"PNNL's Shadow Figment Technology Foils Cyberattacks"

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a cybersecurity technology called Shadow Figment. This technology aims to protect buildings, the electric grid, pipelines, and other physical targets from cyberattacks. Shadow Figment achieves this by luring hackers into an artificial world and then preventing them from inflicting damage by giving them false signals of success. The technology uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to set up detailed deception to keep attackers engaged in a pretend world that mirrors the real world. The decoy allows real-time user interaction and provides realistic responses to commands. The system's realistic interactions are intended to keep hackers involved in order to give defenders more time to respond. Shadow Figment feeds the hackers with illusory tidbits of success to keep them occupied while defenders learn about their methods and take steps to protect the actual system. The credibility of the system's deception relies on a Machine Learning (ML) program that learns through the observation of the real-world system. When responding to an attack, the program sends signals illustrating that the system is responding in plausible ways. This model-driven dynamic deception is more realistic than the commonly used static decoy that experienced hackers often recognize quickly. Shadow Figment creates interactive clones of physical systems, which considers the complexity of the system. If a hacker turns off a fan in the artificial world, Shadow Figment will respond by signaling that air movement has slowed down and that the temperature is increasing. If a hacker changes a water boiler's settings, the system will adjust the water flow rate appropriately. This article continues to discuss the development, capabilities, intent, and potential applications of the Shadow Figment cybersecurity technology. 

PNNL reports "PNNL's Shadow Figment Technology Foils Cyberattacks"