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On Game-Theoretic Network Security Provisioning

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Abstract

Service level agreements occasionally come as qualitative claims rather than quantitative statements. Motivated by the well-known fact that different (security) service goals can be conflicting, we present an axiomatic approach to finding an optimal balance between interdependent service quality criteria with distinct performance indicators. As a by-product, we obtain network provisioning strategies that ensure the promised service level at optimized performance. Our results generally apply to any security infrastructure for which attack and provisioning strategy identification is feasible. Standard security audits can thus be exploited twice, because, apart from forming a convincing sales argument, they directly support security service level agreements.

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Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers for valuable comments that substantially improved the clarity of the paper, as well as for spotting some errors.

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  1. System Security Group, Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt, Universitaetsstrasse 65-67, 9020, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Stefan Rass

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  1. Stefan Rass
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Correspondence to Stefan Rass.

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Rass, S. On Game-Theoretic Network Security Provisioning. J Netw Syst Manage 21, 47–64 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10922-012-9229-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10922-012-9229-1

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