NDLI: Countermeasures for Covert Channel-Internal Control Protocols

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Kaur, J. Wendzel, S. Meier, M.
Copyright Year	2015
Description	Author affiliation: Cyber Security Dept., Fraunhofer Inst. for Commun., Inf. Process. & Ergonomics, Bonn, Germany (Kaur, J.; Wendzel, S.; Meier, M.)
Abstract	Network covert channels have become a sophisticated means for transferring hidden information over the network, and thereby breaking the security policy of a system. Covert channel-internal control protocols, called micro protocols, have been introduced in the recent years to enhance capabilities of network covert channels. Micro protocols are usually placed within the hidden bits of a covert channel's payload and enable features such as reliable data transfer, session management, and dynamic routing for network covert channels. These features provide adaptive and stealthy communication channels for malware, especially bot nets. Although many techniques are available to counter network covert channels, these techniques are insufficient for countering micro protocols. In this paper, we present the first work to categorize and implement possible countermeasures for micro protocols that can ultimately break sophisticated covert channel communication. The key aspect of proposing these countermeasures is based on the interaction with the micro protocol. We implemented the countermeasures for two micro protocol-based tools: Ping Tunnel and Smart Covert Channel Tool. The results show that our techniques are able to counter micro protocols in an effective manner compared to current mechanisms, which do not target micro protocol-specific behavior.
Starting Page	422
Ending Page	428
File Size	1561339
Page Count	7
File Format	PDF
e-ISBN	9781467365901
DOI	10.1109/ARES.2015.88
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2015-08-24
Publisher Place	France
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	active warden Protocols passive warden covert channels network security information hiding Routing Overlay networks micro protocols steganography Communication channels ICMP tunneling overlay routing Timing Reliability Payloads
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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