Securitate cibernetică: vulnerabilitățile sistemelor informatice ale viitorului / Cyber security: the vulnerabilities of future information systems

The PhD thesis analyzes the current state of cyber security from a global perspective, presents personal considerations regarding the prospects for the evolution of cyber threats and vulnerabilities and proposes security solutions applicable to both current and near-future information systems. The main purpose of the research was to develop a series of compatible and eligible products and services for the cyber security environment of the future by studying cyber-attacks and their evolution to understand the impact of a proactive approach compared to a reactive approach from a defensive point of view. The secondary objectives consisted in the elaboration of theoretical, comparative analysis applied on various hardware configurations and software applications designed to minimize the impact of the cyber-attacks and to optimize the costs within the studied organizations. As a consequence, a framework for defining and analyzing cyber security risk within a company by applying the method of layered defense (Defense in Depth) was developed and applied. The contributions focused on human aspect (cybersecurity awareness, professional profile of the cybersec analyst) as well as improvement solutions at the management level of the organization (risk mitigation, comparative study of cyber security centers SOC vs. SIC) with the aim of reducing the attack surface. Among the contributions at the technical level it is worth highlighting the cyber-attacks and attackers analysis system based on a interactive honeypot network, the study of the impact of vulnerabilities including Buffer Overflow or Heartbleed and a solution for detecting various forms of malware such as APT or ransomware. Finally, as the evolving threat landscape shifted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizations will need to leverage a tailored approach to addressing the challenges of the new normal.