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Post-Doctoral research fellowship on Detection of distributed
Vulnerabilities in Large-scale Open Networks
Within the FP7-ICT-2009 Project Univerself (7th RTD),
a one-year postdoctoral position in formal methods is available at
INRIA Saclay-Ile de France in the Paris area.
The project, which involves both academic and industrial partners in
several European countries, aims at consolidating
autonomic methods of the future Internet for business-driven, service
and network management into a novel Unified
Management Framework (UMF) evolving through cognition.
The specific task addressed in the team is that of detecting and
managing distributed vulnerabilities in open networks.
In fact, even if all components that are active in an open and evolving
network can be assumed well-designed and well-protected, and if their
individual protection against attacks has been thoroughly tested or
even verified, vulnerabilities may still arise in a distributed
manner, through connection
and interaction. E. g., suppose a mobile device A communicates
with a PC B and, concurrently, a
mail with a malware attachment is opened on A with a non-updated mailer
version. Then a breach on B may be opened through A and be exploited
by an attacker C, even if this
attack was not possible on B without A.
Our approach to address this problem is two-fold :
a) Under the static viewpoint, we consider the detection of vulnerable
patterns (such as paths) in the current network topology, enriched by
information on local configuration (port addresses, software version
numbers, and the like). By exploring the existing theoretical results on
graph queries, we aim at classifying different types of distributed
vulnerabilities in terms of the type and complexity of the algorithms
for
their detection.
b) Under the second viewpoint, we consider the evolution of the
network via a dynamic model. Two important, yet hard, objectives arise:
1) Detection of possible future vulnerabilities; this task is
essentially a reachability problem form a graph transformation system;
2) Vulnerability Avoidance of vulnerabilities ; here, one
strives to modify
pollcy rules so as to steer the system away from undesirable,
i.e. vulnerable states.
The successful candidate will work in the MExICo team at Ecole Normale
Superieure Cachan in the
joint ENSC/CNRS/INRIA laboratory LSV (Laboratoire Specification et
Verification), in close cooperation with Stefan Haar and Serge Haddad.
ENS Cachan is a highly prestigious and competitive public institution
of higher education and research founded in 1912.
It is one of the major French Grandes Écoles, which are considered the
pinnacle of French higher education. With its multidisciplinary
departments and their associated research laboratories, the ENS Cachan
provides its students with a high-level cultural and scientific training.
ENS Cachan is located in a residential suburb of Paris, with rapid
transit station Bagneux within 5 min walking distance from the
campus. The LSV is the computer science laboratory of ENS Cachan, and
one of the world's top research sites in formal methods for computer
science;
among its researchers, numerous distinctions have been received,
such as three CNRS medals.
LSV's policy encourages cross-team interactions between its
researchers, and both its permanent and non-permanent members work in
close interaction and cooperative team spirit. The laboratory is
affiliated with both CNRS and INRIA, two national French research
institutes that ensure excellence in Computer Science, TIC and
automatic control.
The candidate should have a strong background in formal methods, and
specific proficiency and / or research interest in one of the following
fields:
- graph-oriented formal methods (such as graph transformation
systems),
- query languages,
- verification techniques for reactive systems.
The position is scheduled for one year, starting *no later than
September 1st, 2012*
Applications should include a concise CV, list of publications and
names of possible references for recommendations, and be sent in pdf
format.
Potential candidates are invited to contact Serge Haddad and Stefan
Haar about any question concerning the position, and to send in
applications.
Email:
Serge Haddad , [email protected]
Stefan Haar, [email protected].
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