Optimal Security Patch Management Policies Maximizing System Availability
Toshikazu Uemura, Tadashi Dohi · Journal of Communications · 2010
Abstract—In this paper we quantitatively evaluate depend-ability/security of a computer-based system subject to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. More specifically, we develop two semi-Markov models for describing the stochastic behavior of systems with different security patch release strategies. The optimal security patch management policies are then formulated and analytically derived to maximize the steady-state system availability. We further perform the sensitivity analysis of model parameters through numerical experi-ments and refer to the effectiveness of our preventive patch management policies. Index Terms—Security evaluation, availability, patch man-agement policy, semi-Markov model, analytical approach. I.