Information Security Management, 2nd Edition

12.6 Biologically Inspired Security and Adaptive Systems

A new approach to information and cybersecurity uses the human body as a metaphor in terms of building more adaptive and resilient systems, particularly in light of the fact that many systems are mobile—such as laptops and smartphones and other devices connected to what are called mobile ad hoc networks (MANET). These systems are expected to sustain some damage, but they have the ability to recover (recuperate) from infections and develop synthetic immunization. The idea of detecting system damage was developed from danger theory,⁴⁰ which explains the response of mammalian immune systems when danger such as a virus or bacteria are detected. Using that analogy in computing systems, we can, ...