Intelligent Software Decoys

We introduce an abstraction known as an intelligent software decoy for protecting objects within a component-based architecture from egregious and malicious use by mobile agents. If an agent misuses or tries to circumvent the published interface specification of an object, then the object switches from its nominal operating mode to a deception mode. While serving as a decoy, an object attempts to both deceive the agent into concluding that its violation of the interface specification has been successful and assess the nature of the violation. The interface specification is treated as a contract consisting of preconditions, postconditions, and a class invariant. Failure of a precondition triggers the transition between modes. An intelligent software decoy is adaptable, autarkic, polymorphic, and self-replicating. The decoy disguises and defends itself by modifying its contract at run-time through the use of both polymorphism and late binding. The nature and extent of any change to an object is governed by its class invariant.