasing Dependability

through Enhanced Reconfiguration” Workshop on “The Results and Applications of DESEREC” Workshop on “Architecture, Modelling and Tools for Increasing

Dependability and Security of Information Systems”


WP8: Integration, Validation and Demonstration

Design of a test and validation model for the general architecture reflecting the combinations of solutions proposed in DESEREC

The coordination of the integration of contributions from other work packages in this model

Validation of the solutions with verification tools and expert tests Design, development and calibration of test and validation systems Demonstration of the DESEREC results to the users community.

ModellingModelling




Decision Module

Decision Module



Event Monitoring

Event Monitoring






Test-bed scenarios

Based on the establishment of three typical cases of critical

infrastructure provided through 2 partners:

OTE, a telecommunication operator in Greece

RENFE-Operadora, the national railway operator in Spain


Partners

University of Murcia

IEIIT/CNR

Canadian Resedarch Center

Documents

DESEREC: Dependability and Security by Enhanced Reconfigurability