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Game Theoretic Analysis of Ransomware: A Preliminary Study

  • SUNY Buffalo

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ransomware attacks have been frequent and wreaking havoc of the kind never seen before. This paper presents an analysis of a basic type of ransomware. When faced with a ransomware attack, the victim needs to address a question whether to pay or not to pay the ransom. In this regard, we develop a game-theoretic model to analyze the attack landscape and to determine under what conditions the defender is in a position of advantage to successfully neutralize the attack. In this preliminary analysis, we develop strategies which would help the victim to make an informed decision. We put forward two parameters that help the defender make an informed decision in the face of an attack. We perform a sensitivity analysis to show how the variation of the parameters affect the outcomes of the attacker and the defender and thereby affecting the equilibrium strategies. We then discuss how the outcome of the model can help defenders to come up with an effective defense mechanism against similar future attacks.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationICISSP 2022 - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy
EditorsPaolo Mori, Gabriele Lenzini, Steven Furnell
PublisherScience and Technology Publications, Lda
Pages242-251
Number of pages10
ISBN (Print)9789897585531
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Event8th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy, ICISSP 2022 - Virtual, Online
Duration: Feb 9 2022Feb 11 2022

Publication series

NameInternational Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy
ISSN (Electronic)2184-4356

Conference

Conference8th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy, ICISSP 2022
CityVirtual, Online
Period02/9/2202/11/22

Keywords

  • Computer Security
  • Cryptography
  • Cyber-security
  • Game Theory
  • Ransomware

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