Game Theory Classification in Cybersecurity: A Survey.

Abstract

Cyber security is a field designed to protect computers connected to the internet from attacks, and hence prevent unauthorized users from accessing the sensitive data present in it. Lately, it has witnessed intensified research from both academia and the industry. However, traditional cyber security technologies still face inadequacies in tackling the ever-dynamic frontier of cyber-attacks as a result of inability to incorporate behavioral tendencies of adaptive and intelligent adversaries in their security models. Game theory is often the first choice as a mathematical tool among researchers and industry practitioners for modeling conflict and cooperation among intelligent and rational actors. With its rich modeling and analytical techniques, and ability to forecast cyber-attacks and optimal defense strategies accurately, cyber security attacks are much easier to mitigate than traditional approaches. This paper reviews several game theoretic concepts and applications in the never-ending dynamic contradiction between the defender and the attacker. These concepts are classified according to applications and scenarios. Present research challenges are discussed and future directions for the need to incorporate attackers risk attitude as a determinant factor of the Nash Equilibrium is emphasized in the malicious insider threat scenario.