SBIR-STTR Award

Protecting critical information assets requires more than a best effort, it requires proof that the assets are protected. Proof requires formal analysis relying on solid foundations of mathematical analysis. However, field operators not trained in formal methods are responsible for managing the dynamic enterprise wide systems and ensuring the policy is correct. An integrated system is required that combines an easy to use paradigm with automatic verification of policy changes. Our solution called ESPANOLA creates simple to use policy objects for field operators. Each policy object contains the verification and mission requirements necessary to ensure any changes are automatically verified. This system can then be used to very policy changes in response to an attack, and automatically strength the security policy when the system is not under attack.

Keywords:
POLICY MANAGEMENT, ACTIVE RESPONSE, CYBER DEFENSE, ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT

Today’s warfighter gains an advantage over adversaries, by deploying advanced information technology that performs analysis and keeps the warfighter informed. The cost of this advantage is managing the complex information technology. Functional breakdowns in the system are quickly noticed. however a breakdown in the security policy may never be noticed. So the solution must ensure the security policy is verified as it is changed in the day-to-day struggle to meet the mission needs. ESPANOLA addresses this rising complexity by applying proven software engineering techniques to security policy engineering. ESPANOLA builds on existing object-oriented design tools for creating the verification constraints and the bulk of the security enforcement policy. The remaining much smaller, portion is built by administrators using a simple interface. Each policy change is checked for consistency based on the security and mission constraints defined by the security policy designers. The administrator does not have to use yet another tool to specify and check policy. The policy is checked, changed and pushed out to all the effected systems with one action.

Keywords:
Security Policy, Constraints, Enforcement Mechanism, Security Policy Design, Security Constraints