Coordinated Multi-Domain Deception: A Stackelberg Game Approach

Abstract: This paper explores coordinated deception strategies by synchronizing defenses across coupled cyber and physical systems to mislead attackers and strengthen defense mechanisms. We introduce a Stackelberg game framework to model the strategic interaction between defenders and attackers, where the defender leverages CVSS-based exploit probabilities and real-world vulnerability data from the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) to guide the deployment of deception. Cyber and physical replicas are used to disrupt attacker reconnaissance and enhance defensive effectiveness. We propose a CVE-based utility function to identify the most critical vulnerabilities and demonstrate that coordinated multilayer deception outperforms single-layer and baseline strategies in improving defender utility across both CVSS versions.