QoIA-Aware Attack Resilient Database Systems

This project will build a QoIA-aware attack resistant database system framework, call Linba. The trustworthiness of a computing system in delivering valid services in face of attacks has become a more critical concern than ever as people are experiencing increased cyber security threats. A Quality of Information Assurance (QoIA) service is a service associated with a specific level of trustworthiness. From the viewpoint of end users, the goal of trusted computing is to enable people to get the QoIA services that they have subscribed for even in face of attacks. However, (most) existing trusted systems cannot deliver QoIA services since they have very limited ability in providing (sustained) quantitative trustworthiness guarantees. The objective of this research is to build a new trusted computing infrastructure that is able to continue delivering QoIA services in face of attacks and cost constraints. Based on a novel formal (service) trustworthiness model, Linba delivers multilevel, differential, quantitative QoIA services through near optimal neuro-fuzzy composite QoIA adaptations where Linba intelligently adapts itself to environment changes and QoIA-cost tradeoffs are done in an optimized way. Successful development of Linba will arm existing trusted database systems with the ability to deliver QoIA services (in a cost-effective way) and provide very valuable hints on developing a variety of other types of trusted computing systems that can deliver QoIA services. The cost-effectiveness of Linba will be evaluated through simulation or prototyping.