Modeling Security Vulnerabilities Using Chaos Theory: Discovering Order, Structure, and Patterns from Chaotic Behavior in Complex Systems

Traditional analysis of events has used linear methods, however many phenomena are not adequately modeled using traditional linear principles. Because scientific problem solving strategies have been largely based on reductionism, events may go un-modeled and appear to lack order, structure, or “patternability”. This paper employs chaos theory to analyze security vulnerability announcements. It demonstrates that there might be an underlying pattern to seemingly random events. Determining this pattern can lead to a better understanding of the order and structure of vulnerability frequency.