A Systematic Survey of Self-Protecting Software Systems

Abstract

Self-protecting software systems are a class of autonomic systems capable of detecting and mitigating security threats at runtime. They are growing in importance, as the stovepipe static methods of securing software systems have been shown to be inadequate for the challenges posed by modern software systems. Self-protection, like other self-* properties, allows the system to adapt to the changing environment through autonomic means without much human intervention, and can thereby be responsive, agile, and cost effective. While existing research has made significant progress towards autonomic and adaptive security, gaps and challenges remain. This article presents a significant extension of our preliminary study in this area. In particular, unlike our preliminary study, here we have followed a systematic literature review process, which has broadened the scope of our study and strengthened the validity of our conclusions. By proposing and applying a comprehensive taxonomy to classify and characterize the state-of-the-art research in this area, we have identified key patterns, trends and challenges in the existing approaches, which reveals a number of opportunities that will shape the focus of future research efforts.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2014
Source ID
10.1145/2555611

Entities

People

  • Eric Yuan
  • Naeem Esfahani
  • Sam Malek

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • Division of Computing and Communication Foundations
  • George Mason University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Computer science
  • Engineering

Readers

  • Cybersecurity.
  • Software Engineering.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - Autonomous System Control