IT infrastructures and corporate networks are threatened by a plethora of different types of attacks. Not long ago, research and industry almost entirely focused on the detection and prevention of large-scale attacks without a specific target. For example, signature-based detection techniques have been the de facto standard against malware throughout the past 30 years and current virus scanners still rely primarily on malware signatures for detection. The fundamental idea behind these techniques is founded on the assumption that one specific threat targets thousands or even millions of systems. Once it is detected on one system, a generic signature of the threat or its behavior can be used on other systems for detection.

In recent years, however, a new generation of threats has emerged. Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) as well as Advanced Targeted Attacks (ATAs) can be characterized as highly targeted to one specific entity. These types of attacks are driven by different motivations and often cause significantly more damage than bulk attacks; often they are performed for espionage or sabotage and are orchestrated by experts. Several cases in recent history have shown that targeted attacks are sometimes able to perform their malicious activity undiscovered by their victims for many months or even years. The prime example, Stuxnet, which targeted programmable logic controllers (PLCs) of sensitive industrial systems, was active for at least 3 years until discovery. It has to be concluded that today’s threat mitigation strategies are not effective against targeted attacks that are increasingly affecting less prominent targets (e.g. industrial espionage targeting smaller companies).

The 1st International Workshop on Targeted Attacks and Mitigation Strategies (WTAMS) aims at bringing together experts from academia and industry to share their research, ideas, knowledge and experience in the analysis and mitigation of targeted attacks.

Topics of interest comprise but are not limited to:
Threats and Attack Modeling
Malware detection and analysis
Intrusion Detection
Privacy Enhancing Technologies
Safety Critical Systems
Incident Response and Prevention