Surviving information warfare attacks on databases

We consider the problem of surviving information warfare attacks on databases. We adopt a fault tolerance approach to the different phases of an attack. To maintain precise information about the attack, we mark data to reflect the severity of detected damage as well as the degree to which the damaged data has been repaired. In the case of partially repaired data, integrity constraints might be violated, but data is nonetheless available to support mission objectives. We define a notion of consistency suitable for databases in which some information is known to be damaged, and other information is known to be only partially repaired. We present a protocol for normal transactions with respect to the damage markings and show that consistency preserving normal transactions maintain database consistency in the presence of damage. We present an algorithm for taking consistent snapshots of databases under attack. The snapshot algorithm has the virtue of not interfering with countermeasure transactions.