Published: January 28, 2015
Author(s)
Changwei Liu, Anoop Singhal, Duminda Wijesekera
Conference
Name: 11th IFIP WG 11.9 International Conference on Digital Forensics
Dates: 01/26/2015 - 01/28/2015
Location: Orlando, Florida, United States
Citation: Advances in Digital Forensics IX, vol. 462, pp. 129-145
Many attackers tend to use sophisticated multi-stage and/or multi-host attack techniques and anti-forensic tools to cover their traces. Due to the limitations of current intrusion detection and network forensic analysis tools, reconstructing attack scenarios from evidence left behind by attackers of enterprise systems is challenging. In particular, reconstructing attack scenarios using intrusion detection system alerts and system logs that have too many false positives is a big challenge. This chapter presents a model and an accompanying software tool that systematically addresses the reconstruction of attack scenarios in a manner that could stand up in court. The problems faced in such reconstructions include large amounts of data (including irrelevant data), missing evidence and evidence corrupted or destroyed by anti-forensic techniques. The model addresses these problems using various methods, including mapping evidence to system vulnerabilities, inductive reasoning and abductive reasoning, to reconstruct attack scenarios. The Prolog-based system employs known vulnerability databases and an anti-forensic database that will eventually be extended to a standardized database like the NIST National Vulnerability Database. The system, which is designed for network forensic analysis, reduces the time and effort required to reach definite conclusions about how network attacks occurred.
Many attackers tend to use sophisticated multi-stage and/or multi-host attack techniques and anti-forensic tools to cover their traces. Due to the limitations of current intrusion detection and network forensic analysis tools, reconstructing attack scenarios from evidence left behind by attackers of...
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Many attackers tend to use sophisticated multi-stage and/or multi-host attack techniques and anti-forensic tools to cover their traces. Due to the limitations of current intrusion detection and network forensic analysis tools, reconstructing attack scenarios from evidence left behind by attackers of enterprise systems is challenging. In particular, reconstructing attack scenarios using intrusion detection system alerts and system logs that have too many false positives is a big challenge. This chapter presents a model and an accompanying software tool that systematically addresses the reconstruction of attack scenarios in a manner that could stand up in court. The problems faced in such reconstructions include large amounts of data (including irrelevant data), missing evidence and evidence corrupted or destroyed by anti-forensic techniques. The model addresses these problems using various methods, including mapping evidence to system vulnerabilities, inductive reasoning and abductive reasoning, to reconstruct attack scenarios. The Prolog-based system employs known vulnerability databases and an anti-forensic database that will eventually be extended to a standardized database like the NIST National Vulnerability Database. The system, which is designed for network forensic analysis, reduces the time and effort required to reach definite conclusions about how network attacks occurred.
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Keywords
admissibility; evidence graph; network attacks; network forensics
Control Families
None selected
