Multi-Discipline Network Vulnerability Assessment.

Air Force Space Command has a mission to provide real-time, survivable, and enduring communications, surveillance, environmental monitoring, navigation, and warning....according to Air Force Space Handbook - A War Fighters Guide to Space. In order to prevent disruption of the critical networks in Space Command, a vulnerability assessment must be performed. The set of components called a vulnerability set, which could cause network disruption, must be identified and prioritized. In order to move beyond subjective prioritization, implementation of a quantitative methodology that measures the value of each vulnerability set is needed. This thesis proposes a technique for vulnerability assessment of a multi-disciplined network consisting of components that satisfy primary functions and secondary supporting functions. A Network Vulnerability Assessment Tool was developed and used to analyze the network. The tool models the network as nodes and links. A cut-set algorithm generates potential vulnerability sets. The overall objective is to find sets that cause critical network disruptions. Value-focused thinking and decision analysis techniques are used to rank the vulnerability sets according to decision maker preferences. The network vulnerability sets are ranked to provide an overall vulnerability assessment. Sensitivity analysis provides insight into the driving factors of the vulnerability set prioritization.