Although cyberattacks on machine learning (ML) production systems can be
harmful, today, security practitioners are ill equipped, lacking methodologies
and tactical tools that would allow them to analyze the security risks of their
ML-based systems. In this paper, we performed a comprehensive threat analysis
of ML production systems. In this analysis, we follow the ontology presented by
NIST for evaluating enterprise network security risk and apply it to ML-based
production systems. Specifically, we (1) enumerate the assets of a typical ML
production system, (2) describe the threat model (i.e., potential adversaries,
their capabilities, and their main goal), (3) identify the various threats to
ML systems, and (4) review a large number of attacks, demonstrated in previous
studies, which can realize these threats. In addition, to quantify the risk of
adversarial machine learning (AML) threat, we introduce a novel scoring system,
which assign a severity score to different AML attacks. The proposed scoring
system utilizes the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for ranking, with the
assistance of security experts, various attributes of the attacks. Finally, we
developed an extension to the MulVAL attack graph generation and analysis
framework to incorporate cyberattacks on ML production systems. Using the
extension, security practitioners can apply attack graph analysis methods in
environments that include ML components; thus, providing security practitioners
with a methodological and practical tool for evaluating the impact and
quantifying the risk of a cyberattack targeting an ML production system.