FirePatch: Secure and Time-Critical Dissemination of Software Patches

Because software security patches contain information about vulnerabilities, they can be reverse engineered into exploits. Tools for doing this already exist. As a result, there is a race between hackers and end-users to obtain patches first. In this paper we present and evaluate FirePatch, an intrusion-tolerant dissemination mechanism that combines encryption, replication, and sandboxing such that end-users are able to win the security patch race.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: SEC
• Authors: Håvard D. Johansen, Dag Johansen, Robbert van Renesse
• Keywords: Intrusion-tolerant Dissemination Mechanism, SEC 2007, Security Patch Race, Security Privacy, Software Security Patches