Method for improving the security of a networked system by adjusting the configuration parameters of the system components

A computer system for facilitating security in a system of networked components, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a storage device storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
• constructing a configuration graph that stores a first set of relationships between configuration parameters within a component and a second set of relationships between configuration parameters across different components,
• wherein a relationship corresponds to a constraint and is indicated by one or more of:
• a range for a configuration parameter;
• and
• a conjunction or a disjunction of logical relationships between two or more configuration parameters;
• generating a set of candidate configuration parameter values that satisfy the constraints of the relationships in the configuration graph;
• and
• selecting, from the set of candidate configuration parameter values, a first set of configuration parameter values that optimizes a security objective function.