KAJICHO KIVULI
JF-Expert Member
- Jul 30, 2013
- 2,061
- 547
This is like catching an intruder coming into your house, Moat says. And it excites me to do something most people have never done.
Moat, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, is part of a Binghamton University team working to create a real-time monitor that can spot intrusions into computer networks.
The project, funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, connects several threads in Moats life.
Moat and her teammates instead of reviewing all programs run by a network to find the signature of one of millions of known malware programs some of which mutate to avoid detection they have developed a technology to assess behavior of individual computers. This is done by monitoring system calls, the internal signals that accompany every computer operation and can reveal every function performed by the computer.
First, they create a profile of the networks normal operation. When a network is attacked, a review of system calls can reveal functionality that does not match this normalcy profile. This approach can address the most advanced attacks, some of which are skillfully designed to corrupt just one strategically chosen computer system.
Consider of it this way: Instead of looking for an intruder in your home by checking every room to see if anything has been taken or left behind, the Binghamton algorithm checks to see if anyone opened a door or window.
