Application of Game Theory in Computer Security

Abstract

Due to the capability of game theory to solve the situations of conflict and competition, Game Theory has been used as a mathematical tool in economics, politics, biology and human psychology. Nash Equilibrium, being the solution of a non-cooperative game, gives a stable state in a sense that no agent/player has any positive incentive to deviate from its current adopted strategy, when all other players of the game stick to their current moves. In Computer security, the cooperation to follow a certain protocol cannot be taken as for granted, keeping in view the selfish nature of now a day’s network entities. To cope with the selfish and competitive behavior of the network entities, Game Theory provides a feasible solution for resource utilization and service provisioning, Detection and defense against some forms of attack that threatens the optimal performance of computer networks. This paper presents the detailed overview of the Game Theory concepts and its applications in the Computer security, both from cooperative and non-cooperative perspectives