SoK: Come Together -- Unifying Security, Information Theory, and Cognition for a Mixed Reality Deception Attack Ontology & Analysis Framework

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive ontology and models for analyzing deception attacks in Mixed Reality, integrating security, information theory, and cognition to assess impacts on communication and decision-making.

Contribution

It introduces a multidisciplinary attack ontology and two impact models, forming the basis of a new MR Deception Analysis Framework for cybersecurity research.

Findings

Uncovered five key insights for MR deception attack research.

Identified five research gaps to guide future investigations.

Established a formal framework for impact assessment in MR security.

Abstract

We present a primary attack ontology and analysis framework for deception attacks in Mixed Reality (MR). This is achieved through multidisciplinary Systematization of Knowledge (SoK), integrating concepts from MR security, information theory, and cognition. While MR grows in popularity, it presents many cybersecurity challenges, particularly concerning deception attacks and their effects on humans. In this paper, we use the Borden-Kopp model of deception to develop a comprehensive ontology of MR deception attacks. Further, we derive two models to assess impact of MR deception attacks on information communication and decision-making. The first, an information-theoretic model, mathematically formalizes the effects of attacks on information communication. The second, a decision-making model, details the effects of attacks on interlaced cognitive processes. Using our ontology and models, we establish the MR Deception Analysis Framework (DAF) to assess the effects of MR deception attacks on information channels, perception, and attention. Our SoK uncovers five key findings for research and practice and identifies five research gaps to guide future work.