Moving Target Defenses in the Helix Self-Regenerative Architecture

Abstract

In this chapter we describe the design, development and application of the Helix Metamorphic Shield (HMS). The HMS: (1) continuously shifts the program{\rq}s attack surface in both the spatial and temporal dimensions, and (2), reduces the program{\rq}s attack surface by applying novel evolutionary algorithms to automatically repair vulnerabilities. The symbiotic interplay between shifting and reducing the attack surface results in the automated evolution of new program variants whose quality improves over time.