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Contagion in cyber security attacks

Baldwin, A.; Gheyas, I.; Ioannidis, C.; Pym, D.; Williams, J.

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Authors

A. Baldwin

I. Gheyas

C. Ioannidis

D. Pym



Abstract

Systems security is essential for the efficient operation of all organizations. Indeed, most large firms employ a designated ‘Chief Information Security Officer’ to coordinate the operational aspects of the organization’s information security. Part of this role is in planning investment responses to information security threats against the firm’s corporate network infrastructure. To this end, we develop and estimate a vector equation system of threats to 10 important IP services, using industry standard SANS data on threats to various components of a firm’s information system over the period January 2003 – February 2011. Our results reveal strong evidence of contagion between such attacks, with attacks on ssh and Secure Web Server indicating increased attack activity on other ports. Security managers who ignore such contagious inter-relationships may underestimate the underlying risk to their systems’ defence of security attributes, such as sensitivity and criticality, and thus delay appropriate information security investments.

Citation

Baldwin, A., Gheyas, I., Ioannidis, C., Pym, D., & Williams, J. (2017). Contagion in cyber security attacks. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 68(7), 780-791. https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2016.37

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 25, 2016
Online Publication Date Dec 21, 2017
Publication Date Jul 1, 2017
Deposit Date May 4, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of the Operational Research Society
Print ISSN 0160-5682
Electronic ISSN 1476-9360
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 68
Issue 7
Pages 780-791
DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2016.37
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1413311

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Copyright Statement
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of the Operational Research Society. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Baldwin, A., Gheyas, I., Ioannidis, C., Pym, D. & Williams, J. (2017). Contagion in cyber security attacks. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 68(7): 780-791, doi: 10.1057/jors.2016.37 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2016.37





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