Artificial intelligence in cyber defense

Abstract

The speed of processes and the amount of data to be used in defending the cyber space cannot be handled by humans without considerable automation. However, it is difficult to develop software with conventional fixed algorithms (hard-wired logic on decision making level) for effectively defending against the dynamically evolving attacks in networks. This situation can be handled by applying methods of artificial intelligence that provide flexibility and learning capability to software. This paper presents a brief survey of artificial intelligence applications in cyber defense (CD), and analyzes the prospects of enhancing the cyber defense capabilities by means of increasing the intelligence of the defense systems. After surveying the papers available about artificial intelligence applications in CD, we can conclude that useful applications already exist. They belong, first of all, to applications of artificial neural nets in perimeter defense and some other CD areas. From the other side - it has become obvious that many CD problems can be solved successfully only when methods of artificial intelligence are being used. For example, wide knowledge usage is necessary in decision making, and intelligent decision support is one of yet unsolved problems in CD. © 2011 Cooperative Cyber Defenc.