Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques for Ensuring Global Security

Chapter 17

Mastering AuBA Tools for Real-World Use

This chapter emphasizes the usability of automated behavior analysis (AuBA) tools and applications matched with basic knowledge of behavior principles and techniques. Because decades of work have gone into refining tools, features, and applications, much has been learned about the prediction of malicious behavior. Any good research and development (R&D) effort will feed back results of tests to the development process to make adjustments as required to achieve maximal performance and accuracy. From an R&D perspective, these lessons learned and the feedback from test results to the development process have resulted in continual improvements in both the unique technology supporting prediction of malicious behavior and the tools/applications themselves. Using customer feedback and input, we can make adjustments to interfaces and outcome reporting to best meet customer needs.

AuBA has been a two-part approach whereby first we needed to demonstrate that prediction of future malicious behavior can be accurate (valid) and reliable and second we needed to automate the process. Because of the focus on automation, the points requiring human manual manipulation have been reduced to a minimum, including validation. The automation means that the analytical team can spend its time on more important endeavors such as giving briefings, preparing reports, and gathering appropriate materials for analysis.

As I have noted in previous chapters, one ...