https://homeostasis.scs.carleton.ca/wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=EvoSec_2025W_Lecture_1 2026-04-22T09:00:55Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.42.1 https://homeostasis.scs.carleton.ca/wiki/index.php?title=EvoSec_2025W_Lecture_1&diff=24950&oldid=prev 2025-01-09T22:02:09Z

<p>Created page with &quot;&lt;pre&gt; Lecture 1 --------- Welcome to Evolutionary Security! - lectures are recorded, but that is just for private use - you&#039;ll have access, but they won&#039;t be public * Grading, expectations * What this course is about * My history - 1984: first computers (Atari 400, Apple //c, Apple IIgs) - 1989: AI - Medicine + computers? - 1990-1994: MIT - started as biology major, ended up a math major - took premed classes + CS classes (CS theory) - computational...&quot;</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>&lt;pre&gt;<br /> Lecture 1<br /> ---------<br /> <br /> Welcome to Evolutionary Security!<br /> <br /> - lectures are recorded, but that is just for private use<br /> - you&#039;ll have access, but they won&#039;t be public<br /> <br /> <br /> * Grading, expectations<br /> * What this course is about<br /> <br /> * My history<br /> - 1984: first computers (Atari 400, Apple //c, Apple IIgs)<br /> - 1989: AI<br /> - Medicine + computers?<br /> <br /> - 1990-1994: MIT<br /> - started as biology major, ended up a math major<br /> - took premed classes + CS classes (CS theory)<br /> - computational biology?<br /> - artificial life<br /> - part of &quot;complex adaptive systems&quot;<br /> - University of New Mexico, Santa Fe Institue<br /> - theoretical immunology<br /> - computer immune system?<br /> - real-time intrusion detection &amp; response system based<br /> on lightweight anomaly detection (pH)<br /> - joined Carleton in 2003<br /> <br /> Why don&#039;t other security researchers like the things I like?<br /> - my aesthetics for computer defenses seem VERY different, why?<br /> <br /> Early work was focused on bio-inspired methods<br /> - WAY too easy to do name magic with biological terms<br /> <br /> Metaphors let you map domain A onto domain B<br /> - but what you really want is some common theory T that applies to A and B<br /> <br /> So this course is about that theory, trying to explain and elaborate it<br /> - but I don&#039;t have a complete theory yet, I more have an outline<br /> <br /> I think Darwin messed up<br /> - current evolutionary theory isn&#039;t wrong, but it misses the big picture<br /> <br /> <br /> What&#039;s your job in this course?<br /> - provide feedback on what I say (question, argue against even)<br /> - develop your own ideas<br /> <br /> <br /> * Darwinian evolution<br /> * Artificial life<br /> * Limitations of current computer security theory &amp; practice<br /> * game theory in the context of evolution<br /> * symbiogenesis<br /> * current security arms race<br /> - evidence for evolutionary dynamics<br /> * evolution in other domains<br /> - economics, social organization<br /> - practice of computer security<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Limitation of computer security practice currently<br /> <br /> State of the art defenses<br /> - anti-malware<br /> - firewalls<br /> - automated software patches<br /> - automated vulnerability discovery<br /> - multi-factor authentication<br /> - access controls<br /> - immutable systems<br /> - virtualization/confinement<br /> - biometrics<br /> <br /> If you implement all of the above, using &quot;best practices&quot;, money is no object...is your system secure?<br /> <br /> Specifically, could an attacker develop an attack that a) bypasses all of these defenses and b) would not be detected later if the attacker is competent (unless someone smart noticed something)<br /> - YES<br /> <br /> <br /> This is not true for biology!<br /> - if things go wrong, your body notices and fights back<br /> - it doesn&#039;t always succeed, but it basically always tries<br /> <br /> HOW? WHY?<br /> - and why can&#039;t computers do this?!<br /> <br /> It isn&#039;t about mechanisms, it is about architecture<br /> <br /> biological systems are robust under evolutionary pressure<br /> - because they had to be<br /> - computer systems aren&#039;t<br /> - computer systems + people are<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Charles Darwin<br /> - wanted to explain the diversity of life<br /> - how organisms are similar yet different<br /> - maybe where they all came from<br /> - he knew about &quot;artificial selection&quot;, animal husbandry<br /> - maybe selection also happens in nature, but &quot;natural selection&quot;<br /> - &quot;survival of the fittest&quot;<br /> - so you have<br /> - a population of diverse individuals<br /> - heritable characteristics (not dependent on life experience)<br /> - some sort of selective pressure<br /> - survival + reproductive pressure<br /> - over time, this will result in a population of &quot;improved fitness&quot;<br /> - conclusion: this is where species came from<br /> <br /> We&#039;ve created artificial simulations of the above, and it doesn&#039;t produce anything like the diversity of life<br /> <br /> What&#039;s missing is cooperation<br /> &lt;/pre&gt;</div>

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