SoK: Benchmarking flaws in systems security

Erik van der Kouwe, Gernot Heiser, Dennis Andriesse, Herbert Bos, Cristiano Giuffrida

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Properly benchmarking a system is a difficult and intricate task. Even a seemingly innocuous mistake can compromise the guarantees provided by a systems security defense and threaten reproducibility and comparability. Moreover, as many modern defenses trade security for performance, the damage caused by benchmarking mistakes is increasingly worrying. To analyze the magnitude of the phenomenon, we identify 22 benchmarking flaws that threaten the validity of systems security evaluations, and survey 50 defense papers published in top venues. We show that benchmarking flaws are widespread even in papers published at tier-1 venues; tier-1 papers contain an average of five benchmarking flaws and we find only a single paper in our sample without any benchmarking flaws. Moreover, the scale of the problem appears constant over time, suggesting that the community is not yet taking sufficient countermeasures. This threatens the scientific process, which relies on reproducibility and comparability to ensure that published research advances the state of the art. We hope to raise awareness and provide recommendations for improving benchmarking quality and safeguard the scientific process in our community.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2019 IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy (EURO S and P)
Subtitle of host publication[Proceedings]
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages310-325
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9781728111476
ISBN (Print)9781728111490
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Event4th IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy, EURO S and P 2019 - Stockholm, Sweden
Duration: 17 Jun 201919 Jun 2019

Conference

Conference4th IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy, EURO S and P 2019
Country/TerritorySweden
CityStockholm
Period17/06/1919/06/19

Keywords

  • benchmarking
  • computer systems
  • security

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