Survival by Deception

Abstract

A system with a high degree of availability and survivability can be created via service duplication on disparate server platforms, where a compromise via a previously unknown attack is detected by a voting mechanism. However, shutting down the compromised component will inform the attacker that the subversion attempt was unsuccessful, and might lead her to explore other avenues of attack. This paper presents a better solution by transforming the compromised component to a state of honeypot; removing it from duty, while providing the attacker with bogus data. This provides the administrator of the target system with extra time to implement adequate security measures while the attacker is busy “exploiting” the honeypot. As long as the majority of components remain uncompromised, the system continues to deliver service to legitimate users.