Government and industry cyber defenders now have a first-of-its-kind tool to help them outmaneuver digital attacks.
As part of a research project for the U.S. Army, scientists at The University of Texas at San Antonio have created a framework to score the agility of cyber attackers and defenders, according to a June 10 announcement. The framework allows private and public sector organizations to visualize how well they outflank attacks.
The group members collaborated to develop quantifiable metrics and measurements to better understand the cyberattacks that happen. They then used a honeypot to attract and analyze malicious traffic according to time and effectiveness.
As attackers and defenders developed new techniques, the researchers gained better insight into how a series of engagements transformed into a new adaptive and responsive agile pattern.
"A picture or graph in this case is really worth more than 1,000 words,” said Jose Mireles, who works at the Pentagon and who co-developed the framework as part of his UTSA master's thesis. “Using our framework, security professionals will recognize if they're getting beaten or doing a good job against an attacker.”