arXiv subjects

Mathias Ekstedt

Publications and source records attributed to Mathias Ekstedt.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Vexed by VEX tools: Consistency evaluation of container vulnerability scanners

The Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange (VEX) format has been introduced to complement Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) with security advisories of known vulnerabilities. VEX gives an accurate understanding of vulnerabilities found in the dependencies of third-party software, which is critical for secure software development and risk analysis. In this paper, we present a study that analyzes state-of-the-art VEX-generation tools (Trivy, Grype, DepScan, Scout, Snyk, OSV, Vexy) applied to containers. Our study examines how consistently different VEX-generation tools perform. By evaluating their performance across multiple datasets, we aim to gain insight into the overall maturity of the VEX-generation tool ecosystem, beyond any single implementation. We use the Jaccard and Tversky indices to produce similarity scores of tool results for three different datasets created from container images. Overall, our results show a low level of consistency among the tools, thus indicating a low level of maturity in the VEX tool space. We perform a number of experiments to explore the impact of different factors on the consistency of the results, with the difference in vulnerability databases queried showing the largest impact.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2023

Towards a Graph Neural Network-Based Approach for Estimating Hidden States in Cyber Attack Simulations

This work-in-progress paper introduces a prototype for a novel Graph Neural Network (GNN) based approach to estimate hidden states in cyber attack simulations. Utilizing the Meta Attack Language (MAL) in conjunction with Relational Dynamic Decision Language (RDDL) conformant simulations, our framework aims to map the intricate complexity of cyber attacks with a vast number of possible vectors in the simulations. While the prototype is yet to be completed and validated, we discuss its foundational concepts, the architecture, and the potential implications for the field of computer security.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2023

Challenges of Producing Software Bill Of Materials for Java

Software bills of materials (SBOM) promise to become the backbone of software supply chain hardening. We deep-dive into 6 tools and the accuracy of the SBOMs they produce for complex open-source Java projects. Our novel insights reveal some hard challenges for the accurate production and usage of SBOMs.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2023

Threat Scenarios and Monitoring Requirements for Cyber-Physical Systems of Flexibility Markets

The ongoing integration of renewable generation and distributed energy resources introduces new challenges to distribution network operation. Due to the increasing volatility and uncertainty, distribution system operators (DSOs) are seeking concepts to enable more active management and control. Flexibility markets (FMs) offer a platform for economically efficient trading of electricity flexibility between DSOs and other participants. The integration of cyber, physical and market domains of multiple participants makes FMs a system of cyber-physical systems (CPSs). While cross-domain integration sets the foundation for efficient deployment of flexibility, it introduces new physical and cyber vulnerabilities to participants. This work systematically formulates threat scenarios for the CPSs of FMs, revealing several remaining security challenges across all domains. Based on the threat scenarios, unresolved monitoring requirements for secure participation of DSOs in FMs are identified, providing the basis for future works that address these gaps with new technical concepts.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2021

Research Communities in cyber security: A Comprehensive Literature Review

In order to provide a coherent overview of cyber security research, the Scopus academic abstract and citation database was mined to create a citation graph of 98,373 authors active in the field between 1949 and early 2020. The Louvain community detection algorithm was applied to the graph in order to identify existing research communities. The analysis discovered twelve top-level communities: access control, authentication, biometrics, cryptography (I & II), cyber-physical systems, information hiding, intrusion detection, malwares, quantum cryptography, sensor networks, and usable security. These top-level communities were in turn composed of a total of 80 sub-communities. The analysis results are presented for each community in descriptive text, sub-community graphs, and tables with, for example, the most-cited papers and authors. A comparison between the detected communities and topical areas defined by other related work, is also presented, demonstrating a greater researcher emphasis on cryptography, quantum cryptography, information hiding and biometrics, at the expense of laws and regulation, risk management and governance, and security software lifecycle.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2018

Consensus in Software Engineering: A Cognitive Mapping Study

Background: Philosophers of science including Collins, Feyerabend, Kuhn and Latour have all emphasized the importance of consensus within scientific communities of practice. Consensus is important for maintaining legitimacy with outsiders, orchestrating future research, developing educational curricula and agreeing industry standards. Low consensus contrastingly undermines a field's reputation and hinders peer review. Aim: This paper aims to investigate the degree of consensus within the software engineering academic community concerning members' implicit theories of software engineering. Method: A convenience sample of 60 software engineering researchers produced diagrams describing their personal understanding of causal relationships between core software engineering constructs. The diagrams were then analyzed for patterns and clusters. Results: At least three schools of thought may be forming; however, their interpretation is unclear since they do not correspond to known divisions within the community (e.g. Agile vs. Plan-Driven methods). Furthermore, over one third of participants do not belong to any cluster. Conclusion: Although low consensus is common in social sciences, the rapid pace of innovation observed in software engineering suggests that high consensus is achievable given renewed commitment to empiricism and evidence-based practice.

cs.SE↗