Game theoretic analysis for the mechanism of moving target defense

作     者：Gui-lin CAI Bao-sheng WANG Qian-qian XING Gui-lin CAI;Bao-sheng WANG;Qian-qian XING

作者机构：College of Computer National University of Defense Technology Changsha 410073 China 

出 版 物：《Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering》 (信息与电子工程前沿（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2017年第18卷第12期

页      面：2017-2034页

核心收录：

学科分类：12[管理学] 1201[管理学-管理科学与工程(可授管理学、工学学位)] 08[工学] 

基　　金：Project supported by the National Basic Research Program(973)of China(No.2012CB315906) 

主　　题：Network security Moving target defense (MTD) Defense mechanism Defense model Game theory 

摘      要：Moving target defense （MT_D） is a novel way to alter the asymmetric situation of attacks and defenses, and a lot of MTD studies have been carried out recently. However, relevant analysis for the defense mechanism of the MTD technology is still absent. In this paper, we analyze the defense mechanism of MTD technology in two dimensions. First, we present a new defense model named MP2R to describe the proactivity and effect of MTD technology intuitively. Second, we use the incomplete information dynamic game theory to verify the proactivity and effect of MTD technology. Specifically, we model the interaction between a defender who equips a server with different types of MTD techniques and a visitor who can be a user or an attacker, and analyze the equilibria and their conditions for these models. Then, we take an existing incomplete information dynamic game model for traditional defense and its equilibrium result as baseline for comparison, to validate the proactivity and effect of MTD technology. We also identify the factors that will influence the proactivity and effectiveness of the MTD approaches. This work gives theoretical support for understanding the defense process and defense mechanism of MTD technology and provides suggestions to improve the effectiveness of MTD approaches.