Using an information flow graph to identify and analyze covert channels
Daxin Liu · Harbin Gongcheng Daxue Xuebao/Journal of Harbin Engineering University · 2006
A technique is introduced for detecting covert channels using a graph structure called an information flow graph.The information flow graph can graphically illustrate the process through which information is relayed from the sender to the receiver via particular resource attributes.Algorithms for automating the construction of information flow graphs and potential covert channel operation sequences are presented.Six rules that a user can use to perform the analysis of the operation sequences were identified.Moreover,the notion of equivalent operation sequences was proposed to reduce the number of operation sequences.Based on these rules,a tool was developed to analyze the operation sequences automatically.Experiment results show this method can decrease the workloads for covert channel analysts remarkably,and can produce all true covert communication scenarios.