# Tutorial on Course-of-Action (COA) Attack Search Methods in Computer Networks

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.13763 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.13763/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 16 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 27 May 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 16 of 16)

- [Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.06347/) (2017)
- [Asynchronous Methods for Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.01783/) (2016)
- [Overcoming Exploration in Reinforcement Learning with Demonstrations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.10089/) (2017)
- [Communication-Efficient and Distributed Learning Over Wireless Networks: Principles and Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.02608/) (2020)
- [Autonomous Penetration Testing using Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.05965/) (2019)
- [Introduction to Quantum Reinforcement Learning: Theory and PennyLane-based Implementation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.06849/) (2021)
- [Deep hierarchical reinforcement agents for automated penetration testing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.06449/) (2021)
- [Using Cyber Terrain in Reinforcement Learning for Penetration Testing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.07124/) (2021)
- [POMDPs Make Better Hackers: Accounting for Uncertainty in Penetration Testing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1307.8182/) (2013)
- [Penetration Testing == POMDP Solving?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1306.4714/) (2013)
- [Markov Decision Policies for Dynamic Video Delivery in Wireless Caching Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.10932/) (2019)
- [Discovering Exfiltration Paths Using Reinforcement Learning with Attack Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.12416/) (2022)
- [Wireless Video Caching and Dynamic Streaming under Differentiated Quality Requirements](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.01594/) (2018)
- [Behaviour-Diverse Automatic Penetration Testing: A Curiosity-Driven Multi-Objective Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.10630/) (2022)
- [Quality-Aware Deep Reinforcement Learning for Streaming in Infrastructure-Assisted Connected Vehicles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.09425/) (2021)
- [Visualization of Deep Reinforcement Autonomous Aerial Mobility Learning Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.08761/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In the literature of modern network security research, deriving effective and efficient course-of-action (COA) attach search methods are of interests in industry and academia. As the network size grows, the traditional COA attack search methods can suffer from the limitations to computing and communication resources. Therefore, various methods have been developed to solve these problems, and reinforcement learning (RL)-based intelligent algorithms are one of the most effective solutions. Therefore, we review the RL-based COA attack search methods for network attack scenarios in terms of the trends and their contrib