Automated Windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learning

Windows domain provides a unified system service for resource sharing and information interaction among users.However, this also introduces significant security risks while facilitating intranet management.In recent years, intranet attacks targeting domain controllers have become increasingly preval...

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Main Authors: Lige ZHAN, Letian SHA, Fu XIAO, Jiankuo DONG, Pinchang ZHANG
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: POSTS&TELECOM PRESS Co., LTD 2023-08-01
Series:网络与信息安全学报
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.cjnis.com.cn/thesisDetails#10.11959/j.issn.2096-109x.2023057
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author Lige ZHAN
Letian SHA
Fu XIAO
Jiankuo DONG
Pinchang ZHANG
author_facet Lige ZHAN
Letian SHA
Fu XIAO
Jiankuo DONG
Pinchang ZHANG
author_sort Lige ZHAN
collection DOAJ
description Windows domain provides a unified system service for resource sharing and information interaction among users.However, this also introduces significant security risks while facilitating intranet management.In recent years, intranet attacks targeting domain controllers have become increasingly prevalent, necessitating automated penetration testing to detect vulnerabilities and ensure the ongoing maintenance of office network operations.Then efficient identification of attack paths within the domain environment is crucial.The penetration process was first modeled using reinforcement learning, and attack paths were then discovered and verified through the interaction of the model with the domain environment.Furthermore, unnecessary states in the reinforcement learning model were trimmed based on the contribution differences of hosts to the penetration process, aiming to optimize the path selection strategy and improve the actual attack efficiency.The Q-learning algorithms with solution space refinement and exploration policy optimization were utilized to filter the optimal attack path.By employing this method, all security threats in the domain can be automatically verified, providing a valuable protection basis for domain administrators.Experiments were conducted on typical Windows domain scenarios, and the results show that the optimal path is selected from the thirteen efficient paths generated by the proposed method, while also providing better performance optimization in terms of domain controller intrusion, domain host intrusion, attack steps, convergence, and time cost compared to other approaches.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 2096-109X
language English
publishDate 2023-08-01
publisher POSTS&TELECOM PRESS Co., LTD
record_format Article
series 网络与信息安全学报
spelling doaj-art-f5686430e5c741a4bfcd5f7e6dd188402025-01-15T03:16:46ZengPOSTS&TELECOM PRESS Co., LTD网络与信息安全学报2096-109X2023-08-01910412059579576Automated Windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learningLige ZHANLetian SHAFu XIAOJiankuo DONGPinchang ZHANGWindows domain provides a unified system service for resource sharing and information interaction among users.However, this also introduces significant security risks while facilitating intranet management.In recent years, intranet attacks targeting domain controllers have become increasingly prevalent, necessitating automated penetration testing to detect vulnerabilities and ensure the ongoing maintenance of office network operations.Then efficient identification of attack paths within the domain environment is crucial.The penetration process was first modeled using reinforcement learning, and attack paths were then discovered and verified through the interaction of the model with the domain environment.Furthermore, unnecessary states in the reinforcement learning model were trimmed based on the contribution differences of hosts to the penetration process, aiming to optimize the path selection strategy and improve the actual attack efficiency.The Q-learning algorithms with solution space refinement and exploration policy optimization were utilized to filter the optimal attack path.By employing this method, all security threats in the domain can be automatically verified, providing a valuable protection basis for domain administrators.Experiments were conducted on typical Windows domain scenarios, and the results show that the optimal path is selected from the thirteen efficient paths generated by the proposed method, while also providing better performance optimization in terms of domain controller intrusion, domain host intrusion, attack steps, convergence, and time cost compared to other approaches.http://www.cjnis.com.cn/thesisDetails#10.11959/j.issn.2096-109x.2023057Windows domainpenetration testingreinforcement learningattack path
spellingShingle Lige ZHAN
Letian SHA
Fu XIAO
Jiankuo DONG
Pinchang ZHANG
Automated Windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learning
网络与信息安全学报
Windows domain
penetration testing
reinforcement learning
attack path
title Automated Windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learning
title_full Automated Windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learning
title_fullStr Automated Windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learning
title_full_unstemmed Automated Windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learning
title_short Automated Windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learning
title_sort automated windows domain penetration method based on reinforcement learning
topic Windows domain
penetration testing
reinforcement learning
attack path
url http://www.cjnis.com.cn/thesisDetails#10.11959/j.issn.2096-109x.2023057
work_keys_str_mv AT ligezhan automatedwindowsdomainpenetrationmethodbasedonreinforcementlearning
AT letiansha automatedwindowsdomainpenetrationmethodbasedonreinforcementlearning
AT fuxiao automatedwindowsdomainpenetrationmethodbasedonreinforcementlearning
AT jiankuodong automatedwindowsdomainpenetrationmethodbasedonreinforcementlearning
AT pinchangzhang automatedwindowsdomainpenetrationmethodbasedonreinforcementlearning