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The Design and Application of a Unified Ontology for Cyber Security

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Information Systems Security (ICISS 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14424))

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Abstract

Ontology enables semantic interoperability, making it highly valuable for cyber threat hunting. Community-driven frameworks like MITRE ATT &CK, D3FEND, ENGAGE, CWE and CVE have been developed to combat cyber threats. However, manually navigating these independent data sources is time-consuming and impractical in high-stakes situations. By adopting an ontology-based approach, these cybersecurity resources can be unified, enabling a holistic view of the threat landscape. Additionally, leveraging semantic query languages empowers analysts to make the most of existing data sources. This paper explores how through the application of a semantic query language (SPARQL) on a unified cybersecurity ontology, analysts can effectively exploit the information contained within these resources to strengthen their defense strategies against cyber threats.

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Acknowledgement

The research reported herein was supported in part by NIST Award # 60NANB23D007, NSF awards DMS-1737978, DGE-2039542, OAC-1828467, OAC-1931541, and DGE-1906630, ONR awards N00014-17-1-2995 and N00014-20-1-2738.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, USA

    Khandakar Ashrafi Akbar, Fariha Ishrat Rahman, Latifur Khan & Bhavani Thuraisingham

  2. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA

    Anoop Singhal

Authors
  1. Khandakar Ashrafi Akbar
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  2. Fariha Ishrat Rahman
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  3. Anoop Singhal
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  4. Latifur Khan
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  5. Bhavani Thuraisingham
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Khandakar Ashrafi Akbar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Vallipuram Muthukkumarasamy

  2. Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Bangalore, India

    Sithu D. Sudarsan

  3. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India

    Rudrapatna K. Shyamasundar

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Certain equipment, instruments, software, or materials are identified in this paper in order to specify the experimental procedure adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement of any product or service by NIST, nor is it intended to imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

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Akbar, K.A., Rahman, F.I., Singhal, A., Khan, L., Thuraisingham, B. (2023). The Design and Application of a Unified Ontology for Cyber Security. In: Muthukkumarasamy, V., Sudarsan, S.D., Shyamasundar, R.K. (eds) Information Systems Security. ICISS 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14424. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49099-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49099-6_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-49098-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-49099-6

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