Maximizing Network Reliability to 0-Day Exploits through a Heterogeneous Node Migration Strategy

Abstract

A recurrent problem currently affecting network reliability is the simultaneous exploitation of 0-day vulnerabilities shared between several node implementations across the network. When such 0-day vulnerabilities are exploited, large portions of the network may get compromised as a result. In this work, we propose a network node migration strategy to minimize the impact of 0-day attacks on network reliability. The migration method proposes replacing homogeneous node implementations with diverse alternatives to yield a heterogeneous network. The migration method allocates heterogeneous nodes within the network by minimizing the product between the average and the maximum number of network partitions, which may emerge after the simultaneous exploitation of 0-day risks on shared network resources. As we show, our migration strategy maximizes network connectivity in the event of a simultaneous 0-day attack. Our work's significant findings are the following: First, increasing the heterogeneity in node technologies reduces the attacker's ability to break down the entire network. Second, given a set of available network technologies that partially share risks, a network design implemented using several heterogeneous technologies sharing a small number of 0-day risks is more reliable than one with a small number of technologies whose 0-day risks are disjoint. Third, we observed that in a node-heterogeneous network topology, clustering nodes by technology improves network reliability.