Epistemic Signaling Games for Cyber Deception with Asymmetric Recognition

This study provides a model of cyber deception with asymmetric recognition represented by private beliefs. Signaling games, which are often used in existing works, are built on the implicit premise that the player's belief is public information. However, this assumption, which leads to symmetric recognition, is unrealistic in adversarial decision making. For precise evaluation of risks arising from cognitive gaps, this paper proposes epistemic signaling games based on the Mertens-Zamir model, which explicitly quantifies players' asymmetric recognition. Equilibria of the games are analytically characterized, and it is found that distinct equilibria are obtained depending on the quantity of cognitive gap. Numerical examples demonstrate analysis using the proposed model.