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Ants vs. worms: Computer security mimics nature
September 28, 2009In the never-ending battle to protect computer networks from intruders, security experts are deploying a new defense modeled after one of nature's hardiest creatures - the ant.
Unlike traditional security devices, which are static, these "digital ants" wander through computer networks looking for threats, such as "computer worms" - self-replicating programs designed to steal information or facilitate unauthorized use of machines. When a digital ant detects a threat, it doesn't take long for an army of ants to converge at that location, drawing the attention of human operators who step in to investigate.
The concept, called "swarm intelligence," promises to transform cyber security because it adapts readily to changing threats.
"In nature, we know that ants defend against threats very successfully," explains Professor of Computer Science Errin Fulp, an expert in security and computer networks. "They can ramp up their defense rapidly, and then resume routine behavior quickly after an intruder has been stopped. We were trying to achieve that same framework in a computer system."
Current security devices are designed to defend against all known threats at all times, but the bad guys who write malware - software created for malicious purposes - keep introducing slight variations to evade computer defenses.
As new variations are discovered and updates issued, security programs gobble more resources, antivirus scans take longer and machines run slower - a familiar problem for most computer users.
Glenn Fink, a research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Wash., came up with the idea of copying ant behavior. PNNL, one of 10 Department of Energy laboratories, conducts cutting-edge research in cyber security.
Fink was familiar with Fulp's expertise developing faster scans using parallel processing - dividing computer data into batches like lines of shoppers going through grocery store checkouts, where each lane is focused on certain threats. He invited Fulp and Wake Forest graduate students Wes Featherstun and Brian Williams to join a project there this summer that tested digital ants on a network of 64 computers.
Swarm intelligence, the approach developed by PNNL and Wake Forest, divides up the process of searching for specific threats.
"Our idea is to deploy 3,000 different types of digital ants, each looking for evidence of a threat," Fulp says. "As they move about the network, they leave digital trails modeled after the scent trails ants in nature use to guide other ants. Each time a digital ant identifies some evidence, it is programmed to leave behind a stronger scent. Stronger scent trails attract more ants, producing the swarm that marks a potential computer infection."
In the study this summer, Fulp introduced a worm into the network, and the digital ants successfully found it. PNNL has extended the project this semester, and Featherstun and Williams plan to incorporate the research into their master's theses.
Fulp says the new security approach is best suited for large networks that share many identical machines, such as those found in governments, large corporations and universities.
Computer users need not worry that a swarm of digital ants will decide to take up residence in their machine by mistake. Digital ants cannot survive without software "sentinels" located at each machine, which in turn report to network "sergeants" monitored by humans, who supervise the colony and maintain ultimate control.
Wake Forest University
"In nature, we know that ants defend against threats very successfully," explains Professor of Computer Science Errin Fulp, an expert in security and computer networks. "They can ramp up their defense rapidly, and then resume routine behavior quickly after an intruder has been stopped. We were trying to achieve that same framework in a computer system."
Current security devices are designed to defend against all known threats at all times, but the bad guys who write malware - software created for malicious purposes - keep introducing slight variations to evade computer defenses.
As new variations are discovered and updates issued, security programs gobble more resources, antivirus scans take longer and machines run slower - a familiar problem for most computer users.
Glenn Fink, a research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Wash., came up with the idea of copying ant behavior. PNNL, one of 10 Department of Energy laboratories, conducts cutting-edge research in cyber security.
Fink was familiar with Fulp's expertise developing faster scans using parallel processing - dividing computer data into batches like lines of shoppers going through grocery store checkouts, where each lane is focused on certain threats. He invited Fulp and Wake Forest graduate students Wes Featherstun and Brian Williams to join a project there this summer that tested digital ants on a network of 64 computers.
Swarm intelligence, the approach developed by PNNL and Wake Forest, divides up the process of searching for specific threats.
"Our idea is to deploy 3,000 different types of digital ants, each looking for evidence of a threat," Fulp says. "As they move about the network, they leave digital trails modeled after the scent trails ants in nature use to guide other ants. Each time a digital ant identifies some evidence, it is programmed to leave behind a stronger scent. Stronger scent trails attract more ants, producing the swarm that marks a potential computer infection."
In the study this summer, Fulp introduced a worm into the network, and the digital ants successfully found it. PNNL has extended the project this semester, and Featherstun and Williams plan to incorporate the research into their master's theses.
Fulp says the new security approach is best suited for large networks that share many identical machines, such as those found in governments, large corporations and universities.
Computer users need not worry that a swarm of digital ants will decide to take up residence in their machine by mistake. Digital ants cannot survive without software "sentinels" located at each machine, which in turn report to network "sergeants" monitored by humans, who supervise the colony and maintain ultimate control.
Wake Forest University
Computer Security Current Events and Computer Security News RSSRutgers Computer Scientists Work to Strengthen Online Security
If you forget your password when logging into an e-mail or online shopping Web site, the site will likely ask you a security question: What is your mother's maiden name? Where were you born?
New computer security guide can help safeguard your small business
Just in time for October's Cyber Security Awareness Month, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published a guide to help small businesses and organizations understand how to provide basic security for their information, systems and networks.
New publication offers security tips for WiMAX networks
Government agencies and other organizations planning to use WiMAX- Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access-networks can get technical advice on improving the security of their systems from a draft computer security guide prepared by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Denial of service denial
A way to filter out denial of service attacks on computer networks, including cloud computing systems, could significantly improve security on government, commercial, and educational systems.
Controlling the language of security
Korean computer scientists have developed a security policy specification for home networks that could make us more secure from cyber attack in our homes. They report details in the International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing.
NIST defining the expanding world of cloud computing
A working definition for cloud computing-a new computer technique with potential for achieving significant cost savings and information technology agility-has been released by a team of computer security experts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Low-cost strategy developed for curbing computer worms
Thanks to an ingenious new strategy devised by researchers at University of California, Davis and Intel Corporation, computer network administrators might soon be able to mount effective, low-cost defenses against self-propagating infectious programs known as worms.
Good code, bad computations: A computer security gray area
If you want to make sure your computer or server is not tricked into undertaking malicious or undesirable behavior, it's not enough to keep bad code out of the system. Two graduate students from UC San Diego's computer science department have just published work showing that the process of building bad programs from good code using "return-oriented programming" can be automated and that this vulnerability applies to multiple computer architectures.
Putting a Korset on the spread of computer viruses
Anti-virus companies play a losing game. Casting their nets wide, they catch common, malicious viruses and worms (known to the industry as "malware"), but it may take days before their software updates can prepare your computer for the next attack.
Fast quantum computer building block created
The fastest quantum computer bit that exploits the main advantage of the qubit over the conventional bit has been demonstrated by researchers at University of Michigan, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the University of California at San Diego.
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