Decapitation via Digital Epidemics: A Bio-Inspired Transmissive Attack

TL;DR

This paper explores transmissive cyber attacks that spread through interconnected systems like epidemics, using biological models to understand and analyze their behavior, with simulations and experiments demonstrating their impact and challenges.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of transmissive attacks in digital systems, linking them to epidemic models and providing analysis through simulations and experiments.

Findings

Transmissive attacks mimic epidemic spread in digital networks.

Epidemic models can effectively describe and analyze these attacks.

Ongoing research faces challenges in detection and mitigation.

Abstract

The evolution of communication technology and the proliferation of electronic devices have rendered adversaries powerful means for targeted attacks via all sorts of accessible resources. In particular, owing to the intrinsic interdependency and ubiquitous connectivity of modern communication systems, adversaries can devise malware that propagates through intermediate hosts to approach the target, which we refer to as transmissive attacks. Inspired by biology, the transmission pattern of such an attack in the digital space much resembles the spread of an epidemic in real life. This paper elaborates transmissive attacks, summarizes the utility of epidemic models in communication systems, and draws connections between transmissive attacks and epidemic models. Simulations, experiments, and ongoing research challenges on transmissive attacks are also addressed.