Enhancing Security via Deliberate Unpredictability of Solutions in Optimisation

TL;DR

This paper discusses how to intentionally introduce unpredictability in decision support system solutions to enhance security, especially in sensitive applications like military or security timetabling.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of solution unpredictability and proposes mechanisms to deliberately avoid predictability in decision support systems.

Findings

Proposes mechanisms to increase solution unpredictability

Highlights importance in security-sensitive applications

Addresses the balance between predictability and security

Abstract

The main aim of decision support systems is to find solutions that satisfy user requirements. Often, this leads to predictability of those solutions, in the sense that having the input data and the model, an adversary or enemy can predict to a great extent the solution produced by your decision support system. Such predictability can be undesirable, for example, in military or security timetabling, or applications that require anonymity. In this paper, we discuss the notion of solution predictability and introduce potential mechanisms to intentionally avoid it.