HSM-Based Architecture to Detect Insider Attacks on Server-Side Data

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an HSM-based architecture to detect insider attacks on server-side data. Our proposed architecture combines four cryptography-based defense mechanisms: Nonce-Based Process Authentication (NBPA), Hash-Based Field Integrity (HBFI), Hash-Based Field Availability (HBFA), and Hash-Based Row Availability (HBRA). This novel architecture is designed to detect a predefined comprehensive attack model on server-side data tailored for an HSM-based architecture. The implementation results show that the throughput decrease is mostly manageable (14% for NBPA, 30-50% for HBFI, 25% for HBFA, and 43.74% for the combination of all mechanisms), with the indication that some mechanisms are more or less appropriate depending on the situation. Moreover, the HBRA mechanism performed well regarding the attack detection time (5 minutes for a database of 1000 entries).