CybersecurityHarnessing game theory for cybersecurity of large-scale nets
Researchers have laid the groundwork for a method to improve cybersecurity for large-scale systems like the power grid and autonomous military defense networks by harnessing game theory and creating new intelligent algorithms. The project harnesses the Nash equilibrium, developed by Nobel laureate John Nash, whose life was chronicled in the film “A Beautiful Mind.” The work also applies “prospect theory,” which describes how people make decisions when there is uncertainty and risk, decisions that are often “only partly rational.”
Researchers have laid the groundwork for a method to improve cybersecurity for large-scale systems like the power grid and autonomous military defense networks by harnessing game theory and creating new intelligent algorithms.
Purdue University is leading the research, working with counterparts at Sandia National Laboratories. The work is funded with grants totaling about $700,000 from the National Science Foundation and Sandia.
The project harnesses the Nash equilibrium, developed by Nobel laureate John Nash, whose life was chronicled in the film “A Beautiful Mind.” The work also applies “prospect theory,” which describes how people make decisions when there is uncertainty and risk, decisions that are often “only partly rational,” said Shreyas Sundaram, an assistant professor in Purdue’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
“The research will lead to a more complete understanding of the vulnerabilities that arise in large-scale interconnected systems and guide us to the design of more secure systems, with corresponding societal benefits,” he said.
Purdue says that Sundaram leads the NSF-funded part of the project, working with co-principal investigators Saurabh Bagchi, a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Computer Science, and Timothy Cason, a professor of economics in the Krannert School of Management.
“The two projects tackle the complexity of protecting today’s large-scale systems,” Bagchi said.
The NSF portion of the project started in August, while the Sandia portion began in October.
“In total, the project will provide new insights into the types of decisions that humans make when faced with security threats, via a comprehensive approach spanning theory and experiments,” Cason said.
In conjunction with the project, Sandia researcher Abraham A. Clements has been working with the team while pursuing a doctoral degree at Purdue.
