In recent years machine learning algorithms, and more specifically deep learning algorithms, have been widely used in many fields, including cyber security. However, machine learning systems are vulnerable to adversarial attacks, and this limits the application of machine learning, especially in non-stationary, adversarial environments, such as the cyber security domain, where actual adversaries (e.g., malware developers) exist. This paper comprehensively summarizes the latest research on adversarial attacks against security solutions based on machine learning techniques and illuminates the risks they pose. First, the adversarial attack methods are characterized based on their stage of occurrence, and the attacker's goals and capabilities. Then, we categorize the applications of adversarial attack and defense methods in the cyber security domain. Finally, we highlight some characteristics identified in recent research and discuss the impact of recent advancements in other adversarial learning domains on future research directions in the cyber security domain. This paper is the first to discuss the unique challenges of implementing end-to-end adversarial attacks in the cyber security domain, map them in a unified taxonomy, and use the taxonomy to highlight future research directions.
DCI-Solutions；U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC), C5ISR Center（美国陆军作战能力发展司令部（CCDC）C5ISR中心）
There has been considerable and growing interest in applying machine learning for cyber defenses. One promising approach has been to apply natural language processing techniques to analyze logs data for suspicious behavior. A natural question arises to how robust these systems are to adversarial attacks. Defense against sophisticated attack is of particular concern for cyber defenses. In this paper, we develop a testing framework to evaluate adversarial robustness of machine learning cyber defenses, particularly those focused on log data. Our framework uses techniques from deep reinforcement l…
We present cyber-security problems of high importance. We show that in order to solve these cyber-security problems, one must cope with certain machine learning challenges. We provide novel data sets representing the problems in order to enable the academic community to investigate the problems and suggest methods to cope with the challenges. We also present a method to generate labels via pivoting, providing a solution to common problems of lack of labels in cyber-security.
Development of autonomous cyber system defense strategies and action recommendations in the real-world is challenging, and includes characterizing system state uncertainties and attack-defense dynamics. We propose a data-driven deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework to learn proactive, context-aware, defense countermeasures that dynamically adapt to evolving adversarial behaviors while minimizing loss of cyber system operations. A dynamic defense optimization problem is formulated with multiple protective postures against different types of adversaries with varying levels of skill and per…
Enhancing Network Resilience through Machine Learning-powered Graph Combinatorial Optimization: Applications in Cyber Defense and Information Diffusion
This article presents a summary of a keynote lecture at the Deep Learning Security workshop at IEEE Security and Privacy 2018. This lecture summarizes the state of the art in defenses against adversarial examples and provides recommendations for future research directions on this topic.
The scale of Internet-connected systems has increased considerably, and these systems are being exposed to cyber attacks more than ever. The complexity and dynamics of cyber attacks require protecting mechanisms to be responsive, adaptive, and scalable. Machine learning, or more specifically deep reinforcement learning (DRL), methods have been proposed widely to address these issues. By incorporating deep learning into traditional RL, DRL is highly capable of solving complex, dynamic, and especially high-dimensional cyber defense problems. This paper presents a survey of DRL approaches develop…
Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology（吉大港工程与技术大学）；Swinburne University of Technology（斯威本科技大学）
Detecting cyber-anomalies and attacks are becoming a rising concern these days in the domain of cybersecurity. The knowledge of artificial intelligence, particularly, the machine learning techniques can be used to tackle these issues. However, the effectiveness of a learning-based security model may vary depending on the security features and the data characteristics. In this paper, we present "CyberLearning", a machine learning-based cybersecurity modeling with correlated-feature selection, and a comprehensive empirical analysis on the effectiveness of various machine learning based security …
College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University（浙江大学计算机科学与技术学院）
As the number of cyber-attacks is increasing, cybersecurity is evolving to a key concern for any business. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) (in particular Deep Learning - DL) can be leveraged as key enabling technologies for cyber-defense, since they can contribute in threat detection and can even provide recommended actions to cyber analysts. A partnership of industry, academia, and government on a global scale is necessary in order to advance the adoption of AI/ML to cybersecurity and create efficient cyber defense systems. In this paper, we are concerned with the inves…
Cyber security adversaries and engagements are ubiquitous and ceaseless. We delineate Adversarial Genetic Programming for Cyber Security, a research topic that, by means of genetic programming (GP), replicates and studies the behavior of cyber adversaries and the dynamics of their engagements. Adversarial Genetic Programming for Cyber Security encompasses extant and immediate research efforts in a vital problem domain, arguably occupying a position at the frontier where GP matters. Additionally, it prompts research questions around evolving complex behavior by expressing different abstractions…
The workshop will focus on the application of artificial intelligence to problems in cyber security. AICS 2020 emphasis will be on human-machine teaming within the context of cyber security problems and will specifically explore collaboration between human operators and AI technologies. The workshop will address applicable areas of AI, such as machine learning, game theory, natural language processing, knowledge representation, automated and assistive reasoning and human machine interactions. Further, cyber security application areas with a particular emphasis on the characterization and deplo…
ACDZero: MCTS Agent for Mastering Automated Cyber Defense
Dept of ECE, George Washington University（电子工程系，乔治华盛顿大学）；Dept of ECE, Northeastern University（电子工程系，东北大学）；Dept of EECS, United States Military Academy（电子工程与科学系，美国军事学院）
Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning in Cybersecurity: From Fundamentals to Applications
Cyber-Defence Campus & Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences（网络安全校园与东瑞士应用科学大学）；Institute for Computational Engineering（计算工程研究所）；armasuisse Science and Technology（armasuisse科技）
