Adapting Fault Tolerance for Cyber Defense: 
From Replication to Self-Regeneration

 

Abstract

Defense of an information system often calls upon the use of extra components that can serve to overwhelm the attacker with too many targets but, more importantly, to ensure that enough components survive the attack.  Replication thus forms a basis of system survivability: when the defenses that surround some system components are breached and those components are overtaken, the replicas of those components carry out the mission, so that although the system has been diminished internally – it survives.  Beyond mere survival, however, is the notion that the system self-regenerates by seamlessly rebuilding itself.  This talk will describe the adaptation of concepts from fault tolerance to cyber defense and the challenges posed by self-regenerative systems.

Short Bio

Dr. Kevin Kwiat is a Senior Computer Engineer with Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate.  He is responsible for research aimed at adapting concepts from the fault-tolerant computing domain to cyber defense.  He has a BS in Computer Science, a BA in Mathematics, a Masters in Computer Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering all from Syracuse University . He serves as an adjunct professor of Computer Science at the following New York State colleges: Utica College of Syracuse Univsersity, Hamilton College , and the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome. Dr. Kwiat is a research associate professor at the University at Buffalo . He is also an advisor to the National Research Council, and a holder of 3 patents.

 

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