Comparing two techniques for intrusion visualization

Abstract

Various techniques have been proposed to model attacks on systems. In order to understand such attacks and thereby propose efficient mitigations, the sequence of steps in the attack should be analysed thoroughly. However, there is a lack of techniques to represent intrusion scenarios across a system architecture. This paper proposes a new technique called misuse sequence diagrams (MUSD). MUSD represents the sequence of attacker interactions with system components and how they were misused over time by exploiting their vulnerabilities. The paper investigates MUSD in a controlled experiment with 42 students, comparing it with a similar technique called misuse case maps (MUCM). The results suggest that the two mostly perform equally well and they are complementary regarding architectural issues and temporal sequences of actions though MUSD was perceived more favourably. © 2010 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.