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Integrated Safety and Security Analysis using Attack Model Mining for Self-Adaptive Systems

Subject Area Software Engineering and Programming Languages
Term from 2020 to 2024
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 435878599
 
Final Report Year 2024

Final Report Abstract

The SafeSec project aims to enhance the modeling and analysis of combined safety and security in self-adaptive systems (SAS). Traditionally, safety and security in embedded systems have been studied separately, yet their increasing interconnection in IoT environments calls for a unified approach. SafeSec addresses this need by enabling semi-automated generation of combined safety and security models, which supports risk analysis and system adaptations based on security assessments. In this project, domain-specific languages (DSLs) for dataflow and component deployment models were developed to bridge the gap between fault trees (FTs) typically used for safety analysis and attack trees (ATs) used for security analysis. Dataflow and deployment models are semi-automatically generated out of a running system. Thus, we do not rely on the source code of a system or its dependencies but try to obtain this information out of the running system by analyzing used dependencies and according to databases. For the extraction of the dataflow between components, we focus on the robot operating system (ROS), version 2, which is a common framework for the development of cyber-physical systems. For the generation of ATs, we utilize CVE databases to find vulnerabilities of used components/libraries. Simple ATs are combined to more complex attacks by exploiting the common weaknesses (CWE) and common attack patterns (CAPEC). Finally, all gathered information is integrated into an attack fault tree (AFT) annotated with probabilities based on the exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS). This tree (or a set of trees) can then be analyzed by a probabilistic model checker resulting in an estimation how likely the root hazard might occur. This information (and especially its change over time) can be used to trigger adaptations in a SAS with the goal of avoiding risky situations. We implemented this approach and evaluated it with an expert group. They rated the results as applicable in the real world and assessed the dataflow and deployment model as a relevant measure to bridge the gap between low-level security aspects and high-level safety models.

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