Int J Performability Eng ›› 2019, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (5): 1297-1305.doi: 10.23940/ijpe.19.05.p5.12971305

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Determining Best Patch Management Software using Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets with TOPSIS

Yogita Kansala,*, P. K. Kapurb, and Nitin Sachdevac   

  1. a Amity Institute of Information Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, 201313, India
    b Amity Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, 201313, India
    c Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, 201001, India
  • Submitted on ;
  • Contact: * E-mail address: ykansal35@gmail.com

Abstract: Today's IT infrastructure demands for an automated yet stringently controlled solution to manage patches for vulnerable software applications. The use of patch management tools is the best practice that tests all the available patches before installation to ensure that the released patch will not break the existing software. However, the availability of several patch management software poses a challenge for the system administrator to decide which software facilitates the operational competence and effectiveness of the computer system in terms of revenue and system security. Therefore, selecting the appropriate patch management software that automatically patches all the Microsoft and non-Microsoft products simultaneously is an important and complex concern, leading to the multi-criteria decision approach. Here, we implement a hybrid approach that combines the intuitionistic fuzzy set and entropy weight-based multi-criteria decision making model with TOPSIS to select the best defense against vulnerabilities (or patch management software) in the group decision making environment. As most real world decision problems involve a group of decision makers that may have multiple opinions for individual criteria, the intuitionistic fuzzy weighted averaging operator is explicitly considered here and generates optimal weights for the attributes. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the application of the intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS method that helps identify the best patch management tool based on selected criteria.

Key words: vulnerability, patch management, multi-criteria decision method, intuitionistic fuzzy, entropy, TOPSIS