Assessment And Testing of Industrial Devices Robustness Against Cyber Security Attacks

CERN Document Server

Tilaro, F

2011-01-01

CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research),like any organization, needs to achieve the conflicting objectives of connecting its operational network to Internet while at the same time keeping its industrial control systems secure from external and internal cyber attacks. With this in mind, the ISA-99[0F1] international cyber security standard has been adopted at CERN as a reference model to define a set of guidelines and security robustness criteria applicable to any network device. Devices robustness represents a key link in the defense-in-depth concept as some attacks will inevitably penetrate security boundaries and thus require further protection measures. When assessing the cyber security robustness of devices we have singled out control system-relevant attack patterns derived from the well-known CAPEC[1F2] classification. Once a vulnerability is identified, it needs to be documented, prioritized and reproduced at will in a dedicated test environment for debugging purposes. CERN - in collaboration ...

Security of a single-state semi-quantum key distribution protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Qiu, Daowen; Mateus, Paulo

2018-06-01

Semi-quantum key distribution protocols are allowed to set up a secure secret key between two users. Compared with their full quantum counterparts, one of the two users is restricted to perform some "classical" or "semi-quantum" operations, which potentially makes them easily realizable by using less quantum resource. However, the semi-quantum key distribution protocols mainly rely on a two-way quantum channel. The eavesdropper has two opportunities to intercept the quantum states transmitted in the quantum communication stage. It may allow the eavesdropper to get more information and make the security analysis more complicated. In the past ten years, many semi-quantum key distribution protocols have been proposed and proved to be robust. However, there are few works concerning their unconditional security. It is doubted that how secure the semi-quantum ones are and how much noise they can tolerate to establish a secure secret key. In this paper, we prove the unconditional security of a single-state semi-quantum key distribution protocol proposed by Zou et al. (Phys Rev A 79:052312, 2009). We present a complete proof from information theory aspect by deriving a lower bound of the protocol's key rate in the asymptotic scenario. Using this bound, we figure out an error threshold value such that for all error rates that are less than this threshold value, the secure secret key can be established between the legitimate users definitely. Otherwise, the users should abort the protocol. We make an illustration of the protocol under the circumstance that the reverse quantum channel is a depolarizing one with parameter q. Additionally, we compare the error threshold value with some full quantum protocols and several existing semi-quantum ones whose unconditional security proofs have been provided recently.

Small but effective: India's targeted unconditional cash transfers

OpenAIRE

Puja Dutta; Stephen Howes; Rinku Murgai

2010-01-01

India's approach to social security stresses the provision of subsidized food and public works. Targeted, unconditional cash transfers are little used, and have been little evaluated. An evaluation of cash transfers for the elderly and widows based on national household survey data and surveys on social pension utilization in two of India's states, Karnataka and Rajasthan, reveal that these social pension schemes work reasonably well. Levels of leakage (corruption) are low, funds flow disprop...

On distributed key distribution centers and unconditionally secure proactive verifiable secret sharing schemes based on general access structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nikov, V.S.; Nikova, S.I.; Preneel, B.; Vandewalle, J.; Menezes, A.; Sarkar, P.

2002-01-01

A Key Distribution Center of a network is a server enabling private communications within groups of users. A Distributed Key Distribution Center is a set of servers that jointly realizes a Key Distribution Center. In this paper we build a robust Distributed Key Distribution Center Scheme secure

A Truly Second-Order and Unconditionally Stable Thermal Lattice Boltzmann Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhen Chen

2017-03-01

Full Text Available An unconditionally stable thermal lattice Boltzmann method (USTLBM is proposed in this paper for simulating incompressible thermal flows. In USTLBM, solutions to the macroscopic governing equations that are recovered from lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE through Chapman–Enskog (C-E expansion analysis are resolved in a predictor–corrector scheme and reconstructed within lattice Boltzmann framework. The development of USTLBM is inspired by the recently proposed simplified thermal lattice Boltzmann method (STLBM. Comparing with STLBM which can only achieve the first-order of accuracy in time, the present USTLBM ensures the second-order of accuracy both in space and in time. Meanwhile, all merits of STLBM are maintained by USTLBM. Specifically, USTLBM directly updates macroscopic variables rather than distribution functions, which greatly saves virtual memories and facilitates implementation of physical boundary conditions. Through von Neumann stability analysis, it can be theoretically proven that USTLBM is unconditionally stable. It is also shown in numerical tests that, comparing to STLBM, lower numerical error can be expected in USTLBM at the same mesh resolution. Four typical numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the robustness of USTLBM and its flexibility on non-uniform and body-fitted meshes.

Unconditional cash transfers for clinical and economic outcomes among HIV-affected Ugandan households: a bayesian randomised trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Edward J; Adhvaryu, Achyuta; Jakiela, Pamela; Birungi, Josephine; Okoboi, Stephen; Chimulwa, Teddy; Wangisi, Jonathan; Achilla, Tina; Popoff, Evan; Golchi, Shirin; Karlan, Dean

2018-05-28

HIV infection has profound clinical and economic costs at the household level. This is particularly important in low-income settings, where access to additional sources of income or loans may be limited. While several microfinance interventions have been proposed, unconditional cash grants, a strategy to allow participants to choose how to use finances that may improve household security and health, has not previously been evaluated. We examined the effect of an unconditional cash transfer to HIV-infected individuals using a 2 x 2 factorial randomised trial in two rural districts in Uganda. Our primary outcomes were changes in CD4 cell count, sexual behaviors, and adherence to ART. Secondary outcomes were changes in household food security and adult mental health. We applied a Bayesian approach for our primary analysis. We randomized 2170 patients as participatants, with 1081 receiving a cash grant. We found no important intervention effects on CD4 t-cell counts between groups (mean difference [MD] 35.48, 95% Credible Interval [CrI] -59.9-1131.6), food security (odds ratio [OR] 1.22, 95% CrI: 0.47, 3.02), medication adherence (OR 3.15, 95% CrI: 0.58, 18.15), or sexual behavior (OR 0.45 95% CrI: 0.12, 1.55), or health expenditure in the previous 3 weeks (Mean Difference $2.65, 95% CrI: -9.30, 15.69). In secondary analysis, we detected an effect of mental planning on CD4 change between groups (104.2 cells, 9% CrI: 5.99, 202.16). We did not have data on viral load outcomes. Although all outcomes were associated with favorable point estimates, our trial did not demonstrate important effects of unconditional cash grants on health outcomes.

Unconditional Regard Buffers Children’s Negative Self-Feelings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brummelman, E.; Thomaes, S.; Walton, G.M.; Poorthuis, A.M.G.; Overbeek, G.; Orobio de Castro, B.; Bushman, B.J.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Unconditional regard refers to the feeling that one is accepted and valued by others without conditions. Psychological theory suggests that experiences of unconditional regard lead children to feel that they are valuable despite setbacks. We hypothesized that reflecting on experiences of

Optimisation of treatment, storage and disposal strategies for (unconditioned and conditioned) radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bealby, J.

1989-03-01

This study examines the trade-offs involved between unconditioned and conditioned waste storage, by investigating the effects of different cost and environmental minimisation strategies on radioactive waste treatment and disposal strategies. The costs and environmental impacts from storage (unconditioned and conditioned), conditioning, transport and disposal are examined. A single generic mixed Magnox/AGR site is investigated, assuming a moderate nuclear power growth scenario over the period 1986 to 2030. Assessments have been performed for four weighting sets which cover the range of views perceived to exist about the relative importance of cost and environmental impact reduction. The base case conditioning option considers the availability of a LLW low force compaction plant in 1986 and two ILW conditioning plants (cement encapsulation and dissolution) in 1990. A base case set of disposal options considers the options of disposal to shallow land and burial facility and deep cavity facilities. The study investigates the effect of deferring the opening dates of the conditioning plants. A set of sensitivity studies show that the assessments are robust to the assumptions and impact parameters used. (author)

Secure and Robust Iris Recognition Using Random Projections and Sparse Representations.

Science.gov (United States)

Pillai, Jaishanker K; Patel, Vishal M; Chellappa, Rama; Ratha, Nalini K

2011-09-01

Noncontact biometrics such as face and iris have additional benefits over contact-based biometrics such as fingerprint and hand geometry. However, three important challenges need to be addressed in a noncontact biometrics-based authentication system: ability to handle unconstrained acquisition, robust and accurate matching, and privacy enhancement without compromising security. In this paper, we propose a unified framework based on random projections and sparse representations, that can simultaneously address all three issues mentioned above in relation to iris biometrics. Our proposed quality measure can handle segmentation errors and a wide variety of possible artifacts during iris acquisition. We demonstrate how the proposed approach can be easily extended to handle alignment variations and recognition from iris videos, resulting in a robust and accurate system. The proposed approach includes enhancements to privacy and security by providing ways to create cancelable iris templates. Results on public data sets show significant benefits of the proposed approach.

Assessment and testing of industrial devices robustness against cyber security attacks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tilaro, F.; Copy, B.

2012-01-01

CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research),like any organization, needs to achieve the conflicting objectives of connecting its operational network to Internet while at the same time keeping its industrial control systems secure from external and internal cyber attacks. Devices robustness represents a key link in the defense-in-depth concept as some attacks will inevitably penetrate security boundaries and thus require further protection measures. CERN - in collaboration with Siemens - has designed and implemented a dedicated working environment, the Test-bench for Robustness of Industrial Equipment. Such tests attempt to detect possible anomalies by exploiting corrupt communication channels and manipulating the normal behavior of the communication protocols, in the same way as a cyber attacker would proceed. Our approach consists of analyzing protocol implementations by injecting malformed PDUs (Protocol Data Unit) to corrupt the normal behaviour of the system. As a PDU typically has many fields, the number of possible syntactically faulty PDUs grows exponentially with the number of fields. In this document, we proposed a strategy to explore this huge test domain using a hybrid approach of fuzzing and syntax techniques, specifically developed to evaluate industrial device communication robustness. So far, not all the tests can be integrated into automatic tools, human analysis and management is necessary to discover and investigate specific possible failures

A Novel Deterministic Secure Quantum Communication Scheme with Einstein—Podolsky—Rosen Pairs and Single Photons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Chao; Liu Jian-Wei; Liu Xiao; Shang Tao

2013-01-01

A novel deterministic secure quantum communication (DSQC) scheme is presented based on Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pairs and single photons in this study. In this scheme, the secret message can be encoded directly on the first particles of the prepared Bell states by simple unitary operations and decoded by performing the Bell-basis measurement after the additional classic information is exchanged. In addition, the strategy with two-step transmission of quantum data blocks and the technique of decoy-particle checking both are exploited to guarantee the security of the communication. Compared with some previous DSQC schemes, this scheme not only has a higher resource capacity, intrinsic efficiency and total efficiency, but also is more realizable in practical applications. Security analysis shows that the proposed scheme is unconditionally secure against various attacks over an ideal quantum channel and still conditionally robust over a noisy and lossy quantum channel. (general)

Robust general N user authentication scheme in a centralized quantum communication network via generalized GHZ states

Science.gov (United States)

Farouk, Ahmed; Batle, J.; Elhoseny, M.; Naseri, Mosayeb; Lone, Muzaffar; Fedorov, Alex; Alkhambashi, Majid; Ahmed, Syed Hassan; Abdel-Aty, M.

2018-04-01

Quantum communication provides an enormous advantage over its classical counterpart: security of communications based on the very principles of quantum mechanics. Researchers have proposed several approaches for user identity authentication via entanglement. Unfortunately, these protocols fail because an attacker can capture some of the particles in a transmitted sequence and send what is left to the receiver through a quantum channel. Subsequently, the attacker can restore some of the confidential messages, giving rise to the possibility of information leakage. Here we present a new robust General N user authentication protocol based on N-particle Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states, which makes eavesdropping detection more effective and secure, as compared to some current authentication protocols. The security analysis of our protocol for various kinds of attacks verifies that it is unconditionally secure, and that an attacker will not obtain any information about the transmitted key. Moreover, as the number of transferred key bits N becomes larger, while the number of users for transmitting the information is increased, the probability of effectively obtaining the transmitted authentication keys is reduced to zero.

An evaluation of resistance to change with unconditioned and conditioned reinforcers.

Science.gov (United States)

Vargo, Kristina K; Ringdahl, Joel E

2015-09-01

Several reinforcer-related variables influence a response's resistance to change (Nevin, 1974). Reinforcer type (i.e., conditioned or unconditioned) is a reinforcer-related variable that has not been studied with humans but may have clinical implications. In Experiment 1, we identified unconditioned and conditioned reinforcers of equal preference. In Experiments 2, 3, and 4, we reinforced participants' behavior during a baseline phase using a multiple variable-interval (VI) 30-s VI 30-s schedule with either conditioned (i.e., token) or unconditioned (i.e., food; one type of reinforcement in each component) reinforcement. After equal reinforcement rates across components, we introduced a disruptor. Results of Experiments 2 and 3 showed that behaviors were more resistant to extinction and distraction, respectively, with conditioned than with unconditioned reinforcers. Results of Experiment 4, however, showed that when prefeeding disrupted responding, behaviors were more resistant to change with unconditioned reinforcers than with conditioned reinforcers. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

The neural basis of unconditional love.

Science.gov (United States)

Beauregard, Mario; Courtemanche, Jérôme; Paquette, Vincent; St-Pierre, Evelyne Landry

2009-05-15

Functional neuroimaging studies have shown that romantic love and maternal love are mediated by regions specific to each, as well as overlapping regions in the brain's reward system. Nothing is known yet regarding the neural underpinnings of unconditional love. The main goal of this functional magnetic resonance imaging study was to identify the brain regions supporting this form of love. Participants were scanned during a control condition and an experimental condition. In the control condition, participants were instructed to simply look at a series of pictures depicting individuals with intellectual disabilities. In the experimental condition, participants were instructed to feel unconditional love towards the individuals depicted in a series of similar pictures. Significant loci of activation were found, in the experimental condition compared with the control condition, in the middle insula, superior parietal lobule, right periaqueductal gray, right globus pallidus (medial), right caudate nucleus (dorsal head), left ventral tegmental area and left rostro-dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. These results suggest that unconditional love is mediated by a distinct neural network relative to that mediating other emotions. This network contains cerebral structures known to be involved in romantic love or maternal love. Some of these structures represent key components of the brain's reward system.

A Secure and Robust Object-Based Video Authentication System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

He Dajun

2004-01-01

Full Text Available An object-based video authentication system, which combines watermarking, error correction coding (ECC, and digital signature techniques, is presented for protecting the authenticity between video objects and their associated backgrounds. In this system, a set of angular radial transformation (ART coefficients is selected as the feature to represent the video object and the background, respectively. ECC and cryptographic hashing are applied to those selected coefficients to generate the robust authentication watermark. This content-based, semifragile watermark is then embedded into the objects frame by frame before MPEG4 coding. In watermark embedding and extraction, groups of discrete Fourier transform (DFT coefficients are randomly selected, and their energy relationships are employed to hide and extract the watermark. The experimental results demonstrate that our system is robust to MPEG4 compression, object segmentation errors, and some common object-based video processing such as object translation, rotation, and scaling while securely preventing malicious object modifications. The proposed solution can be further incorporated into public key infrastructure (PKI.

A Compact Unconditionally Stable Method for Time-Domain Maxwell's Equations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhuo Su

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Higher order unconditionally stable methods are effective ways for simulating field behaviors of electromagnetic problems since they are free of Courant-Friedrich-Levy conditions. The development of accurate schemes with less computational expenditure is desirable. A compact fourth-order split-step unconditionally-stable finite-difference time-domain method (C4OSS-FDTD is proposed in this paper. This method is based on a four-step splitting form in time which is constructed by symmetric operator and uniform splitting. The introduction of spatial compact operator can further improve its performance. Analyses of stability and numerical dispersion are carried out. Compared with noncompact counterpart, the proposed method has reduced computational expenditure while keeping the same level of accuracy. Comparisons with other compact unconditionally-stable methods are provided. Numerical dispersion and anisotropy errors are shown to be lower than those of previous compact unconditionally-stable methods.

Unconditionally verifiable blind quantum computation

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzsimons, Joseph F.; Kashefi, Elham

2017-07-01

Blind quantum computing (BQC) allows a client to have a server carry out a quantum computation for them such that the client's input, output, and computation remain private. A desirable property for any BQC protocol is verification, whereby the client can verify with high probability whether the server has followed the instructions of the protocol or if there has been some deviation resulting in a corrupted output state. A verifiable BQC protocol can be viewed as an interactive proof system leading to consequences for complexity theory. We previously proposed [A. Broadbent, J. Fitzsimons, and E. Kashefi, in Proceedings of the 50th Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, Atlanta, 2009 (IEEE, Piscataway, 2009), p. 517] a universal and unconditionally secure BQC scheme where the client only needs to be able to prepare single qubits in separable states randomly chosen from a finite set and send them to the server, who has the balance of the required quantum computational resources. In this paper we extend that protocol with additional functionality allowing blind computational basis measurements, which we use to construct another verifiable BQC protocol based on a different class of resource states. We rigorously prove that the probability of failing to detect an incorrect output is exponentially small in a security parameter, while resource overhead remains polynomial in this parameter. This resource state allows entangling gates to be performed between arbitrary pairs of logical qubits with only constant overhead. This is a significant improvement on the original scheme, which required that all computations to be performed must first be put into a nearest-neighbor form, incurring linear overhead in the number of qubits. Such an improvement has important consequences for efficiency and fault-tolerance thresholds.

Synchronization and secure communication of chaotic systems via robust adaptive high-gain fuzzy observer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hyun, Chang-Ho; Park, Chang-Woo; Kim, Jae-Hun; Park, Mignon

2009-01-01

This paper proposes an alternative robust adaptive high-gain fuzzy observer design scheme and its application to synchronization and secure communication of chaotic systems. It is assumed that their states are immeasurable and their parameters are unknown. The structure of the proposed observer is represented by Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model and has the integrator of the estimation error. It improves the performance of high-gain observer and makes the proposed observer robust against noisy measurements, uncertainties and parameter perturbations as well. Using Lyapunov stability theory, an adaptive law is derived to estimate the unknown parameters and the stability of the proposed observer is analyzed. Some simulation result of synchronization and secure communication of chaotic systems is given to present the validity of theoretical derivations and the performance of the proposed observer as an application.

Robust and Secure Watermarking Using Sparse Information of Watermark for Biometric Data Protection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rohit M Thanki

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Biometric based human authentication system is used for security purpose in many organizations in the present world. This biometric authentication system has several vulnerable points. Two of vulnerable points are protection of biometric templates at system database and protection of biometric templates at communication channel between two modules of biometric authentication systems. In this paper proposed a robust watermarking scheme using the sparse information of watermark biometric to secure vulnerable point like protection of biometric templates at the communication channel of biometric authentication systems. A compressive sensing theory procedure is used for generation of sparse information on watermark biometric data using detail wavelet coefficients. Then sparse information of watermark biometric data is embedded into DCT coefficients of host biometric data. This proposed scheme is robust to common signal processing and geometric attacks like JPEG compression, adding noise, filtering, and cropping, histogram equalization. This proposed scheme has more advantages and high quality measures compared to existing schemes in the literature.

Tooth pulp stimulation as an unconditioned stimulus in defensive instrumental conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Jastreboff, P J; Keller, O; Zieliński, K

1977-01-01

In an experiment performed on five cats, stable escape and avoidance reflexes in a bar-pressing situation were established using tooth pulp electric stimulation as the unconditioned stimulus. The influence of changes in parameters of the unconditioned stimulus (current intensity, single pulse and train durations, frequency of pulses and rate of train presentations) on unconditioned and instrumental responses was analysed in three additional subjects. Among other relationships the dependence of the threshold of bar press responses on the amount of charge in a single pulse was determined.

Information-Theoretic Conditions for Two-Party Secure Function Evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schaffner, Christian; Crépeau, Claude; Savvides, George

2006-01-01

The standard security definition of unconditional secure function evaluation, which is based on the ideal/real model paradigm, has the disadvantage of being overly complicated to work with in practice. On the other hand, simpler ad-hoc definitions tailored to special scenarios have often been...

Unconditionally stable integration of Maxwell's equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.G. Verwer (Jan); M.A. Botchev

2008-01-01

htmlabstractNumerical integration of Maxwell''s equations is often based on explicit methods accepting a stability step size restriction. In literature evidence is given that there is also a need for unconditionally stable methods, as exemplified by the successful alternating direction

Unconditional lower bounds against advice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buhrman, H.; Fortnow, L.; Santhanam, R.

2009-01-01

We show several unconditional lower bounds for exponential time classes against polynomial time classes with advice, including: (1) For any constant c, NEXP not in P^{NP[n^c]} (2) For any constant c, MAEXP not in MA/n^c (3) BPEXP not in BPP/n^{o(1)}. It was previously unknown even whether NEXP in

Unconditionally stable integration of Maxwell's equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verwer, J.G.; Bochev, Mikhail A.

Numerical integration of Maxwell's equations is often based on explicit methods accepting a stability step size restriction. In literature evidence is given that there is also a need for unconditionally stable methods, as exemplified by the successful alternating direction implicit finite difference

Unconditionally stable integration of Maxwell's equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.G. Verwer (Jan); M.A. Botchev

2009-01-01

textabstractNumerical integration of Maxwell’s equations is often based on explicit methods accepting a stability step size restriction. In literature evidence is given that there is also a need for unconditionally stable methods, as exemplified by the successful alternating direction implicit –

The evolution of unconditional strategies via the 'multiplier effect'.

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, John M; Dall, Sasha R X

2011-03-01

Ostensibly, it makes sense in a changeable world to condition behaviour and development on information when it is available. Nevertheless, unconditional behavioural and life history strategies are widespread. Here, we show how intergenerational effects can limit the evolutionary value of responding to reliable environmental cues, and thus favour the evolutionary persistence of otherwise paradoxical unconditional strategies. While cue-ignoring genotypes do poorly in the wrong environments, in the right environment they will leave many copies of themselves, which will themselves leave many copies, and so on, leading genotypes to accumulate in habitats in which they do well. We call this 'The Multiplier Effect'. We explore the consequences of the multiplier effect by focussing on the ecologically important phenomenon of natal philopatry. We model the environment as a large number of temporally varying breeding sites connected by natal dispersal between sites. Our aim is to identify which aspects of an environment promote the multiplier effect. We show, if sites remain connected through some background level of 'accidental' dispersal, unconditional natal philopatry can evolve even when there is density dependence (with its accompanying kin competition effects), and cues that are only mildly erroneous. Thus, the multiplier effect may underpin the evolution and maintenance of unconditional strategies such as natal philopatry in many biological systems. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Secure direct communication based on secret transmitting order of particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Aidong; Zhang Shou; Xia Yan; Fan Qiubo

2006-01-01

We propose the schemes of quantum secure direct communication based on a secret transmitting order of particles. In these protocols, the secret transmitting order of particles ensures the security of communication, and no secret messages are leaked even if the communication is interrupted for security. This strategy of security for communication is also generalized to a quantum dialogue. It not only ensures the unconditional security but also improves the efficiency of communication

Impossibility of secure two-party classical computation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colbeck, Roger

2007-01-01

We present attacks that show that unconditionally secure two-party classical computation is impossible for many classes of function. Our analysis applies to both quantum and relativistic protocols. We illustrate our results by showing the impossibility of oblivious transfer

Secure Multiparty Quantum Computation for Summation and Multiplication.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Run-hua; Mu, Yi; Zhong, Hong; Cui, Jie; Zhang, Shun

2016-01-21

As a fundamental primitive, Secure Multiparty Summation and Multiplication can be used to build complex secure protocols for other multiparty computations, specially, numerical computations. However, there is still lack of systematical and efficient quantum methods to compute Secure Multiparty Summation and Multiplication. In this paper, we present a novel and efficient quantum approach to securely compute the summation and multiplication of multiparty private inputs, respectively. Compared to classical solutions, our proposed approach can ensure the unconditional security and the perfect privacy protection based on the physical principle of quantum mechanics.

Unconditional conservatism in Brazilian public companies and tax neutrality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Pinhata Sanches do Vale

2017-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Law n. 11,638/2007 legitimized the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS adoption process in Brazil and introduced an accounting system detached from tax purposes in the country. This law aims to reduce the influence of tax law on accounting standards and improve the quality of financial reporting, as IFRS are considered to be higher quality standards. International literature shows a reduction in earnings quality in environments where accounting and tax rules are strongly linked. Moreover, the influence of tax legislation on financial accounting is seen to encourage unconditional conservatism, a bias with no advantages for financial market efficiency. Thus, tax neutrality is expected to provide a more favorable institutional environment for quality financial reporting by detaching corporate accounting from tax accounting. In light of the above, this study aims to verify whether the advent of tax neutrality influences unconditional conservatism in Brazilian public companies. The methodology used involves panel data regressions. The sample consists of non-financial publicly-traded companies with information published in Economática® covering 2002 to 2014. The results show differences in the relationship between taxation and financial reporting between firms that are subject to different levels of monitoring in the Brazilian stock market. Evidence of unconditional conservatism is only found in companies that are subject to greater market monitoring. In this group, it is observed that taxation does not induce unconditional conservatism in reported earnings, which is expected in a tax neutrality context.

Physical layer approaches for securing wireless communication systems

CERN Document Server

Wen, Hong

2013-01-01

This book surveys the outstanding work of physical-layer (PHY) security, including  the recent achievements of confidentiality and authentication for wireless communication systems by channel identification. A practical approach to building unconditional confidentiality for Wireless Communication security by feedback and error correcting code is introduced and a framework of PHY security based on space time block code (STBC) MIMO system is demonstrated.  Also discussed is a scheme which combines cryptographic techniques implemented in the higher layer with the physical layer security approach

Two-Stage Robust Security-Constrained Unit Commitment with Optimizable Interval of Uncertain Wind Power Output

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dayan Sun

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Because wind power spillage is barely considered, the existing robust unit commitment cannot accurately analyze the impacts of wind power accommodation on on/off schedules and spinning reserve requirements of conventional generators and cannot consider the network security limits. In this regard, a novel double-level robust security-constrained unit commitment formulation with optimizable interval of uncertain wind power output is firstly proposed in this paper to obtain allowable interval solutions for wind power generation and provide the optimal schedules for conventional generators to cope with the uncertainty in wind power generation. The proposed double-level model is difficult to be solved because of the invalid dual transform in solution process caused by the coupling relation between the discrete and continuous variables. Therefore, a two-stage iterative solution method based on Benders Decomposition is also presented. The proposed double-level model is transformed into a single-level and two-stage robust interval unit commitment model by eliminating the coupling relation, and then this two-stage model can be solved by Benders Decomposition iteratively. Simulation studies on a modified IEEE 26-generator reliability test system connected to a wind farm are conducted to verify the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed model and solution method.

Clinician, Society and Suicide Mountain: Reading Rogerian Doctrine of Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chinedum Amadi

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Carl Rogers has become a legendary personage in the mental health field. Rogers (1957 “has been cited in the literature over a thousandtimes, in professional writings originating in 36 countries” (Goldfried, 2007, p. 249. Clinicians in the behavioral health field (psychiatry, socialwork, counseling and psychology are exposed to his teachings about human behavior. Of all the ideas propagated by Rogers, the conceptof unconditional positive regard (UPR has been elevated to the level of a doctrine (Schmitt, 1980. What then is unconditional positive regard?How can clinicians be faithful to the demands of unconditional positive regard in the face of other competing realities such as threat of suicideor terrorism? This paper seeks to discuss the impossible nature of Rogers' UPR, highlighting its inherent linguistic contradiction. Sincepsychotherapy is culturally normative, the doctrine of unconditional positive regard negates this fundamental principle. In this article, the authortakes a critical look at the influence of American philosophy of education on Rogers – he was a product of his culture. Furthermore, this paperasserts that clinicians are guided by societal norms or “conditions” which regulate clinical practice, including unconditional positive regard(Gone, 2011.

Hybrid-secure MPC 

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lucas, Christoph; Raub, Dominik; Maurer, Ueli

2010-01-01

of the adversary, without being aware of the actual adversarial setting. Thus, hybrid-secure MPC protocols allow for graceful degradation of security. We present a hybrid-secure MPC protocol that provides an optimal trade-off between IT robustness and computational privacy: For any robustness parameter ρ ... obtain one MPC protocol that is simultaneously IT secure with robustness for up to t ≤ ρ actively corrupted parties, IT secure with fairness (no robustness) for up to t ... in the universal composability (UC) framework (based on a network of secure channels, a broadcast channel, and a common reference string). It achieves the bound on the trade-off between robustness and privacy shown by Ishai et al. [CRYPTO'06] and Katz [STOC'07], the bound on fairness shown by Cleve [STOC'86...

Final report for the Integrated and Robust Security Infrastructure (IRSI) laboratory directed research and development project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hutchinson, R.L.; Hamilton, V.A.; Istrail, G.G.; Espinoza, J.; Murphy, M.D.

1997-11-01

This report describes the results of a Sandia-funded laboratory-directed research and development project titled {open_quotes}Integrated and Robust Security Infrastructure{close_quotes} (IRSI). IRSI was to provide a broad range of commercial-grade security services to any software application. IRSI has two primary goals: application transparency and manageable public key infrastructure. IRSI must provide its security services to any application without the need to modify the application to invoke the security services. Public key mechanisms are well suited for a network with many end users and systems. There are many issues that make it difficult to deploy and manage a public key infrastructure. IRSI addressed some of these issues to create a more manageable public key infrastructure.

Robust and Secure Watermarking Using Sparse Information of Watermark for Biometric Data Protection

OpenAIRE

Rohit M Thanki; Ved Vyas Dwivedi; Komal Borisagar

2016-01-01

Biometric based human authentication system is used for security purpose in many organizations in the present world. This biometric authentication system has several vulnerable points. Two of vulnerable points are protection of biometric templates at system database and protection of biometric templates at communication channel between two modules of biometric authentication systems. In this paper proposed a robust watermarking scheme using the sparse information of watermark biometric to sec...

Unconditionally stable integration of Maxwell’s equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verwer, J.G.; Botchev, M.A.

2009-01-01

Numerical integration of Maxwell’s equations is often based on explicit methods accepting a stability step size restriction. In literature evidence is given that there is also a need for unconditionally stable methods, as exemplified by the successful alternating direction implicit - finite

Pengujian Konsep Psikoterapi Unconditional Positive Regard Pada Mahasiswa Perempuan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatriks Novianti Kiling-Bunga

2016-06-01

Full Text Available One of the psychotheraphy approaches that has given positive contributions to the psychiatry is Carl Rogers’ Client-Centered approach. On of three main conditions that Rogers emphasizes in the approach is Unconditional positive regard. The main condition is called as the curative factor of client-centered theraphy. The article is discussing the study process of unconditional positive regard concept in a person which the sample is the female students. Questions and process flow scheme are also discussed in this article. The study concept is regarded to be able to contribute knowedge to the counseling practitioners in case of facing the student’s problem

Testing constancy of unconditional variance in volatility models by misspecification and specification tests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Silvennoinen, Annastiina; Terasvirta, Timo

The topic of this paper is testing the hypothesis of constant unconditional variance in GARCH models against the alternative that the unconditional variance changes deterministically over time. Tests of this hypothesis have previously been performed as misspecification tests after fitting a GARCH...... models. An application to exchange rate returns is included....

Practical long-distance quantum key distribution system using decoy levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenberg, D; Peterson, C G; Harrington, J W; Rice, P R; Dallmann, N; Tyagi, K T; McCabe, K P; Hughes, R J; Nordholt, J E; Nam, S; Baek, B; Hadfield, R H

2009-01-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) has the potential for widespread real-world applications, but no secure long-distance experiment has demonstrated the truly practical operation needed to move QKD from the laboratory to the real world due largely to limitations in synchronization and poor detector performance. Here, we report results obtained using a fully automated, robust QKD system based on the Bennett Brassard 1984 (BB84) protocol with low-noise superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) and decoy levels to produce a secret key with unconditional security over a record 140.6 km of optical fibre, an increase of more than a factor of five compared with the previous record for unconditionally secure key generation in a practical QKD system.

Security problem on arbitrated quantum signature schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Jeong Woon; Chang, Ku-Young; Hong, Dowon

2011-01-01

Many arbitrated quantum signature schemes implemented with the help of a trusted third party have been developed up to now. In order to guarantee unconditional security, most of them take advantage of the optimal quantum one-time encryption based on Pauli operators. However, in this paper we point out that the previous schemes provide security only against a total break attack and show in fact that there exists an existential forgery attack that can validly modify the transmitted pair of message and signature. In addition, we also provide a simple method to recover security against the proposed attack.

Security problem on arbitrated quantum signature schemes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Jeong Woon [Emerging Technology R and D Center, SK Telecom, Kyunggi 463-784 (Korea, Republic of); Chang, Ku-Young; Hong, Dowon [Cryptography Research Team, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 305-700 (Korea, Republic of)

2011-12-15

Many arbitrated quantum signature schemes implemented with the help of a trusted third party have been developed up to now. In order to guarantee unconditional security, most of them take advantage of the optimal quantum one-time encryption based on Pauli operators. However, in this paper we point out that the previous schemes provide security only against a total break attack and show in fact that there exists an existential forgery attack that can validly modify the transmitted pair of message and signature. In addition, we also provide a simple method to recover security against the proposed attack.

Information about the model's unconditioned stimulus and response in vicarious classical conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Hygge, S

1976-06-01

Four groups with 16 observers each participated in a differential, vicarious conditioning experiment with skin conductance responses as the dependent variable. The information available to the observer about the model's unconditioned stimulus and response was varied in a 2 X 2 factorial design. Results clearly showed that information about the model's unconditioned stimulus (a high or low dB level) was not necessary for vicarious instigation, but that information about the unconditioned response (a high or low emotional aversiveness) was necessary. Data for conditioning of responses showed almost identical patterns to those for vicarious instigation. To explain the results, a distinction between factors necessary for the development and elicitation of vicariously instigated responses was introduced, and the effectiveness of information about the model's response on the elicitation of vicariously instigated responses was considered in terms of an expansion of Bandura's social learning theory.

Conditional and unconditional QTL mapping of drought-tolerance ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

For discovering the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) contributing to early seedling growth and drought tolerance during germination, conditional and unconditional analyses of 12 traits of wheat seedlings: coleoptile length, seedling height, longest root length, root number, seedling fresh weight, stem and leaves fresh weight, root ...

A Secure and Robust Connectivity Architecture for Smart Devices and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee YangSun

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Convergence environments and technologies are urgently coming close to our life with various wireless communications and smart devices in order to provide many benefits such as connectivity, usability, mobility, portability, and flexibility as well as lower installation and maintenance costs. Convergence has brought important change not only in the way we live but also in the way we think. It is the progress towards the attempt to create and to evolve new valuable services through the device convergence and fusion of in-home, office, and various environments around the personal mobile apparatus. Based on the dynamic trends of convergence, it is widely argued that the increased requirements on secure and robust connectivity between a variety of mobile devices and their applications provide us the era of real pervasive computing environment. Thus, in this paper, we present a novel connectivity architecture using RF4CE-(Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics- based wireless zero-configuration and enhanced key agreement approach. We analyze the security and performance of our proposed approach by the development of the prototype H/W and the construction of a testbed with CE and mobile devices.

Unconditionally energy stable numerical schemes for phase-field vesicle membrane model

Science.gov (United States)

Guillén-González, F.; Tierra, G.

2018-02-01

Numerical schemes to simulate the deformation of vesicles membranes via minimizing the bending energy have been widely studied in recent times due to its connection with many biological motivated problems. In this work we propose a new unconditionally energy stable numerical scheme for a vesicle membrane model that satisfies exactly the conservation of volume constraint and penalizes the surface area constraint. Moreover, we extend these ideas to present an unconditionally energy stable splitting scheme decoupling the interaction of the vesicle with a surrounding fluid. Finally, the well behavior of the proposed schemes are illustrated through several computational experiments.

Modelling Changes in the Unconditional Variance of Long Stock Return Series

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amado, Cristina; Teräsvirta, Timo

In this paper we develop a testing and modelling procedure for describing the long-term volatility movements over very long return series. For the purpose, we assume that volatility is multiplicatively decomposed into a conditional and an unconditional component as in Amado and Teräsvirta (2011...... show that the long-memory property in volatility may be explained by ignored changes in the unconditional variance of the long series. Finally, based on a formal statistical test we find evidence of the superiority of volatility forecast accuracy of the new model over the GJR-GARCH model at all...... horizons for a subset of the long return series....

Modelling changes in the unconditional variance of long stock return series

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amado, Cristina; Teräsvirta, Timo

2014-01-01

In this paper we develop a testing and modelling procedure for describing the long-term volatility movements over very long daily return series. For this purpose we assume that volatility is multiplicatively decomposed into a conditional and an unconditional component as in Amado and Teräsvirta...... that the apparent long memory property in volatility may be interpreted as changes in the unconditional variance of the long series. Finally, based on a formal statistical test we find evidence of the superiority of volatility forecasting accuracy of the new model over the GJR-GARCH model at all horizons for eight...... subsets of the long return series....

Sources of emotional maltreatment and the differential development of unconditional and conditional schemas.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Molly C; Lumley, Margaret N

2012-01-01

Schema theory posits that experiences of maltreatment result in the early development of maladaptive schemas (EMS; Young, Klosko, & Weishaar, 2003, Schema therapy: A practitioner's guide, The Guilford Press: New York, NY). EMS are organized by conditionality; unconditional schemas are theorized to develop early in childhood predominantly in response to experiences of parenting and conditional schemas are theorized to develop later in life in response to other relationships. Despite this distinction, minimal previous research has investigated their differential development. The current study examined the relative contributions of parental and other (peer and intimate partner) emotional maltreatment (EMT) in the differential development of unconditional and conditional schemas. Ninety-seven undergraduate students retrospectively reported their maltreatment experiences using the Lifetime Experiences Questionnaire and completed the Young Schema Questionnaire to measure EMS. Consistent with hypotheses, parental EMT was the strongest predictor of unconditional schemas. Unexpectedly, parental EMT also emerged as the strongest predictor of conditional schemas. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Are there differences between unconditional and conditional demand estimates? implications for future research and policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hidayat Budi

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Estimations of the demand for healthcare often rely on estimating the conditional probabilities of being ill. Such estimate poses several problems due to sample selectivity problems and an under-reporting of the incidence of illness. This study examines the effects of health insurance on healthcare demand in Indonesia, using samples that are both unconditional and conditional on being ill, and comparing the results. Methods The demand for outpatient care in three alternative providers was modeled using a multinomial logit regression for samples unconditional on being ill (N = 16485 and conditional on being ill (N = 5055. The ill sample was constructed from two measures of health status – activity of daily living impairments and severity of illness – derived from the second round of panel data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey. The recycling prediction method was used to predict the distribution of utilization rates based on having health insurance and income status, while holding all other variables constant. Results Both unconditional and conditional estimates yield similar results in terms of the direction of the most covariates. The magnitude effects of insurance on healthcare demand are about 7.5% (public providers and 20% (private providers higher for unconditional estimates than for conditional ones. Further, exogenous variables in the former estimates explain a higher variation of the model than that in the latter ones. Findings confirm that health insurance has a positive impact on the demand for healthcare, with the highest effect found among the lowest income group. Conclusion Conditional estimates do not suffer from statistical selection bias. Such estimates produce smaller demand effects for health insurance than unconditional ones do. Whether to rely on conditional or unconditional demand estimates depends on the purpose of study in question. Findings also demonstrate that health insurance programs

Unconditionally stable microwave Si-IMPATT amplifiers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seddik, M.M.

1986-07-01

The purpose of this investigation has been the development of an improved understanding of the design and analysis of microwave reflection amplifiers employing the negative resistance property of the IMPATT devices. Unconditionally stable amplifier circuit using a Silicon IMPATT diode is designed. The problems associated with the design procedures and the stability criterion are discussed. A computer program is developed to perform the computations. The stable characteristics of a reflection-type Si-IMPATT amplifier, such as gain, frequency and bandwidth are examined. It was found that at large signal drive levels, 7 dB gain with bandwidth of 800 MHz at 22,5 mA was obtained. (author)

Simple security proof of quantum key distribution based on complementarity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koashi, M

2009-01-01

We present an approach to the unconditional security of quantum key distribution protocols based on a complementarity argument. The approach is applicable to, but not limited to, every case that has been treated via the argument by Shor and Preskill based on entanglement distillation, with a benefit of decoupling of the error correction from the privacy amplification. It can also treat cases with uncharacterized apparatuses. We derive a secure key rate for the Bennett-Brassard-1984 protocol with an arbitrary source characterized only by a single parameter representing the basis dependence.

Physical and data-link security techniques for future communication systems

CERN Document Server

Tomasin, Stefano

2016-01-01

 This book focuses on techniques that can be applied at the physical and data-link layers of communication systems in order to secure transmissions against eavesdroppers. Topics ranging from information theory-based security to coding for security and cryptography are discussed, with presentation of cutting-edge research and innovative results from leading researchers. The characteristic feature of all the contributions is their relevance for practical embodiments: detailed consideration is given to applications of security principles to a variety of widely used communication techniques such as multiantenna systems, ultra-wide band communication systems, power line communications, and quantum key distribution techniques. A further distinctive aspect is the attention paid to both unconditional and computational security techniques, providing a bridge between two usually distinct worlds. The book comprises extended versions of contributions delivered at the Workshop on Communication Security, held in Ancona, I...

A Secure and Robust User Authenticated Key Agreement Scheme for Hierarchical Multi-medical Server Environment in TMIS.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Ashok Kumar; Odelu, Vanga; Goswami, Adrijit

2015-09-01

The telecare medicine information system (TMIS) helps the patients to gain the health monitoring facility at home and access medical services over the Internet of mobile networks. Recently, Amin and Biswas presented a smart card based user authentication and key agreement security protocol usable for TMIS system using the cryptographic one-way hash function and biohashing function, and claimed that their scheme is secure against all possible attacks. Though their scheme is efficient due to usage of one-way hash function, we show that their scheme has several security pitfalls and design flaws, such as (1) it fails to protect privileged-insider attack, (2) it fails to protect strong replay attack, (3) it fails to protect strong man-in-the-middle attack, (4) it has design flaw in user registration phase, (5) it has design flaw in login phase, (6) it has design flaw in password change phase, (7) it lacks of supporting biometric update phase, and (8) it has flaws in formal security analysis. In order to withstand these security pitfalls and design flaws, we aim to propose a secure and robust user authenticated key agreement scheme for the hierarchical multi-server environment suitable in TMIS using the cryptographic one-way hash function and fuzzy extractor. Through the rigorous security analysis including the formal security analysis using the widely-accepted Burrows-Abadi-Needham (BAN) logic, the formal security analysis under the random oracle model and the informal security analysis, we show that our scheme is secure against possible known attacks. Furthermore, we simulate our scheme using the most-widely accepted and used Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. The simulation results show that our scheme is also secure. Our scheme is more efficient in computation and communication as compared to Amin-Biswas's scheme and other related schemes. In addition, our scheme supports extra functionality features as compared to

Randomness determines practical security of BB84 quantum key distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hong-Wei; Yin, Zhen-Qiang; Wang, Shuang; Qian, Yong-Jun; Chen, Wei; Guo, Guang-Can; Han, Zheng-Fu

2015-11-01

Unconditional security of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol has been proved by exploiting the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics, but the practical quantum key distribution system maybe hacked by considering the imperfect state preparation and measurement respectively. Until now, different attacking schemes have been proposed by utilizing imperfect devices, but the general security analysis model against all of the practical attacking schemes has not been proposed. Here, we demonstrate that the general practical attacking schemes can be divided into the Trojan horse attack, strong randomness attack and weak randomness attack respectively. We prove security of BB84 protocol under randomness attacking models, and these results can be applied to guarantee the security of the practical quantum key distribution system.

Poverty and perceived stress: Evidence from two unconditional cash transfer programs in Zambia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hjelm, Lisa; Handa, Sudhanshu; de Hoop, Jacobus; Palermo, Tia

2017-03-01

Poverty is a chronic stressor that can lead to poor physical and mental health. This study examines whether two similar government poverty alleviation programs reduced the levels of perceived stress and poverty among poor households in Zambia. Secondary data from two cluster randomized controlled trials were used to evaluate the impacts of two unconditional cash transfer programs in Zambia. Participants were interviewed at baseline and followed over 36 months. Perceived stress among female caregivers was assessed using the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Poverty indicators assessed included per capita expenditure, household food security, and (nonproductive) asset ownership. Fixed effects and ordinary least squares regressions were run, controlling for age, education, marital status, household demographics, location, and poverty status at baseline. Cash transfers did not reduce perceived stress but improved economic security (per capita consumption expenditure, food insecurity, and asset ownership). Among these poverty indicators, only food insecurity was associated with perceived stress. Age and education showed no consistent association with stress, whereas death of a household member was associated with higher stress levels. In this setting, perceived stress was not reduced by a positive income shock but was correlated with food insecurity and household deaths, suggesting that food security is an important stressor in this context. Although the program did reduce food insecurity, the size of the reduction was not enough to generate a statistically significant change in stress levels. The measure used in this study appears not to be correlated with characteristics to which it has been linked in other settings, and thus, further research is needed to examine whether this widely used perceived stress measure appropriately captures the concept of perceived stress in this population. Copyright © 2017 UNICEF. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Intrinsic imperfection of self-differencing single-photon detectors harms the security of high-speed quantum cryptography systems

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Mu-Sheng; Sun, Shi-Hai; Tang, Guang-Zhao; Ma, Xiang-Chun; Li, Chun-Yan; Liang, Lin-Mei

2013-12-01

Thanks to the high-speed self-differencing single-photon detector (SD-SPD), the secret key rate of quantum key distribution (QKD), which can, in principle, offer unconditionally secure private communications between two users (Alice and Bob), can exceed 1 Mbit/s. However, the SD-SPD may contain loopholes, which can be exploited by an eavesdropper (Eve) to hack into the unconditional security of the high-speed QKD systems. In this paper, we analyze the fact that the SD-SPD can be remotely controlled by Eve in order to spy on full information without being discovered, then proof-of-principle experiments are demonstrated. Here, we point out that this loophole is introduced directly by the operating principle of the SD-SPD, thus, it cannot be removed, except for the fact that some active countermeasures are applied by the legitimate parties.

Robust Programming by Example

OpenAIRE

Bishop , Matt; Elliott , Chip

2011-01-01

Part 2: WISE 7; International audience; Robust programming lies at the heart of the type of coding called “secure programming”. Yet it is rarely taught in academia. More commonly, the focus is on how to avoid creating well-known vulnerabilities. While important, that misses the point: a well-structured, robust program should anticipate where problems might arise and compensate for them. This paper discusses one view of robust programming and gives an example of how it may be taught.

Management of metal arising from an Italian Nuclear Facility: techniques for clearance and unconditional release - Management of metals resulting from an Italian nuclear facility: techniques for clearance and unconditional release

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldassarre, Leonardo; Varasano, Giovanni; Bruno, Salvatore Gaetano

2014-01-01

The start of the decommissioning of nuclear plants in Italy lead to an appreciable increase in the volume of metal materials that will need to radiological characterization for the unconditional release. The nuclear fuel reprocessing plant ITREC, located in Rotondella (MT) in the south of Italy, is currently undergoing safety maintenance. As part of these activities was necessary the replacement of approximately 5000 m of radioactive liquid effluents discharge's pipeline. The entire pipeline is undergoing treatment within a small Waste Management Facility suitably equipped for the cutting, the separation of non-metallic residue and decontamination. 100% of the pipe portions are characterized through measurements of gross-beta and high resolution gamma spectrometry in order to verify the clearance of materials. The target levels of surface activity and specific activity, prescribed by the National Regulatory Authority, is verified through measurement activities implemented according to specific MQOs defined for the specific process. Activities, subject to National Regulatory Authority control, allow the unconditional release of metallic materials originated from the removal of the radioactive liquid effluents discharge's pipeline in nuclear fuel reprocessing plant ITREC managed by SOGIN SpA. The methodology described provides a good example of management, treatment and decontamination of metallic materials for unconditional release. (authors)

Secure access control and large scale robust representation for online multimedia event detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Changyu; Lu, Bin; Li, Huiling

2014-01-01

We developed an online multimedia event detection (MED) system. However, there are a secure access control issue and a large scale robust representation issue when we want to integrate traditional event detection algorithms into the online environment. For the first issue, we proposed a tree proxy-based and service-oriented access control (TPSAC) model based on the traditional role based access control model. Verification experiments were conducted on the CloudSim simulation platform, and the results showed that the TPSAC model is suitable for the access control of dynamic online environments. For the second issue, inspired by the object-bank scene descriptor, we proposed a 1000-object-bank (1000OBK) event descriptor. Feature vectors of the 1000OBK were extracted from response pyramids of 1000 generic object detectors which were trained on standard annotated image datasets, such as the ImageNet dataset. A spatial bag of words tiling approach was then adopted to encode these feature vectors for bridging the gap between the objects and events. Furthermore, we performed experiments in the context of event classification on the challenging TRECVID MED 2012 dataset, and the results showed that the robust 1000OBK event descriptor outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches.

Secure Access Control and Large Scale Robust Representation for Online Multimedia Event Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changyu Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We developed an online multimedia event detection (MED system. However, there are a secure access control issue and a large scale robust representation issue when we want to integrate traditional event detection algorithms into the online environment. For the first issue, we proposed a tree proxy-based and service-oriented access control (TPSAC model based on the traditional role based access control model. Verification experiments were conducted on the CloudSim simulation platform, and the results showed that the TPSAC model is suitable for the access control of dynamic online environments. For the second issue, inspired by the object-bank scene descriptor, we proposed a 1000-object-bank (1000OBK event descriptor. Feature vectors of the 1000OBK were extracted from response pyramids of 1000 generic object detectors which were trained on standard annotated image datasets, such as the ImageNet dataset. A spatial bag of words tiling approach was then adopted to encode these feature vectors for bridging the gap between the objects and events. Furthermore, we performed experiments in the context of event classification on the challenging TRECVID MED 2012 dataset, and the results showed that the robust 1000OBK event descriptor outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches.

Security bound of cheat sensitive quantum bit commitment.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Guang Ping

2015-03-23

Cheat sensitive quantum bit commitment (CSQBC) loosens the security requirement of quantum bit commitment (QBC), so that the existing impossibility proofs of unconditionally secure QBC can be evaded. But here we analyze the common features in all existing CSQBC protocols, and show that in any CSQBC having these features, the receiver can always learn a non-trivial amount of information on the sender's committed bit before it is unveiled, while his cheating can pass the security check with a probability not less than 50%. The sender's cheating is also studied. The optimal CSQBC protocols that can minimize the sum of the cheating probabilities of both parties are found to be trivial, as they are practically useless. We also discuss the possibility of building a fair protocol in which both parties can cheat with equal probabilities.

Security bound of cheat sensitive quantum bit commitment

Science.gov (United States)

He, Guang Ping

2015-03-01

Cheat sensitive quantum bit commitment (CSQBC) loosens the security requirement of quantum bit commitment (QBC), so that the existing impossibility proofs of unconditionally secure QBC can be evaded. But here we analyze the common features in all existing CSQBC protocols, and show that in any CSQBC having these features, the receiver can always learn a non-trivial amount of information on the sender's committed bit before it is unveiled, while his cheating can pass the security check with a probability not less than 50%. The sender's cheating is also studied. The optimal CSQBC protocols that can minimize the sum of the cheating probabilities of both parties are found to be trivial, as they are practically useless. We also discuss the possibility of building a fair protocol in which both parties can cheat with equal probabilities.

Flexible and secure labour market transitions: Towards institutional capacity building in the digital economy

OpenAIRE

Schmid, Günther

2016-01-01

Industry 4.0 and robots are said to speed up productivity thereby inducing a 'quantum leap' towards the 'end of work' and calling for a complete change of social security institutions that have so far been closely linked to employment. Unconditional basic income is the cry of the day, curiously advocated in particular by, for example, employers in high-tech industries and modern financial or distributive services. In the name of freedom, liberty and flexibility they suggest a form of security...

Shor-Preskill-type security proof for concatenated Bennett-Brassard 1984 quantum-key-distribution protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Won-Young; Matsumoto, Keiji; Imai, Hiroshi; Kim, Jaewan; Lee, Hai-Woong

2003-01-01

We discuss a long code problem in the Bennett-Brassard 1984 (BB84) quantum-key-distribution protocol and describe how it can be overcome by concatenation of the protocol. Observing that concatenated modified Lo-Chau protocol finally reduces to the concatenated BB84 protocol, we give the unconditional security of the concatenated BB84 protocol

Unconditionally stable difference methods for delay partial differential equations

OpenAIRE

Huang, Chengming; Vandewalle, Stefan

2012-01-01

This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of parabolic partial differential equations with time-delay. We focus in particular on the delay dependent stability analysis of difference methods that use a non-constrained mesh, i.e., the time step-size is not required to be a submultiple of the delay. We prove that the fully discrete system unconditionally preserves the delay dependent asymptotic stability of the linear test problem under consideration, when the following discretizati...

A new unconditionally stable and consistent quasi-analytical in-stream water quality solution scheme for CSTR-based water quality simulators

Science.gov (United States)

Woldegiorgis, Befekadu Taddesse; van Griensven, Ann; Pereira, Fernando; Bauwens, Willy

2017-06-01

Most common numerical solutions used in CSTR-based in-stream water quality simulators are susceptible to instabilities and/or solution inconsistencies. Usually, they cope with instability problems by adopting computationally expensive small time steps. However, some simulators use fixed computation time steps and hence do not have the flexibility to do so. This paper presents a novel quasi-analytical solution for CSTR-based water quality simulators of an unsteady system. The robustness of the new method is compared with the commonly used fourth-order Runge-Kutta methods, the Euler method and three versions of the SWAT model (SWAT2012, SWAT-TCEQ, and ESWAT). The performance of each method is tested for different hypothetical experiments. Besides the hypothetical data, a real case study is used for comparison. The growth factors we derived as stability measures for the different methods and the R-factor—considered as a consistency measure—turned out to be very useful for determining the most robust method. The new method outperformed all the numerical methods used in the hypothetical comparisons. The application for the Zenne River (Belgium) shows that the new method provides stable and consistent BOD simulations whereas the SWAT2012 model is shown to be unstable for the standard daily computation time step. The new method unconditionally simulates robust solutions. Therefore, it is a reliable scheme for CSTR-based water quality simulators that use first-order reaction formulations.

Robust quantum secure direct communication and authentication protocol against decoherence noise based on six-qubit DF state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang Yan; Zhang Shi-Bin; Yan Li-Li; Han Gui-Hua

2015-01-01

By using six-qubit decoherence-free (DF) states as quantum carriers and decoy states, a robust quantum secure direct communication and authentication (QSDCA) protocol against decoherence noise is proposed. Four six-qubit DF states are used in the process of secret transmission, however only the |0′〉 state is prepared. The other three six-qubit DF states can be obtained by permuting the outputs of the setup for |0′〉. By using the |0′〉 state as the decoy state, the detection rate and the qubit error rate reach 81.3%, and they will not change with the noise level. The stability and security are much higher than those of the ping–pong protocol both in an ideal scenario and a decoherence noise scenario. Even if the eavesdropper measures several qubits, exploiting the coherent relationship between these qubits, she can gain one bit of secret information with probability 0.042. (paper)

The Rhetoric of "Unconditional Surrender" and the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb.

Science.gov (United States)

Hikins, James W.

1983-01-01

Analyzes the decision to drop the atomic bomb from a rhetorical point of view, arguing that the bombs were launched because of an American commitment to a particular rhetoric that focused on the propaganda slogan "unconditional surrender." (PD)

Dynamic of distribution of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells after transplantation into adult unconditioned mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Allers, Carolina; Sierralta, Walter D; Neubauer, Sonia; Rivera, Francisco; Minguell, José J; Conget, Paulette A

2004-08-27

The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) for cell therapy relies on their capacity to engraft and survive long-term in the appropriate target tissue(s). Animal models have demonstrated that the syngeneic or xenogeneic transplantation of MSC results in donor engraftment into the bone marrow and other tissues of conditioned recipients. However, there are no reliable data showing the fate of human MSC infused into conditioned or unconditioned adult recipients. In the present study, the authors investigated, by using imaging, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and in situ hybridization, the biodistribution of human bone marrow-derived MSC after intravenous infusion into unconditioned adult nude mice. As assessed by imaging (gamma camera), PCR, and in situ hybridization analysis, the authors' results demonstrate the presence of human MSC in bone marrow, spleen, and mesenchymal tissues of recipient mice. These results suggest that human MSC transplantation into unconditioned recipients represents an option for providing cellular therapy and avoids the complications associated with drugs or radiation conditioning.

Modeling hemoglobin at optical frequency using the unconditionally stable fundamental ADI-FDTD method.

Science.gov (United States)

Heh, Ding Yu; Tan, Eng Leong

2011-04-12

This paper presents the modeling of hemoglobin at optical frequency (250 nm - 1000 nm) using the unconditionally stable fundamental alternating-direction-implicit finite-difference time-domain (FADI-FDTD) method. An accurate model based on complex conjugate pole-residue pairs is proposed to model the complex permittivity of hemoglobin at optical frequency. Two hemoglobin concentrations at 15 g/dL and 33 g/dL are considered. The model is then incorporated into the FADI-FDTD method for solving electromagnetic problems involving interaction of light with hemoglobin. The computation of transmission and reflection coefficients of a half space hemoglobin medium using the FADI-FDTD validates the accuracy of our model and method. The specific absorption rate (SAR) distribution of human capillary at optical frequency is also shown. While maintaining accuracy, the unconditionally stable FADI-FDTD method exhibits high efficiency in modeling hemoglobin.

β1-Adrenoceptor in the Central Amygdala Is Required for Unconditioned Stimulus-Induced Drug Memory Reconsolidation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Huiwen; Zhou, Yiming; Liu, Zhiyuan; Chen, Xi; Li, Yanqing; Liu, Xing; Ma, Lan

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Drug memories become labile and reconsolidated after retrieval by presentation of environmental cues (conditioned stimulus) or drugs (unconditioned stimulus). Whether conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus retrieval trigger different memory reconsolidation processes is not clear. Methods Protein synthesis inhibitor or β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) antagonist was systemically administrated or intra-central amygdala infused immediately after cocaine reexposure in cocaine-conditioned place preference or self-administration mice models. β-ARs were selectively knocked out in the central amygdala to further confirm the role of β-adrenergic receptor in cocaine reexposure-induced memory reconsolidation of cocaine-conditioned place preference. Results Cocaine reexposure triggered de novo protein synthesis dependent memory reconsolidation of cocaine-conditioned place preference. Cocaine-priming-induced reinstatement was also impaired with post cocaine retrieval manipulation, in contrast to the relapse behavior with post context retrieval manipulation. Cocaine retrieval, but not context retrieval, induced central amygdala activation. Protein synthesis inhibitor or β1-adrenergic receptor antagonist infused in the central amygdala after cocaine retrieval, but not context retrieval, inhibited memory reconsolidation and reinstatement. β1-adrenergic receptor knockout in the central amygdala suppressed cocaine retrieval-triggered memory reconsolidation and reinstatement of cocaine conditioned place preference. β1-adrenergic receptor antagonism after cocaine retrieval also impaired reconsolidation and reinstatement of cocaine self-administration. Conclusions Cocaine reward memory triggered by unconditioned stimulus retrieval is distinct from conditioned stimulus retrieval. Unconditioned stimulus retrieval induced reconsolidation of cocaine reward memory depends on β1-adrenergic signaling in the central amygdala. Post unconditioned stimulus

Structural Break Tests Robust to Regression Misspecification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alaa Abi Morshed

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Structural break tests for regression models are sensitive to model misspecification. We show—analytically and through simulations—that the sup Wald test for breaks in the conditional mean and variance of a time series process exhibits severe size distortions when the conditional mean dynamics are misspecified. We also show that the sup Wald test for breaks in the unconditional mean and variance does not have the same size distortions, yet benefits from similar power to its conditional counterpart in correctly specified models. Hence, we propose using it as an alternative and complementary test for breaks. We apply the unconditional and conditional mean and variance tests to three US series: unemployment, industrial production growth and interest rates. Both the unconditional and the conditional mean tests detect a break in the mean of interest rates. However, for the other two series, the unconditional mean test does not detect a break, while the conditional mean tests based on dynamic regression models occasionally detect a break, with the implied break-point estimator varying across different dynamic specifications. For all series, the unconditional variance does not detect a break while most tests for the conditional variance do detect a break which also varies across specifications.

The impact of conditional and unconditional conservatism on trade credit: evidence of Tehran Stock Exchange

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samin KOHANSAL

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to examine the impact of conditional and unconditional conservatism on the trade credit of companies listed at the Tehran Stock Exchange. In this respect, using a systematic deletion sampling, 74 companies were chosen and studied during the period 2009 to 2013. The method of testing the research hypotheses was a multivariate regression using estimated generalized least square. The results of the research indicated that conditional and unconditional conservatism are positively and significantly related to the trade credit of the companies; in other words, if a higher level of conservatism is used and types of conservatism grow, more trade credit will accrue to companies.

Quantum Teamwork for Unconditional Multiparty Communication with Gaussian States

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jing; Adesso, Gerardo; Xie, Changde; Peng, Kunchi

2009-08-01

We demonstrate the capability of continuous variable Gaussian states to communicate multipartite quantum information. A quantum teamwork protocol is presented according to which an arbitrary possibly entangled multimode state can be faithfully teleported between two teams each comprising many cooperative users. We prove that N-mode Gaussian weighted graph states exist for arbitrary N that enable unconditional quantum teamwork implementations for any arrangement of the teams. These perfect continuous variable maximally multipartite entangled resources are typical among pure Gaussian states and are unaffected by the entanglement frustration occurring in multiqubit states.

Operations Security (OPSEC) Guide

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-01

Request for Proposal TAC Threat Analysis Center TECHINT Technical Intelligence TMAP Telecommunications Monitoring and Assessment Program TTP...communications security, use of secure telephones, and a robust Telecommunications Monitoring and Assessment Program ( TMAP ) prevents undetermined...and AFI 33-219, Telecommunications Monitoring and Assessment Program ( TMAP ), or Information Assurance (IA) or Communications Security (COMSEC

A 2e Parent's Journey: Persistence, Partnership, and the Provision of Unconditional Love

Science.gov (United States)

Brownstein, Michelle

2015-01-01

I have four children, three of whom are twice exceptional in the context of the new Community of Practice (2e CoP) definition highlighted in this issue. I share a personal story of a parent's journey in persistence, partnerships, and the provision of unconditional love.

Auditing Organizational Security

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Organi- zation for Standardiza- tion ( ISO ): ISO 27000 : Information Systems Se- curity Management. A robust program of internal auditing of a...improvement is the basis and underpinning of the ISO . All processes must be considered ongoing and never at an “end state.” Top management develops a...security management system, including security policies and security objectives, plus threats and risks. Orga- nizations already working with ISO 9000

Human Neural Stem Cells Overexpressing Choline Acetyltransferase Restore Unconditioned Fear in Rats with Amygdala Injury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyungha Shin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Amygdala is involved in the fear memory that recognizes certain environmental cues predicting threatening events. Manipulation of neurotransmission within the amygdala affects the expression of conditioned and unconditioned emotional memories such as fear freezing behaviour. We previously demonstrated that F3.ChAT human neural stem cells (NSCs overexpressing choline acetyltransferase (ChAT improve cognitive function of Alzheimer’s disease model rats with hippocampal or cholinergic nerve injuries by increasing acetylcholine (ACh level. In the present study, we examined the effect of F3.ChAT cells on the deficit of unconditioned fear freezing. Rats given N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA in their amygdala 2 weeks prior to cat odor exposure displayed very short resting (freezing time compared to normal animals. NMDA induced neuronal degeneration in the amygdala, leading to a decreased ACh concentration in cerebrospinal fluid. However, intracerebroventricular transplantation of F3.ChAT cells attenuated amygdala lesions 4 weeks after transplantation. The transplanted cells were found in the NMDA-injury sites and produced ChAT protein. In addition, F3.ChAT-receiving rats recuperated freezing time staying remote from the cat odor source, according to the recovery of brain ACh concentration. The results indicate that human NSCs overexpressing ChAT may facilitate retrieval of unconditioned fear memory by increasing ACh level.

Do Job Security Guarantees Work?

OpenAIRE

Alex Bryson; Lorenzo Cappellari; Claudio Lucifora

2004-01-01

We investigate the effect of employer job security guarantees on employee perceptions of job security. Using linked employer-employee data from the 1998 British Workplace Employee Relations Survey, we find job security guarantees reduce employee perceptions of job insecurity. This finding is robust to endogenous selection of job security guarantees by employers engaging in organisational change and workforce reductions. Furthermore, there is no evidence that increased job security through job...

An Unconditionally Stable Method for Solving the Acoustic Wave Equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhi-Kai Fu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available An unconditionally stable method for solving the time-domain acoustic wave equation using Associated Hermit orthogonal functions is proposed. The second-order time derivatives in acoustic wave equation are expanded by these orthogonal basis functions. By applying Galerkin temporal testing procedure, the time variable can be eliminated from the calculations. The restriction of Courant-Friedrichs-Levy (CFL condition in selecting time step for analyzing thin layer can be avoided. Numerical results show the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed method.

How Robust Refugee Protection Policies Can Strengthen Human and National Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donald Kerwin

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper makes the case that refugee protection and national security should be viewed as complementary, not conflicting state goals. It argues that refugee protection can further the security of refugees, affected states, and the international community. Refugees and international migrants can also advance national security by contributing to a state’s economic vitality, military strength, diplomatic standing, and civic values. The paper identifies several strategies that would, if implemented, promote both security and refugee protection. It also outlines additional steps that the US Congress should take to enhance US refugee protection policies and security. Finally, it argues for the efficacy of political engagement in support of pro-protection, pro-security policies, and against the assumption that political populism will invariably impede support for refugee protection.

Network Paradigm of Information Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandr Diomidovich Afanasyev

2016-03-01

Full Text Available An issue of topological analysis has been claimed as a key one while creating robust and secure network systems. Some examples of complex network applications in information security domain have been cited.

Why SCADA security is NOT like Computer Centre Security

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2014-01-01

Today, the industralized world lives in symbiosis with control systems (aka SCADA systems): it depends on power distribution, oil production, public transport, automatic production lines. While the convenience is at hand, still too many control systems are designed without any security in mind, lack basic security protections, and are not even robust enough to withstand basic attacks. The Stuxnet worm attacking Siemens PLCs in 2010 was another close call. Attackers currently enjoy hacking control systems, and aim to switch lights off. This presentation shall recap the current situation and discuss the differences (or not) between computer center cyber-security and control system cyber-security.

Information theoretically secure, enhanced Johnson noise based key distribution over the smart grid with switched filters.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Elias; Kish, Laszlo B; Balog, Robert S; Enjeti, Prasad

2013-01-01

We introduce a protocol with a reconfigurable filter system to create non-overlapping single loops in the smart power grid for the realization of the Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-(like)-Noise secure key distribution system. The protocol is valid for one-dimensional radial networks (chain-like power line) which are typical of the electricity distribution network between the utility and the customer. The speed of the protocol (the number of steps needed) versus grid size is analyzed. When properly generalized, such a system has the potential to achieve unconditionally secure key distribution over the smart power grid of arbitrary geometrical dimensions.

A Secure and Robust Compressed Domain Video Steganography for Intra- and Inter-Frames Using Embedding-Based Byte Differencing (EBBD) Scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

Idbeaa, Tarik; Abdul Samad, Salina; Husain, Hafizah

2016-01-01

This paper presents a novel secure and robust steganographic technique in the compressed video domain namely embedding-based byte differencing (EBBD). Unlike most of the current video steganographic techniques which take into account only the intra frames for data embedding, the proposed EBBD technique aims to hide information in both intra and inter frames. The information is embedded into a compressed video by simultaneously manipulating the quantized AC coefficients (AC-QTCs) of luminance components of the frames during MPEG-2 encoding process. Later, during the decoding process, the embedded information can be detected and extracted completely. Furthermore, the EBBD basically deals with two security concepts: data encryption and data concealing. Hence, during the embedding process, secret data is encrypted using the simplified data encryption standard (S-DES) algorithm to provide better security to the implemented system. The security of the method lies in selecting candidate AC-QTCs within each non-overlapping 8 × 8 sub-block using a pseudo random key. Basic performance of this steganographic technique verified through experiments on various existing MPEG-2 encoded videos over a wide range of embedded payload rates. Overall, the experimental results verify the excellent performance of the proposed EBBD with a better trade-off in terms of imperceptibility and payload, as compared with previous techniques while at the same time ensuring minimal bitrate increase and negligible degradation of PSNR values.

A Secure and Robust Compressed Domain Video Steganography for Intra- and Inter-Frames Using Embedding-Based Byte Differencing (EBBD Scheme.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tarik Idbeaa

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel secure and robust steganographic technique in the compressed video domain namely embedding-based byte differencing (EBBD. Unlike most of the current video steganographic techniques which take into account only the intra frames for data embedding, the proposed EBBD technique aims to hide information in both intra and inter frames. The information is embedded into a compressed video by simultaneously manipulating the quantized AC coefficients (AC-QTCs of luminance components of the frames during MPEG-2 encoding process. Later, during the decoding process, the embedded information can be detected and extracted completely. Furthermore, the EBBD basically deals with two security concepts: data encryption and data concealing. Hence, during the embedding process, secret data is encrypted using the simplified data encryption standard (S-DES algorithm to provide better security to the implemented system. The security of the method lies in selecting candidate AC-QTCs within each non-overlapping 8 × 8 sub-block using a pseudo random key. Basic performance of this steganographic technique verified through experiments on various existing MPEG-2 encoded videos over a wide range of embedded payload rates. Overall, the experimental results verify the excellent performance of the proposed EBBD with a better trade-off in terms of imperceptibility and payload, as compared with previous techniques while at the same time ensuring minimal bitrate increase and negligible degradation of PSNR values.

Securing collaborative environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agarwal, Deborah [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Jackson, Keith [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Thompson, Mary [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2002-05-16

The diverse set of organizations and software components involved in a typical collaboratory make providing a seamless security solution difficult. In addition, the users need support for a broad range of frequency and locations for access to the collaboratory. A collaboratory security solution needs to be robust enough to ensure that valid participants are not denied access because of its failure. There are many tools that can be applied to the task of securing collaborative environments and these include public key infrastructure, secure sockets layer, Kerberos, virtual and real private networks, grid security infrastructure, and username/password. A combination of these mechanisms can provide effective secure collaboration capabilities. In this paper, we discuss the requirements of typical collaboratories and some proposals for applying various security mechanisms to collaborative environments.

Return of fear after retrospective inferences about the absence of an unconditioned stimulus during extinction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Raes, A.K.; de Houwer, J.; Verschuere, B.; de Raedt, R.

2011-01-01

We examined whether the effect of an extinction phase can be influenced retrospectively by information about the cause of the absence of the unconditioned stimulus (US) during that phase. Participants were subjected to a differential fear conditioning procedure, followed by an extinction procedure.

Quantum Data Locking for Secure Communication against an Eavesdropper with Time-Limited Storage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cosmo Lupo

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Quantum cryptography allows for unconditionally secure communication against an eavesdropper endowed with unlimited computational power and perfect technologies, who is only constrained by the laws of physics. We review recent results showing that, under the assumption that the eavesdropper can store quantum information only for a limited time, it is possible to enhance the performance of quantum key distribution in both a quantitative and qualitative fashion. We consider quantum data locking as a cryptographic primitive and discuss secure communication and key distribution protocols. For the case of a lossy optical channel, this yields the theoretical possibility of generating secret key at a constant rate of 1 bit per mode at arbitrarily long communication distances.

Unconditionally stable diffusion-acceleration of the transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, E.W.

1982-01-01

The standard iterative procedure for solving fixed-source discrete-ordinates problems converges very slowly for problems in optically large regions with scattering ratios c near unity. The diffusion-synthetic acceleration method has been proposed to make use of the fact that for this class of problems the diffusion equation is often an accurate approximation to the transport equation. However, stability difficulties have historically hampered the implementation of this method for general transport differencing schemes. In this article we discuss a recently developed procedure for obtaining unconditionally stable diffusion-synthetic acceleration methods for various transport differencing schemes. We motivate the analysis by first discussing the exact transport equation; then we illustrate the procedure by deriving a new stable acceleration method for the linear discontinuous transport differencing scheme. We also provide some numerical results

Unconditionally stable diffusion-acceleration of the transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, E.W.

1982-01-01

The standard iterative procedure for solving fixed-source discrete-ordinates problems converges very slowly for problems in optically thick regions with scattering ratios c near unity. The diffusion-synthetic acceleration method has been proposed to make use of the fact that for this class of problems, the diffusion equation is often an accurate approximation to the transport equation. However, stability difficulties have historically hampered the implementation of this method for general transport differencing schemes. In this article we discuss a recently developed procedure for obtaining unconditionally stable diffusion-synthetic acceleration methods for various transport differencing schemes. We motivate the analysis by first discussing the exact transport equation; then we illustrate the procedure by deriving a new stable acceleration method for the linear discontinuous transport differencing scheme. We also provide some numerical results

Unconditionally convergent series in the space C(Q)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basit, B.

1981-08-01

Let B be a Banach space and B* its dual Banach space. B contains csub(0) (B does not contain csub(0)) if B contains (does not contain) a subspace isomorphic to the space csub(0) of sequences of numbers tending to zero. The series Σsub(n=1)sup(infinity) xsub(n) of elements of B is weakly unconditionally convergent (w.u.c.) iff Σsub(n=1)sup(infinity)|x*(xsub(n))| 0 . Series of elements of C(Q) are considered here. Subspaces of C(Q) isomorphic to c 0 are constructed, and criteria for a series of elements of C(Q) to be w.u.c. or u.c. are given. Finally, an improved theorem of giving characterizations of the elements of subalgebras of C(Q) not containing c 0 is presented

Possibility of spoof attack against robustness of multibiometric authentication systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hariri, Mahdi; Shokouhi, Shahriar Baradaran

2011-07-01

Multibiometric systems have been recently developed in order to overcome some weaknesses of single biometric authentication systems, but security of these systems against spoofing has not received enough attention. In this paper, we propose a novel practical method for simulation of possibilities of spoof attacks against a biometric authentication system. Using this method, we model matching scores from standard to completely spoofed genuine samples. Sum, product, and Bayes fusion rules are applied for score level combination. The security of multimodal authentication systems are examined and compared with the single systems against various spoof possibilities. However, vulnerability of fused systems is considerably increased against spoofing, but their robustness is generally higher than single matcher systems. In this paper we show that robustness of a combined system is not always higher than a single system against spoof attack. We propose empirical methods for upgrading the security of multibiometric systems, which contain how to organize and select biometric traits and matchers against various possibilities of spoof attack. These methods provide considerable robustness and present an appropriate reason for using combined systems against spoof attacks.

Tolerant indirect reciprocity can boost social welfare through solidarity with unconditional cooperators in private monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Okada, Isamu; Sasaki, Tatsuya; Nakai, Yutaka

2017-08-29

Indirect reciprocity is an important mechanism for resolving social dilemmas. Previous studies explore several types of assessment rules that are evolutionarily stable for keeping cooperation regimes. However, little is known about the effects of private information on social systems. Most indirect reciprocity studies assume public monitoring in which individuals share a single assessment for each individual. Here, we consider a private monitoring system that loosens such an unnatural assumption. We explore the stable norms in the private system using an individual-based simulation. We have three main findings. First, narrow and unstable cooperation: cooperation in private monitoring becomes unstable and the restricted norms cannot maintain cooperative regimes while they can in public monitoring. Second, stable coexistence of discriminators and unconditional cooperators: under private monitoring, unconditional cooperation can play a role in keeping a high level of cooperation in tolerant norm situations. Finally, Pareto improvement: private monitoring can achieve a higher cooperation rate than does public monitoring.

Secure Java For Web Application Development

CERN Document Server

Bhargav, Abhay

2010-01-01

As the Internet has evolved, so have the various vulnerabilities, which largely stem from the fact that developers are unaware of the importance of a robust application security program. This book aims to educate readers on application security and building secure web applications using the new Java Platform. The text details a secure web application development process from the risk assessment phase to the proof of concept phase. The authors detail such concepts as application risk assessment, secure SDLC, security compliance requirements, web application vulnerabilities and threats, security

International Nuclear Security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doyle, James E. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2012-08-14

This presentation discusses: (1) Definitions of international nuclear security; (2) What degree of security do we have now; (3) Limitations of a nuclear security strategy focused on national lock-downs of fissile materials and weapons; (4) What do current trends say about the future; and (5) How can nuclear security be strengthened? Nuclear security can be strengthened by: (1) More accurate baseline inventories; (2) Better physical protection, control and accounting; (3) Effective personnel reliability programs; (4) Minimize weapons-usable materials and consolidate to fewer locations; (5) Consider local threat environment when siting facilities; (6) Implement pledges made in the NSS process; and (7) More robust interdiction, emergency response and special operations capabilities. International cooperation is desirable, but not always possible.

A small unconditional non-financial incentive suggests an increase in survey response rates amongst older general practitioners (GPs): a randomised controlled trial study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pit, Sabrina Winona; Hansen, Vibeke; Ewald, Dan

2013-07-30

Few studies have investigated the effect of small unconditional non-monetary incentives on survey response rates amongst GPs or medical practitioners. This study assessed the effectiveness of offering a small unconditional non-financial incentive to increase survey response rates amongst general practitioners within a randomised controlled trial (RCT). An RCT was conducted within a general practice survey that investigated how to prolong working lives amongst ageing GPs in Australia. GPs (n = 125) were randomised to receive an attractive pen or no pen during their first invitation for participation in a survey. GPs could elect to complete the survey online or via mail. Two follow up reminders were sent without a pen to both groups. The main outcome measure was response rates. The response rate for GPs who received a pen was higher in the intervention group (61.9%) compared to the control group (46.8%). This study did not find a statistically significant effect of a small unconditional non-financial incentive (in the form of a pen) on survey response rates amongst GPs (Odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: 1.85 (0.91 to 3.77). No GPs completed the online version. A small unconditional non-financial incentives, in the form of a pen, may improve response rates for GPs.

Quantum Digital Signatures for Unconditional Safe Authenticity Protection of Medical Documentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arkadiusz Liber

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Modern medical documentation appears most often in an online form which requires some digital methods to ensure its confidentiality, integrity and authenticity. The document authenticity may be secured with the use of a signature. A classical handwritten signature is directly related to its owner by his/her psychomotor character traits. Such a signature is also connected with the material it is written on, and a writing tool. Because of these properties, a handwritten signature reflects certain close material bonds between the owner and the document. In case of modern digital signatures, the document authentication has a mathematical nature. The verification of the authenticity becomes the verification of a key instead of a human. Since 1994 it has been known that classical digital signature algorithms may not be safe because of the Shor’s factorization algorithm. To implement the modern authenticity protection of medical data, some new types of algorithms should be used. One of the groups of such algorithms is based on the quantum computations. In this paper, the analysis of the current knowledge status of Quantum Digital Signature protocols, with its basic principles, phases and common elements such as transmission, comparison and encryption, was outlined. Some of the most promising protocols for signing digital medical documentation, that fulfill the requirements for QDS, were also briefly described. We showed that, a QDS protocol with QKD components requires the equipment similar to the equipment used for a QKD, for its implementation, which is already commercially available. If it is properly implemented, it provides the shortest lifetime of qubits in comparison to other protocols. It can be used not only to sign classical messages but probably it could be well adopted to implement unconditionally safe protection of medical documentation in the nearest future, as well.

Class of unconditionally stable second-order implicit schemes for hyperbolic and parabolic equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lui, H.C.

The linearized Burgers equation is considered as a model u/sub t/ tau/sub x/ = bu/sub xx/, where the subscripts t and x denote the derivatives of the function u with respect to time t and space x; a and b are constants (b greater than or equal to 0). Numerical schemes for solving the equation are described that are second-order accurate, unconditionally stable, and dissipative of higher order. (U.S.)

Conservative, unconditionally stable discretization methods for Hamiltonian equations, applied to wave motion in lattice equations modeling protein molecules

Science.gov (United States)

LeMesurier, Brenton

2012-01-01

A new approach is described for generating exactly energy-momentum conserving time discretizations for a wide class of Hamiltonian systems of DEs with quadratic momenta, including mechanical systems with central forces; it is well-suited in particular to the large systems that arise in both spatial discretizations of nonlinear wave equations and lattice equations such as the Davydov System modeling energetic pulse propagation in protein molecules. The method is unconditionally stable, making it well-suited to equations of broadly “Discrete NLS form”, including many arising in nonlinear optics. Key features of the resulting discretizations are exact conservation of both the Hamiltonian and quadratic conserved quantities related to continuous linear symmetries, preservation of time reversal symmetry, unconditional stability, and respecting the linearity of certain terms. The last feature allows a simple, efficient iterative solution of the resulting nonlinear algebraic systems that retain unconditional stability, avoiding the need for full Newton-type solvers. One distinction from earlier work on conservative discretizations is a new and more straightforward nearly canonical procedure for constructing the discretizations, based on a “discrete gradient calculus with product rule” that mimics the essential properties of partial derivatives. This numerical method is then used to study the Davydov system, revealing that previously conjectured continuum limit approximations by NLS do not hold, but that sech-like pulses related to NLS solitons can nevertheless sometimes arise.

Spring security 3.x cookbook

CERN Document Server

Mankale, Anjana

2013-01-01

This book follows a cookbook style exploring various security solutions provided by Spring Security for various vulnerabilities and threat scenarios that web applications may be exposed to at the authentication and session level layers.This book is for all Spring-based application developers as well as Java web developers who wish to implement robust security mechanisms into web application development using Spring Security.Readers are assumed to have a working knowledge of Java web application development, a basic understanding of the Spring framework, and some knowledge of the fundamentals o

A Hybrid MCMC Sampler for Unconditional Quantile Based on Influence Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

El Moctar Laghlal

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In this study, we provide a Bayesian estimation method for the unconditional quantile regression model based on the Re-centered Influence Function (RIF. The method makes use of the dichotomous structure of the RIF and estimates a non-linear probability model by a logistic regression using a Gibbs within a Metropolis-Hastings sampler. This approach performs better in the presence of heavy-tailed distributions. Applied to a nationally-representative household survey, the Senegal Poverty Monitoring Report (2005, the results show that the change in the rate of returns to education across quantiles is substantially lower at the primary level.

Robust image obfuscation for privacy protection in Web 2.0 applications

Science.gov (United States)

Poller, Andreas; Steinebach, Martin; Liu, Huajian

2012-03-01

We present two approaches to robust image obfuscation based on permutation of image regions and channel intensity modulation. The proposed concept of robust image obfuscation is a step towards end-to-end security in Web 2.0 applications. It helps to protect the privacy of the users against threats caused by internet bots and web applications that extract biometric and other features from images for data-linkage purposes. The approaches described in this paper consider that images uploaded to Web 2.0 applications pass several transformations, such as scaling and JPEG compression, until the receiver downloads them. In contrast to existing approaches, our focus is on usability, therefore the primary goal is not a maximum of security but an acceptable trade-off between security and resulting image quality.

A Forward-secure Grouping-proof Protocol for Multiple RFID Tags

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Ya-li

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Designing secure and robust grouping-proof protocols based on RFID characteristics becomes a hotspot in the research of security in Internet of Things (IOT. The proposed grouping-proof protocols recently have security and/or privacy omission and these schemes afford order-dependence by relaying message among tags through an RFID reader. In consequence, aiming at enhancing the robustness, improving scalability, reducing the computation costs on resource-constrained devices, and meanwhile combing Computational Intelligence (CI with Secure Multi-party Communication (SMC, a Forward-Secure Grouping-Proof Protocol (FSGP for multiple RFID tags based on Shamir's (, secret sharing is proposed. In comparison with the previous grouping-proof protocols, FSGP has the characteristics of forward-security and order-independence addressing the scalability issue by avoiding relaying message. Our protocol provides security enhancement, performance improvement, and meanwhile controls the computation cost, which equilibrates both security and low cost requirements for RFID tags.

Perspectives on the International and Internal Nuclear Security Regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Sung Soon

2015-01-01

The term, 'Nuclear Security' became more familiar to Korean public after the government hosted 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. Nuclear Security is prevention of, detection of and response to criminal or intentional unauthorized acts involving or directed at nuclear material, other radioactive material, associated facilities, or associated activities. Nuclear Security includes physical protection, security of radioactive sources, nuclear forensics, nuclear smuggling prevention, border monitoring, and cyber security with regard to nuclear and other radiological materials. This abstract will review recent international trends and discuss the nuclear security regime in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The international Nuclear Security Regime has been strengthened. The upcoming Chicago Summit in 2016 and the entry into force of the Amendment of Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) will bring major changes in nuclear security. The Republic of Korea hosted the 2012 Seoul Summit and strengthened domestic regime to meet international standards. The ROK has worked hard to contribute to the international security regime and to establish a robust domestic security regime against terrorist threats. Even if the nuclear security regime is robust, Risk-informed Nuclear Security management should be established to meet international standards and to implement effective as well as an efficient nuclear security regime

Perspectives on the International and Internal Nuclear Security Regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, Sung Soon [Korea Nuclear Non-proliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

The term, 'Nuclear Security' became more familiar to Korean public after the government hosted 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. Nuclear Security is prevention of, detection of and response to criminal or intentional unauthorized acts involving or directed at nuclear material, other radioactive material, associated facilities, or associated activities. Nuclear Security includes physical protection, security of radioactive sources, nuclear forensics, nuclear smuggling prevention, border monitoring, and cyber security with regard to nuclear and other radiological materials. This abstract will review recent international trends and discuss the nuclear security regime in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The international Nuclear Security Regime has been strengthened. The upcoming Chicago Summit in 2016 and the entry into force of the Amendment of Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) will bring major changes in nuclear security. The Republic of Korea hosted the 2012 Seoul Summit and strengthened domestic regime to meet international standards. The ROK has worked hard to contribute to the international security regime and to establish a robust domestic security regime against terrorist threats. Even if the nuclear security regime is robust, Risk-informed Nuclear Security management should be established to meet international standards and to implement effective as well as an efficient nuclear security regime.

A single-pixel X-ray imager concept and its application to secure radiographic inspections

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Andrew J.; Miller, Brian W.; Robinson, Sean M.; White, Timothy A.; Pitts, William Karl; Jarman, Kenneth D.; Seifert, Allen

2017-07-01

Imaging technology is generally considered too invasive for arms control inspections due to the concern that it cannot properly secure sensitive features of the inspected item. However, this same sensitive information, which could include direct information on the form and function of the items under inspection, could be used for robust arms control inspections. The single-pixel X-ray imager (SPXI) is introduced as a method to make such inspections, capturing the salient spatial information of an object in a secure manner while never forming an actual image. The method is built on the theory of compressive sensing and the single pixel optical camera. The performance of the system is quantified using simulated inspections of simple objects. Measures of the robustness and security of the method are introduced and used to determine how robust and secure such an inspection would be. In particular, it is found that an inspection with low noise ( 256 ×) exhibits high robustness and security.

The Impact of an Unconditional Cash Transfer on Early Child Development: The Zambia Child Grant Program

Science.gov (United States)

Seidenfeld, David; Prencipe, Leah; Handa, Sudhanshu; Hawkinson, Laura

2015-01-01

Little research has been conducted on unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) despite their growing prevalence in Africa, including South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, and Uganda. In this study, researchers implemented a randomized control trial with over 2,500 households to investigate the impact of Africa's child grant program on…

Culture and Human Capital Investments: Evidence of an Unconditional Cash Transfer Program in Bolivia

OpenAIRE

Yanez-Pagans, Monica

2008-01-01

This paper uses a policy quasi-experiment created by the introduction of an old-age unconditional cash transfer program in Bolivia to study the intra-household income allocation process towards children's educational expenditure by ethnicity and gender of the recipient. Taking advantage of a sharp discontinuity created by the program assignment mechanism, I investigate the heterogeneity in the patterns of allocation within indigenous, multiethnic, and non-indigenous families, conditional on h...

Securing a robust electrical discharge drilling process by means of flow rate control

Science.gov (United States)

Risto, Matthias; Munz, Markus; Haas, Ruediger; Abdolahi, Ali

2017-10-01

This paper deals with the increase of the process robustness while drilling cemented carbide using electrical discharge machining (EDM). A demand for high efficiency in the resulting diameter is equivalent with a high robustness of the EDM drilling process. Analysis were done to investigate the process robustness (standard deviation of the borehole diameter) when drilling cemented carbide. The investigation has shown that the dielectric flow rate changes over the drilling process. In this case the flow rate decreased with a shorter tool electrode due to an uneven wear of the tool electrode's cross section. Using a controlled flow rate during the drilling process has led to a reduced standard deviation of the borehole diameter, thus to a higher process robustness when drilling cemented carbide.

Strong Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering with unconditional entangled states

Science.gov (United States)

Steinlechner, Sebastian; Bauchrowitz, Jöran; Eberle, Tobias; Schnabel, Roman

2013-02-01

In 1935 Schrödinger introduced the terms entanglement and steering in the context of the famous gedanken experiment discussed by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR). Here, we report on a sixfold increase of the observed EPR-steering effect with regard to previous experiments, as quantified by the Reid criterion. We achieved an unprecedented low conditional variance product of about 0.04<1, where 1 is the upper bound below which steering is demonstrated. The steering effect was observed on an unconditional two-mode-squeezed entangled state that contained a total vacuum state contribution of less than 8%, including detection imperfections. Together with the achieved high interference contrast between the entangled state and a bright coherent laser field, our state is compatible with efficient applications in high-power laser interferometers and fiber-based networks for entanglement distribution.

Extreme Unconditional Dependence Vs. Multivariate GARCH Effect in the Analysis of Dependence Between High Losses on Polish and German Stock Indexes

Science.gov (United States)

Rokita, Pawel

Classical portfolio diversification methods do not take account of any dependence between extreme returns (losses). Many researchers provide, however, some empirical evidence for various assets that extreme-losses co-occur. If the co-occurrence is frequent enough to be statistically significant, it may seriously influence portfolio risk. Such effects may result from a few different properties of financial time series, like for instance: (1) extreme dependence in a (long-term) unconditional distribution, (2) extreme dependence in subsequent conditional distributions, (3) time-varying conditional covariance, (4) time-varying (long-term) unconditional covariance, (5) market contagion. Moreover, a mix of these properties may be present in return time series. Modeling each of them requires different approaches. It seams reasonable to investigate whether distinguishing between the properties is highly significant for portfolio risk measurement. If it is, identifying the effect responsible for high loss co-occurrence would be of a great importance. If it is not, the best solution would be selecting the easiest-to-apply model. This article concentrates on two of the aforementioned properties: extreme dependence (in a long-term unconditional distribution) and time-varying conditional covariance.

Securing medical research: a cybersecurity point of view.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneier, Bruce

2012-06-22

The problem of securing biological research data is a difficult and complicated one. Our ability to secure data on computers is not robust enough to ensure the security of existing data sets. Lessons from cryptography illustrate that neither secrecy measures, such as deleting technical details, nor national solutions, such as export controls, will work.

On the respective contributions of awareness of unconditioned stimulus valence and unconditioned stimulus identity in attitude formation through evaluative conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, Christoph; Unkelbach, Christian; Corneille, Olivier

2009-09-01

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is a central mechanism for both classic and current theories of attitude formation. In contrast to Pavlovian conditioning, it is often conceptualized as a form of evaluative learning that occurs without awareness of the conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus (CS-US) contingencies. In the present research, the authors directly address this point by assessing the respective roles of US valence awareness and US identity awareness in attitude formation through EC. Across 4 experiments, EC was assessed with evaluative ratings as well as evaluative priming measures, and the impact of valence and identity awareness on EC was evaluated. EC effects on priming and rating measures occurred only for CSs for which participants could report the associated US valence, and US identity awareness did not further contribute to EC. This finding was obtained both for semantically meaningless (i.e., nonword letter sequences) and meaningful (i.e., consumer products) CSs. These results provide further support for the critical role of contingency awareness in EC, albeit valence awareness, not identity awareness. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

A robust trust establishment scheme for wireless sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishmanov, Farruh; Kim, Sung Won; Nam, Seung Yeob

2015-03-23

Security techniques like cryptography and authentication can fail to protect a network once a node is compromised. Hence, trust establishment continuously monitors and evaluates node behavior to detect malicious and compromised nodes. However, just like other security schemes, trust establishment is also vulnerable to attack. Moreover, malicious nodes might misbehave intelligently to trick trust establishment schemes. Unfortunately, attack-resistance and robustness issues with trust establishment schemes have not received much attention from the research community. Considering the vulnerability of trust establishment to different attacks and the unique features of sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks, we propose a lightweight and robust trust establishment scheme. The proposed trust scheme is lightweight thanks to a simple trust estimation method. The comprehensiveness and flexibility of the proposed trust estimation scheme make it robust against different types of attack and misbehavior. Performance evaluation under different types of misbehavior and on-off attacks shows that the detection rate of the proposed trust mechanism is higher and more stable compared to other trust mechanisms.

A Robust Trust Establishment Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farruh Ishmanov

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Security techniques like cryptography and authentication can fail to protect a network once a node is compromised. Hence, trust establishment continuously monitors and evaluates node behavior to detect malicious and compromised nodes. However, just like other security schemes, trust establishment is also vulnerable to attack. Moreover, malicious nodes might misbehave intelligently to trick trust establishment schemes. Unfortunately, attack-resistance and robustness issues with trust establishment schemes have not received much attention from the research community. Considering the vulnerability of trust establishment to different attacks and the unique features of sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks, we propose a lightweight and robust trust establishment scheme. The proposed trust scheme is lightweight thanks to a simple trust estimation method. The comprehensiveness and flexibility of the proposed trust estimation scheme make it robust against different types of attack and misbehavior. Performance evaluation under different types of misbehavior and on-off attacks shows that the detection rate of the proposed trust mechanism is higher and more stable compared to other trust mechanisms.

Robust Steganography Using LSB-XOR and Image Sharing

OpenAIRE

Adak, Chandranath

2013-01-01

Hiding and securing the secret digital information and data that are transmitted over the internet is of widespread and most challenging interest. This paper presents a new idea of robust steganography using bitwise-XOR operation between stego-key-image-pixel LSB (Least Significant Bit) value and secret message-character ASCII-binary value (or, secret image-pixel value). The stego-key-image is shared in dual-layer using odd-even position of each pixel to make the system robust. Due to image s...

Quantitative analysis of the security performance in wireless LANs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poonam Jindal

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A comprehensive experimental study to analyze the security performance of a WLAN based on IEEE 802.11 b/g/n standards in various network scenarios is presented in this paper. By setting-up an experimental testbed we have measured results for a layered security model in terms of throughput, response time, encryption overheads, frame loss and jitter. Through numerical results obtained from the testbed, we have presented quantitative as well as realistic findings for both security mechanisms and network performance. It establishes the fact that there is always a tradeoff between the security strength and the associated network performance. It is observed that the non-roaming network always performs better than the roaming network under all network scenarios. To analyze the benefits offered by a particular security protocol a relative security strength index model is demonstrated. Further we have presented the statistical analysis of our experimental data. We found that different security protocols have different robustness against mobility. By choosing the robust security protocol, network performance can be improved. The presented analysis is significant and useful with reference to the assessment of the suitability of security protocols for given real time application.

HITACHI security concept for industrial control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endoh, H.; Yamada, T.; Okubo, S.; Nakano, T.

2012-01-01

Security is a necessary factor for the safe and efficient operation of today's control systems. To ensure safe operation of control systems throughout their lifetime, security measures must be carefully planned in the development phase and then maintained continuously during the operation phase and other following phases. To ensure operation within the system's safe states, Hitachi proposes security concept processes (1) to derive security measures rationally and (2) to maintain the security model over the system life cycle. Hitachi also proposes security development programs which support the integration of standards-compliant systems and development of robust control equipment. (author)

Robust Fully Distributed Minibatch Gradient Descent with Privacy Preservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gábor Danner

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Privacy and security are among the highest priorities in data mining approaches over data collected from mobile devices. Fully distributed machine learning is a promising direction in this context. However, it is a hard problem to design protocols that are efficient yet provide sufficient levels of privacy and security. In fully distributed environments, secure multiparty computation (MPC is often applied to solve these problems. However, in our dynamic and unreliable application domain, known MPC algorithms are not scalable or not robust enough. We propose a light-weight protocol to quickly and securely compute the sum query over a subset of participants assuming a semihonest adversary. During the computation the participants learn no individual values. We apply this protocol to efficiently calculate the sum of gradients as part of a fully distributed minibatch stochastic gradient descent algorithm. The protocol achieves scalability and robustness by exploiting the fact that in this application domain a “quick and dirty” sum computation is acceptable. We utilize the Paillier homomorphic cryptosystem as part of our solution combined with extreme lossy gradient compression to make the cost of the cryptographic algorithms affordable. We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally, based on churn statistics from a real smartphone trace, that the protocol is indeed practically viable.

A Robust Color Image Watermarking Scheme Using Entropy and QR Decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Laur

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Internet has affected our everyday life drastically. Expansive volumes of information are exchanged over the Internet consistently which causes numerous security concerns. Issues like content identification, document and image security, audience measurement, ownership, copyrights and others can be settled by using digital watermarking. In this work, robust and imperceptible non-blind color image watermarking algorithm is proposed, which benefit from the fact that watermark can be hidden in different color channel which results into further robustness of the proposed technique to attacks. Given method uses some algorithms such as entropy, discrete wavelet transform, Chirp z-transform, orthogonal-triangular decomposition and Singular value decomposition in order to embed the watermark in a color image. Many experiments are performed using well-known signal processing attacks such as histogram equalization, adding noise and compression. Experimental results show that proposed scheme is imperceptible and robust against common signal processing attacks.

Modelling Project Feasibility Robustness by Use of Scenarios

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moshøj, Claus Rehfeld; Leleur, Steen

1998-01-01

, SEAM secures a consistent inclusion of actual scenario elements in the quantitative impact modelling and facilitates a transparent project feasibility robustness analysis. SEAM is implemented as part of a decision support system with a toolbox structure applicable to different types of transport...

Quantum cryptography communication technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Jai Wan; Choi, Young Soo; Lee, Jae Chul; Choi, Yu Rak; Jung, Gwang Il; Jung, Jong Eun; Hong, Seok Boong; Koo, In Soo

2007-09-15

Quantum cryptography communication based on quantum mechanics provides and unconditional security between two users. Even though huge advance has been done since the 1984, having a complete system is still far away. In the case of real quantum cryptography communication systems, an unconditional security level is lowered by the imperfection of the communication unit. It is important to investigate the unconditional security of quantum communication protocols based on these experimental results and implementation examples for the advanced spread all over the world. The Japanese report, titled, 'Investigation report on the worldwide trends of quantum cryptography communications systems' was translated and summarized in this report. An unconditional security theory of the quantum cryptography and real implementation examples in the domestic area are investigated also. The goal of the report is to make quantum cryptography communication more useful and reliable alternative telecommunication infrastructure as the one of the cyber security program of the class 1-E communication system of nuclear power plant. Also another goal of this report is to provide the quantitative decision basis on the quantum cryptography communication when this secure communication system will be used in class 1-E communication channel of the nuclear power plant.

Quantum cryptography communication technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Jai Wan; Choi, Young Soo; Lee, Jae Chul; Choi, Yu Rak; Jung, Gwang Il; Jung, Jong Eun; Hong, Seok Boong; Koo, In Soo

2007-09-01

Quantum cryptography communication based on quantum mechanics provides and unconditional security between two users. Even though huge advance has been done since the 1984, having a complete system is still far away. In the case of real quantum cryptography communication systems, an unconditional security level is lowered by the imperfection of the communication unit. It is important to investigate the unconditional security of quantum communication protocols based on these experimental results and implementation examples for the advanced spread all over the world. The Japanese report, titled, 'Investigation report on the worldwide trends of quantum cryptography communications systems' was translated and summarized in this report. An unconditional security theory of the quantum cryptography and real implementation examples in the domestic area are investigated also. The goal of the report is to make quantum cryptography communication more useful and reliable alternative telecommunication infrastructure as the one of the cyber security program of the class 1-E communication system of nuclear power plant. Also another goal of this report is to provide the quantitative decision basis on the quantum cryptography communication when this secure communication system will be used in class 1-E communication channel of the nuclear power plant

How might Levinas' concept of the other's priority and Derrida's unconditional hospitality contribute to the philosophy of the modern hospice movement?

Science.gov (United States)

Floriani, Ciro Augusto; Schramm, Fermin Roland

2010-06-01

Hospitality is commonly referred as one of the meanings of hospes, the Latin word which is also the root of hospice. This article explores the semantics of the word hospice - the seal of identity of modern hospice movement - and attempts to integrate the meaning of hospitality into the modern hospice movement, understood as unconditional reception. Therefore, the article analyzes the concept of unconditional hospitality, developed by Jacques Derrida and that of ethical responsibility proposed by Emmanuel Levinas based on the phenomenological experience of the other. From this point of view, these two concepts tie in with the meaning of hospice, bringing substantial grounding elements to the hospice movement for the construction of a protective ethos.

Modelling Conditional and Unconditional Heteroskedasticity with Smoothly Time-Varying Structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amado, Christina; Teräsvirta, Timo

multiplier type misspecification tests. Finite-sample properties of these procedures and tests are examined by simulation. An empirical application to daily stock returns and another one to daily exchange rate returns illustrate the functioning and properties of our modelling strategy in practice......In this paper, we propose two parametric alternatives to the standard GARCH model. They allow the conditional variance to have a smooth time-varying structure of either ad- ditive or multiplicative type. The suggested parameterizations describe both nonlinearity and structural change...... in the conditional and unconditional variances where the transition between regimes over time is smooth. A modelling strategy for these new time-varying parameter GARCH models is developed. It relies on a sequence of Lagrange multiplier tests, and the adequacy of the estimated models is investigated by Lagrange...

The stimulative effect of an unconditional block grant on the decentralized provision of care

OpenAIRE

Mark Kattenberg; Wouter Vermeulen

2015-01-01

Understanding the impact of central government grants on decentralized health care provision is of crucial importance for the design of grant systems, yet empirical evidence on the prevalence of flypaper effects in this domain is rare. We study the decentralization of home care in the Netherlands and exploit the gradual introduction of formula-based equalization to identify the effect of exogenous changes in an unconditional block grant on local expenditure and utilization. A one euro increas...

Robust path planning for flexible needle insertion using Markov decision processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Xiaoyu; Yu, Pengqian; Lim, Kah-Bin; Chui, Chee-Kong

2018-05-11

Flexible needle has the potential to accurately navigate to a treatment region in the least invasive manner. We propose a new planning method using Markov decision processes (MDPs) for flexible needle navigation that can perform robust path planning and steering under the circumstance of complex tissue-needle interactions. This method enhances the robustness of flexible needle steering from three different perspectives. First, the method considers the problem caused by soft tissue deformation. The method then resolves the common needle penetration failure caused by patterns of targets, while the last solution addresses the uncertainty issues in flexible needle motion due to complex and unpredictable tissue-needle interaction. Computer simulation and phantom experimental results show that the proposed method can perform robust planning and generate a secure control policy for flexible needle steering. Compared with a traditional method using MDPs, the proposed method achieves higher accuracy and probability of success in avoiding obstacles under complicated and uncertain tissue-needle interactions. Future work will involve experiment with biological tissue in vivo. The proposed robust path planning method can securely steer flexible needle within soft phantom tissues and achieve high adaptability in computer simulation.

Unconditional and Conditional Standards Using Cognitive Function Curves for the Modified Mini-Mental State Exam: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses in Older Chinese Adults in Singapore.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Yin Bun; Xu, Ying; Feng, Lei; Feng, Liang; Nyunt, Ma Shwe Zin; Chong, Mei Sian; Lim, Wee Shiong; Lee, Tih Shih; Yap, Philip; Yap, Keng Bee; Ng, Tze Pin

2015-09-01

The conventional practice of assessing cognitive status and monitoring change over time in older adults using normative values of the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) based on age bands is imprecise. Moreover, population-based normative data on changes in MMSE score over time are scarce and crude because they do not include age- and education-specific norms. This study aims to develop unconditional standards for assessing current cognitive status and conditional standards that take prior MMSE score into account for assessing longitudinal change, with percentile curves as smooth functions of age. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data of a modified version of the MMSE for 2,026 older Chinese adults from the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study, aged 55-84, in Singapore were used to estimate quantile regression coefficients and create unconditional standards and conditional standards. We presented MMSE percentile curves as a smooth function of age in education strata, for unconditional and conditional standards, based on quantile regression coefficient estimates. We found the 5th and 10th percentiles were more strongly associated with age and education than were higher percentiles. Model diagnostics demonstrated the accuracy of the standards. The development and use of unconditional and conditional standards should facilitate cognitive assessment in clinical practice and deserve further studies. Copyright © 2015 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Secure and Robust Transmission and Verification of Unknown Quantum States in Minkowski Space

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Adrian; Massar, Serge; Silman, Jonathan

2014-01-01

An important class of cryptographic applications of relativistic quantum information work as follows. B generates a random qudit and supplies it to A at point P. A is supposed to transmit it at near light speed c to to one of a number of possible pairwise spacelike separated points Q1, …, Qn. A's transmission is supposed to be secure, in the sense that B cannot tell in advance which Qj will be chosen. This poses significant practical challenges, since secure reliable long-range transmission of quantum data at speeds near to c is presently not easy. Here we propose different techniques to overcome these diffculties. We introduce protocols that allow secure long-range implementations even when both parties control only widely separated laboratories of small size. In particular we introduce a protocol in which A needs send the qudit only over a short distance, and securely transmits classical information (for instance using a one time pad) over the remaining distance. We further show that by using parallel implementations of the protocols security can be maintained in the presence of moderate amounts of losses and errors. PMID:24469425

Robust Quantum Secure Direct Communication over Collective Rotating Channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin Sujuan; Gao Fei; Wen Qiaoyan; Zhu Fuchen

2010-01-01

A quantum secure direct communication protocol over a collective rotating channel is proposed. The protocol encodes logical bits in noiseless subspaces, and so it can function over a quantum channel subjected to an arbitrary degree of collective rotating noise. Although entangled states are used, both the sender and receiver are only required to perform single-particle product measurement or Pauli operations. The protocol is feasible with present-day technique. (general)

An unconditionally stable, positivity-preserving splitting scheme for nonlinear Black-Scholes equation with transaction costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jianqiang; Wang, Wansheng

2014-01-01

This paper deals with the numerical analysis of nonlinear Black-Scholes equation with transaction costs. An unconditionally stable and monotone splitting method, ensuring positive numerical solution and avoiding unstable oscillations, is proposed. This numerical method is based on the LOD-Backward Euler method which allows us to solve the discrete equation explicitly. The numerical results for vanilla call option and for European butterfly spread are provided. It turns out that the proposed scheme is efficient and reliable.

Private Military and Security Contractors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

In Private Military and Security Contractors: Controlling the Corporate Warrior a multinational team of 16 scholars and a practitioner from political science, sociology, and law address a developing phenomenon: controlling the use of privatized force by states in international politics. Robust...

Security analysis of an untrusted source for quantum key distribution: passive approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Yi; Qi Bing; Lo, H-K; Qian Li

2010-01-01

We present a passive approach to the security analysis of quantum key distribution (QKD) with an untrusted source. A complete proof of its unconditional security is also presented. This scheme has significant advantages in real-life implementations as it does not require fast optical switching or a quantum random number generator. The essential idea is to use a beam splitter to split each input pulse. We show that we can characterize the source using a cross-estimate technique without active routing of each pulse. We have derived analytical expressions for the passive estimation scheme. Moreover, using simulations, we have considered four real-life imperfections: additional loss introduced by the 'plug and play' structure, inefficiency of the intensity monitor noise of the intensity monitor, and statistical fluctuation introduced by finite data size. Our simulation results show that the passive estimate of an untrusted source remains useful in practice, despite these four imperfections. Also, we have performed preliminary experiments, confirming the utility of our proposal in real-life applications. Our proposal makes it possible to implement the 'plug and play' QKD with the security guaranteed, while keeping the implementation practical.

Telemetric measurement of body core temperature in exercising unconditioned Labrador retrievers.

Science.gov (United States)

Angle, T Craig; Gillette, Robert L

2011-04-01

This project evaluated the use of an ingestible temperature sensor to measure body core temperature (Tc) in exercising dogs. Twenty-five healthy, unconditioned Labrador retrievers participated in an outdoor 3.5-km run, completed in 20 min on a level, 400-m grass track. Core temperature was measured continuously with a telemetric monitoring system before, during, and after the run. Data were successfully collected with no missing data points during the exercise. Core temperature elevated in the dogs from 38.7 ± 0.3°C at pre-exercise to 40.4 ± 0.6°C post-exercise. While rectal temperatures are still the standard of measurement, telemetric core temperature monitors may offer an easier and more comfortable means of sampling core temperature with minimal human and mechanical interference with the exercising dog.

ROBUSTNESS OF A FACE-RECOGNITION TECHNIQUE BASED ON SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINES

OpenAIRE

Prashanth Harshangi; Koshy George

2010-01-01

The ever-increasing requirements of security concerns have placed a greater demand for face recognition surveillance systems. However, most current face recognition techniques are not quite robust with respect to factors such as variable illumination, facial expression and detail, and noise in images. In this paper, we demonstrate that face recognition using support vector machines are sufficiently robust to different kinds of noise, does not require image pre-processing, and can be used with...

A Weak Value Based QKD Protocol Robust Against Detector Attacks

Science.gov (United States)

Troupe, James

2015-03-01

We propose a variation of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol that utilizes the properties of weak values to insure the validity of the quantum bit error rate estimates used to detect an eavesdropper. The protocol is shown theoretically to be secure against recently demonstrated attacks utilizing detector blinding and control and should also be robust against all detector based hacking. Importantly, the new protocol promises to achieve this additional security without negatively impacting the secure key generation rate as compared to that originally promised by the standard BB84 scheme. Implementation of the weak measurements needed by the protocol should be very feasible using standard quantum optical techniques.

Design of a Super-Pixel-Based Quantum Secure Authentication Demonstrator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Toebes, Chris; Tentrup, Tristan B.H.; Pinkse, Pepijn W.H.

2017-01-01

Quantum Secure Authentication (QSA) is a method recently developed to authenticate a multiple-scattering key [1]. Previous implementations only showed proof-of-principle setups. We present a design of a compact and robust demonstration device for Quantum Secure Authentication. The challenge and

FROM ETHICS OF JUSTICE AND SUFFERING TO ETHICS OF FREE AND UNCONDITIONED PERSONALITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. E. Gromov

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The author regards the distinction between spiritual meaning inherent to ethics of justice and ethics of a free and unconditioned personality. He substantiates that the ethics of justice is insufficient for spiritual realization of man and it is a mental base of “suffering consciousness”. The author points at the absolute moral advantage of spiritual direction of culture. Methodology. The author connected methodological approach to the research into the spiritual quality of morality with fundamental distinction between the highest and the lowest levels of morality and with high degree of autonomy characterizing of spiritual directed consciousness. Scientific novelty. The article regards “eternal” and steady motivation of a man for justice and dignity. This problem remains topical in our days in conditions of intensive search for optimal correlation between the factors of humanity and violence in moral practice of modern civilized society. Conclusions. The ascension of modern social morality to the level of spiritual ethics is improbable, but, taking into account the metaphysical understanding of the essence of man, it is possible. The ethics of a free and unconditional person has a great potential in its influence on social moral. It leads to universal transformation of people’s attitude to themselves and to the surrounding reality. Utopian character and unfeasibility of spiritual ethics idea are determined by its independence from empirical conditions and by the difficulty concerned with conscious self-transformation of conditioned personality. The author intends to point out the “absolute” advantage of spiritually directed culture in realizing the opportunity of the moral evolution of society towards spirituality.

Public key infrastructure for DOE security research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aiken, R.; Foster, I.; Johnston, W.E. [and others

1997-06-01

This document summarizes the Department of Energy`s Second Joint Energy Research/Defence Programs Security Research Workshop. The workshop, built on the results of the first Joint Workshop which reviewed security requirements represented in a range of mission-critical ER and DP applications, discussed commonalties and differences in ER/DP requirements and approaches, and identified an integrated common set of security research priorities. One significant conclusion of the first workshop was that progress in a broad spectrum of DOE-relevant security problems and applications could best be addressed through public-key cryptography based systems, and therefore depended upon the existence of a robust, broadly deployed public-key infrastructure. Hence, public-key infrastructure ({open_quotes}PKI{close_quotes}) was adopted as a primary focus for the second workshop. The Second Joint Workshop covered a range of DOE security research and deployment efforts, as well as summaries of the state of the art in various areas relating to public-key technologies. Key findings were that a broad range of DOE applications can benefit from security architectures and technologies built on a robust, flexible, widely deployed public-key infrastructure; that there exists a collection of specific requirements for missing or undeveloped PKI functionality, together with a preliminary assessment of how these requirements can be met; that, while commercial developments can be expected to provide many relevant security technologies, there are important capabilities that commercial developments will not address, due to the unique scale, performance, diversity, distributed nature, and sensitivity of DOE applications; that DOE should encourage and support research activities intended to increase understanding of security technology requirements, and to develop critical components not forthcoming from other sources in a timely manner.

Robust Speaker Authentication Based on Combined Speech and Voiceprint Recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Malcangi, Mario

2009-08-01

Personal authentication is becoming increasingly important in many applications that have to protect proprietary data. Passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) prove not to be robust enough to ensure that unauthorized people do not use them. Biometric authentication technology may offer a secure, convenient, accurate solution but sometimes fails due to its intrinsically fuzzy nature. This research aims to demonstrate that combining two basic speech processing methods, voiceprint identification and speech recognition, can provide a very high degree of robustness, especially if fuzzy decision logic is used.

Wireless Network Security Vulnerabilities and Concerns

Science.gov (United States)

Mushtaq, Ahmad

The dilemma of cyber communications insecurity has existed all the times since the beginning of the network communications. The problems and concerns of unauthorized access and hacking has existed form the time of introduction of world wide web communication and Internet's expansion for popular use in 1990s, and has remained till present time as one of the most important issues. The wireless network security is no exception. Serious and continuous efforts of investigation, research and development has been going on for the last several decades to achieve the goal of provision of 100 percent or full proof security for all the protocols of networking architectures including the wireless networking. Some very reliable and robust strategies have been developed and deployed which has made network communications more and more secure. However, the most desired goal of complete security has yet to see the light of the day. The latest Cyber War scenario, reported in the media of intrusion and hacking of each other's defense and secret agencies between the two super powers USA and China has further aggravated the situation. This sort of intrusion by hackers between other countries such as India and Pakistan, Israel and Middle East countries has also been going on and reported in the media frequently. The paper reviews and critically examines the strategies already in place, for wired network. Wireless Network Security and also suggests some directions and strategies for more robust aspects to be researched and deployed.

A Novel Approach in Security Using Gyration Slab with Watermarking Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Rupa, Ch.

2016-09-01

In this paper, a novel security approach is proposed to improve the security and robustness of the data. It uses three levels of security to protect the sensitive data. In the first level, the data is to be protected by Gyration slab encryption algorithm. Result of the first level has to be embedded into an image as original using our earlier paper concept PLSB into a second level of security. The resultant image from the second level is considered as watermark Image. In the third level, the watermark image is embedded into the original image. Here watermark image and original image are similar. The final output of the proposed security approach is a watermarked image which holds the stego image. This method provides more security and robustness than the existing approaches. The main properties of the proposed approach are Gyration slab operations and watermark image and original image are similar. These can reduce the Brute-force attack and improve the confusion and diffusion principles. The main strengths of this paper are cryptanalysis, steganalysis, watermark analysis with reports.

Design Considerations for a Cognitive Radio Trust and Security Framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mihovska, Albena D.; Prasad, Ramjee; Tragos, Elias Z.

2012-01-01

towards pushing further the attainable spectral efficiency gains. Taking a step back, our work looks into the critical challenges with respect to reliability, robustness and security, which hinder operators from investing in this new technology. We propose a new conceptual framework for trust and security...

Unconditionally stable WLP-FDTD method for the modeling of electromagnetic wave propagation in gyrotropic materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zheng-Wei; Xi, Xiao-Li; Zhang, Jin-Sheng; Liu, Jiang-fan

2015-12-14

The unconditional stable finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method based on field expansion with weighted Laguerre polynomials (WLPs) is applied to model electromagnetic wave propagation in gyrotropic materials. The conventional Yee cell is modified to have the tightly coupled current density components located at the same spatial position. The perfectly matched layer (PML) is formulated in a stretched-coordinate (SC) system with the complex-frequency-shifted (CFS) factor to achieve good absorption performance. Numerical examples are shown to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method.

Effects of different architectural solutions on the thermal behaviour in an unconditioned rural building. The case of an Italian winery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Torreggiani

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Referring to the wine sector, in the Mediterranean area, most of the wine farms make use of unconditioned above-ground buildings constructed without a specific attention to temperature control, where indoor temperatures easily show trends in disagreement with correct wine-ageing and conservation. Moreover the suitable temperature ranges can differ from wine to wine, and are considerably different from ideal temperatures for human comfort. This study aimed at testing the effectiveness of different architectural elements in improving the thermal behaviour of unconditioned farm buildings, by means of energy simulations validated on an Italian case-study, comparing the data provided by the simulations with different temperature ranges. Results showed the building thermal performance depends on the chosen intervals, some solution played negative or positive role according to the analysed range and in general roof and wall interventions were more effective than orientation and solar shading, and the combination of more strategies allow to achieve improved results.

Development of a security-by-design handbook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olson, David L.; Snell, Mark Kamerer; Iida, Toru; Ochiai, Kazuya; Tanuma, Koji

2010-01-01

There is an increasing awareness that efficient and effective nuclear facility design is best achieved when requirements from the 3S disciplines Safety, Safeguards, and Security - are balanced and intrinsic to the facility design. This can be achieved when policy, processes, methods, and technologies are understood and applied in these areas during all phases of the design process. For the purposes of this paper, Security-by-design will be defined as the system level incorporation of the physical protection system (PPS) into a new or retrofitted nuclear power plant (NPP) or nuclear facility (NF) resulting in intrinsic security. Security-by-design can also be viewed as a framework to achieve robust and durable security systems. This paper reports on work performed to date to create a Security-by-Design Handbook, under a bilateral agreement between the United States and Japan, specifically, a review of physical protection principles and best practices, and a decommissioning to better understand where these principles and practices can be applied. This paper describes physical protection principles and best practices to achieve security-by- design that were gathered from International, Japanese, and U.S. sources. Principles are included for achieving security early in the design process where security requirements are typically less costly and easier to incorporate. The paper then describes a generic design process that covers the entire facility lifecycle from scoping and planning of the project to decommissioning and decontamination. Early design process phases, such as conceptual design, offer opportunities to add security features intrinsic to the facility design itself. Later phases, including design engineering and construction, are important for properly integrating security features into a coherent design and for planning for and assuring the proper performance of the security system during the operation and decommissioning of the facility. The paper also

A Secure Information Framework with APRQ Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Rupa, Ch.

2017-08-01

Internet of the things is the most trending topics in the digital world. Security issues are rampant. In the corporate or institutional setting, security risks are apparent from the outset. Market leaders are unable to use the cryptographic techniques due to their complexities. Hence many bits of private information, including ID, are readily available for third parties to see and to utilize. There is a need to decrease the complexity and increase the robustness of the cryptographic approaches. In view of this, a new cryptographic technique as good encryption pact with adjacency, random prime number and quantum code properties has been proposed. Here, encryption can be done by using quantum photons with gray code. This approach uses the concepts of physics and mathematics with no external key exchange to improve the security of the data. It also reduces the key attacks by generation of a key at the party side instead of sharing. This method makes the security more robust than with the existing approach. Important properties of gray code and quantum are adjacency property and different photons to a single bit (0 or 1). These can reduce the avalanche effect. Cryptanalysis of the proposed method shows that it is resistant to various attacks and stronger than the existing approaches.

Financial Sector Assessment Program : Malaysia - IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation

OpenAIRE

World Bank; International Monetary Fund

2013-01-01

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), as the supervisor of the capital markets, has developed a robust supervisory framework that exhibits high levels of implementation of the International Organization of Securities Commissions Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation (IOSCO Principles) in most areas. The SC's independence will be buttressed by some changes to the legal provi...

The role of unconditional cash transfers during a nutritional emergency in Maradi region, Niger: A prospective observational study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fenn, Bridget; Noura, Garba; Sibson, Victoria; Dolan, Carmel; Shoham, Jeremy

2014-01-01

Full text: Cash transfers (CTs) are becoming a popular intervention of choice by agencies and NGOs as a complementary or alternative approach to food-based assistance, as part of an emergency response. There is strong evidence that CT programmes lead to an increase in household income and protect household assets from being sold, resulting in an increase in food quantity and improved dietary diversity which in turn are thought to protect children from malnutrition. However, the evidence for an impact of CTs on undernutrition is mixed and inconclusive. Despite this, CTs are increasingly being used in emergency responses with an objective of preventing acute malnutrition. The main objective was to assess the effect of an unconditional CT implemented as part of an emergency response to food insecurity during a declared state of emergency in Aguie district, Maradi, Niger. This was a prospective observational study involving 6 consecutive months of data collection starting pre-intervention in April 2012 (baseline), on the same cohort of ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ households, with a non-acutely malnourished child 6-36 months, enrolled by Save the Children in an unconditional CT programme (n = 412). Analyses using pre-post intervention data were carried out to assess changes in the potential mediating factors within the causal pathway between CT and acute malnutrition over time and to estimate risk factors associated with acute malnutrition. The study showed that the living standards of ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ households improved; indicated by reduction in poverty (improvement in household expenditures, incomes, employment, asset protection, wealth rank and access to social networks) and improvement in household food security (reduced household hunger and greater household and child dietary diversity). Child anthropometric outcomes (weight-for-height and MUAC) significantly improved (p 0•05). The results from this study are consistent with the available

Robust Secure Authentication and Data Storage with Perfect Secrecy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Baur

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We consider an authentication process that makes use of biometric data or the output of a physical unclonable function (PUF, respectively, from an information theoretical point of view. We analyse different definitions of achievability for the authentication model. For the secrecy of the key generated for authentication, these definitions differ in their requirements. In the first work on PUF based authentication, weak secrecy has been used and the corresponding capacity regions have been characterized. The disadvantages of weak secrecy are well known. The ultimate performance criteria for the key are perfect secrecy together with uniform distribution of the key. We derive the corresponding capacity region. We show that, for perfect secrecy and uniform distribution of the key, we can achieve the same rates as for weak secrecy together with a weaker requirement on the distribution of the key. In the classical works on PUF based authentication, it is assumed that the source statistics are known perfectly. This requirement is rarely met in applications. That is why the model is generalized to a compound model, taking into account source uncertainty. We also derive the capacity region for the compound model requiring perfect secrecy. Additionally, we consider results for secure storage using a biometric or PUF source that follow directly from the results for authentication. We also generalize known results for this problem by weakening the assumption concerning the distribution of the data that shall be stored. This allows us to combine source compression and secure storage.

Fuelling Insecurity? Sino-Myanmar Energy Cooperation and Human Security in Myanmar

Science.gov (United States)

Botel, Gabriel

This thesis examines the relationship between energy, development and human security in Sino-Myanmar relations. Rapid economic growth and increased urbanisation have intensified China's industrial and domestic energy consumption, drastically increasing demand and overwhelming national supply capacities. Chinese foreign policy has responded by becoming more active in securing and protecting foreign energy resources and allowing Chinese companies more freedom and opportunities for investment abroad. Consequently, Chinese foreign investment and policies have become increasing sources of scrutiny and debate, typically focusing on their (presumed) intentions and the social, economic, environmental and political impacts they have on the rest of the world. Within this debate, a key issue has been China's engagement with so-called pariah states. China has frequently received substantial international criticism for its unconditional engagement with such countries, often seen as a geopolitical pursuit of strategic national (energy) interests, unconcerned with international opprobrium. In the case of Myanmar, traditional security analyses interpret this as, at best, undermining (Western) international norms and, at worst, posing a direct challenge to international security. However, traditional security analyses rely on state-centric concepts of security, and tend to over-simply Sino-Myanmar relations and the dynamics which inform it. Conversely, implications for human security are overlooked; this is in part because human security remains poorly defined and also because there are questions regarding its utility. However, human security is a critical tool in delineating between state, corporate and 'civilian' interests, and how these cleavages shape the security environment and potential for instability in the region. This thesis takes a closer look at some of the entrenched and changing security dynamics shaping this Sino-Myanmar energy cooperation, drawing on an extensive

The effect of unconditional cash transfers on adult labour supply: A unitary discrete choice model for the case of Ecuador

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mideros, A.; O'Donoghue, C.

2014-01-01

We examine the effect of unconditional cash transfers by a unitary discrete labour supply model. We argue that there is no negative income effect of social transfers in the case of poor adults because leisure could not be assumed to be a normal good under such conditions. Using data from the

Faithful One-way Trip Deterministic Secure Quantum Communication Scheme Against Collective Rotating Noise Based on Order Rearrangement of Photon Pairs

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Hao; Zhang, Qin; Hong, Liang; Yin, Wen-jie; Xu, Dong

2014-08-01

We present a novel scheme for deterministic secure quantum communication (DSQC) over collective rotating noisy channel. Four special two-qubit states are found can constitute a noise-free subspaces, and so are utilized as quantum information carriers. In this scheme, the information carriers transmite over the quantum channel only one time, which can effectively reduce the influence of other noise existing in quantum channel. The information receiver need only perform two single-photon collective measurements to decode the secret messages, which can make the present scheme more convenient in practical application. It will be showed that our scheme has a relatively high information capacity and intrisic efficiency. Foremostly, the decoy photon pair checking technique and the order rearrangement of photon pairs technique guarantee that the present scheme is unconditionally secure.

Security of continuous-variable quantum key distribution: towards a de Finetti theorem for rotation symmetry in phase space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leverrier, A; Karpov, E; Cerf, N J; Grangier, P

2009-01-01

Proving the unconditional security of quantum key distribution (QKD) is a highly challenging task as one needs to determine the most efficient attack compatible with experimental data. This task is even more demanding for continuous-variable QKD as the Hilbert space where the protocol is described is infinite dimensional. A possible strategy to address this problem is to make an extensive use of the symmetries of the protocol. In this paper, we investigate a rotation symmetry in phase space that is particularly relevant to continuous-variable QKD, and explore the way towards a new quantum de Finetti theorem that would exploit this symmetry and provide a powerful tool to assess the security of continuous-variable protocols. As a first step, a single-party asymptotic version of this quantum de Finetti theorem in phase space is derived.

A Learning-Based Approach to Reactive Security

Science.gov (United States)

Barth, Adam; Rubinstein, Benjamin I. P.; Sundararajan, Mukund; Mitchell, John C.; Song, Dawn; Bartlett, Peter L.

Despite the conventional wisdom that proactive security is superior to reactive security, we show that reactive security can be competitive with proactive security as long as the reactive defender learns from past attacks instead of myopically overreacting to the last attack. Our game-theoretic model follows common practice in the security literature by making worst-case assumptions about the attacker: we grant the attacker complete knowledge of the defender's strategy and do not require the attacker to act rationally. In this model, we bound the competitive ratio between a reactive defense algorithm (which is inspired by online learning theory) and the best fixed proactive defense. Additionally, we show that, unlike proactive defenses, this reactive strategy is robust to a lack of information about the attacker's incentives and knowledge.

Unconditioned commercial embryo culture media contain a large variety of non-declared proteins: a comprehensive proteomics analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyrlund, Thomas F; Kirkegaard, Kirstine; Poulsen, Ebbe Toftgaard; Sanggaard, Kristian W; Hindkjær, Johnny J; Kjems, Jørgen; Enghild, Jan J; Ingerslev, Hans Jakob

2014-11-01

Which non-declared proteins (proteins not listed on the composition list of the product data sheet) are present in unconditioned commercial embryo culture media? A total of 110 non-declared proteins were identified in unconditioned media and between 6 and 8 of these were quantifiable and therefore represent the majority of the total protein in the media samples. There are no data in the literature on what non-declared proteins are present in unconditioned (fresh media in which no embryos have been cultured) commercial embryo media. The following eight commercial embryo culture media were included in this study: G-1 PLUS and G-2 PLUS G5 Series from Vitrolife, Sydney IVF Cleavage Medium and Sydney IVF Blastocyst Medium from Cook Medical and EmbryoAssist, BlastAssist, Sequential Cleav and Sequential Blast from ORIGIO. Two batches were analyzed from each of the Sydney IVF media and one batch from each of the other media. All embryo culture media are supplemented by the manufacturers with purified human serum albumin (HSA 5 mg/ml). The purified HSA (HSA-solution from Vitrolife) and the recombinant human albumin supplement (G-MM from Vitrolife) were also analyzed. For protein quantification, media samples were in-solution digested with trypsin and analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). For in-depth protein identification, media were albumin depleted, dialyzed and concentrated before sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The gel was cut into 14 slices followed by in-gel trypsin digestion, and analysis by LC-MS/MS. Proteins were further investigated using gene ontology (GO) terms analysis. Using advanced mass spectrometry and high confidence criteria for accepting proteins (P defence pathways, for example 18 were associated with the innate immune response and 17 with inflammatory responses. Eight proteins have been reported previously as secreted embryo proteins. For six of the commercial embryo culture media only one

A secure communication scheme using projective chaos synchronization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhigang; Xu Daolin

2004-01-01

Most secure communication schemes using chaotic dynamics are based on identical synchronization. In this paper, we show the possibility of secure communication using projective synchronization (PS). The unpredictability of the scaling factor in projective synchronization can additionally enhance the security of communication. It is also showed that the scaling factor can be employed to improve the robustness against noise contamination. The feasibility of the communication scheme in high-dimensional chaotic systems, such as the hyperchaotic Roessler system, is demonstrated. Numerical results show the success in transmitting a sound signal through chaotic systems

Methodology for unconditional declassification of waste materials by gamma spectrometry; Metodologia para la desclasificacion incondicional de materiales residuales mediante espectrometria gamma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodriguez Gomez, M. A.; Gonzalez Gandal, R.; Socorro Garcia, G.; Garcia Acosta, F.

2013-07-01

This paper aims to present the methodology for conventional materials management through its declassification and can be used by all Spanish nuclear power plants. The methodology is based on management through declassification unconditional, ie, there are no restrictions on the origin, type of material and the final destination. (Author)

Biometric Template Security

OpenAIRE

Abhishek Nagar; Karthik Nandakumar; Anil K. Jain

2008-01-01

Biometric recognition offers a reliable solution to the problem of user authentication in identity management systems. With the widespread deployment of biometric systems in various applications, there are increasing concerns about the security and privacy of biometric technology. Public acceptance of biometrics technology will depend on the ability of system designers to demonstrate that these systems are robust, have low error rates, and are tamper proof. We present a high-level categorizat...

Unconditional violation of the shot-noise limit in photonic quantum metrology

Science.gov (United States)

Slussarenko, Sergei; Weston, Morgan M.; Chrzanowski, Helen M.; Shalm, Lynden K.; Verma, Varun B.; Nam, Sae Woo; Pryde, Geoff J.

2017-11-01

Interferometric phase measurement is widely used to precisely determine quantities such as length, speed and material properties1-3. Without quantum correlations, the best phase sensitivity Δ ϕ achievable using n photons is the shot-noise limit, Δ ϕ =1 /√{n }. Quantum-enhanced metrology promises better sensitivity, but, despite theoretical proposals stretching back decades3,4, no measurement using photonic (that is, definite photon number) quantum states has truly surpassed the shot-noise limit. Instead, all such demonstrations, by discounting photon loss, detector inefficiency or other imperfections, have considered only a subset of the photons used. Here, we use an ultrahigh-efficiency photon source and detectors to perform unconditional entanglement-enhanced photonic interferometry. Sampling a birefringent phase shift, we demonstrate precision beyond the shot-noise limit without artificially correcting our results for loss and imperfections. Our results enable quantum-enhanced phase measurements at low photon flux and open the door to the next generation of optical quantum metrology advances.

Proboscis conditioning experiments with honeybees, Apis mellifera caucasica, with butyric acid and DEET mixture as conditioned and unconditioned stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Abramson, Charles I; Giray, Tugrul; Mixson, T Andrew; Nolf, Sondra L; Wells, Harrington; Kence, Aykut; Kence, Meral

2010-01-01

Three experiments are described investigating whether olfactory repellents DEET and butyric acid can support the classical conditioning of proboscis extension in the honeybee, Apis mellifera caucasica (Hymenoptera: Apidae). In the first experiment DEET and butyric acid readily led to standard acquisition and extinction effects, which are comparable to the use of cinnamon as a conditioned stimulus. These results demonstrate that the odor of DEET or butyric acid is not intrinsically repellent to honey bees. In a second experiment, with DEET and butyric acid mixed with sucrose as an unconditioned stimulus, proboscis conditioning was not established. After several trials, few animals responded to the unconditioned stimulus. These results demonstrate that these chemicals are gustatory repellents when in direct contact. In the last experiment a conditioned suppression paradigm was used. Exposing animals to butyric acid or DEET when the proboscis was extended by direct sucrose stimulation or by learning revealed that retraction of the proboscis was similar to another novel odor, lavender, and in all cases greatest when the animal was not permitted to feed. These results again demonstrate that DEET or butyric acid are not olfactory repellents, and in addition, conditioned suppression is influenced by feeding state of the bee.

Robust automated knowledge capture.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stevens-Adams, Susan Marie; Abbott, Robert G.; Forsythe, James Chris; Trumbo, Michael Christopher Stefan; Haass, Michael Joseph; Hendrickson, Stacey M. Langfitt

2011-10-01

This report summarizes research conducted through the Sandia National Laboratories Robust Automated Knowledge Capture Laboratory Directed Research and Development project. The objective of this project was to advance scientific understanding of the influence of individual cognitive attributes on decision making. The project has developed a quantitative model known as RumRunner that has proven effective in predicting the propensity of an individual to shift strategies on the basis of task and experience related parameters. Three separate studies are described which have validated the basic RumRunner model. This work provides a basis for better understanding human decision making in high consequent national security applications, and in particular, the individual characteristics that underlie adaptive thinking.

FS-OpenSecurity: A Taxonomic Modeling of Security Threats in SDN for Future Sustainable Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunsick Sung

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Software Defined Networking (SDN has brought many changes in terms of the interaction processes between systems and humans. It has become the key enabler of software defined architecture, which allows enterprises to build a highly agile Information Technology (IT infrastructure. For Future Sustainability Computing (FSC, SDN needs to deliver on many information technology commitments—more automation, simplified design, increased agility, policy-based management, and network management bond to more liberal IT workflow systems. To address the sustainability problems, SDN needs to provide greater collaboration and tighter integration with networks, servers, and security teams that will have an impact on how enterprises design, plan, deploy and manage networks. In this paper, we propose FS-OpenSecurity, which is a new and pragmatic security architecture model. It consists of two novel methodologies, Software Defined Orchestrator (SDO and SQUEAK, which offer a robust and secure architecture. The secure architecture is required for protection from diverse threats. Usually, security administrators need to handle each threat individually. However, handling threats automatically by adapting to the threat landscape is a critical demand. Therefore, the architecture must handle defensive processes automatically that are collaboratively based on intelligent external and internal information.

Secure quantum private information retrieval using phase-encoded queries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olejnik, Lukasz [CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland and Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, Noskowskiego 12/14, PL-61-704 Poznan (Poland)

2011-08-15

We propose a quantum solution to the classical private information retrieval (PIR) problem, which allows one to query a database in a private manner. The protocol offers privacy thresholds and allows the user to obtain information from a database in a way that offers the potential adversary, in this model the database owner, no possibility of deterministically establishing the query contents. This protocol may also be viewed as a solution to the symmetrically private information retrieval problem in that it can offer database security (inability for a querying user to steal its contents). Compared to classical solutions, the protocol offers substantial improvement in terms of communication complexity. In comparison with the recent quantum private queries [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 230502 (2008)] protocol, it is more efficient in terms of communication complexity and the number of rounds, while offering a clear privacy parameter. We discuss the security of the protocol and analyze its strengths and conclude that using this technique makes it challenging to obtain the unconditional (in the information-theoretic sense) privacy degree; nevertheless, in addition to being simple, the protocol still offers a privacy level. The oracle used in the protocol is inspired both by the classical computational PIR solutions as well as the Deutsch-Jozsa oracle.

Secure quantum private information retrieval using phase-encoded queries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olejnik, Lukasz

2011-01-01

We propose a quantum solution to the classical private information retrieval (PIR) problem, which allows one to query a database in a private manner. The protocol offers privacy thresholds and allows the user to obtain information from a database in a way that offers the potential adversary, in this model the database owner, no possibility of deterministically establishing the query contents. This protocol may also be viewed as a solution to the symmetrically private information retrieval problem in that it can offer database security (inability for a querying user to steal its contents). Compared to classical solutions, the protocol offers substantial improvement in terms of communication complexity. In comparison with the recent quantum private queries [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 230502 (2008)] protocol, it is more efficient in terms of communication complexity and the number of rounds, while offering a clear privacy parameter. We discuss the security of the protocol and analyze its strengths and conclude that using this technique makes it challenging to obtain the unconditional (in the information-theoretic sense) privacy degree; nevertheless, in addition to being simple, the protocol still offers a privacy level. The oracle used in the protocol is inspired both by the classical computational PIR solutions as well as the Deutsch-Jozsa oracle.

Improving Modeling of Extreme Events using Generalized Extreme Value Distribution or Generalized Pareto Distribution with Mixing Unconditional Disturbances

OpenAIRE

Suarez, R

2001-01-01

In this paper an alternative non-parametric historical simulation approach, the Mixing Unconditional Disturbances model with constant volatility, where price paths are generated by reshuffling disturbances for S&P 500 Index returns over the period 1950 - 1998, is used to estimate a Generalized Extreme Value Distribution and a Generalized Pareto Distribution. An ordinary back-testing for period 1999 - 2008 was made to verify this technique, providing higher accuracy returns level under upper ...

Cyber security with radio frequency interferences mitigation study for satellite systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Gang; Wei, Sixiao; Chen, Genshe; Tian, Xin; Shen, Dan; Pham, Khanh; Nguyen, Tien M.; Blasch, Erik

2016-05-01

Satellite systems including the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and the satellite communications (SATCOM) system provide great convenience and utility to human life including emergency response, wide area efficient communications, and effective transportation. Elements of satellite systems incorporate technologies such as navigation with the global positioning system (GPS), satellite digital video broadcasting, and information transmission with a very small aperture terminal (VSAT), etc. The satellite systems importance is growing in prominence with end users' requirement for globally high data rate transmissions; the cost reduction of launching satellites; development of smaller sized satellites including cubesat, nanosat, picosat, and femtosat; and integrating internet services with satellite networks. However, with the promising benefits, challenges remain to fully develop secure and robust satellite systems with pervasive computing and communications. In this paper, we investigate both cyber security and radio frequency (RF) interferences mitigation for satellite systems, and demonstrate that they are not isolated. The action space for both cyber security and RF interferences are firstly summarized for satellite systems, based on which the mitigation schemes for both cyber security and RF interferences are given. A multi-layered satellite systems structure is provided with cross-layer design considering multi-path routing and channel coding, to provide great security and diversity gains for secure and robust satellite systems.

Duration of the Unconditioned Stimulus in Appetitive Conditioning of Honeybees Differentially Impacts Learning, Long-Term Memory Strength, and the Underlying Protein Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Marter, Kathrin; Grauel, M. Katharina; Lewa, Carmen; Morgenstern, Laura; Buckemüller, Christina; Heufelder, Karin; Ganz, Marion; Eisenhardt, Dorothea

2014-01-01

This study examines the role of stimulus duration in learning and memory formation of honeybees ("Apis mellifera"). In classical appetitive conditioning honeybees learn the association between an initially neutral, conditioned stimulus (CS) and the occurrence of a meaningful stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus (US). Thereby the CS…

Nuclear power, climate change and energy security: Exploring British public attitudes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Corner, Adam; Venables, Dan [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Spence, Alexa [School of Psychology/Horizon Digital Economy Research, University of Nottingham (United Kingdom); Poortinga, Wouter [Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University (United Kingdom); School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Demski, Christina [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Pidgeon, Nick, E-mail: pidgeonn@cardiff.ac.uk [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom)

2011-09-15

Public attitudes towards nuclear power in the UK have historically been deeply divided, but as concern about climate change and energy security has exerted an increasing influence on British energy policy, nuclear power has been reframed as a low-carbon technology. Previous research has suggested that a significant proportion of people may 'reluctantly accept' nuclear power as a means of addressing the greater threat of climate change. Drawing on the results of a national British survey (n=1822), the current study found that attitudes towards nuclear remain divided, with only a minority expressing unconditional acceptance. In general, people who expressed greater concern about climate change and energy security and possessed higher environmental values were less likely to favour nuclear power. However, when nuclear power was given an explicit 'reluctant acceptance' framing - allowing people to express their dislike for nuclear power alongside their conditional support - concerns about climate change and energy security became positive predictors of support for nuclear power. These findings suggest that concern about climate change and energy security will only increase acceptance of nuclear power under limited circumstances-specifically once other (preferred) options have been exhausted. - Highlights: > We report data from 2005 to 2010 of British attitudes towards nuclear power and climate change. > Changes in attitudes over the time period were relatively modest. > British population remained relatively divided on nuclear power in 2010. > Concern about climate change was negatively related to evaluations of nuclear power. > Different framings of the issue alter the balance of support for nuclear power.

Nuclear power, climate change and energy security: Exploring British public attitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corner, Adam; Venables, Dan; Spence, Alexa; Poortinga, Wouter; Demski, Christina; Pidgeon, Nick

2011-01-01

Public attitudes towards nuclear power in the UK have historically been deeply divided, but as concern about climate change and energy security has exerted an increasing influence on British energy policy, nuclear power has been reframed as a low-carbon technology. Previous research has suggested that a significant proportion of people may 'reluctantly accept' nuclear power as a means of addressing the greater threat of climate change. Drawing on the results of a national British survey (n=1822), the current study found that attitudes towards nuclear remain divided, with only a minority expressing unconditional acceptance. In general, people who expressed greater concern about climate change and energy security and possessed higher environmental values were less likely to favour nuclear power. However, when nuclear power was given an explicit 'reluctant acceptance' framing - allowing people to express their dislike for nuclear power alongside their conditional support - concerns about climate change and energy security became positive predictors of support for nuclear power. These findings suggest that concern about climate change and energy security will only increase acceptance of nuclear power under limited circumstances-specifically once other (preferred) options have been exhausted. - Highlights: → We report data from 2005 to 2010 of British attitudes towards nuclear power and climate change. → Changes in attitudes over the time period were relatively modest. → British population remained relatively divided on nuclear power in 2010. → Concern about climate change was negatively related to evaluations of nuclear power. → Different framings of the issue alter the balance of support for nuclear power.

CWSP Certified Wireless Security Professional Official Study Guide, Exam PW0-204

CERN Document Server

Coleman, David D; Harkins, Bryan E

2010-01-01

Sybex is now the official publisher for Certified Wireless Network Professional, the certifying vendor for the CWSP program. This guide covers all exam objectives, including WLAN discovery techniques, intrusion and attack techniques, 802.11 protocol analysis. Wireless intrusion-prevention systems implementation, layer 2 and 3 VPNs used over 802.11 networks, and managed endpoint security systems. It also covers enterprise/SMB/SOHO/Public-Network Security design models and security solution implementation, building robust security networks, wireless LAN management systems, and much more.

Unconditionally Energy Stable Implicit Time Integration: Application to Multibody System Analysis and Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Shanshin; Tortorelli, Daniel A.; Hansen, John Michael

1999-01-01

of ordinary diffferential equations is employed to avoid the instabilities associated with the direct integrations of differential-algebraic equations. To extend the unconditional stability of the implicit Newmark method to nonlinear dynamic systems, a discrete energy balance is enforced. This constraint......Advances in computer hardware and improved algorithms for multibody dynamics over the past decade have generated widespread interest in real-time simulations of multibody mechanics systems. At the heart of the widely used algorithms for multibody dynamics are a choice of coordinates which define...... the kinmatics of the system, and a choice of time integrations algorithms. The current approach uses a non-dissipative implict Newmark method to integrate the equations of motion defined in terms of the independent joint coordinates of the system. The reduction of the equations of motion to a minimal set...

Method for decoupling error correction from privacy amplification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lo, Hoi-Kwong [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 10 King' s College Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3G4 (Canada)

2003-04-01

In a standard quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme such as BB84, two procedures, error correction and privacy amplification, are applied to extract a final secure key from a raw key generated from quantum transmission. To simplify the study of protocols, it is commonly assumed that the two procedures can be decoupled from each other. While such a decoupling assumption may be valid for individual attacks, it is actually unproven in the context of ultimate or unconditional security, which is the Holy Grail of quantum cryptography. In particular, this means that the application of standard efficient two-way error-correction protocols like Cascade is not proven to be unconditionally secure. Here, I provide the first proof of such a decoupling principle in the context of unconditional security. The method requires Alice and Bob to share some initial secret string and use it to encrypt their communications in the error correction stage using one-time-pad encryption. Consequently, I prove the unconditional security of the interactive Cascade protocol proposed by Brassard and Salvail for error correction and modified by one-time-pad encryption of the error syndrome, followed by the random matrix protocol for privacy amplification. This is an efficient protocol in terms of both computational power and key generation rate. My proof uses the entanglement purification approach to security proofs of QKD. The proof applies to all adaptive symmetric methods for error correction, which cover all existing methods proposed for BB84. In terms of the net key generation rate, the new method is as efficient as the standard Shor-Preskill proof.

Method for decoupling error correction from privacy amplification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2003-01-01

In a standard quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme such as BB84, two procedures, error correction and privacy amplification, are applied to extract a final secure key from a raw key generated from quantum transmission. To simplify the study of protocols, it is commonly assumed that the two procedures can be decoupled from each other. While such a decoupling assumption may be valid for individual attacks, it is actually unproven in the context of ultimate or unconditional security, which is the Holy Grail of quantum cryptography. In particular, this means that the application of standard efficient two-way error-correction protocols like Cascade is not proven to be unconditionally secure. Here, I provide the first proof of such a decoupling principle in the context of unconditional security. The method requires Alice and Bob to share some initial secret string and use it to encrypt their communications in the error correction stage using one-time-pad encryption. Consequently, I prove the unconditional security of the interactive Cascade protocol proposed by Brassard and Salvail for error correction and modified by one-time-pad encryption of the error syndrome, followed by the random matrix protocol for privacy amplification. This is an efficient protocol in terms of both computational power and key generation rate. My proof uses the entanglement purification approach to security proofs of QKD. The proof applies to all adaptive symmetric methods for error correction, which cover all existing methods proposed for BB84. In terms of the net key generation rate, the new method is as efficient as the standard Shor-Preskill proof

A Modified AH-FDTD Unconditionally Stable Method Based on High-Order Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Pan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The unconditionally stable method, Associated-Hermite FDTD, has attracted more and more attentions in computational electromagnetic for its time-frequency compact property. Because of the fewer orders of AH basis needed in signal reconstruction, the computational efficiency can be improved further. In order to further improve the accuracy of the traditional AH-FDTD, a high-order algorithm is introduced. Using this method, the dispersion error induced by the space grid can be reduced, which makes it possible to set coarser grid. The simulation results show that, on the condition of coarse grid, the waveforms obtained from the proposed method are matched well with the analytic result, and the accuracy of the proposed method is higher than the traditional AH-FDTD. And the efficiency of the proposed method is higher than the traditional FDTD method in analysing 2D waveguide problems with fine-structure.

Biometric Template Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abhishek Nagar

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Biometric recognition offers a reliable solution to the problem of user authentication in identity management systems. With the widespread deployment of biometric systems in various applications, there are increasing concerns about the security and privacy of biometric technology. Public acceptance of biometrics technology will depend on the ability of system designers to demonstrate that these systems are robust, have low error rates, and are tamper proof. We present a high-level categorization of the various vulnerabilities of a biometric system and discuss countermeasures that have been proposed to address these vulnerabilities. In particular, we focus on biometric template security which is an important issue because, unlike passwords and tokens, compromised biometric templates cannot be revoked and reissued. Protecting the template is a challenging task due to intrauser variability in the acquired biometric traits. We present an overview of various biometric template protection schemes and discuss their advantages and limitations in terms of security, revocability, and impact on matching accuracy. A template protection scheme with provable security and acceptable recognition performance has thus far remained elusive. Development of such a scheme is crucial as biometric systems are beginning to proliferate into the core physical and information infrastructure of our society.

Security analysis with improved design of post-confirmation mechanism for quantum sealed-bid auction with single photons

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ke-Jia; Kwek, Leong-Chuan; Ma, Chun-Guang; Zhang, Long; Sun, Hong-Wei

2018-02-01

Quantum sealed-bid auction (QSA) has been widely studied in quantum cryptography. For a successful auction, post-confirmation is regarded as an important mechanism to make every bidder verify the identity of the winner after the auctioneer has announced the result. However, since the auctioneer may be dishonest and collude with malicious bidders in practice, some potential loopholes could exist. In this paper, we point out two types of collusion attacks for a particular post-confirmation technique with EPR pairs. And it is not difficult to see that there exists no unconditionally secure post-confirmation mechanism in the existing QSA model, if the dishonest participants have the ability to control multiparticle entanglement. In the view of this, we note that some secure implementation could exist if the participants are supposed to be semi-quantum, i.e., they can only control single photons. Finally, two potential methods to design post-confirmation mechanism are presented in this restricted scenario.

A Secure Trust Establishment Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farruh Ishmanov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Trust establishment is an important tool to improve cooperation and enhance security in wireless sensor networks. The core of trust establishment is trust estimation. If a trust estimation method is not robust against attack and misbehavior, the trust values produced will be meaningless, and system performance will be degraded. We present a novel trust estimation method that is robust against on-off attacks and persistent malicious behavior. Moreover, in order to aggregate recommendations securely, we propose using a modified one-step M-estimator scheme. The novelty of the proposed scheme arises from combining past misbehavior with current status in a comprehensive way. Specifically, we introduce an aggregated misbehavior component in trust estimation, which assists in detecting an on-off attack and persistent malicious behavior. In order to determine the current status of the node, we employ previous trust values and current measured misbehavior components. These components are combined to obtain a robust trust value. Theoretical analyses and evaluation results show that our scheme performs better than other trust schemes in terms of detecting an on-off attack and persistent misbehavior.

Beneficiaries’ perceptions and reported use of unconditional cash transfers intended to prevent acute malnutrition in children in poor rural communities in Burkina Faso: qualitative results from the MAM’Out randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Audrey Tonguet-Papucci

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Acute malnutrition is a public health issue worldwide, and particularly in the Eastern region of Burkina Faso. Following a needs assessment, unconditional seasonal, multiannual cash transfers were implemented as a safety net to prevent childhood undernutrition. The objectives of this study were to explore the types of purchases made by beneficiaries of this cash transfer program and to understand the perceived effects of and changes induced by regular cash transfers in the daily lives of women, and at the household and community level. Methods The design of this study was a two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial. Qualitative data were collected each month during the cash transfer period for two years, leading to a total of more than 300 interviews and focus group discussions with various participants: beneficiary mothers, heads of households, mothers-in-law, co-wives, key members of the community, and participants of the control group. Results The two main types of expenses reported were food and health care for the child and the whole family. The program was also associated with positive perceived changes at the household level, mainly related to gender equality and improvement of women’s status, and has promoted an increase in dignity and social integration of the poorest at the community level through cash sharing. Unexpected effects of this program included some women planning new pregnancies and some individuals not expecting the transfers to end. Conclusion Although the transfers were unconditional, the cash was mainly used to improve the children’s and households’ food security and health, which correspond to two main underlying causes of undernutrition. Therefore, spending mainly in these areas can help to prevent undernutrition in children. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov , identifier: NCT01866124 , registered May 7, 2013.

Security analysis and improvements of arbitrated quantum signature schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Xiangfu; Qiu Daowen

2010-01-01

A digital signature is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. For signing quantum messages, some arbitrated quantum signature (AQS) schemes have been proposed. It was claimed that these AQS schemes could guarantee unconditional security. However, we show that they can be repudiated by the receiver Bob. To conquer this shortcoming, we construct an AQS scheme using a public board. The AQS scheme not only avoids being disavowed by the receiver but also preserves all merits in the existing schemes. Furthermore, we discover that entanglement is not necessary while all these existing AQS schemes depend on entanglement. Therefore, we present another AQS scheme without utilizing entangled states in the signing phase and the verifying phase. This scheme has three advantages: it does not utilize entangled states and it preserves all merits in the existing schemes; the signature can avoid being disavowed by the receiver; and it provides a higher efficiency in transmission and reduces the complexity of implementation.

Public–private partnerships on cyber security: a practice of loyalty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Kristoffer Kjærgaard; Petersen, Karen Lund

2017-01-01

The governance of cyber-security risks is seen as increasingly important to the security of the nation. However, cyber-security risks are characterized by a fundamental uncertainty, which poses a great challenge to their governance and calls for new modes of organizing security politics. Public......–private partnerships (PPPs) are often seen as the answer to this challenge by enhancing flexibility and robustness through knowledge-sharing. Engaging with the literature on PPPs and the Danish practice on cyber security, we show how PPPs involve controversies over different threat realities of cyber security....... This plays out as controversies over what is considered threatened, the scope of the issue and the kind of expertise to be mobilized. Arguing that PPPs on security are not defined narrowly by short-sighted strategic self-interest but also loyalty and commitment, we suggest that the innovative potential...

The impact of an unconditional tax credit for families on self-rated health in adults: further evidence from the cohort study of 6900 New Zealanders.

Science.gov (United States)

Pega, Frank; Carter, Kristie; Kawachi, Ichiro; Davis, Peter; Blakely, Tony

2014-05-01

It is hypothesized that unconditional (given without obligation) publicly funded financial credits more effectively improve health than conditional financial credits in high-income countries. We previously reported no discernible short-term impact of an employment-conditional tax credit for families on self-rated health (SRH) in adults in New Zealand. This study estimates the effect of an unconditional tax credit for families, called Family Tax Credit (FTC), on SRH in the same study population and setting. A balanced panel of 6900 adults in families was extracted from seven waves (2002-2009) of the Survey of Family, Income and Employment. The exposures, eligibility for and amount of FTC, were derived by applying government eligibility and entitlement criteria. The outcome, SRH, was collected annually. Fixed effects regression analyses eliminated all time-invariant confounding and adjusted for measured time-varying confounders. Becoming eligible for FTC was associated with a small and statistically insignificant change in SRH over the past year [effect estimate: 0.013; 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.011 to 0.037], as was an increase in the estimated amount of FTC by $1000 (effect estimate: -0.001; 95% CI -0.006 to 0.004). The unconditional tax credit for families had no discernible short-term impact on SRH in adults in New Zealand. It did not more effectively improve health status than an employment-conditional tax credit for families. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lecture 13: Control System Cyber Security

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2013-01-01

Today, the industralized world lives in symbiosis with control systems: it depends on power distribution, oil production, public transport, automatic production lines. While the convenience is at hand, still too many control systems are designed without any security in mind, lack basic security protections, and are not even robust enough to withstand basic attacks. The Stuxnet worm attacking Siemens PLCs in 2010 was another close call. Attackers currently enjoy hacking control systems, and aim to switch lights off. This presentation shall recap the current situation and outline why the presenter is still waiting for a change in paradigm. Stefan Lüders, PhD, graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and joined CERN in 2002. Being initially developer of a common safety system used in all four experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, he gathered expertise in cyber-security issues of control systems. Consequently in 2004, he took over responsibilities in securing CERN's accelerator and...

Computer models and the evidence of anthropogenic climate change: An epistemology of variety-of-evidence inferences and robustness analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Vezér, Martin A

2016-04-01

To study climate change, scientists employ computer models, which approximate target systems with various levels of skill. Given the imperfection of climate models, how do scientists use simulations to generate knowledge about the causes of observed climate change? Addressing a similar question in the context of biological modelling, Levins (1966) proposed an account grounded in robustness analysis. Recent philosophical discussions dispute the confirmatory power of robustness, raising the question of how the results of computer modelling studies contribute to the body of evidence supporting hypotheses about climate change. Expanding on Staley's (2004) distinction between evidential strength and security, and Lloyd's (2015) argument connecting variety-of-evidence inferences and robustness analysis, I address this question with respect to recent challenges to the epistemology robustness analysis. Applying this epistemology to case studies of climate change, I argue that, despite imperfections in climate models, and epistemic constraints on variety-of-evidence reasoning and robustness analysis, this framework accounts for the strength and security of evidence supporting climatological inferences, including the finding that global warming is occurring and its primary causes are anthropogenic. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Security analysis on some experimental quantum key distribution systems with imperfect optical and electrical devices

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Lin-Mei; Sun, Shi-Hai; Jiang, Mu-Sheng; Li, Chun-Yan

2014-10-01

In general, quantum key distribution (QKD) has been proved unconditionally secure for perfect devices due to quantum uncertainty principle, quantum noncloning theorem and quantum nondividing principle which means that a quantum cannot be divided further. However, the practical optical and electrical devices used in the system are imperfect, which can be exploited by the eavesdropper to partially or totally spy the secret key between the legitimate parties. In this article, we first briefly review the recent work on quantum hacking on some experimental QKD systems with respect to imperfect devices carried out internationally, then we will present our recent hacking works in details, including passive faraday mirror attack, partially random phase attack, wavelength-selected photon-number-splitting attack, frequency shift attack, and single-photon-detector attack. Those quantum attack reminds people to improve the security existed in practical QKD systems due to imperfect devices by simply adding countermeasure or adopting a totally different protocol such as measurement-device independent protocol to avoid quantum hacking on the imperfection of measurement devices [Lo, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, 108: 130503].

Secure and robust cloud computing for high-throughput forensic microsatellite sequence analysis and databasing.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Sarah F; Scheible, Melissa K; Williams, Christopher; Silva, Deborah S B S; Hoggan, Marina; Eichman, Christopher; Faith, Seth A

2017-11-01

Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) is a rapidly evolving technology with demonstrated benefits for forensic genetic applications, and the strategies to analyze and manage the massive NGS datasets are currently in development. Here, the computing, data storage, connectivity, and security resources of the Cloud were evaluated as a model for forensic laboratory systems that produce NGS data. A complete front-to-end Cloud system was developed to upload, process, and interpret raw NGS data using a web browser dashboard. The system was extensible, demonstrating analysis capabilities of autosomal and Y-STRs from a variety of NGS instrumentation (Illumina MiniSeq and MiSeq, and Oxford Nanopore MinION). NGS data for STRs were concordant with standard reference materials previously characterized with capillary electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing. The computing power of the Cloud was implemented with on-demand auto-scaling to allow multiple file analysis in tandem. The system was designed to store resulting data in a relational database, amenable to downstream sample interpretations and databasing applications following the most recent guidelines in nomenclature for sequenced alleles. Lastly, a multi-layered Cloud security architecture was tested and showed that industry standards for securing data and computing resources were readily applied to the NGS system without disadvantageous effects for bioinformatic analysis, connectivity or data storage/retrieval. The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of using Cloud-based systems for secured NGS data analysis, storage, databasing, and multi-user distributed connectivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Agents Based e-Commerce and Securing Exchanged Information

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Jaljouli, Raja; Abawajy, Jemal

Mobile agents have been implemented in e-Commerce to search and filter information of interest from electronic markets. When the information is very sensitive and critical, it is important to develop a novel security protocol that can efficiently protect the information from malicious tampering as well as unauthorized disclosure or at least detect any malicious act of intruders. In this chapter, we describe robust security techniques that ensure a sound security of information gathered throughout agent’s itinerary against various security attacks, as well as truncation attacks. A sound security protocol is described, which implements the various security techniques that would jointly prevent or at least detect any malicious act of intruders. We reason about the soundness of the protocol usingSymbolic Trace Analyzer (STA), a formal verification tool that is based on symbolic techniques. We analyze the protocol in key configurations and show that it is free of flaws. We also show that the protocol fulfils the various security requirements of exchanged information in MAS, including data-integrity, data-confidentiality, data-authenticity, origin confidentiality and data non-repudiability.

TOWARD HIGHLY SECURE AND AUTONOMIC COMPUTING SYSTEMS: A HIERARCHICAL APPROACH

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Hsien-Hsin S

2010-05-11

The overall objective of this research project is to develop novel architectural techniques as well as system software to achieve a highly secure and intrusion-tolerant computing system. Such system will be autonomous, self-adapting, introspective, with self-healing capability under the circumstances of improper operations, abnormal workloads, and malicious attacks. The scope of this research includes: (1) System-wide, unified introspection techniques for autonomic systems, (2) Secure information-flow microarchitecture, (3) Memory-centric security architecture, (4) Authentication control and its implication to security, (5) Digital right management, (5) Microarchitectural denial-of-service attacks on shared resources. During the period of the project, we developed several architectural techniques and system software for achieving a robust, secure, and reliable computing system toward our goal.

Robust Networking Architecture and Secure Communication Scheme for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

McNeal, McKenzie, III.

2012-01-01

Current networking architectures and communication protocols used for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been designed to be energy efficient, low latency, and long network lifetime. One major issue that must be addressed is the security in data communication. Due to the limited capabilities of low cost and small sized sensor nodes, designing…

Toward a Robust Security Paradigm for Bluetooth Low Energy-Based Smart Objects in the Internet-of-Things.

Science.gov (United States)

Cha, Shi-Cho; Yeh, Kuo-Hui; Chen, Jyun-Fu

2017-10-14

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) has emerged as one of the most promising technologies to enable the Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm. In BLE-based IoT applications, e.g., wearables-oriented service applications, the Bluetooth MAC addresses of devices will be swapped for device pairings. The random address technique is adopted to prevent malicious users from tracking the victim's devices with stationary Bluetooth MAC addresses and accordingly the device privacy can be preserved. However, there exists a tradeoff between privacy and security in the random address technique. That is, when device pairing is launched and one device cannot actually identify another one with addresses, it provides an opportunity for malicious users to break the system security via impersonation attacks. Hence, using random addresses may lead to higher security risks. In this study, we point out the potential risk of using random address technique and then present critical security requirements for BLE-based IoT applications. To fulfill the claimed requirements, we present a privacy-aware mechanism, which is based on elliptic curve cryptography, for secure communication and access-control among BLE-based IoT objects. Moreover, to ensure the security of smartphone application associated with BLE-based IoT objects, we construct a Smart Contract-based Investigation Report Management framework (SCIRM) which enables smartphone application users to obtain security inspection reports of BLE-based applications of interest with smart contracts.

Novel Approaches to Enhance Mobile WiMAX Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taeshik Shon

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards released IEEE 802.16-2004 which is a standardized technology for supporting broadband and wireless communication with fixed and nomadic access. After the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard, a new advanced and revised standard was released as the IEEE 802.16e-2005 amendment which is foundation of Mobile WiMAX network supporting handover and roaming capabilities. In the area of security aspects, compared to IEEE 802.16-2004, IEEE 802.16e, called Mobile WiMAX, adopts improved security architecture—PKMv2 which includes EAP authentication, AES-based authenticated encryption, and CMAC or HMAC message protection. However, there is no guarantee that PKMv2-based Mobile WiMAX network will not have security flaws. In this paper, we investigate the current Mobile WiMAX security architecture focusing mainly on pointing out new security vulnerabilities such as a disclosure of security context in network entry, a lack of secure communication in network domain, and a necessity of efficient handover supporting mutual authentication. Based on the investigation results, we propose a novel Mobile WiMAX security architecture, called RObust and Secure MobilE WiMAX (ROSMEX, to prevent the new security vulnerabilities.

The Role of Unconditional Parental Regard in Autonomy-Supportive Parenting.

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Guy; Kanat-Maymon, Yaniv; Assor, Avi

2016-12-01

Two studies explored the role of parents' unconditional positive regard (UCPR) as perceived by adolescents and young adults in promoting the effectiveness of specific parenting practices that may support offspring's academic autonomous motivation. Study 1 tested the hypothesis that UCPR predicts rationale-giving and choice-provision practices and, at the same time, moderates their relations with adolescents' autonomous motivation. Study 2 replicated the association between UCPR and the parental practices, and further explored the role of parents' authenticity as an antecedent of UCPR and parental autonomy support. Study 1 included 125 adolescents and Study 2 considered 128 college-students and their mothers. The offspring reported on their perceptions of their mothers and on their autonomous motivation, and the mothers reported on their sense of authenticity. Both studies found consistent associations between UCPR and parenting practices that may support autonomous motivation. Moreover, Study 1 demonstrated that the rationale giving and choice provision were more strongly related to adolescents' autonomous motivation when adolescents perceived mothers as high on UCPR. Finally, Study 2 demonstrated that mothers' authenticity predicted UCPR, which in turn was related to autonomy-supportive parenting. Findings support the assumption that parents' autonomy-supportive practices are more effective when accompanied by UCPR. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Critical analysis of the Bennett-Riedel attack on secure cryptographic key distributions via the Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-noise scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

Kish, Laszlo B; Abbott, Derek; Granqvist, Claes G

2013-01-01

Recently, Bennett and Riedel (BR) (http://arxiv.org/abs/1303.7435v1) argued that thermodynamics is not essential in the Kirchhoff-law-Johnson-noise (KLJN) classical physical cryptographic exchange method in an effort to disprove the security of the KLJN scheme. They attempted to demonstrate this by introducing a dissipation-free deterministic key exchange method with two batteries and two switches. In the present paper, we first show that BR's scheme is unphysical and that some elements of its assumptions violate basic protocols of secure communication. All our analyses are based on a technically unlimited Eve with infinitely accurate and fast measurements limited only by the laws of physics and statistics. For non-ideal situations and at active (invasive) attacks, the uncertainly principle between measurement duration and statistical errors makes it impossible for Eve to extract the key regardless of the accuracy or speed of her measurements. To show that thermodynamics and noise are essential for the security, we crack the BR system with 100% success via passive attacks, in ten different ways, and demonstrate that the same cracking methods do not function for the KLJN scheme that employs Johnson noise to provide security underpinned by the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We also present a critical analysis of some other claims by BR; for example, we prove that their equations for describing zero security do not apply to the KLJN scheme. Finally we give mathematical security proofs for each BR-attack against the KLJN scheme and conclude that the information theoretic (unconditional) security of the KLJN method has not been successfully challenged.

Robust Functionality and Active Data Management for Cooperative Networks in the Presence of WMD Stressors

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

topological impairments," Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 2009. Technical Summary Introduction: DCSs offer a flexible...8217l , nfc ,approx = 1 - 2 2" N 1S t e second argest rugenv(.l..lue o Tapprox , where aN = .,., an subscript "nEe" denotes the eigenvalues for the case...robust distributed computing in the presence of topological impairmt~nts," Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 2009. (3

Robustness Metrics: Consolidating the multiple approaches to quantify Robustness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Göhler, Simon Moritz; Eifler, Tobias; Howard, Thomas J.

2016-01-01

robustness metrics; 3) Functional expectancy and dispersion robustness metrics; and 4) Probability of conformance robustness metrics. The goal was to give a comprehensive overview of robustness metrics and guidance to scholars and practitioners to understand the different types of robustness metrics...

Toward a Robust Security Paradigm for Bluetooth Low Energy-Based Smart Objects in the Internet-of-Things

Science.gov (United States)

Cha, Shi-Cho; Chen, Jyun-Fu

2017-01-01

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) has emerged as one of the most promising technologies to enable the Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm. In BLE-based IoT applications, e.g., wearables-oriented service applications, the Bluetooth MAC addresses of devices will be swapped for device pairings. The random address technique is adopted to prevent malicious users from tracking the victim’s devices with stationary Bluetooth MAC addresses and accordingly the device privacy can be preserved. However, there exists a tradeoff between privacy and security in the random address technique. That is, when device pairing is launched and one device cannot actually identify another one with addresses, it provides an opportunity for malicious users to break the system security via impersonation attacks. Hence, using random addresses may lead to higher security risks. In this study, we point out the potential risk of using random address technique and then present critical security requirements for BLE-based IoT applications. To fulfill the claimed requirements, we present a privacy-aware mechanism, which is based on elliptic curve cryptography, for secure communication and access-control among BLE-based IoT objects. Moreover, to ensure the security of smartphone application associated with BLE-based IoT objects, we construct a Smart Contract-based Investigation Report Management framework (SCIRM) which enables smartphone application users to obtain security inspection reports of BLE-based applications of interest with smart contracts. PMID:29036900

Toward a Robust Security Paradigm for Bluetooth Low Energy-Based Smart Objects in the Internet-of-Things

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shi-Cho Cha

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE has emerged as one of the most promising technologies to enable the Internet-of-Things (IoT paradigm. In BLE-based IoT applications, e.g., wearables-oriented service applications, the Bluetooth MAC addresses of devices will be swapped for device pairings. The random address technique is adopted to prevent malicious users from tracking the victim’s devices with stationary Bluetooth MAC addresses and accordingly the device privacy can be preserved. However, there exists a tradeoff between privacy and security in the random address technique. That is, when device pairing is launched and one device cannot actually identify another one with addresses, it provides an opportunity for malicious users to break the system security via impersonation attacks. Hence, using random addresses may lead to higher security risks. In this study, we point out the potential risk of using random address technique and then present critical security requirements for BLE-based IoT applications. To fulfill the claimed requirements, we present a privacy-aware mechanism, which is based on elliptic curve cryptography, for secure communication and access-control among BLE-based IoT objects. Moreover, to ensure the security of smartphone application associated with BLE-based IoT objects, we construct a Smart Contract-based Investigation Report Management framework (SCIRM which enables smartphone application users to obtain security inspection reports of BLE-based applications of interest with smart contracts.

Security Awareness of the Digital Natives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasileios Gkioulos

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Young generations make extensive use of mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, while a plethora of security risks associated with such devices are induced by vulnerabilities related to user behavior. Furthermore, the number of security breaches on or via portable devices increases exponentially. Thus, deploying suitable risk treatments requires the investigation of how the digital natives (young people, born and bred in the digital era use their mobile devices and their level of security awareness, in order to identify common usage patterns with negative security impact. In this article, we present the results of a survey performed across a multinational sample of digital natives with distinct backgrounds and levels of competence in terms of security, to identify divergences in user behavior due to regional, educational and other factors. Our results highlight significant influences on the behavior of digital natives, arising from user confidence, educational background, and parameters related to usability and accessibility. The outcomes of this study justify the need for further analysis of the topic, in order to identify the influence of fine-grained semantics, but also the consolidation of wide and robust user-models.

Robust Meter Network for Water Distribution Pipe Burst Detection

OpenAIRE

Donghwi Jung; Joong Hoon Kim

2017-01-01

A meter network is a set of meters installed throughout a water distribution system to measure system variables, such as the pipe flow rate and pressure. In the current hyper-connected world, meter networks are being exposed to meter failure conditions, such as malfunction of the meter’s physical system and communication system failure. Therefore, a meter network’s robustness should be secured for reliable provision of informative meter data. This paper introduces a multi-objective optimal me...

The impact of security on cooperative awareness in VANET

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Feiri, Michael; Petit, Jonathan; Schmidt, R.; Kargl, Frank

2013-01-01

Vehicular networking enables new safety applications that aim at improving roads safety. Because of their direct relation to driver's safety, this goal can only be achieved if vehicular networking is based on a technology that is robust against malicious attackers. Therefore, security mechanisms

Ultra-fast secure communication with complex systems in classical channels (Conference Presentation)

KAUST Repository

Mazzone, Valerio

2017-04-28

Developing secure communications is a research area of growing interest. During the past years, several cryptographic schemes have been developed, with Quantum cryptography being a promising scheme due to the use of quantum effects, which make very difficult for an eavesdropper to intercept the communication. However, practical quantum key distribution methods have encountered several limitations; current experimental realizations, in fact, fail to scale up on long distances, as well as in providing unconditional security and speed comparable to classical optical communications channels. Here we propose a new, low cost and ultra-fast cryptographic system based on a fully classical optical channel. Our cryptographic scheme exploits the complex synchronization of two different random systems (one on the side of the sender and another on the side of the receiver) to realize a “physical” one paid system. The random medium is created by an optical chip fabricated through electron beam lithography on a Silicon On Insulator (SOI) substrate. We present experiments with ps lasers and commercial fibers, showing the ultrafast distribution of a random key between two users (Alice and Bob), with absolute no possibility for a passive/active eavesdropper to intercept the communication. Remarkably, this system enables the same security of quantum cryptography, but with the use of a classical communication channel. Our system exploits a unique synchronization that exists between two different random systems, and at such is extremely versatile and can enable safe communications among different users in standards telecommunications channels.

Location-dependent communications using quantum entanglement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malaney, Robert A.

2010-01-01

The ability to unconditionally verify the location of a communication receiver would lead to a wide range of new security paradigms. However, it is known that unconditional location verification in classical communication systems is impossible. In this work we show how unconditional location verification can be achieved with the use of quantum communication channels. Our verification remains unconditional irrespective of the number of receivers, computational capacity, or any other physical resource held by an adversary. Quantum location verification represents an application of quantum entanglement that delivers a feat not possible in the classical-only channel. It gives us the ability to deliver real-time communications viable only at specified geographical coordinates.

IAEA Completes Nuclear Security Advisory Mission in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2018-01-01

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts today completed a nuclear security advisory mission in France. The mission was carried out at the request of the French Government. The scope of the two-week International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) follow-up mission included France’s responses to the recommendations of the initial mission in 2011, the regulatory framework for the security of nuclear material and facilities as well as computer security. The IPPAS team also reviewed the country’s implementation of the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM). As part of the review, the team visited the Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant at the Tricastin nuclear site in Pierrelatte, south-eastern France. The team observed that the nuclear security regime in France is robust and well-established, and incorporates the fundamental principles of the amended CPPNM. The team provided recommendations and suggestions to support France in enhancing and sustaining nuclear security. Good practices were identified that can serve as examples to other IAEA Member States to help strengthen their nuclear security activities.

Design and Analysis of a secure multi-party communication protocol

OpenAIRE

Herberth, Klaus

2016-01-01

In the past years digital communication became an important aspect in every day life. Everything is shared and discussed in groups of friends, family or business part- ners without a proper way to protect that information. This master thesis introduces the first secure robust multi-party communication protocol which mimics a physical conversation with the help of a Diffie-Hellman key tree and social behaviours. Robust- ness against offline group members is reached by taking advantage of trans...

Secure Multi-Player Protocols

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fehr, Serge

While classically cryptography is concerned with the problem of private communication among two entities, say players, in modern cryptography multi-player protocols play an important role. And among these, it is probably fair to say that secret sharing, and its stronger version verifiable secret...... sharing (VSS), as well as multi-party computation (MPC) belong to the most appealing and/or useful ones. The former two are basic tools to achieve better robustness of cryptographic schemes against malfunction or misuse by “decentralizing” the security from one single to a whole group of individuals...... (captured by the term threshold cryptography). The latter allows—at least in principle—to execute any collaboration among a group of players in a secure way that guarantees the correctness of the outcome but simultaneously respects the privacy of the participants. In this work, we study three aspects...

A Language-Based Approach for Improving the Robustness of Network Application Protocol Implementations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burgy, Laurent; Reveillere, Laurent; Lawall, Julia Laetitia

2007-01-01

The secure and robust functioning of a network relies on the defect-free implementation of network applications. As network protocols have become increasingly complex, however, hand-writing network message processing code has become increasingly error-prone. In this paper, we present a domain...

RUASN: A Robust User Authentication Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoon-Jae Lee

2011-05-01

Full Text Available In recent years, wireless sensor networks (WSNs have been considered as a potential solution for real-time monitoring applications and these WSNs have potential practical impact on next generation technology too. However, WSNs could become a threat if suitable security is not considered before the deployment and if there are any loopholes in their security, which might open the door for an attacker and hence, endanger the application. User authentication is one of the most important security services to protect WSN data access from unauthorized users; it should provide both mutual authentication and session key establishment services. This paper proposes a robust user authentication framework for wireless sensor networks, based on a two-factor (password and smart card concept. This scheme facilitates many services to the users such as user anonymity, mutual authentication, secure session key establishment and it allows users to choose/update their password regularly, whenever needed. Furthermore, we have provided the formal verification using Rubin logic and compare RUASN with many existing schemes. As a result, we found that the proposed scheme possesses many advantages against popular attacks, and achieves better efficiency at low computation cost.

A robust cloud access scheme with mutual authentication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Chin-Ling

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the progress of network technology, we can access some information through remote servers, and we also can save and access lots of personal data in remote servers. Therefore, to protect these data and resist unauthorized access is an important issue. Some researchers proposed authentication scheme, but there still exist some security weaknesses. This article is based on the concept of HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System, and offers a robust authentication scheme. The proposed scheme achieves mutual authentication, prevents re-play attack, solves asynchronous issue, and prevents offline password guessing attack.

Robust site security using smart seismic array technology and multi-sensor data fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Hellickson, Dean; Richards, Paul; Reynolds, Zane; Keener, Joshua

2010-04-01

Traditional site security systems are susceptible to high individual sensor nuisance alarm rates that reduce the overall system effectiveness. Visual assessment of intrusions can be intensive and manually difficult as cameras are slewed by the system to non intrusion areas or as operators respond to nuisance alarms. Very little system intrusion performance data are available other than discrete sensor alarm indications that provide no real value. This paper discusses the system architecture, integration and display of a multi-sensor data fused system for wide area surveillance, local site intrusion detection and intrusion classification. The incorporation of a novel seismic array of smart sensors using FK Beamforming processing that greatly enhances the overall system detection and classification performance of the system is discussed. Recent test data demonstrates the performance of the seismic array within several different installations and its ability to classify and track moving targets at significant standoff distances with exceptional immunity to background clutter and noise. Multi-sensor data fusion is applied across a suite of complimentary sensors eliminating almost all nuisance alarms while integrating within a geographical information system to feed a visual-fusion display of the area being secured. Real-time sensor detection and intrusion classification data is presented within a visual-fusion display providing greatly enhanced situational awareness, system performance information and real-time assessment of intrusions and situations of interest with limited security operator involvement. This approach scales from a small local perimeter to very large geographical area and can be used across multiple sites controlled at a single command and control station.

A Secured Load Mitigation and Distribution Scheme for Securing SIP Server

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vennila Ganesan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Managing the performance of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP server under heavy load conditions is a critical task in a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP network. In this paper, a two-tier model is proposed for the security, load mitigation, and distribution issues of the SIP server. In the first tier, the proposed handler segregates and drops the malicious traffic. The second tier provides a uniform load of distribution, using the least session termination time (LSTT algorithm. Besides, the mean session termination time is minimized by reducing the waiting time of the SIP messages. Efficiency of the LSTT algorithm is evaluated through the experimental test bed by considering with and without a handler. The experimental results establish that the proposed two-tier model improves the throughput and the CPU utilization. It also reduces the response time and error rate while preserving the quality of multimedia session delivery. This two-tier model provides robust security, dynamic load distribution, appropriate server selection, and session synchronization.

Robust and Imperceptible Watermarking of Video Streams for Low Power Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Ishtiaq, Muhammad; Jaffar, M. Arfan; Khan, Muhammad A.; Jan, Zahoor; Mirza, Anwar M.

With the advent of internet, every aspect of life is going online. From online working to watching videos, everything is now available on the internet. With the greater business benefits, increased availability and other online business advantages, there is a major challenge of security and ownership of data. Videos downloaded from an online store can easily be shared among non-intended or unauthorized users. Invisible watermarking is used to hide copyright protection information in the videos. The existing methods of watermarking are less robust and imperceptible and also the computational complexity of these methods does not suit low power devices. In this paper, we have proposed a new method to address the problem of robustness and imperceptibility. Experiments have shown that our method has better robustness and imperceptibility as well as our method is computationally efficient than previous approaches in practice. Hence our method can easily be applied on low power devices.

Resource Allocation of Security-Critical Tasks with Statistically Guaranteed Energy Constraint

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Wei; Jiang, Ke; Ma, Yue

2012-01-01

In this paper, we are interested in resource allocation for energy constrained and security-critical embedded systems. Tasks in such systems need to be successfully executed under certain energy budget and be robust against serious security threatens. Different to former energy minimal scheduling...... energy slack ratio. The proposed algorithm is very efficient in both time and space dimensions, and achieves good solutions. Extensive simulations demonstrate the superiority of our algorithm over other approaches....

A Robust Image Watermarking in the Joint Time-Frequency Domain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yalçın Çekiç

2010-01-01

Full Text Available With the rapid development of computers and internet applications, copyright protection of multimedia data has become an important problem. Watermarking techniques are proposed as a solution to copyright protection of digital media files. In this paper, a new, robust, and high-capacity watermarking method that is based on spatiofrequency (SF representation is presented. We use the discrete evolutionary transform (DET calculated by the Gabor expansion to represent an image in the joint SF domain. The watermark is embedded onto selected coefficients in the joint SF domain. Hence, by combining the advantages of spatial and spectral domain watermarking methods, a robust, invisible, secure, and high-capacity watermarking method is presented. A correlation-based detector is also proposed to detect and extract any possible watermarks on an image. The proposed watermarking method was tested on some commonly used test images under different signal processing attacks like additive noise, Wiener and Median filtering, JPEG compression, rotation, and cropping. Simulation results show that our method is robust against all of the attacks.

I and C security program for nuclear facilities: implementation guide - TAFICS/IG/2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-04-01

This is the second in a series of documents being developed by TAFICS for protecting computer-based I and C systems of Indian nuclear facilities from cyber attacks. The document provides guidance to nuclear facility management to establish, implement and maintain a robust I and C security program - consisting of security plan and a set of security controls. In order to provide a firm basis for the security program, the document also identifies the fundamental security principles and foundational security requirements related to computer-based I and C systems of nuclear facilities. It is recommended that all applicable Indian nuclear facilities should implement the security program - with required adaptation - so as to provide the necessary assurance that the I and C systems are adequately protected against cyber attacks. (author)

Integrating security in a group oriented distributed system

Science.gov (United States)

Reiter, Michael; Birman, Kenneth; Gong, LI

1992-01-01

A distributed security architecture is proposed for incorporation into group oriented distributed systems, and in particular, into the Isis distributed programming toolkit. The primary goal of the architecture is to make common group oriented abstractions robust in hostile settings, in order to facilitate the construction of high performance distributed applications that can tolerate both component failures and malicious attacks. These abstractions include process groups and causal group multicast. Moreover, a delegation and access control scheme is proposed for use in group oriented systems. The focus is the security architecture; particular cryptosystems and key exchange protocols are not emphasized.

Consolidation of an extinction memory depends on the unconditioned stimulus magnitude previously experienced during training.

Science.gov (United States)

Stollhoff, Nicola; Eisenhardt, Dorothea

2009-07-29

Here, we examine the role of the magnitude of the unconditioned stimulus (US) during classical conditioning in consolidation processes after memory retrieval. We varied the US durations during training and we test the impact of these variations on consolidation after memory retrieval with one or two conditioned stimulus-only trials. We found that the consolidation of an extinction memory depends on US duration during training and ruled out the possibility that this effect is attributable to differences in satiation after conditioning. We conclude that consolidation of an extinction memory is triggered only when the duration of the US reaches a critical threshold. This demonstrates that memory consolidation cannot be regarded as an isolated process depending solely on training conditions. Instead, it depends on the animal's previous experience as well.

Critical analysis of the Bennett-Riedel attack on secure cryptographic key distributions via the Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-noise scheme.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laszlo B Kish

Full Text Available Recently, Bennett and Riedel (BR (http://arxiv.org/abs/1303.7435v1 argued that thermodynamics is not essential in the Kirchhoff-law-Johnson-noise (KLJN classical physical cryptographic exchange method in an effort to disprove the security of the KLJN scheme. They attempted to demonstrate this by introducing a dissipation-free deterministic key exchange method with two batteries and two switches. In the present paper, we first show that BR's scheme is unphysical and that some elements of its assumptions violate basic protocols of secure communication. All our analyses are based on a technically unlimited Eve with infinitely accurate and fast measurements limited only by the laws of physics and statistics. For non-ideal situations and at active (invasive attacks, the uncertainly principle between measurement duration and statistical errors makes it impossible for Eve to extract the key regardless of the accuracy or speed of her measurements. To show that thermodynamics and noise are essential for the security, we crack the BR system with 100% success via passive attacks, in ten different ways, and demonstrate that the same cracking methods do not function for the KLJN scheme that employs Johnson noise to provide security underpinned by the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We also present a critical analysis of some other claims by BR; for example, we prove that their equations for describing zero security do not apply to the KLJN scheme. Finally we give mathematical security proofs for each BR-attack against the KLJN scheme and conclude that the information theoretic (unconditional security of the KLJN method has not been successfully challenged.

Design and Research of a New secure Authentication Protocol in GSM networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi Ai-qin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available As the first line of defense in the security application system, Authentication is an important security service. Its typical scheme is challenge/response mechanism and this scheme which is simple-structured and easy to realize has been used worldwide. But these protocols have many following problems In the GSM networks such as the leakage of user indentity privacy, no security protection between home registers and foreign registers and the vicious intruders’ information stealing and so on. This paper presents an authentication protocol in GSM networks based on maths operation and modular square root technique . The analysis of the security and performance has also been done. The results show that it is more robust and secure compared to the previous agreements.

AUSERA: Large-Scale Automated Security Risk Assessment of Global Mobile Banking Apps

OpenAIRE

Chen, Sen; Meng, Guozhu; Su, Ting; Fan, Lingling; Xue, Yinxing; Liu, Yang; Xu, Lihua; Xue, Minhui; Li, Bo; Hao, Shuang

2018-01-01

Contemporary financial technology (FinTech) that enables cashless mobile payment has been widely adopted by financial institutions, such as banks, due to its convenience and efficiency. However, FinTech has also made massive and dynamic transactions susceptible to security risks. Given large financial losses caused by such vulnerabilities, regulatory technology (RegTech) has been developed, but more comprehensive security risk assessment is specifically desired to develop robust, scalable, an...

A Framework for Secure Data Delivery in Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonidas PERLEPES

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Typical sensor nodes are resource constrained devices containing user level applications, operating system components, and device drivers in a single address space, with no form of memory protection. A malicious user could easily capture a node and tamper the applications running on it, in order to perform different types of attacks. In this paper, we propose a 3-layer Security Framework composed by physical security schemes, cryptography of communication channels and live forensics protection techniques that allows for secure WSN deployments. Each of the abovementioned techniques maximizes the security levels leading to a tamper proof sensor node. By applying the proposed security framework, secure communication between nodes is guaranteed, identified captured nodes are silenced and their destructive effect on the rest of the network infrastructure is minimized due to the early measures applied. Our main concern is to propose a framework that balances its attributes between robustness, as long as security is concerned and cost effective implementation as far as resources (energy consumption are concerned.

A secure and robust password-based remote user authentication scheme using smart cards for the integrated EPR information system.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Ashok Kumar

2015-03-01

An integrated EPR (Electronic Patient Record) information system of all the patients provides the medical institutions and the academia with most of the patients' information in details for them to make corrective decisions and clinical decisions in order to maintain and analyze patients' health. In such system, the illegal access must be restricted and the information from theft during transmission over the insecure Internet must be prevented. Lee et al. proposed an efficient password-based remote user authentication scheme using smart card for the integrated EPR information system. Their scheme is very efficient due to usage of one-way hash function and bitwise exclusive-or (XOR) operations. However, in this paper, we show that though their scheme is very efficient, their scheme has three security weaknesses such as (1) it has design flaws in password change phase, (2) it fails to protect privileged insider attack and (3) it lacks the formal security verification. We also find that another recently proposed Wen's scheme has the same security drawbacks as in Lee at al.'s scheme. In order to remedy these security weaknesses found in Lee et al.'s scheme and Wen's scheme, we propose a secure and efficient password-based remote user authentication scheme using smart cards for the integrated EPR information system. We show that our scheme is also efficient as compared to Lee et al.'s scheme and Wen's scheme as our scheme only uses one-way hash function and bitwise exclusive-or (XOR) operations. Through the security analysis, we show that our scheme is secure against possible known attacks. Furthermore, we simulate our scheme for the formal security verification using the widely-accepted AVISPA (Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications) tool and show that our scheme is secure against passive and active attacks.

Robustness bounds and practical limitations of quantum key distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalique, Aeysha

2008-01-01

Quantum information theory is a modern branch of theoretical physics. One of its main goals is to interpret concepts of quantum physics. This leads to a deeper understanding of quantum theory. The most common examples of practical applications of basic quantum theory are quantum computation and quantum cryptography. Quantum cryptography provides secure communication between legitimate users even in the presence of an adversary by making possible the distribution of a secret key. It then allows error correction and privacy amplification, which is elimination of adversary information, through classical communication. In this thesis two important aspects of quantum key distribution are covered, namely robustness bounds with respect to provable entanglement for ideal protocols and practical quantum key distribution using two-way classical communication. In part one of the thesis, ideal quantum key distribution protocols and their robustness in terms of provable entanglement are discussed. The robustness bounds are proved for most general coherent attacks. These bounds for provable entanglement are already known to be 25% for the four-state protocol and 33% for the six-state protocol. We anticipate to provide a region in which the legitimate users share entanglement. This region is large for the four-state protocol and is reduced to a smaller region for the six-state protocol because of additional constraint on it. We also investigate the information cost which the adversary has to pay in order to reach these bounds. In part two we adopt a more practical approach. We investigate the limitation on distance of secure communication because of practical restrictions. In particular we investigate the restrictions due to the lack of single photon sources, the lossy channel and faulty detectors. These practical limitations have already been observed using one-way classical communication between legitimate users. It has been observed that it is actually the dark count rate that

Robust design optimization using the price of robustness, robust least squares and regularization methods

Science.gov (United States)

Bukhari, Hassan J.

2017-12-01

In this paper a framework for robust optimization of mechanical design problems and process systems that have parametric uncertainty is presented using three different approaches. Robust optimization problems are formulated so that the optimal solution is robust which means it is minimally sensitive to any perturbations in parameters. The first method uses the price of robustness approach which assumes the uncertain parameters to be symmetric and bounded. The robustness for the design can be controlled by limiting the parameters that can perturb.The second method uses the robust least squares method to determine the optimal parameters when data itself is subjected to perturbations instead of the parameters. The last method manages uncertainty by restricting the perturbation on parameters to improve sensitivity similar to Tikhonov regularization. The methods are implemented on two sets of problems; one linear and the other non-linear. This methodology will be compared with a prior method using multiple Monte Carlo simulation runs which shows that the approach being presented in this paper results in better performance.

AP1000 Design for Security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, L.B.; Cummins, W.E.; Winters, J.W.

2006-01-01

Nuclear power plants are protected from potential security threats through a combination of robust structures around the primary system and other vital equipment, security systems and equipment, and defensive strategy. The overall objective for nuclear power plant security is to protect public health and safety by ensuring that attacks or sabotage do not challenge the ability to safely shutdown the plant or protect from radiological releases. In addition, plants have systems, features and operational strategies to cope with external conditions, such as loss of offsite power, which could be created as part of an attack. Westinghouse considered potential security threats during design of the AP1000 PWR. The differences in plant configuration, safety system design, and safe shutdown equipment between existing plants and AP1000 affect potential vulnerabilities. This paper provides an evaluation of AP1000 with respect to vulnerabilities to security threats. The AP1000 design differs from the design of operating PWRs in the US in the configuration and the functional requirements for safety systems. These differences are intentional departures from conventional PWR designs which simplify plant design and enhance overall safety. The differences between the AP1000 PWR and conventional PWRs can impact vulnerabilities to security threats. The NRC addressed security concerns as part of their reviews for AP1000 Design Certification, and did not identify any security issues of concern. However, much of the detailed security design information for the AP1000 was deferred to the combined Construction and Operating License (COL) phase as many of the security issues are site-specific. Therefore, NRC review of security issues related to the AP1000 is not necessarily complete. Further, since the AP1000 plant design differs from existing PWRs, it is not obvious that the analyses and assessments prepared for existing plants also apply to the AP1000. We conclude that, overall, the AP1000

Security-by-design handbook.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Snell, Mark Kamerer; Jaeger, Calvin Dell; Scharmer, Carol; Jordan, Sabina Erteza; Tanuma, Koji [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai-mura, Ibaraki, Japan; Ochiai, Kazuya [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai-mura, Ibaraki, Japan; Iida, Toru [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai-mura, Ibaraki, Japan

2013-01-01

This document is a draft SecuritybyDesign (SeBD) handbook produced to support the Work Plan of the Nuclear Security Summit to share best practices for nuclear security in new facility design. The Work Plan calls on States to %E2%80%9Cencourage nuclear operators and architect/engineering firms to take into account and incorporate, where appropriate, effective measures of physical protection and security culture into the planning, construction, and operation of civilian nuclear facilities and provide technical assistance, upon request, to other States in doing so.%E2%80%9D The materials for this document were generated primarily as part of a bilateral project to produce a SeBD handbook as a collaboration between the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) Nuclear Nonproliferation Science and Technology Center and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), which represented the US Department Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under a Project Action Sheet PASPP04. Input was also derived based on tours of the Savannah River Site (SRS) and Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) Rokkasho Mixed Oxide Fuel fabrication facilities and associated project lessonslearned. For the purposes of the handbook, SeBD will be described as the systemlevel incorporation of the physical protection system (PPS) into a new nuclear power plant or nuclear facility resulting in a PPS design that minimizes the risk of malicious acts leading to nuclear material theft; nuclear material sabotage; and facility sabotage as much as possible through features inherent in (or intrinsic to) the design of the facility. A fourelement strategy is presented to achieve a robust, durable, and responsive security system.

Cognitive Security of Wireless Communication Systems in the Physical Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa Harun Yılmaz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available While the wireless communication systems provide the means of connectivity nearly everywhere and all the time, communication security requires more attention. Even though current efforts provide solutions to specific problems under given circumstances, these methods are neither adaptive nor flexible enough to provide security under the dynamic conditions which make the security breaches an important concern. In this paper, a cognitive security (CS concept for wireless communication systems in the physical layer is proposed with the aim of providing a comprehensive solution to wireless security problems. The proposed method will enable the comprehensive security to ensure a robust and reliable communication in the existence of adversaries by providing adaptive security solutions in the communication systems by exploiting the physical layer security from different perspective. The adaptiveness relies on the fact that radio adapts its propagation characteristics to satisfy secure communication based on specific conditions which are given as user density, application specific adaptation, and location within CS concept. Thus, instead of providing any type of new security mechanism, it is proposed that radio can take the necessary precautions based on these conditions before the attacks occur. Various access scenarios are investigated to enable the CS while considering these conditions.

Conditioned [corrected] stimulus informativeness governs conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus associability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Ryan D; Gallistel, C R; Jensen, Greg; Richards, Vanessa L; Fairhurst, Stephen; Balsam, Peter D

2012-07-01

In a conditioning protocol, the onset of the conditioned stimulus ([CS]) provides information about when to expect reinforcement (unconditioned stimulus [US]). There are two sources of information from the CS in a delay conditioning paradigm in which the CS-US interval is fixed. The first depends on the informativeness, the degree to which CS onset reduces the average expected time to onset of the next US. The second depends only on how precisely a subject can represent a fixed-duration interval (the temporal Weber fraction). In three experiments with mice, we tested the differential impact of these two sources of information on rate of acquisition of conditioned responding (CS-US associability). In Experiment 1, we showed that associability (the inverse of trials to acquisition) increased in proportion to informativeness. In Experiment 2, we showed that fixing the duration of the US-US interval or the CS-US interval or both had no effect on associability. In Experiment 3, we equated the increase in information produced by varying the C/T ratio with the increase produced by fixing the duration of the CS-US interval. Associability increased with increased informativeness, but, as in Experiment 2, fixing the CS-US duration had no effect on associability. These results are consistent with the view that CS-US associability depends on the increased rate of reward signaled by CS onset. The results also provide further evidence that conditioned responding is temporally controlled when it emerges.

A Complex Systems Approach to More Resilient Multi-Layered Security Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, Nathanael J. K. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Jones, Katherine A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Bandlow, Alisa [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Nozick, Linda Karen [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Waddell, Lucas [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Levin, Drew [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Whetzel, Jonathan [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-09-01

In July 2012, protestors cut through security fences and gained access to the Y-12 National Security Complex. This was believed to be a highly reliable, multi-layered security system. This report documents the results of a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project that created a consistent, robust mathematical framework using complex systems analysis algorithms and techniques to better understand the emergent behavior, vulnerabilities and resiliency of multi-layered security systems subject to budget constraints and competing security priorities. Because there are several dimensions to security system performance and a range of attacks that might occur, the framework is multi-objective for a performance frontier to be estimated. This research explicitly uses probability of intruder interruption given detection (P_I) as the primary resilience metric. We demonstrate the utility of this framework with both notional as well as real-world examples of Physical Protection Systems (PPSs) and validate using a well-established force-on-force simulation tool, Umbra.

A robust anonymous biometric-based remote user authentication scheme using smart cards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashok Kumar Das

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Several biometric-based remote user authentication schemes using smart cards have been proposed in the literature in order to improve the security weaknesses in user authentication system. In 2012, An proposed an enhanced biometric-based remote user authentication scheme using smart cards. It was claimed that the proposed scheme is secure against the user impersonation attack, the server masquerading attack, the password guessing attack, and the insider attack and provides mutual authentication between the user and the server. In this paper, we first analyze the security of An’s scheme and we show that this scheme has three serious security flaws in the design of the scheme: (i flaw in user’s biometric verification during the login phase, (ii flaw in user’s password verification during the login and authentication phases, and (iii flaw in user’s password change locally at any time by the user. Due to these security flaws, An’s scheme cannot support mutual authentication between the user and the server. Further, we show that An’s scheme cannot prevent insider attack. In order to remedy the security weaknesses found in An’s scheme, we propose a new robust and secure anonymous biometric-based remote user authentication scheme using smart cards. Through the informal and formal security analysis, we show that our scheme is secure against all possible known attacks including the attacks found in An’s scheme. The simulation results of our scheme using the widely-accepted AVISPA (Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications tool ensure that our scheme is secure against passive and active attacks. In addition, our scheme is also comparable in terms of the communication and computational overheads with An’s scheme and other related existing schemes. As a result, our scheme is more appropriate for practical applications compared to other approaches.

A Unifying Mathematical Framework for Genetic Robustness, Environmental Robustness, Network Robustness and their Trade-offs on Phenotype Robustness in Biological Networks. Part III: Synthetic Gene Networks in Synthetic Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bor-Sen; Lin, Ying-Po

2013-01-01

Robust stabilization and environmental disturbance attenuation are ubiquitous systematic properties that are observed in biological systems at many different levels. The underlying principles for robust stabilization and environmental disturbance attenuation are universal to both complex biological systems and sophisticated engineering systems. In many biological networks, network robustness should be large enough to confer: intrinsic robustness for tolerating intrinsic parameter fluctuations; genetic robustness for buffering genetic variations; and environmental robustness for resisting environmental disturbances. Network robustness is needed so phenotype stability of biological network can be maintained, guaranteeing phenotype robustness. Synthetic biology is foreseen to have important applications in biotechnology and medicine; it is expected to contribute significantly to a better understanding of functioning of complex biological systems. This paper presents a unifying mathematical framework for investigating the principles of both robust stabilization and environmental disturbance attenuation for synthetic gene networks in synthetic biology. Further, from the unifying mathematical framework, we found that the phenotype robustness criterion for synthetic gene networks is the following: if intrinsic robustness + genetic robustness + environmental robustness ≦ network robustness, then the phenotype robustness can be maintained in spite of intrinsic parameter fluctuations, genetic variations, and environmental disturbances. Therefore, the trade-offs between intrinsic robustness, genetic robustness, environmental robustness, and network robustness in synthetic biology can also be investigated through corresponding phenotype robustness criteria from the systematic point of view. Finally, a robust synthetic design that involves network evolution algorithms with desired behavior under intrinsic parameter fluctuations, genetic variations, and environmental

Sign-tracking (autoshaping) in rats: a comparison of cocaine and food as unconditioned stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Kearns, David N; Weiss, Stanley J

2004-11-01

A series of experiments was performed to determine whether sign-tracking would occur in rats with intravenous (i.v.) cocaine as the unconditioned stimulus. In Experiment 1, a retractable lever paired with food produced strong sign-tracking, but a lever paired with one of three doses of i.v. cocaine did not elicit any approach or contact behavior. Experiment 2 demonstrated that doses of cocaine that did not elicit sign-tracking would function as a positive reinforcer for a lever contact operant. In Experiment 3, an artificial consummatory response was added to make the cocaine reinforcement episode more behaviorally comparable to that occasioned by food. Although the rats readily performed this response when it was required to receive cocaine infusions, they still did not contact a lever that signaled the availability of these infusions. It appears that cocaine is different from other positive reinforcers (e.g., food, water, warmth, or intracranial stimulation) in that it will not produce sign-tracking in rats.

Security Analysis of Dynamic SDN Architectures Based on Game Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Qi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Security evaluation of SDN architectures is of critical importance to develop robust systems and address attacks. Focused on a novel-proposed dynamic SDN framework, a game-theoretic model is presented to analyze its security performance. This model can represent several kinds of players’ information, simulate approximate attack scenarios, and quantitatively estimate systems’ reliability. And we explore several typical game instances defined by system’s capability, players’ objects, and strategies. Experimental results illustrate that the system’s detection capability is not a decisive element to security enhancement as introduction of dynamism and redundancy into SDN can significantly improve security gain and compensate for its detection weakness. Moreover, we observe a range of common strategic actions across environmental conditions. And analysis reveals diverse defense mechanisms adopted in dynamic systems have different effect on security improvement. Besides, the existence of equilibrium in particular situations further proves the novel structure’s feasibility, flexibility, and its persistent ability against long-term attacks.

Information Security Scheme Based on Computational Temporal Ghost Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Shan; Wang, Yurong; Long, Tao; Meng, Xiangfeng; Yang, Xiulun; Shu, Rong; Sun, Baoqing

2017-08-09

An information security scheme based on computational temporal ghost imaging is proposed. A sequence of independent 2D random binary patterns are used as encryption key to multiply with the 1D data stream. The cipher text is obtained by summing the weighted encryption key. The decryption process can be realized by correlation measurement between the encrypted information and the encryption key. Due to the instinct high-level randomness of the key, the security of this method is greatly guaranteed. The feasibility of this method and robustness against both occlusion and additional noise attacks are discussed with simulation, respectively.

Robust hashing for 3D models

Science.gov (United States)

Berchtold, Waldemar; Schäfer, Marcel; Rettig, Michael; Steinebach, Martin

2014-02-01

3D models and applications are of utmost interest in both science and industry. With the increment of their usage, their number and thereby the challenge to correctly identify them increases. Content identification is commonly done by cryptographic hashes. However, they fail as a solution in application scenarios such as computer aided design (CAD), scientific visualization or video games, because even the smallest alteration of the 3D model, e.g. conversion or compression operations, massively changes the cryptographic hash as well. Therefore, this work presents a robust hashing algorithm for 3D mesh data. The algorithm applies several different bit extraction methods. They are built to resist desired alterations of the model as well as malicious attacks intending to prevent correct allocation. The different bit extraction methods are tested against each other and, as far as possible, the hashing algorithm is compared to the state of the art. The parameters tested are robustness, security and runtime performance as well as False Acceptance Rate (FAR) and False Rejection Rate (FRR), also the probability calculation of hash collision is included. The introduced hashing algorithm is kept adaptive e.g. in hash length, to serve as a proper tool for all applications in practice.

Robust and sustainable bioenergy: Biomass in the future Danish energy system; Robust og baeredygtig bioenergi: Biomasse i fremtidens danske energisystem

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skoett, T.

2012-09-15

The publication is a collection of articles about new, exciting technologies for the production of bioenergy, which received support from Danish research programmes. The green technologies must be sustainable so that future generations' opportunities for bioenergy use is not restricted, and the solutions must be robust in relation to security of supply, costs and energy economy. In this context, research plays a crucial role. Research is especially carried out within the use of residues as bio-waste, straw, wood and manure for energy purposes, but there are also projects on energy crops, as well as research into how algae from the sea can increase the production of biomass. (LN)

Need for a gender-sensitive human security framework: results of a quantitative study of human security and sexual violence in Djohong District, Cameroon.

Science.gov (United States)

Parmar, Parveen Kaur; Agrawal, Pooja; Goyal, Ravi; Scott, Jennifer; Greenough, P Gregg

2014-01-01

Human security shifts traditional concepts of security from interstate conflict and the absence of war to the security of the individual. Broad definitions of human security include livelihoods and food security, health, psychosocial well-being, enjoyment of civil and political rights and freedom from oppression, and personal safety, in addition to absence of conflict. In March 2010, we undertook a population-based health and livelihood study of female refugees from conflict-affected Central African Republic living in Djohong District, Cameroon and their female counterparts within the Cameroonian host community. Embedded within the survey instrument were indicators of human security derived from the Leaning-Arie model that defined three domains of psychosocial stability suggesting individuals and communities are most stable when their core attachments to home, community and the future are intact. While the female refugee human security outcomes describe a population successfully assimilated and thriving in their new environments based on these three domains, the ability of human security indicators to predict the presence or absence of lifetime and six-month sexual violence was inadequate. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the study demonstrates that common human security indicators do not uncover either lifetime or recent prevalence of sexual violence. These data suggest that current gender-blind approaches of describing human security are missing serious threats to the safety of one half of the population and that efforts to develop robust human security indicators should include those that specifically measure violence against women.

Securing Wireless Communications of the Internet of Things from the Physical Layer, An Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Junqing; Duong, Trung; Woods, Roger; Marshall, Alan

2017-08-01

The security of the Internet of Things (IoT) is receiving considerable interest as the low power constraints and complexity features of many IoT devices are limiting the use of conventional cryptographic techniques. This article provides an overview of recent research efforts on alternative approaches for securing IoT wireless communications at the physical layer, specifically the key topics of key generation and physical layer encryption. These schemes can be implemented and are lightweight, and thus offer practical solutions for providing effective IoT wireless security. Future research to make IoT-based physical layer security more robust and pervasive is also covered.

Wireless Information-Theoretic Security in an Outdoor Topology with Obstacles: Theoretical Analysis and Experimental Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dagiuklas Tasos

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a Wireless Information-Theoretic Security (WITS scheme, which has been recently introduced as a robust physical layer-based security solution, especially for infrastructureless networks. An autonomic network of moving users was implemented via 802.11n nodes of an ad hoc network for an outdoor topology with obstacles. Obstructed-Line-of-Sight (OLOS and Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS propagation scenarios were examined. Low-speed user movement was considered, so that Doppler spread could be discarded. A transmitter and a legitimate receiver exchanged information in the presence of a moving eavesdropper. Average Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR values were acquired for both the main and the wiretap channel, and the Probability of Nonzero Secrecy Capacity was calculated based on theoretical formula. Experimental results validate theoretical findings stressing the importance of user location and mobility schemes on the robustness of Wireless Information-Theoretic Security and call for further theoretical analysis.

Perceptual Robust Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Søren Nygaard

The research presented in this PhD thesis has focused on a perceptual approach to robust design. The results of the research and the original contribution to knowledge is a preliminary framework for understanding, positioning, and applying perceptual robust design. Product quality is a topic...... been presented. Therefore, this study set out to contribute to the understanding and application of perceptual robust design. To achieve this, a state-of-the-art and current practice review was performed. From the review two main research problems were identified. Firstly, a lack of tools...... for perceptual robustness was found to overlap with the optimum for functional robustness and at most approximately 2.2% out of the 14.74% could be ascribed solely to the perceptual robustness optimisation. In conclusion, the thesis have offered a new perspective on robust design by merging robust design...

Cyber Security and Resilient Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robert S. Anderson

2009-07-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has become a center of excellence for critical infrastructure protection, particularly in the field of cyber security. It is one of only a few national laboratories that have enhanced the nation’s cyber security posture by performing industrial control system (ICS) vendor assessments as well as user on-site assessments. Not only are vulnerabilities discovered, but described actions for enhancing security are suggested – both on a system-specific basis and from a general perspective of identifying common weaknesses and their corresponding corrective actions. These cyber security programs have performed over 40 assessments to date which have led to more robust, secure, and resilient monitoring and control systems for the US electrical grid, oil and gas, chemical, transportation, and many other sectors. In addition to cyber assessments themselves, the INL has been engaged in outreach to the ICS community through vendor forums, technical conferences, vendor user groups, and other special engagements as requested. Training programs have been created to help educate all levels of management and worker alike with an emphasis towards real everyday cyber hacking methods and techniques including typical exploits that are used. The asset owner or end user has many products available for its use created from these programs. One outstanding product is the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cyber Security Procurement Language for Control Systems document that provides insight to the user when specifying a new monitoring and control system, particularly concerning security requirements. Employing some of the top cyber researchers in the nation, the INL can leverage this talent towards many applications other than critical infrastructure. Monitoring and control systems are used throughout the world to perform simple tasks such as cooking in a microwave to complex ones such as the monitoring and control of the

Cyber Security and Resilient Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, Robert S.

2009-01-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has become a center of excellence for critical infrastructure protection, particularly in the field of cyber security. It is one of only a few national laboratories that have enhanced the nation's cyber security posture by performing industrial control system (ICS) vendor assessments as well as user on-site assessments. Not only are vulnerabilities discovered, but described actions for enhancing security are suggested - both on a system-specific basis and from a general perspective of identifying common weaknesses and their corresponding corrective actions. These cyber security programs have performed over 40 assessments to date which have led to more robust, secure, and resilient monitoring and control systems for the US electrical grid, oil and gas, chemical, transportation, and many other sectors. In addition to cyber assessments themselves, the INL has been engaged in outreach to the ICS community through vendor forums, technical conferences, vendor user groups, and other special engagements as requested. Training programs have been created to help educate all levels of management and worker alike with an emphasis towards real everyday cyber hacking methods and techniques including typical exploits that are used. The asset owner or end user has many products available for its use created from these programs. One outstanding product is the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cyber Security Procurement Language for Control Systems document that provides insight to the user when specifying a new monitoring and control system, particularly concerning security requirements. Employing some of the top cyber researchers in the nation, the INL can leverage this talent towards many applications other than critical infrastructure. Monitoring and control systems are used throughout the world to perform simple tasks such as cooking in a microwave to complex ones such as the monitoring and control of the

Verification and nuclear material security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

ElBaradei, M.

2001-01-01

Full text: The Director General will open the symposium by presenting a series of challenges facing the international safeguards community: the need to ensure a robust system, with strong verification tools and a sound research and development programme; the importance of securing the necessary support for the system, in terms of resources; the effort to achieve universal participation in the non-proliferation regime; and the necessity of re-energizing disarmament efforts. Special focus will be given to the challenge underscored by recent events, of strengthening international efforts to combat nuclear terrorism. (author)

Sovereignty, Robustness, and Short-Term Energy Security Levels. The Catalonia Case Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosas-Casals, Martí, E-mail: rosas@mmt.upc.edu [Sustainability Measurement and Modelling Lab, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech, Barcelona (Spain); Marzo, Mariano [Geomodels Institute, Department of Stratigraphy, Paleontology and Marine Geosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain); Salas-Prat, Pep [Sustainability Measurement and Modelling Lab, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech, Barcelona (Spain); SmartGrid.cat, Barcelona (Spain)

2014-05-12

Energy-related impacts and conflicts have been used to account for the emergence, maintenance, and collapse of complex societies. On the other hand in the last years, sustainability science has incorporated different frames of reference in order to facilitate the vision of sustainable futures. Most of them suggest that the search for satisfiers of human needs should be rooted on the local (a) construction of organic articulations of people with nature and technology and (b) generation of growing levels of social, economic, and energy self-reliance. This new regional kind of social agreement implies a redefinition of cultural norms and institutions, which at the same time leads toward increased levels of sovereignty for the social group engaged in this process. Sovereignty must not only be understood here in its political sense (as traditionally found in the literature) but also in its technological and energy acceptations. In this paper, we address this last constituent in terms of energy security levels and hierarchy in energy infrastructures between Spain and Catalonia, the latter being a Spanish autonomous community known for its sovereignty aspirations. We show a remarkable difference in energy security levels between both regions, which clearly hinders Catalonia’s capacity to currently achieve a higher level of self-reliance in energetic terms. We suggest that this result is a consequence of the imperfect hierarchy that characterizes energy infrastructures at the spatial scale, and that it can be generalized to all regions where infrastructural systems have been historically assessed and developed under a nationwide planning scheme.

Sovereignty, Robustness, and Short-Term Energy Security Levels. The Catalonia Case Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosas-Casals, Martí; Marzo, Mariano; Salas-Prat, Pep

2014-01-01

Energy-related impacts and conflicts have been used to account for the emergence, maintenance, and collapse of complex societies. On the other hand in the last years, sustainability science has incorporated different frames of reference in order to facilitate the vision of sustainable futures. Most of them suggest that the search for satisfiers of human needs should be rooted on the local (a) construction of organic articulations of people with nature and technology and (b) generation of growing levels of social, economic, and energy self-reliance. This new regional kind of social agreement implies a redefinition of cultural norms and institutions, which at the same time leads toward increased levels of sovereignty for the social group engaged in this process. Sovereignty must not only be understood here in its political sense (as traditionally found in the literature) but also in its technological and energy acceptations. In this paper, we address this last constituent in terms of energy security levels and hierarchy in energy infrastructures between Spain and Catalonia, the latter being a Spanish autonomous community known for its sovereignty aspirations. We show a remarkable difference in energy security levels between both regions, which clearly hinders Catalonia’s capacity to currently achieve a higher level of self-reliance in energetic terms. We suggest that this result is a consequence of the imperfect hierarchy that characterizes energy infrastructures at the spatial scale, and that it can be generalized to all regions where infrastructural systems have been historically assessed and developed under a nationwide planning scheme.

Sovereignty, robustness and short-term energy security levels. The Catalonia case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marti eRosas-Casals

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Energy related impacts and conflicts have been used to account for the emergence, maintenance and collapse of complex societies. On the other hand in the last years, sustainability science has incorporated different frames of reference in order to facilitate the vision of sustainable futures. Most of them suggest that the search for satisfiers of human needs should be rooted on the local (a construction of organic articulations of people with nature and technology and (b generation of growing levels of social, economic and energy self-reliance. This new regional kind of social agreement implies a redefinition of cultural norms and institutions, which at the same time leads toward increased levels of sovereignty for the social group engaged in this process. Sovereignty must not only be understood here in its political sense (as traditionally found in the literature but also in its technological and energy acceptations. In this paper we address this last constituent in terms of energy security levels and hierarchy in energy infrastructures between Spain and Catalonia, the latter being a Spanish autonomous community known for its sovereignty aspirations. We show a remarkable difference in energy security levels between both regions which clearly hinders Catalonia’s capacity to currently achieve a higher level of self-reliance in energetic terms. We suggest that this result is a consequence of the imperfect hierarchy that characterize energy infrastructures at the spatial scale, and that it can be generalized to all regions where infrastructural systems have been historically assessed and developed under a nationwide planning scheme.

A secure cyclic steganographic technique for color images using randomization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhammad, K.; Ahmad, J.; Rehman, N.U.

2014-01-01

Information Security is a major concern in today's modern era. Almost all the communicating bodies want the security, confidentiality and integrity of their personal data. But this security goal cannot be achieved easily when we are using an open network like internet. Steganography provides one of the best solutions to this problem. This paper represents a new Cyclic Steganographic Technique (CST) based on Least Significant Bit (LSB) for true color (RGB) images. The proposed method hides the secret data in the LSBs of cover image pixels in a randomized cyclic manner. The proposed technique is evaluated using both subjective and objective analysis using histograms changeability, Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Mean Square Error (MSE). Experimentally it is found that the proposed method gives promising results in terms of security, imperceptibility and robustness as compared to some existent methods and vindicates this new algorithm. (author)

An Outline of Data Aggregation Security in Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Boubiche, Sabrina; Boubiche, Djallel Eddine; Bilami, Azzedine; Toral-Cruz, Homero

2016-04-12

Data aggregation processes aim to reduce the amount of exchanged data in wireless sensor networks and consequently minimize the packet overhead and optimize energy efficiency. Securing the data aggregation process is a real challenge since the aggregation nodes must access the relayed data to apply the aggregation functions. The data aggregation security problem has been widely addressed in classical homogeneous wireless sensor networks, however, most of the proposed security protocols cannot guarantee a high level of security since the sensor node resources are limited. Heterogeneous wireless sensor networks have recently emerged as a new wireless sensor network category which expands the sensor nodes' resources and capabilities. These new kinds of WSNs have opened new research opportunities where security represents a most attractive area. Indeed, robust and high security level algorithms can be used to secure the data aggregation at the heterogeneous aggregation nodes which is impossible in classical homogeneous WSNs. Contrary to the homogeneous sensor networks, the data aggregation security problem is still not sufficiently covered and the proposed data aggregation security protocols are numberless. To address this recent research area, this paper describes the data aggregation security problem in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks and surveys a few proposed security protocols. A classification and evaluation of the existing protocols is also introduced based on the adopted data aggregation security approach.

An Outline of Data Aggregation Security in Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabrina Boubiche

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Data aggregation processes aim to reduce the amount of exchanged data in wireless sensor networks and consequently minimize the packet overhead and optimize energy efficiency. Securing the data aggregation process is a real challenge since the aggregation nodes must access the relayed data to apply the aggregation functions. The data aggregation security problem has been widely addressed in classical homogeneous wireless sensor networks, however, most of the proposed security protocols cannot guarantee a high level of security since the sensor node resources are limited. Heterogeneous wireless sensor networks have recently emerged as a new wireless sensor network category which expands the sensor nodes’ resources and capabilities. These new kinds of WSNs have opened new research opportunities where security represents a most attractive area. Indeed, robust and high security level algorithms can be used to secure the data aggregation at the heterogeneous aggregation nodes which is impossible in classical homogeneous WSNs. Contrary to the homogeneous sensor networks, the data aggregation security problem is still not sufficiently covered and the proposed data aggregation security protocols are numberless. To address this recent research area, this paper describes the data aggregation security problem in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks and surveys a few proposed security protocols. A classification and evaluation of the existing protocols is also introduced based on the adopted data aggregation security approach.

An Outline of Data Aggregation Security in Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Boubiche, Sabrina; Boubiche, Djallel Eddine; Bilami, Azzedine; Toral-Cruz, Homero

2016-01-01

Data aggregation processes aim to reduce the amount of exchanged data in wireless sensor networks and consequently minimize the packet overhead and optimize energy efficiency. Securing the data aggregation process is a real challenge since the aggregation nodes must access the relayed data to apply the aggregation functions. The data aggregation security problem has been widely addressed in classical homogeneous wireless sensor networks, however, most of the proposed security protocols cannot guarantee a high level of security since the sensor node resources are limited. Heterogeneous wireless sensor networks have recently emerged as a new wireless sensor network category which expands the sensor nodes’ resources and capabilities. These new kinds of WSNs have opened new research opportunities where security represents a most attractive area. Indeed, robust and high security level algorithms can be used to secure the data aggregation at the heterogeneous aggregation nodes which is impossible in classical homogeneous WSNs. Contrary to the homogeneous sensor networks, the data aggregation security problem is still not sufficiently covered and the proposed data aggregation security protocols are numberless. To address this recent research area, this paper describes the data aggregation security problem in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks and surveys a few proposed security protocols. A classification and evaluation of the existing protocols is also introduced based on the adopted data aggregation security approach. PMID:27077866

In-vehicle VOCs composition of unconditioned, newly produced cars.

Science.gov (United States)

Brodzik, Krzysztof; Faber, Joanna; Łomankiewicz, Damian; Gołda-Kopek, Anna

2014-05-01

The in-vehicle volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations gains the attention of both car producers and users. In the present study, an attempt was made to determine if analysis of air samples collected from an unconditioned car cabin can be used as a quality control measure. The VOCs composition of in-vehicle air was analyzed by means of active sampling on Carbograph 1TD and Tenax TA sorbents, followed by thermal desorption and simultaneous analysis on flame ionization and mass detector (TD-GC/FID-MS). Nine newly produced cars of the same brand and model were chosen for this study. Within these, four of the vehicles were equipped with identical interior materials and five others differed in terms of upholstery and the presence of a sunroof; one car was convertible. The sampling event took place outside of the car assembly plant and the cars tested left the assembly line no later than 24 hr before the sampling took place. More than 250 compounds were present in the samples collected; the identification of more than 160 was confirmed by comparative mass spectra analysis and 80 were confirmed by both comparison with single/multiple compounds standards and mass spectra analysis. In general, aliphatic hydrocarbons represented more than 60% of the total VOCs (TVOC) determined. Depending on the vehicle, the concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons varied from 12% to 27% of total VOCs. The very short period between car production and sampling of the in-vehicle air permits the assumption that the entire TVOC originates from off-gassing of interior materials. The results of this study expand the knowledge of in-vehicle pollution by presenting information about car cabin air quality immediately after car production. Copyright © 2014 The Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Unconditional and Conditional QTL Mapping for Tiller Numbers at Various Stages with Single Segment Substitution Lines in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHAO Fang-ming; LIU Gui-fu; ZHU Hai-tao; DING Xiao-hua; ZENG Rui-zhen; ZHANG Ze-min; LI Wen-tao; ZHANG Gui-quan

2008-01-01

Tiller is one of the most important agronomic traits which influences quantity and quality of effective panicles and finally influences yield in rice.It is important to understand "static" and "dynamic" information of the QTLs for tillers in rice.This work was the first time to simultaneously map unconditional and conditional QTLs for tiller numbers at various stages by using single segment substitution lines in rice.Fourteen QTLs for tiller number,distributing on the corresponding substitution segments of chromosomes 1,2,3,4,6,7 and 8 were detected.Both the number and the effect of the QTLs for tiller number were various at different stages,from 6 to 9 in the number and from 1.49 to 3.49 in the effect,respectively. Tiller number QTLs expressed in a time order,mainly detected at three stages of 0-7d,14-21d and 35-42d after transplanting with 6 positive,9 random and 6 negative expressing QTLs,respectively.Each of the QTLs expressed one time at least during the whole duration of rice.The tiller number at a specific stage was determined by sum of QTL effects estimated by the unconditional method,while the increasing or decreasing number in a given time interval was controlled by the total of QTL effects estimated by the conditional method.These results demonstrated that it is highly effective and accurate for mapping of the QTLs by using single segment substitution lines and the conditional analysis methodology.

A Robust and Effective Smart-Card-Based Remote User Authentication Mechanism Using Hash Function

Science.gov (United States)

Odelu, Vanga; Goswami, Adrijit

2014-01-01

In a remote user authentication scheme, a remote server verifies whether a login user is genuine and trustworthy, and also for mutual authentication purpose a login user validates whether the remote server is genuine and trustworthy. Several remote user authentication schemes using the password, the biometrics, and the smart card have been proposed in the literature. However, most schemes proposed in the literature are either computationally expensive or insecure against several known attacks. In this paper, we aim to propose a new robust and effective password-based remote user authentication scheme using smart card. Our scheme is efficient, because our scheme uses only efficient one-way hash function and bitwise XOR operations. Through the rigorous informal and formal security analysis, we show that our scheme is secure against possible known attacks. We perform the simulation for the formal security analysis using the widely accepted AVISPA (Automated Validation Internet Security Protocols and Applications) tool to ensure that our scheme is secure against passive and active attacks. Furthermore, our scheme supports efficiently the password change phase always locally without contacting the remote server and correctly. In addition, our scheme performs significantly better than other existing schemes in terms of communication, computational overheads, security, and features provided by our scheme. PMID:24892078

A Robust and Effective Smart-Card-Based Remote User Authentication Mechanism Using Hash Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashok Kumar Das

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In a remote user authentication scheme, a remote server verifies whether a login user is genuine and trustworthy, and also for mutual authentication purpose a login user validates whether the remote server is genuine and trustworthy. Several remote user authentication schemes using the password, the biometrics, and the smart card have been proposed in the literature. However, most schemes proposed in the literature are either computationally expensive or insecure against several known attacks. In this paper, we aim to propose a new robust and effective password-based remote user authentication scheme using smart card. Our scheme is efficient, because our scheme uses only efficient one-way hash function and bitwise XOR operations. Through the rigorous informal and formal security analysis, we show that our scheme is secure against possible known attacks. We perform the simulation for the formal security analysis using the widely accepted AVISPA (Automated Validation Internet Security Protocols and Applications tool to ensure that our scheme is secure against passive and active attacks. Furthermore, our scheme supports efficiently the password change phase always locally without contacting the remote server and correctly. In addition, our scheme performs significantly better than other existing schemes in terms of communication, computational overheads, security, and features provided by our scheme.

A robust and effective smart-card-based remote user authentication mechanism using hash function.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Ashok Kumar; Odelu, Vanga; Goswami, Adrijit

2014-01-01

In a remote user authentication scheme, a remote server verifies whether a login user is genuine and trustworthy, and also for mutual authentication purpose a login user validates whether the remote server is genuine and trustworthy. Several remote user authentication schemes using the password, the biometrics, and the smart card have been proposed in the literature. However, most schemes proposed in the literature are either computationally expensive or insecure against several known attacks. In this paper, we aim to propose a new robust and effective password-based remote user authentication scheme using smart card. Our scheme is efficient, because our scheme uses only efficient one-way hash function and bitwise XOR operations. Through the rigorous informal and formal security analysis, we show that our scheme is secure against possible known attacks. We perform the simulation for the formal security analysis using the widely accepted AVISPA (Automated Validation Internet Security Protocols and Applications) tool to ensure that our scheme is secure against passive and active attacks. Furthermore, our scheme supports efficiently the password change phase always locally without contacting the remote server and correctly. In addition, our scheme performs significantly better than other existing schemes in terms of communication, computational overheads, security, and features provided by our scheme.

Intranasal administration of dopamine attenuates unconditioned fear in that it reduces restraint-induced ultrasound vocalizations and escape from bright light.

Science.gov (United States)

Talbot, Teddy; Mattern, Claudia; de Souza Silva, Maria Angelica; Brandão, Marcus Lira

2017-06-01

Although substantial evidence suggests that dopamine (DA) enhances conditioned fear responses, few studies have examined the role of DA in unconditioned fear states. Whereas DA does not cross the blood-brain barrier, intranasally-applied dopamine reaches the brain directly via the nose-brain pathways in rodents, providing an alternative means of targeting DA receptors. Intranasal dopamine (IN-DA) has been demonstrated to bind to DA transporters and to increase extracellular DA in the striatum as well as having memory-promoting effects in rats. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of IN-DA in three tests of fear/anxiety. The three doses of DA hydrochloride (0.03, 0.3, or 1 mg/kg) were applied in a viscous castor oil gel in a volume of 5 µl to each of both nostrils of adult Wistar rats prior to testing of (a) escape from a bright light, using a two-chamber procedure, (b) restraint-induced 22 kHz ultrasound vocalizations (USVs), and (c) exploratory behavior in the elevated plus-maze (EPM). IN-DA dose-dependently reduced escape from bright light and the number of USV responses to restraint. It had no influence on the exploratory behavior in the EPM. IN-DA application reduced escape behavior in two tests of unconditioned fear (escape from bright light and USV response to immobilization). These findings may be interpreted in light of the known antidepressant action of IN-DA and DA reuptake blockers. The results also confirm the promise of the nasal route as an alternative means for targeting the brain's dopaminergic receptors with DA.

WOJTYLIAN CRITIQUE OF KANTIAN MORALITY AND PROPOSAL OF THE UNCONDITIONAL PERSONALISTIC NORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro García Casas

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this inquiry is to examine the reach and influence of the Unconditional Norm throughout Karol Wojtyła’s thinking in order to understand the Wojtylian personalistic norm and to propose it as the basis for all social interactions. To this end, our primary method is obtained from the study of Kant’s Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, which exposes the theory of imperatives and in a special way is able to show, as opposed to utilitarianism, how it is that a person can never be a mere means, but is rather an end in itself. This Kantian concept had a profound impact on Wojtyła, who was also critical of utilitarian ethics and thus found great inspiration in the Kantian proposal. However, Wojtyła goes beyond the Kantian proposal because, although they coincide in many points, Wojtyła felt that the subject of experience was not sufficiently addressed, given that it had an a priori, and therefore insufficient, perspective of the personal self. Wojtyła’s Aristotelian-Thomist education, driven by the discovery of Max Scheler’s phenomenology, gave substance to a very original doctrine in both method and projection.

Impacts of Psychological Science on National Security Agencies Post-9/11

Science.gov (United States)

Brandon, Susan E.

2011-01-01

Psychologists have been an integral part of national security agencies since World War I, when psychological science helped in personnel selection. A robust infrastructure supporting wider applications of psychology to military and intelligence problems developed further during World War II and the years following, primarily in the areas of…

An Enhanced Data Integrity Model In Mobile Cloud Environment Using Digital Signature Algorithm And Robust Reversible Watermarking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boukari Souley

2017-10-01

Full Text Available the increase use of hand held devices such as smart phones to access multimedia content in the cloud is increasing with rise and growth in information technology. Mobile cloud computing is increasingly used today because it allows users to have access to variety of resources in the cloud such as image video audio and software applications with minimal usage of their inbuilt resources such as storage memory by using the one available in the cloud. The major challenge faced with mobile cloud computing is security. Watermarking and digital signature are some techniques used to provide security and authentication on user data in the cloud. Watermarking is a technique used to embed digital data within a multimedia content such as image video or audio in order to prevent authorized access to those content by intruders whereas digital signature is used to identify and verify user data when accessed. In this work we implemented digital signature and robust reversible image watermarking in order enhance mobile cloud computing security and integrity of data by providing double authentication techniques. The results obtained show the effectiveness of combining the two techniques robust reversible watermarking and digital signature by providing strong authentication to ensures data integrity and extract the original content watermarked without changes.

High voltage with little current as an unconditional stimulus for taste avoidance conditioning in Lymnaea stagnalis.

Science.gov (United States)

Takigami, Satoshi; Sunada, Hiroshi; Lukowiak, Ken; Sakakibara, Manabu

2013-10-25

A new and better taste avoidance conditioning paradigm for Lymnaea has been developed that replaces the previously used tactile unconditional stimulus (US) with an brief electrical stimulus (1000V, 80μA), while continuing to use a sucrose application to the lips as the conditional stimulus (CS). With 15 paired CS-US presentations on a single day, we were able to elicit both short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). The LTM persisted for at least one week. While STM was elicited with 5, 8, or 10 paired presentations of the CS-US on a single day, LTM was not. The new US used here was more consistent than the previously used US, and this stimulus consistency may explain why 15 paired CS-US presentations now result in LTM formation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

On levels unconditional declassification of solid materials with very low radioactive content and downloads liquids and gases to the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

This guide aims to establish radiological criteria for declassification (waiver) of the radioactive material of radiological regulatory control and levels unconditional clearance for solid materials and the authorized discharge limits for liquids and gases to the environment that meet these criteria for exposure scenarios acceptably conservative. This Guide to radioactive waste from the apply industrial, medical and research, which they will be managed as waste conventional. This guidance excludes from its scope the option of recycling and reuse of materials that have been declassified and wastes arising from activities and practices which naturally occurring radionuclides present are.

High-Efficiency Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaics via Robust Self-Assembled Monolayers

KAUST Repository

Kim, Gi-Hwan

2015-11-11

© 2015 American Chemical Society. The optoelectronic tunability offered by colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) is attractive for photovoltaic applications but demands proper band alignment at electrodes for efficient charge extraction at minimal cost to voltage. With this goal in mind, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) can be used to modify interface energy levels locally. However, to be effective SAMs must be made robust to treatment using the various solvents and ligands required for to fabricate high quality CQD solids. We report robust self-assembled monolayers (R-SAMs) that enable us to increase the efficiency of CQD photovoltaics. Only by developing a process for secure anchoring of aromatic SAMs, aided by deposition of the SAMs in a water-free deposition environment, were we able to provide an interface modification that was robust against the ensuing chemical treatments needed in the fabrication of CQD solids. The energy alignment at the rectifying interface was tailored by tuning the R-SAM for optimal alignment relative to the CQD quantum-confined electron energy levels. This resulted in a CQD PV record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.7% with enhanced reproducibility relative to controls.

Frustration intolerance and unconditional self-acceptance as mediators of the relationship between perfectionism and depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanković Sanda

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to further clarify the basic mechanism through which maladaptive perfectionism leads to depression, using the rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT framework. Previous studies have shown that depression is not associated with high personal standards, but rather with the tendency to evaluate one’s self-worth based on the attainment of these standards, i.e. conditional self-acceptance. The goal of this study was to investigate for the first time the mediating role of frustration intolerance beliefs in this relationship, beyond and above the contribution of unconditional self-acceptance (USA beliefs. The sample consisted of 321 undergraduate students. Consistent with REBT theory, the structural equation modeling showed that both frustration intolerance and USA mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and dysphoria, with frustration intolerance beliefs being the stronger mediator. There was no evidence that maladaptive perfectionism influenced dysphoria independently of its effect on frustration intolerance and USA.

Coupling Functions Enable Secure Communications

Science.gov (United States)

Stankovski, Tomislav; McClintock, Peter V. E.; Stefanovska, Aneta

2014-01-01

Secure encryption is an essential feature of modern communications, but rapid progress in illicit decryption brings a continuing need for new schemes that are harder and harder to break. Inspired by the time-varying nature of the cardiorespiratory interaction, here we introduce a new class of secure communications that is highly resistant to conventional attacks. Unlike all earlier encryption procedures, this cipher makes use of the coupling functions between interacting dynamical systems. It results in an unbounded number of encryption key possibilities, allows the transmission or reception of more than one signal simultaneously, and is robust against external noise. Thus, the information signals are encrypted as the time variations of linearly independent coupling functions. Using predetermined forms of coupling function, we apply Bayesian inference on the receiver side to detect and separate the information signals while simultaneously eliminating the effect of external noise. The scheme is highly modular and is readily extendable to support different communications applications within the same general framework.

Analysis of Security Protocols for Mobile Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Wazid, Mohammad; Zeadally, Sherali; Das, Ashok Kumar; Odelu, Vanga

2016-11-01

Mobile Healthcare (mHealth) continues to improve because of significant improvements and the decreasing costs of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). mHealth is a medical and public health practice, which is supported by mobile devices (for example, smartphones) and, patient monitoring devices (for example, various types of wearable sensors, etc.). An mHealth system enables healthcare experts and professionals to have ubiquitous access to a patient's health data along with providing any ongoing medical treatment at any time, any place, and from any device. It also helps the patient requiring continuous medical monitoring to stay in touch with the appropriate medical staff and healthcare experts remotely. Thus, mHealth has become a major driving force in improving the health of citizens today. First, we discuss the security requirements, issues and threats to the mHealth system. We then present a taxonomy of recently proposed security protocols for mHealth system based on features supported and possible attacks, computation cost and communication cost. Our detailed taxonomy demonstrates the strength and weaknesses of recently proposed security protocols for the mHealth system. Finally, we identify some of the challenges in the area of security protocols for mHealth systems that still need to be addressed in the future to enable cost-effective, secure and robust mHealth systems.

Robust multivariate analysis

CERN Document Server

J Olive, David

2017-01-01

This text presents methods that are robust to the assumption of a multivariate normal distribution or methods that are robust to certain types of outliers. Instead of using exact theory based on the multivariate normal distribution, the simpler and more applicable large sample theory is given.  The text develops among the first practical robust regression and robust multivariate location and dispersion estimators backed by theory.   The robust techniques  are illustrated for methods such as principal component analysis, canonical correlation analysis, and factor analysis.  A simple way to bootstrap confidence regions is also provided. Much of the research on robust multivariate analysis in this book is being published for the first time. The text is suitable for a first course in Multivariate Statistical Analysis or a first course in Robust Statistics. This graduate text is also useful for people who are familiar with the traditional multivariate topics, but want to know more about handling data sets with...

Bandwidth Efficient Overlapped FSK Coded Secure Command Transmission for Medical Implant Communication Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Selman KULAÇ

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, wireless communication systems are exploited in most health care systems. Implantable Medical Systems (IMS also have wireless communication capability. However, it is very important that secure wireless communication should be provided in terms of both patient rights and patient health. Therefore, wireless transmission systems of IMS should also be robust against to eavesdroppers and adversaries. In this study, a specific overlapped and coded frequency shift keying (FSK modulation technique is developed and security containing with low complexity is provided by this proposed technique. The developed method is suitable for wireless implantable medical systems since it provides low complexity and security as well as bandwidth efficiency.

Continuous variable quantum key distribution with modulated entangled states

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Lars S; Usenko, Vladyslav C.; Lassen, Mikael

2012-01-01

Quantum key distribution enables two remote parties to grow a shared key, which they can use for unconditionally secure communication over a certain distance. The maximal distance depends on the loss and the excess noise of the connecting quantum channel. Several quantum key distribution schemes...... based on coherent states and continuous variable measurements are resilient to high loss in the channel, but are strongly affected by small amounts of channel excess noise. Here we propose and experimentally address a continuous variable quantum key distribution protocol that uses modulated fragile...... entangled states of light to greatly enhance the robustness to channel noise. We experimentally demonstrate that the resulting quantum key distribution protocol can tolerate more noise than the benchmark set by the ideal continuous variable coherent state protocol. Our scheme represents a very promising...

Robustness of Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Faber, Michael Havbro; Vrouwenvelder, A.C.W.M.; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2011-01-01

In 2005, the Joint Committee on Structural Safety (JCSS) together with Working Commission (WC) 1 of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) organized a workshop on robustness of structures. Two important decisions resulted from this workshop, namely...... ‘COST TU0601: Robustness of Structures’ was initiated in February 2007, aiming to provide a platform for exchanging and promoting research in the area of structural robustness and to provide a basic framework, together with methods, strategies and guidelines enhancing robustness of structures...... the development of a joint European project on structural robustness under the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) programme and the decision to develop a more elaborate document on structural robustness in collaboration between experts from the JCSS and the IABSE. Accordingly, a project titled...

Robust Trajectory Option Set planning in CTOP based on Bayesian game model

KAUST Repository

Li, Lichun; Clarke, John-Paul; Feron, Eric; Shamma, Jeff S.

2017-01-01

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rations capacity to reduce en route delay, especially those caused by bad weather. This is accomplished via Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) which has been recently developed to provide a mechanism for flight operators to communicate their route preferences for each flight via a Trajectory Option Set (TOS), as well as a mechanism for the FAA to assign the best possible route within the set of trajectories in the TOS for a given flight, i.e. the route with the lowest adjusted cost after consideration of system constraints and the requirements of all flights. The routes assigned to an airline depend not only on the TOS's for its own flights but also on the TOS's of all other flights in the CTOP, which are unknown. This paper aims to provide a detailed algorithm for the airline to design its TOS plan which is robust to the uncertainties of its competitors' TOS's. To this purpose, we model the CTOP problem as a Bayesian game, and use Linear Program (LP) to compute the security strategy in the Bayesian game model. This security strategy guarantees the airline an upper bound on the sum of the assigned times. The numerical results demonstrate the robustness of the strategy, which is not achieved by any other tested strategy.

Robust Trajectory Option Set planning in CTOP based on Bayesian game model

KAUST Repository

Li, Lichun

2017-07-10

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rations capacity to reduce en route delay, especially those caused by bad weather. This is accomplished via Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) which has been recently developed to provide a mechanism for flight operators to communicate their route preferences for each flight via a Trajectory Option Set (TOS), as well as a mechanism for the FAA to assign the best possible route within the set of trajectories in the TOS for a given flight, i.e. the route with the lowest adjusted cost after consideration of system constraints and the requirements of all flights. The routes assigned to an airline depend not only on the TOS\\'s for its own flights but also on the TOS\\'s of all other flights in the CTOP, which are unknown. This paper aims to provide a detailed algorithm for the airline to design its TOS plan which is robust to the uncertainties of its competitors\\' TOS\\'s. To this purpose, we model the CTOP problem as a Bayesian game, and use Linear Program (LP) to compute the security strategy in the Bayesian game model. This security strategy guarantees the airline an upper bound on the sum of the assigned times. The numerical results demonstrate the robustness of the strategy, which is not achieved by any other tested strategy.

Securing SIFT: Privacy-preserving Outsourcing Computation of Feature Extractions Over Encrypted Image Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shengshan; Wang, Qian; Wang, Jingjun; Qin, Zhan; Ren, Kui

2016-05-13

Advances in cloud computing have greatly motivated data owners to outsource their huge amount of personal multimedia data and/or computationally expensive tasks onto the cloud by leveraging its abundant resources for cost saving and flexibility. Despite the tremendous benefits, the outsourced multimedia data and its originated applications may reveal the data owner's private information, such as the personal identity, locations or even financial profiles. This observation has recently aroused new research interest on privacy-preserving computations over outsourced multimedia data. In this paper, we propose an effective and practical privacy-preserving computation outsourcing protocol for the prevailing scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) over massive encrypted image data. We first show that previous solutions to this problem have either efficiency/security or practicality issues, and none can well preserve the important characteristics of the original SIFT in terms of distinctiveness and robustness. We then present a new scheme design that achieves efficiency and security requirements simultaneously with the preservation of its key characteristics, by randomly splitting the original image data, designing two novel efficient protocols for secure multiplication and comparison, and carefully distributing the feature extraction computations onto two independent cloud servers. We both carefully analyze and extensively evaluate the security and effectiveness of our design. The results show that our solution is practically secure, outperforms the state-of-theart, and performs comparably to the original SIFT in terms of various characteristics, including rotation invariance, image scale invariance, robust matching across affine distortion, addition of noise and change in 3D viewpoint and illumination.

Unconditional nonlinear exponential stability in the Benard problem; Stabilita' nonlineare esponenziale incondizionata nel problema di Be'nard per ina miscela: condizioni necessarie e sufficienti.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mulione, G. [Catania, Univ. (Italy). Dip. di Matematica; Rionero, S. [Napoli, Univ. (Italy). Dip. di Matematica e applicazioni

1998-07-01

The Lyapunov direct method is applied to study nonlinear stability of a basic motionless state to imposed linear temperature and concentration fields of a binary fluid mixture heated and salted from below, in the Oberbeck-Boussinesq scheme. Stress-free and rigid surfaces are considered and absence of Hopf bifurcation is assumed. We prove the coincidence of the linear and (unconditional) nonlinear critical stability limits, when the ratio between the Schmidt and the Prandtl numbers is less or equal to 1. Precisely, we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions of unconditional nonlinear exponential stability of the basic motionless state. [Italian] Si applica il metodo diretto di Lyapunov allo studio della stabilita' non lineare esponenziale della soluzione di conduzione-diffusione di una miscela fluida binaria riscaldata e salata da sotto, nello schema di Oberbeck-Boussinesq. Si considerano superfici rigide e 'stress-free'; si supponeche non ci sia biforcazione di Hpf. Supposto che il rapporto fra i numeri di Schmidt e di Prandtl e' minore o uguale a 1, si prova la coincidenza tra i paramentri critici della stabilita' lineare e non lineare. Si ottengono condizioni necessarie e sufficienti di stabilita' non lineare esponenziale del moto base.

Security scanning of Web sites at CERN

CERN Multimedia

IT Department

2010-01-01

As of early 2010, the CERN Computer Security Team will start regular scanning of all Web sites and Web applications at CERN, visible on the Internet, or on the General Purpose Network (office network). The goal of this scanning is to improve the quality of CERN Web sites. All deficits found will be reported by e-mail to the relevant Web site owners, and must be fixed in a timely manner. Web site owners may also request one-off scans of their Web site or Web application, by sending an e-mail to Computer.Security@cern.ch. These Web scans are designed to limit the impact on the scanned Web sites. Nevertheless, in very rare cases scans may cause undesired side-effects, e.g. generate a large number of log entries, or cause particularly badly designed or less robust Web applications to crash. If a Web site is affected by these security scans, it will also be susceptible to any more aggressive scan that can be performed any time by a malicious attacker. Such Web applications should be fixed, and also additionally...

Conceptual Dimension of Problems of Joint Activity of the State and Civil Society Institutes on Ensuring National Security of the Russian Federation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gulyaikhin Vyacheslav N.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the article the main methodological approaches to the problem of interaction of institutes of the state and civil society in the context of ensuring national security of Russia are analyzed. Two main alternative concepts (liberal and etatist to which the Russian researchers adhere are allocated. Supporters of liberal approach suppose that domination of the interests of civil society and ensuring equal cooperation with government institutions at the solution of problems of ensuring national security is necessary. Adherents of the etatist concept defend an unconditional priority of government bodies in this sphere. The authors provide the conceptual analysis of estimates by domestic researchers of the main activities of associations of the citizens connected with the counteraction to threats of national security. In the article positive impact of institutes of civil society on political and social and economic processes in Russia is noted, their assistance in development of the state institutes of the state and the potential of constructive interaction with federal and regional authorities on ensuring national security is estimated. The detailed analysis of the politological concept according to which more active participation of public organizations and socially responsible citizens in ensuring national security is necessary, is carried out. Their influence on development of a security system has to become more and more considerable because of social and economic problems which are objectively demanding participation of civil society in their decision-making. It is connected also with the need of modernization breakthrough, not possible without civil initiatives. In the article the conclusion that the Russian researchers attach great value to interaction of institutes of the state and civil society in ensuring national security of the Russian Federation is drawn, conceptually proving the need of their joint activity for this direction, and

Abrasive blasting, a technique for the industrial decontamination of metal components and concrete blocks from decommissioning to unconditional release levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gills, R.; Lewandowski, P.; Ooms, B.; Reusen, N.; Van Laer, W.; Walthery, R.

2007-01-01

When decommissioning nuclear installations, large quantities of metal components are produced as well as significant amounts of other radioactive materials, which mostly show low surface contamination. Having been used or having been brought for a while in a controlled area marks them as 'suspected material'. In view of the very high costs for radioactive waste processing and disposal, alternatives have been considered, and much effort has gone to recycling through decontamination, melting and unconditional release of metals. In a broader context, recycling of materials can considered to be a first order ecological priority in order to limit the quantities of radioactive wastes for final disposal and to reduce the technical and economic problems involved with the management of radioactive wastes. It will help as well to make economic use of primary material and to conserve natural resources of basic material for future generations. In a demonstration programme, Belgoprocess has shown that it is economically interesting to decontaminate metal components to unconditional release levels using dry abrasive blasting techniques, the unit cost for decontamination being only 30 % of the global cost for radioactive waste treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal. As a result, an industrial dry abrasive blasting unit was installed in the Belgoprocess central decontamination infrastructure. At the end of December 2006, more than 1,128 Mg of contaminated metal has been treated as well as 313 Mg of concrete blocks. The paper gives an overview of the experience relating to the decontamination of metal material and concrete blocks at the decommissioning of the Eurochemic reprocessing plant in Dessel, Belgium as well from the decontamination of concrete containers by abrasive blasting. (authors)

Quantum tagging: Authenticating location via quantum information and relativistic signaling constraints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kent, Adrian; Munro, William J.; Spiller, Timothy P. [Centre for Quantum Information and Foundations, DAMTP, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom and Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada); NTT Basic Research Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1 Morinosato-Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa 243-0198 (Japan); Quantum Information Science, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT (United Kingdom)

2011-07-15

We define the task of quantum tagging, that is, authenticating the classical location of a classical tagging device by sending and receiving quantum signals from suitably located distant sites, in an environment controlled by an adversary whose quantum information processing and transmitting power is unbounded. We define simple security models for this task and briefly discuss alternatives. We illustrate the pitfalls of naive quantum cryptographic reasoning in this context by describing several protocols which at first sight appear unconditionally secure but which, as we show, can in fact be broken by teleportation-based attacks. We also describe some protocols which cannot be broken by these specific attacks, but do not prove they are unconditionally secure. We review the history of quantum tagging protocols, and show that protocols previously proposed by Malaney and Chandran et al. are provably insecure.

Robust video watermarking via optimization algorithm for quantization of pseudo-random semi-global statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Kucukgoz, Mehmet; Harmanci, Oztan; Mihcak, Mehmet K.; Venkatesan, Ramarathnam

2005-03-01

In this paper, we propose a novel semi-blind video watermarking scheme, where we use pseudo-random robust semi-global features of video in the three dimensional wavelet transform domain. We design the watermark sequence via solving an optimization problem, such that the features of the mark-embedded video are the quantized versions of the features of the original video. The exact realizations of the algorithmic parameters are chosen pseudo-randomly via a secure pseudo-random number generator, whose seed is the secret key, that is known (resp. unknown) by the embedder and the receiver (resp. by the public). We experimentally show the robustness of our algorithm against several attacks, such as conventional signal processing modifications and adversarial estimation attacks.

Research on improving image recognition robustness by combining multiple features with associative memory

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Dongwei; Wang, Zhe

2018-05-01

Convolutional neural networks (CNN) achieve great success in computer vision, it can learn hierarchical representation from raw pixels and has outstanding performance in various image recognition tasks [1]. However, CNN is easy to be fraudulent in terms of it is possible to produce images totally unrecognizable to human eyes that CNNs believe with near certainty are familiar objects. [2]. In this paper, an associative memory model based on multiple features is proposed. Within this model, feature extraction and classification are carried out by CNN, T-SNE and exponential bidirectional associative memory neural network (EBAM). The geometric features extracted from CNN and the digital features extracted from T-SNE are associated by EBAM. Thus we ensure the recognition of robustness by a comprehensive assessment of the two features. In our model, we can get only 8% error rate with fraudulent data. In systems that require a high safety factor or some key areas, strong robustness is extremely important, if we can ensure the image recognition robustness, network security will be greatly improved and the social production efficiency will be extremely enhanced.

Non-negative Tensor Factorization for Robust Exploratory Big-Data Analytics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alexandrov, Boian [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Vesselinov, Velimir Valentinov [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Djidjev, Hristo Nikolov [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2018-01-17

Currently, large multidimensional datasets are being accumulated in almost every field. Data are: (1) collected by distributed sensor networks in real-time all over the globe, (2) produced by large-scale experimental measurements or engineering activities, (3) generated by high-performance simulations, and (4) gathered by electronic communications and socialnetwork activities, etc. Simultaneous analysis of these ultra-large heterogeneous multidimensional datasets is often critical for scientific discoveries, decision-making, emergency response, and national and global security. The importance of such analyses mandates the development of the next-generation of robust machine learning (ML) methods and tools for bigdata exploratory analysis.

Secure and robust authentication for DC MicroGrids based on power talk communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Angjelichinoski, Marko; Danzi, Pietro; Stefanovic, Cedomir

2017-01-01

We propose a novel framework for secure and reliable authentication of Distributed Energy Resources to the centralized secondary/tertiary control system of a DC MicroGrid (MG), networked using the IEEE 802.11 wireless interface. The key idea is to perform the authentication using power talk...... - a powerline communication technique executed by the primary control loops of the power electronic converters. In addition, the scheme also promotes direct and active participation of the control system in the authentication process, a feature not commonly encountered in current networked control systems...

Applications and Security of Next-Generation, User-Centric Wireless Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danfeng Yao

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Pervasive wireless systems have significantly improved end-users’ quality of life. As manufacturing costs decrease, communications bandwidth increases, and contextual information is made more readily available, the role of next generation wireless systems in facilitating users’ daily activities will grow. Unique security and privacy issues exist in these wireless, context-aware, often decentralized systems. For example, the pervasive nature of such systems allows adversaries to launch stealthy attacks against them. In this review paper, we survey several emergent personal wireless systems and their applications. These systems include mobile social networks, active implantable medical devices, and consumer products. We explore each system’s usage of contextual information and provide insight into its security vulnerabilities. Where possible, we describe existing solutions for defendingagainst these vulnerabilities. Finally, we point out promising future research directions for improving these systems’ robustness and security

Defining robustness protocols: a method to include and evaluate robustness in clinical plans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGowan, S E; Albertini, F; Lomax, A J; Thomas, S J

2015-01-01

We aim to define a site-specific robustness protocol to be used during the clinical plan evaluation process. Plan robustness of 16 skull base IMPT plans to systematic range and random set-up errors have been retrospectively and systematically analysed. This was determined by calculating the error-bar dose distribution (ebDD) for all the plans and by defining some metrics used to define protocols aiding the plan assessment. Additionally, an example of how to clinically use the defined robustness database is given whereby a plan with sub-optimal brainstem robustness was identified. The advantage of using different beam arrangements to improve the plan robustness was analysed. Using the ebDD it was found range errors had a smaller effect on dose distribution than the corresponding set-up error in a single fraction, and that organs at risk were most robust to the range errors, whereas the target was more robust to set-up errors. A database was created to aid planners in terms of plan robustness aims in these volumes. This resulted in the definition of site-specific robustness protocols. The use of robustness constraints allowed for the identification of a specific patient that may have benefited from a treatment of greater individuality. A new beam arrangement showed to be preferential when balancing conformality and robustness for this case. The ebDD and error-bar volume histogram proved effective in analysing plan robustness. The process of retrospective analysis could be used to establish site-specific robustness planning protocols in proton therapy. These protocols allow the planner to determine plans that, although delivering a dosimetrically adequate dose distribution, have resulted in sub-optimal robustness to these uncertainties. For these cases the use of different beam start conditions may improve the plan robustness to set-up and range uncertainties. (paper)

Defining robustness protocols: a method to include and evaluate robustness in clinical plans

Science.gov (United States)

McGowan, S. E.; Albertini, F.; Thomas, S. J.; Lomax, A. J.

2015-04-01

We aim to define a site-specific robustness protocol to be used during the clinical plan evaluation process. Plan robustness of 16 skull base IMPT plans to systematic range and random set-up errors have been retrospectively and systematically analysed. This was determined by calculating the error-bar dose distribution (ebDD) for all the plans and by defining some metrics used to define protocols aiding the plan assessment. Additionally, an example of how to clinically use the defined robustness database is given whereby a plan with sub-optimal brainstem robustness was identified. The advantage of using different beam arrangements to improve the plan robustness was analysed. Using the ebDD it was found range errors had a smaller effect on dose distribution than the corresponding set-up error in a single fraction, and that organs at risk were most robust to the range errors, whereas the target was more robust to set-up errors. A database was created to aid planners in terms of plan robustness aims in these volumes. This resulted in the definition of site-specific robustness protocols. The use of robustness constraints allowed for the identification of a specific patient that may have benefited from a treatment of greater individuality. A new beam arrangement showed to be preferential when balancing conformality and robustness for this case. The ebDD and error-bar volume histogram proved effective in analysing plan robustness. The process of retrospective analysis could be used to establish site-specific robustness planning protocols in proton therapy. These protocols allow the planner to determine plans that, although delivering a dosimetrically adequate dose distribution, have resulted in sub-optimal robustness to these uncertainties. For these cases the use of different beam start conditions may improve the plan robustness to set-up and range uncertainties.

Could Regulator Materialize Potential Demand for Islamic Securities? Evidence from Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bayu Kariastanto

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Objective – The objective of this paper is to provide a discussion whether Islamic securities enjoy larger demands than conventional securities. This paper also investigate whether regulator could effectively take a role in materializing demands for Islamic securities and whether regulator declaration is more convincing than sharia compliance declaration by another institution.Methods - We employ differences in differences (DID regression to see the immediate, medium, and long term market response to this announcement. We also estimate cumulative abnormal returns by employing the standard market model for the robustness test.Results - We find that market reacts to sharia compliance declaration by regulator in the long-run, hence potential demands are realized and the Islamic securities will enjoy greater market power. We also provide evidence that Islamic investors are not too strict in screening Islamic securities and are willing to accept different opinions regarding sharia compliance.Conclusion - This finding could explain why Islamic finance is still growing rapidly even though there are critiques in the genuineness of sharia compliance of the current Islamic financial products/services.Keywords: Regulator, Islamic securities, sharia compliance, demand, investor confidence

Privacy and Security Issues Surrounding the Protection of Data Generated by Continuous Glucose Monitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Britton, Katherine E; Britton-Colonnese, Jennifer D

2017-03-01

Being able to track, analyze, and use data from continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and through platforms and apps that communicate with CGMs helps achieve better outcomes and can advance the understanding of diabetes. The risks to patients' expectation of privacy are great, and their ability to control how their information is collected, stored, and used is virtually nonexistent. Patients' physical security is also at risk if adequate cybersecurity measures are not taken. Currently, data privacy and security protections are not robust enough to address the privacy and security risks and stymies the current and future benefits of CGM and the platforms and apps that communicate with them.

Security of Color Image Data Designed by Public-Key Cryptosystem Associated with 2D-DWT

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, D. C.; Sharma, R. K.; Kumar, Manish; Kumar, Kuldeep

2014-08-01

In present times the security of image data is a major issue. So, we have proposed a novel technique for security of color image data by public-key cryptosystem or asymmetric cryptosystem. In this technique, we have developed security of color image data using RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) cryptosystem with two-dimensional discrete wavelet transform (2D-DWT). Earlier proposed schemes for security of color images designed on the basis of keys, but this approach provides security of color images with the help of keys and correct arrangement of RSA parameters. If the attacker knows about exact keys, but has no information of exact arrangement of RSA parameters, then the original information cannot be recovered from the encrypted data. Computer simulation based on standard example is critically examining the behavior of the proposed technique. Security analysis and a detailed comparison between earlier developed schemes for security of color images and proposed technique are also mentioned for the robustness of the cryptosystem.

Cryptanalysis and Improvement of the Robust and Blind Watermarking Scheme for Dual Color Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai Nan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available With more color images being widely used on the Internet, the research on embedding color watermark image into color host image has been receiving more attention. Recently, Su et al. have proposed a robust and blind watermarking scheme for dual color image, in which the main innovation is the using of two-level DCT. However, it has been demonstrated in this paper that the original scheme in Su’s study is not secure and can be attacked by our proposed method. In addition, some errors in the original scheme have been pointed out. Also, an improvement measure is presented to enhance the security of the original watermarking scheme. The proposed method has been confirmed by both theoretical analysis and experimental results.

Securing OFDM over Wireless Time-Varying Channels Using Subcarrier Overloading with Joint Signal Constellations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gill R. Tsouri

2009-01-01

Full Text Available A method of overloading subcarriers by multiple transmitters to secure OFDM in wireless time-varying channels is proposed and analyzed. The method is based on reverse piloting, superposition modulation, and joint decoding. It makes use of channel randomness, reciprocity, and fast decorrelation in space to secure OFDM with low overheads on encryption, decryption, and key distribution. These properties make it a good alternative to traditional software-based information security algorithms in systems where the costs associated with such algorithms are an implementation obstacle. A necessary and sufficient condition for achieving information theoretic security in accordance with channel and system parameters is derived. Security by complexity is assessed for cases where the condition for information theoretic security is not satisfied. In addition, practical means for implementing the method are derived including generating robust joint constellations, decoding data with low complexity, and mitigating the effects of imperfections due to mobility, power control errors, and synchronization errors.

Cryptanalysis and security improvements of 'two-factor user authentication in wireless sensor networks'.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Muhammad Khurram; Alghathbar, Khaled

2010-01-01

User authentication in wireless sensor networks (WSN) is a critical security issue due to their unattended and hostile deployment in the field. Since sensor nodes are equipped with limited computing power, storage, and communication modules; authenticating remote users in such resource-constrained environments is a paramount security concern. Recently, M.L. Das proposed a two-factor user authentication scheme in WSNs and claimed that his scheme is secure against different kinds of attack. However, in this paper, we show that the M.L. Das-scheme has some critical security pitfalls and cannot be recommended for real applications. We point out that in his scheme: users cannot change/update their passwords, it does not provide mutual authentication between gateway node and sensor node, and is vulnerable to gateway node bypassing attack and privileged-insider attack. To overcome the inherent security weaknesses of the M.L. Das-scheme, we propose improvements and security patches that attempt to fix the susceptibilities of his scheme. The proposed security improvements can be incorporated in the M.L. Das-scheme for achieving a more secure and robust two-factor user authentication in WSNs.

A robust uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Fengtong

2013-12-01

User authentication plays an important role to protect resources or services from being accessed by unauthorized users. In a recent paper, Das et al. proposed a secure and efficient uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care. This scheme uses three factors, e.g. biometrics, password, and smart card, to protect the security. It protects user privacy and is believed to have many abilities to resist a range of network attacks, even if the secret information stored in the smart card is compromised. In this paper, we analyze the security of Das et al.'s scheme, and show that the scheme is in fact insecure against the replay attack, user impersonation attacks and off-line guessing attacks. Then, we also propose a robust uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care. Compared with the existing schemes, our protocol uses a different user authentication mechanism to resist replay attack. We show that our proposed scheme can provide stronger security than previous protocols. Furthermore, we demonstrate the validity of the proposed scheme through the BAN (Burrows, Abadi, and Needham) logic.

Methods for robustness programming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olieman, N.J.

2008-01-01

Robustness of an object is defined as the probability that an object will have properties as required. Robustness Programming (RP) is a mathematical approach for Robustness estimation and Robustness optimisation. An example in the context of designing a food product, is finding the best composition

Nuclear security: A global response to a global threat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amano, Yukiya

2016-01-01

The threat of nuclear terrorism is real. The possibility of criminals getting hold of nuclear and other radioactive material cannot be ruled out. Much progress has been made in tackling this threat nationally, regionally and globally, but more needs to be done. International cooperation is vital. As the global platform for cooperation in nuclear security, the IAEA helps countries to establish and maintain robust and sustainable national nuclear security regimes. We help ensure that measures are taken to protect nuclear and other radioactive material, as well as the facilities in which such material is housed, from malicious acts. This has been an important year for nuclear security with the entry into force of the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. This establishes legally binding commitments for countries to protect nuclear facilities as well as nuclear material in domestic use, storage and transport. I encourage all countries that have not yet done so to adhere to this Amendment and thereby contribute to a stronger global nuclear security regime. In this edition of the IAEA Bulletin, you will learn about the different areas of security where our work is making a real difference. We highlight the progress made in a number of countries.

Secure relay selection based on learning with negative externality in wireless networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Caidan; Xiao, Liang; Kang, Shan; Chen, Guiquan; Li, Yunzhou; Huang, Lianfen

2013-12-01

In this paper, we formulate relay selection into a Chinese restaurant game. A secure relay selection strategy is proposed for a wireless network, where multiple source nodes send messages to their destination nodes via several relay nodes, which have different processing and transmission capabilities as well as security properties. The relay selection utilizes a learning-based algorithm for the source nodes to reach their best responses in the Chinese restaurant game. In particular, the relay selection takes into account the negative externality of relay sharing among the source nodes, which learn the capabilities and security properties of relay nodes according to the current signals and the signal history. Simulation results show that this strategy improves the user utility and the overall security performance in wireless networks. In addition, the relay strategy is robust against the signal errors and deviations of some user from the desired actions.

Robustness of Structural Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Canisius, T.D.G.; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Baker, J.W.

2007-01-01

The importance of robustness as a property of structural systems has been recognised following several structural failures, such as that at Ronan Point in 1968,where the consequenceswere deemed unacceptable relative to the initiating damage. A variety of research efforts in the past decades have...... attempted to quantify aspects of robustness such as redundancy and identify design principles that can improve robustness. This paper outlines the progress of recent work by the Joint Committee on Structural Safety (JCSS) to develop comprehensive guidance on assessing and providing robustness in structural...... systems. Guidance is provided regarding the assessment of robustness in a framework that considers potential hazards to the system, vulnerability of system components, and failure consequences. Several proposed methods for quantifying robustness are reviewed, and guidelines for robust design...

Robustness in laying hens

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Star, L.

2008-01-01

The aim of the project ‘The genetics of robustness in laying hens’ was to investigate nature and regulation of robustness in laying hens under sub-optimal conditions and the possibility to increase robustness by using animal breeding without loss of production. At the start of the project, a robust

Effects of ketamine on the unconditioned and conditioned locomotor activity of preadolescent and adolescent rats: impact of age, sex, and drug dose.

Science.gov (United States)

McDougall, Sanders A; Moran, Andrea E; Baum, Timothy J; Apodaca, Matthew G; Real, Vanessa

2017-09-01

Ketamine is used by preadolescent and adolescent humans for licit and illicit purposes. The goal of the present study was to determine the effects of acute and repeated ketamine treatment on the unconditioned behaviors and conditioned locomotor activity of preadolescent and adolescent rats. To assess unconditioned behaviors, female and male rats were injected with ketamine (5-40 mg/kg), and distance traveled was measured on postnatal day (PD) 21-25 or PD 41-45. To assess conditioned activity, male and female rats were injected with saline or ketamine in either a novel test chamber or the home cage on PD 21-24 or PD 41-44. One day later, rats were injected with saline and conditioned activity was assessed. Ketamine produced a dose-dependent increase in the locomotor activity of preadolescent and adolescent rats. Preadolescent rats did not exhibit sex differences, but ketamine-induced locomotor activity was substantially stronger in adolescent females than males. Repeated ketamine treatment neither caused a day-dependent increase in locomotor activity nor produced conditioned activity in preadolescent or adolescent rats. The activity-enhancing effects of ketamine are consistent with the actions of an indirect dopamine agonist, while the inability of ketamine to induce conditioned activity is unlike what is observed after repeated cocaine or amphetamine treatment. This dichotomy could be due to ketamine's ability to both enhance DA neurotransmission and antagonize N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Additional research will be necessary to parse out the relative contributions of DA and NMDA system functioning when assessing the behavioral effects of ketamine during early ontogeny.

Medical image security using modified chaos-based cryptography approach

Science.gov (United States)

Talib Gatta, Methaq; Al-latief, Shahad Thamear Abd

2018-05-01

The progressive development in telecommunication and networking technologies have led to the increased popularity of telemedicine usage which involve storage and transfer of medical images and related information so security concern is emerged. This paper presents a method to provide the security to the medical images since its play a major role in people healthcare organizations. The main idea in this work based on the chaotic sequence in order to provide efficient encryption method that allows reconstructing the original image from the encrypted image with high quality and minimum distortion in its content and doesn’t effect in human treatment and diagnosing. Experimental results prove the efficiency of the proposed method using some of statistical measures and robust correlation between original image and decrypted image.

Smart Secure Homes: A Survey of Smart Home Technologies that Sense, Assess, and Respond to Security Threats.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahmen, Jessamyn; Cook, Diane J; Wang, Xiaobo; Honglei, Wang

2017-08-01

Smart home design has undergone a metamorphosis in recent years. The field has evolved from designing theoretical smart home frameworks and performing scripted tasks in laboratories. Instead, we now find robust smart home technologies that are commonly used by large segments of the population in a variety of settings. Recent smart home applications are focused on activity recognition, health monitoring, and automation. In this paper, we take a look at another important role for smart homes: security. We first explore the numerous ways smart homes can and do provide protection for their residents. Next, we provide a comparative analysis of the alternative tools and research that has been developed for this purpose. We investigate not only existing commercial products that have been introduced but also discuss the numerous research that has been focused on detecting and identifying potential threats. Finally, we close with open challenges and ideas for future research that will keep individuals secure and healthy while in their own homes.

Analysis of Vehicle-Based Security Operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carter, Jason M [ORNL; Paul, Nate R [ORNL

2015-01-01

Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications promises to increase roadway safety by providing each vehicle with 360 degree situational awareness of other vehicles in proximity, and by complementing onboard sensors such as radar or camera in detecting imminent crash scenarios. In the United States, approximately three hundred million automobiles could participate in a fully deployed V2V system if Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) device use becomes mandatory. The system s reliance on continuous communication, however, provides a potential means for unscrupulous persons to transmit false data in an attempt to cause crashes, create traffic congestion, or simply render the system useless. V2V communications must be highly scalable while retaining robust security and privacy preserving features to meet the intra-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication requirements for a growing vehicle population. Oakridge National Research Laboratory is investigating a Vehicle-Based Security System (VBSS) to provide security and privacy for a fully deployed V2V and V2I system. In the VBSS an On-board Unit (OBU) generates short-term certificates and signs Basic Safety Messages (BSM) to preserve privacy and enhance security. This work outlines a potential VBSS structure and its operational concepts; it examines how a vehicle-based system might feasibly provide security and privacy, highlights remaining challenges, and explores potential mitigations to address those challenges. Certificate management alternatives that attempt to meet V2V security and privacy requirements have been examined previously by the research community including privacy-preserving group certificates, shared certificates, and functional encryption. Due to real-world operational constraints, adopting one of these approaches for VBSS V2V communication is difficult. Timely misbehavior detection and revocation are still open problems for any V2V system. We explore the alternative approaches that may be

Security Challenges in Smart-Grid Metering and Control Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinxin Fan

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The smart grid is a next-generation power system that is increasingly attracting the attention of government, industry, and academia. It is an upgraded electricity network that depends on two-way digital communications between supplier and consumer that in turn give support to intelligent metering and monitoring systems. Considering that energy utilities play an increasingly important role in our daily life, smart-grid technology introduces new security challenges that must be addressed. Deploying a smart grid without adequate security might result in serious consequences such as grid instability, utility fraud, and loss of user information and energy-consumption data. Due to the heterogeneous communication architecture of smart grids, it is quite a challenge to design sophisticated and robust security mechanisms that can be easily deployed to protect communications among different layers of the smart grid-infrastructure. In this article, we focus on the communication-security aspect of a smart-grid metering and control system from the perspective of cryptographic techniques, and we discuss different mechanisms to enhance cybersecurity of the emerging smart grid. We aim to provide a comprehensive vulnerability analysis as well as novel insights on the cybersecurity of a smart grid.

Towards effective and robust list-based packet filter for signature-based network intrusion detection: an engineering approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meng, Weizhi; Li, Wenjuan; Kwok, Lam For

2017-01-01

Network intrusion detection systems (NIDSs) which aim to identify various attacks, have become an essential part of current security infrastructure. In particular, signature-based NIDSs are being widely implemented in industry due to their low rate of false alarms. However, the signature matching...... this problem, packet filtration is a promising solution to reduce unwanted traffic. Motivated by this, in this work, a list-based packet filter was designed and an engineering method of combining both blacklist and whitelist techniques was introduced. To further secure such filters against IP spoofing attacks...... in traffic filtration as well as workload reduction, and is robust against IP spoofing attacks....

You Should Be the Specialist! Weak Mental Rotation Performance in Aviation Security Screeners - Reduced Performance Level in Aviation Security with No Gender Effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Krüger, Jenny K; Suchan, Boris

2016-01-01

Aviation security screeners analyze a large number of X-ray images per day and seem to be experts in mentally rotating diverse kinds of visual objects. A robust gender-effect that men outperform women in the Vandenberg & Kuse mental rotation task has been well documented over the last years. In addition it has been shown that training can positively influence the overall task-performance. Considering this, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether security screeners show better performance in the Mental Rotation Test (MRT) independently of gender. Forty-seven security screeners of both sexes from two German airports were examined with a computer based MRT. Their performance was compared to a large sample of control subjects. The well-known gender-effect favoring men on mental rotation was significant within the control group. However, the security screeners did not show any sex differences suggesting an effect of training and professional performance. Surprisingly this specialized group showed a lower level of overall MRT performance than the control participants. Possible aviation related influences such as secondary effects of work-shift or expertise which can cumulatively cause this result are discussed.

Cryptanalysis and Security Improvements of ‘Two-Factor User Authentication in Wireless Sensor Networks’

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Khurram Khan

2010-03-01

Full Text Available User authentication in wireless sensor networks (WSN is a critical security issue due to their unattended and hostile deployment in the field. Since sensor nodes are equipped with limited computing power, storage, and communication modules; authenticating remote users in such resource-constrained environments is a paramount security concern. Recently, M.L. Das proposed a two-factor user authentication scheme in WSNs and claimed that his scheme is secure against different kinds of attack. However, in this paper, we show that the M.L. Das-scheme has some critical security pitfalls and cannot be recommended for real applications. We point out that in his scheme: users cannot change/update their passwords, it does not provide mutual authentication between gateway node and sensor node, and is vulnerable to gateway node bypassing attack and privileged-insider attack. To overcome the inherent security weaknesses of the M.L. Das-scheme, we propose improvements and security patches that attempt to fix the susceptibilities of his scheme. The proposed security improvements can be incorporated in the M.L. Das-scheme for achieving a more secure and robust two-factor user authentication in WSNs.

Nuclear material facilities - security systems and technology R and D trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellis, D.; Steele, B.

2002-01-01

Full text: In the US, physical security research and development (R and D) during the 1970s and 1980s created a body of technology and systems engineering that largely defined the industry for several decades. However, despite today's terrorists threats and risks, the overall funding of new and innovative physical security solutions is relatively very small. Such factors constraining physical security R and D include the expansion of overall security responsibilities, the emphasis on programmatic and business performance, in addition to evolving (mis)perceptions that 'the problem has been solved' or that 'anyone can do security'. Underlying these factors, the lack of robust standards and certifications has limited the development and application of physical security products, systems, and services. The research and development of new security technologies must be evaluated against very demanding constraints - including costs/benefits, emerging threats, and policies. Going forward, the goal will be to create a more comprehensive approach to physical security of nuclear material facilities that matches evolving threats and that will complement the transition to an integrated security/operations management environment. Such a management model evaluates the additional value of increasing security alternatives in addition to determining trade-offs between the programmatic mission and security issues. Correspondingly, more explicit and strategically useful measures must be developed to determine importance that, in turn, will influence security-related R and D efforts. The research and development of security technologies should be based upon identified needs and requirements resulting from a systematic analysis of the threat and other conditions. In particular, security technologies and systems must be evaluated in terms of current and long-term impacts. Such needs are (will be) diverse and will depend upon sustained research investments in a broad range of technologies

Robust Growth Determinants

OpenAIRE

Doppelhofer, Gernot; Weeks, Melvyn

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the robustness of determinants of economic growth in the presence of model uncertainty, parameter heterogeneity and outliers. The robust model averaging approach introduced in the paper uses a flexible and parsi- monious mixture modeling that allows for fat-tailed errors compared to the normal benchmark case. Applying robust model averaging to growth determinants, the paper finds that eight out of eighteen variables found to be significantly related to economic growth ...

Efficient and Security Enhanced Anonymous Authentication with Key Agreement Scheme in Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Jaewook; Moon, Jongho; Lee, Donghoon; Won, Dongho

2017-03-21

At present, users can utilize an authenticated key agreement protocol in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to securely obtain desired information, and numerous studies have investigated authentication techniques to construct efficient, robust WSNs. Chang et al. recently presented an authenticated key agreement mechanism for WSNs and claimed that their authentication mechanism can both prevent various types of attacks, as well as preserve security properties. However, we have discovered that Chang et al's method possesses some security weaknesses. First, their mechanism cannot guarantee protection against a password guessing attack, user impersonation attack or session key compromise. Second, the mechanism results in a high load on the gateway node because the gateway node should always maintain the verifier tables. Third, there is no session key verification process in the authentication phase. To this end, we describe how the previously-stated weaknesses occur and propose a security-enhanced version for WSNs. We present a detailed analysis of the security and performance of our authenticated key agreement mechanism, which not only enhances security compared to that of related schemes, but also takes efficiency into consideration.

But you should be the specialist! Weak Mental Rotation Performance in Aviation Security Screeners.Reduced performance level in aviation security with no gender effect.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenny Kathinka Krüger

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Aviation security screeners analyze a large number of X-ray images per day and seem to be experts in mentally rotating diverse kinds of visual objects. A robust gender-effect that men outperform women in the Vandenberg & Kuse mental rotation task has been well documented over the last years. In addition it has been shown that training can positively influence the overall task-performance. Considering this, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether security screeners show better performance in the Mental Rotation Test (MRT independently of gender. Forty-seven security screeners of both sexes from two German airports were examined with a computer based MRT. Their performance was compared to a large sample of control subjects. The well-known gender-effect favoring men on mental rotation was significant within the control group. However, the security screeners did not show any sex differences suggesting an effect of training and professional performance. Surprisingly this specialized group showed a lower level of overall MRT performance than the control participants. Possible aviation related influences such as secondary effects of work-shift or expertise which can cumulatively cause this result are discussed.

The REFANI-N study protocol: a cluster-randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of early initiation and longer duration of emergency/seasonal unconditional cash transfers for the prevention of acute malnutrition among children, 6-59 months, in Tahoua, Niger.

Science.gov (United States)

Sibson, Victoria L; Grijalva-Eternod, Carlos S; Bourahla, Leila; Haghparast-Bidgoli, Hassan; Morrison, Joanna; Puett, Chloe; Trenouth, Lani; Seal, Andrew

2015-12-23

The global burden of acute malnutrition among children remains high, and prevalence rates are highest in humanitarian contexts such as Niger. Unconditional cash transfers are increasingly used to prevent acute malnutrition in emergencies but lack a strong evidence base. In Niger, non-governmental organisations give unconditional cash transfers to the poorest households from June to September; the 'hunger gap'. However, rising admissions to feeding programmes from March/April suggest the intervention may be late. This cluster-randomised controlled trial will compare two types of unconditional cash transfer for 'very poor' households in 'vulnerable' villages defined and identified by the implementing organisation. 3,500 children (6-59 months) and 2,500 women (15-49 years) will be recruited exhaustively from households targeted for cash and from a random sample of non-recipient households in 40 villages in Tahoua district. Clusters of villages with a common cash distribution point will be assigned to either a control group which will receive the standard intervention (n = 10), or a modified intervention group (n = 10). The standard intervention is 32,500 FCFA/month for 4 months, June to September, given cash-in-hand to female representatives of 'very poor' households. The modified intervention is 21,500 FCFA/month for 5 months, April, May, July, August, September, and 22,500 FCFA in June, providing the same total amount. In both arms the recipient women attend an education session, women and children are screened and referred for acute malnutrition treatment, and the households receive nutrition supplements for children 6-23 months and pregnant and lactating women. The trial will evaluate whether the modified unconditional cash transfer leads to a reduction in acute malnutrition among children 6-59 months old compared to the standard intervention. The sample size provides power to detect a 5 percentage point difference in prevalence of acute malnutrition between trial

Unconditional government cash transfers in support of orphaned and vulnerable adolescents in western Kenya: Is there an association with psychological wellbeing?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sylvia Shangani

Full Text Available Orphaned and vulnerable adolescents (OVA in sub-Saharan Africa are at greater risk for adverse psychological outcomes compared with their non-OVA counterparts. Social interventions that provide cash transfers (CTs have been shown to improve health outcomes among young people, but little is known about their impact on the psychological wellbeing of OVA.Among OVA in western Kenya, we assessed the association between living in a household that received monthly unconditional government CTs and psychological wellbeing.We examined the likelihood of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS and positive future outlook among 655 OVA aged between 10 and 18 years who lived in 300 randomly selected households in western Kenya that either received or did not receive unconditional monthly CTs.The mean age was 14.0 (SD 2.4 years and 329 (50.2% of the participants were female while 190 (29.0% were double orphans whose biological parents were both deceased. After adjusting for socio-demographic, caregiver, and household characteristics and accounting for potential effects of participant clustering by sub-location of residence, OVA living in CT households were more likely to have a positive future outlook (odds ratio [OR] 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08, 1.99, less likely to be anxious (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.42, 0.78, and less likely to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.29, 0.89. We did not find statistically significant differences in odds of depression by CT group.OVA in CT households reported better psychological wellbeing compared to those in households not receiving CTs. CT interventions may be effective for improving psychological wellbeing among vulnerable adolescents in socioeconomically deprived households.

Independent mediation of unconditioned motor behavior by striatal D1 and D2 receptors in rats depleted of dopamine as neonates.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruno, J P; Byrnes, E M; Johnson, B J

1995-11-01

The effects of systemic administration of DA receptor antagonists suggest that unconditioned motor behavior in rats depleted of DA as neonates continues to be dependent upon dopaminergic transmission, yet the specific contribution of D1 and D2 receptors to these behaviors has been altered. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether these depletion-induced receptor changes are occurring at the level of striatal DA terminals and their targets. The ability of bilateral intrastriatal injections (0.5 microliter) of DA receptor antagonists to induce motoric deficits was determined in adult rats treated with vehicle or 6-OHDA (100 micrograms, intraventricular) on postnatal day 3. Administration of the D1-like antagonist SCH 23390 (0.5-2.0 micrograms) or the D2-like antagonist clebopride (1.0-4.0 micrograms) induced dose-dependent akinesia, catalepsy, and somatosensory neglect in vehicle-treated controls. In contrast, neither antagonist produced deficits in rats depleted of forebrain DA as neonates. However, combined administration of SCH 23390 + clebopride induced similar akinesia, catalepsy, and somatosensory neglect in both controls and DA depleted animals. Animals depleted of DA were more sensitive than controls to the low doses of this combined D1 + D2 antagonism. These results demonstrate that activation of striatal DA receptors remains necessary for unconditioned motor behavior in rats depleted of DA as neonates. However, the specific contributions of D1- and D2-like receptors to these behaviors differ between intact animals and those depleted of DA as neonates. The ability of endogenous DA acting at either D1 or D2 receptors to support spontaneous motor behavior in rats depleted of DA as neonates may contribute to their relative sparing from parkinsonian deficits.

Secure physical layer using dynamic permutations in cognitive OFDMA systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meucci, F.; Wardana, Satya Ardhy; Prasad, Neeli R.

2009-01-01

This paper proposes a novel lightweight mechanism for a secure Physical (PHY) layer in Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). User's data symbols are mapped over the physical subcarriers with a permutation formula. The PHY layer is secured...... with a random and dynamic subcarrier permutation which is based on a single pre-shared information and depends on Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA). The dynamic subcarrier permutation is varying over time, geographical location and environment status, resulting in a very robust protection that ensures...... confidentiality. The method is shown to be effective also for existing non-cognitive systems. The proposed mechanism is effective against eavesdropping even if the eavesdropper adopts a long-time patterns analysis, thus protecting cryptography techniques of higher layers. The correlation properties...

Child emotional security and interparental conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Patrick T; Harold, Gordon T; Goeke-Morey, Marcie C; Cummings, E Mark; Shelton, Katherine; Rasi, Jennifer A

2002-01-01

Guided by the emotional security hypothesis developed by Davies & Cummings (1994), studies were conducted to test a conceptual refinement of children's adjustment to parental conflict in relation to hypotheses of other prominent theories. Study 1 examined whether the pattern of child responses to simulations of adult conflict tactics and topics was consistent with the emotional security hypothesis and social learning theory in a sample of 327 Welsh children. Supporting the emotional security hypothesis, child reports of fear, avoidance, and involvement were especially prominent responses to destructive conflict. Study 2 examined the relative roles of child emotional insecurity and social-cognitive appraisals in accounting for associations between parental conflict and child psychological symptoms in a sample of 285 Welsh children and parents. Findings indicated that child emotional insecurity was a robust intervening process in the prospective links between parental conflict and child maladjustment even when intervening processes proposed in the social-cognitive models were included in the analyses. Studies 3 and 4 explored pathways among parental conflict, child emotional insecurity, and psychological adjustment in the broader family context with a sample of 174 children and mothers. Supporting the emotional security hypothesis, Study 3 findings indicated that child insecurity continued to mediate the link between parental conflict and child maladjustment even after specifying the effects of other parenting processes. Parenting difficulties accompanying interparental conflict were related to child maladjustment through their association with insecure parent-child attachment. In support of the emotional security hypothesis, Study 4 findings indicated that family instability, parenting difficulties, and parent-child attachment insecurity potentiated mediational pathways among parental conflict, child insecurity, and maladjustment. Family cohesiveness, interparental

Bigdata Driven Cloud Security: A Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Raja, K.; Hanifa, Sabibullah Mohamed

2017-08-01

Cloud Computing (CC) is a fast-growing technology to perform massive-scale and complex computing. It eliminates the need to maintain expensive computing hardware, dedicated space, and software. Recently, it has been observed that massive growth in the scale of data or big data generated through cloud computing. CC consists of a front-end, includes the users’ computers and software required to access the cloud network, and back-end consists of various computers, servers and database systems that create the cloud. In SaaS (Software as-a-Service - end users to utilize outsourced software), PaaS (Platform as-a-Service-platform is provided) and IaaS (Infrastructure as-a-Service-physical environment is outsourced), and DaaS (Database as-a-Service-data can be housed within a cloud), where leading / traditional cloud ecosystem delivers the cloud services become a powerful and popular architecture. Many challenges and issues are in security or threats, most vital barrier for cloud computing environment. The main barrier to the adoption of CC in health care relates to Data security. When placing and transmitting data using public networks, cyber attacks in any form are anticipated in CC. Hence, cloud service users need to understand the risk of data breaches and adoption of service delivery model during deployment. This survey deeply covers the CC security issues (covering Data Security in Health care) so as to researchers can develop the robust security application models using Big Data (BD) on CC (can be created / deployed easily). Since, BD evaluation is driven by fast-growing cloud-based applications developed using virtualized technologies. In this purview, MapReduce [12] is a good example of big data processing in a cloud environment, and a model for Cloud providers.

A robust ECC based mutual authentication protocol with anonymity for session initiation protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehmood, Zahid; Chen, Gongliang; Li, Jianhua; Li, Linsen; Alzahrani, Bander

2017-01-01

Over the past few years, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is found as a substantial application-layer protocol for the multimedia services. It is extensively used for managing, altering, terminating and distributing the multimedia sessions. Authentication plays a pivotal role in SIP environment. Currently, Lu et al. presented an authentication protocol for SIP and profess that newly proposed protocol is protected against all the familiar attacks. However, the detailed analysis describes that the Lu et al.'s protocol is exposed against server masquerading attack and user's masquerading attack. Moreover, it also fails to protect the user's identity as well as it possesses incorrect login and authentication phase. In order to establish a suitable and efficient protocol, having ability to overcome all these discrepancies, a robust ECC-based novel mutual authentication mechanism with anonymity for SIP is presented in this manuscript. The improved protocol contains an explicit parameter for user to cope the issues of security and correctness and is found to be more secure and relatively effective to protect the user's privacy, user's masquerading and server masquerading as it is verified through the comprehensive formal and informal security analysis.

A robust ECC based mutual authentication protocol with anonymity for session initiation protocol.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahid Mehmood

Full Text Available Over the past few years, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP is found as a substantial application-layer protocol for the multimedia services. It is extensively used for managing, altering, terminating and distributing the multimedia sessions. Authentication plays a pivotal role in SIP environment. Currently, Lu et al. presented an authentication protocol for SIP and profess that newly proposed protocol is protected against all the familiar attacks. However, the detailed analysis describes that the Lu et al.'s protocol is exposed against server masquerading attack and user's masquerading attack. Moreover, it also fails to protect the user's identity as well as it possesses incorrect login and authentication phase. In order to establish a suitable and efficient protocol, having ability to overcome all these discrepancies, a robust ECC-based novel mutual authentication mechanism with anonymity for SIP is presented in this manuscript. The improved protocol contains an explicit parameter for user to cope the issues of security and correctness and is found to be more secure and relatively effective to protect the user's privacy, user's masquerading and server masquerading as it is verified through the comprehensive formal and informal security analysis.

A Study on the Security Levels of Spread-Spectrum Embedding Schemes in the WOA Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuan-Gen; Zhu, Guopu; Kwong, Sam; Shi, Yun-Qing

2017-08-23

Security analysis is a very important issue for digital watermarking. Several years ago, according to Kerckhoffs' principle, the famous four security levels, namely insecurity, key security, subspace security, and stego-security, were defined for spread-spectrum (SS) embedding schemes in the framework of watermarked-only attack. However, up to now there has been little application of the definition of these security levels to the theoretical analysis of the security of SS embedding schemes, due to the difficulty of the theoretical analysis. In this paper, based on the security definition, we present a theoretical analysis to evaluate the security levels of five typical SS embedding schemes, which are the classical SS, the improved SS (ISS), the circular extension of ISS, the nonrobust and robust natural watermarking, respectively. The theoretical analysis of these typical SS schemes are successfully performed by taking advantage of the convolution of probability distributions to derive the probabilistic models of watermarked signals. Moreover, simulations are conducted to illustrate and validate our theoretical analysis. We believe that the theoretical and practical analysis presented in this paper can bridge the gap between the definition of the four security levels and its application to the theoretical analysis of SS embedding schemes.

Security Analysis of Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution in Collective-Rotation Noisy Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Na; Zhang, Yu; Wen, Shuang; Li, Lei-lei; Li, Jian

2018-01-01

Noise is a problem that communication channels cannot avoid. It is, thus, beneficial to analyze the security of MDI-QKD in noisy environment. An analysis model for collective-rotation noise is introduced, and the information theory methods are used to analyze the security of the protocol. The maximum amount of information that Eve can eavesdrop is 50%, and the eavesdropping can always be detected if the noise level ɛ ≤ 0.68. Therefore, MDI-QKD protocol is secure as quantum key distribution protocol. The maximum probability that the relay outputs successful results is 16% when existing eavesdropping. Moreover, the probability that the relay outputs successful results when existing eavesdropping is higher than the situation without eavesdropping. The paper validates that MDI-QKD protocol has better robustness.

Robustness of structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vrouwenvelder, T.; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2009-01-01

After the collapse of the World Trade Centre towers in 2001 and a number of collapses of structural systems in the beginning of the century, robustness of structural systems has gained renewed interest. Despite many significant theoretical, methodical and technological advances, structural...... of robustness for structural design such requirements are not substantiated in more detail, nor have the engineering profession been able to agree on an interpretation of robustness which facilitates for its uantification. A European COST action TU 601 on ‘Robustness of structures' has started in 2007...... by a group of members of the CSS. This paper describes the ongoing work in this action, with emphasis on the development of a theoretical and risk based quantification and optimization procedure on the one side and a practical pre-normative guideline on the other....

A lightweight and secure two factor anonymous authentication protocol for Global Mobility Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Global Mobility Networks(GLOMONETs) in wireless communication permits the global roaming services that enable a user to leverage the mobile services in any foreign country. Technological growth in wireless communication is also accompanied by new security threats and challenges. A threat-proof authentication protocol in wireless communication may overcome the security flaws by allowing only legitimate users to access a particular service. Recently, Lee et al. found Mun et al. scheme vulnerable to different attacks and proposed an advanced secure scheme to overcome the security flaws. However, this article points out that Lee et al. scheme lacks user anonymity, inefficient user authentication, vulnerable to replay and DoS attacks and Lack of local password verification. Furthermore, this article presents a more robust anonymous authentication scheme to handle the threats and challenges found in Lee et al.’s protocol. The proposed protocol is formally verified with an automated tool(ProVerif). The proposed protocol has superior efficiency in comparison to the existing protocols. PMID:29702675

Study to Improve Security for IoT Smart Device Controller: Drawbacks and Countermeasures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Su

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Including mobile environment, conventional security mechanisms have been adapted to satisfy the needs of users. However, the device environment-IoT-based number of connected devices is quite different to the previous traditional desktop PC- or mobile-based environment. Based on the IoT, different kinds of smart and mobile devices are fully connected automatically via device controller, such as smartphone. Therefore, controller must be secure compared to conventional security mechanism. According to the existing security threats, these are quite different from the previous ones. Thus, the countermeasures applied should be changed. However, the smart device-based authentication techniques that have been proposed to date are not adequate in terms of usability and security. From the viewpoint of usability, the environment is based on mobility, and thus devices are designed and developed to enhance their owners’ efficiency. Thus, in all applications, there is a need to consider usability, even when the application is a security mechanism. Typically, mobility is emphasized over security. However, considering that the major characteristic of a device controller is deeply related to its owner’s private information, a security technique that is robust to all kinds of attacks is mandatory. In this paper, we focus on security. First, in terms of security achievement, we investigate and categorize conventional attacks and emerging issues and then analyze conventional and existing countermeasures, respectively. Finally, as countermeasure concepts, we propose several representative methods.

Ultra Safe And Secure Blasting System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hart, M M

2009-07-27

The Ultra is a blasting system that is designed for special applications where the risk and consequences of unauthorized demolition or blasting are so great that the use of an extraordinarily safe and secure blasting system is justified. Such a blasting system would be connected and logically welded together through digital code-linking as part of the blasting system set-up and initialization process. The Ultra's security is so robust that it will defeat the people who designed and built the components in any attempt at unauthorized detonation. Anyone attempting to gain unauthorized control of the system by substituting components or tapping into communications lines will be thwarted in their inability to provide encrypted authentication. Authentication occurs through the use of codes that are generated by the system during initialization code-linking and the codes remain unknown to anyone, including the authorized operator. Once code-linked, a closed system has been created. The system requires all components connected as they were during initialization as well as a unique code entered by the operator for function and blasting.

Robust free-space optical communication for indoor information environment

Science.gov (United States)

Nakada, Toyohisa; Itoh, Hideo; Kunifuji, Susumu; Nakashima, Hideyuki

2003-10-01

The purpose of our study is to establish a robust communication, while keeping security and privacy, between a handheld communicator and the surrounding information environment. From the viewpoint of low power consumption, we have been developing a reflectivity modulating communication module composed of a liquid crystal light modulator and a corner-reflecting mirror sheet. We installed a corner-reflecting sheet instead of light scattering sheet in a handheld videogame machine with a display screen with a reflection-type liquid crystal. Infrared (IR) LED illuminator attached next to the IR camera of a base station illuminates all the room, and the terminal send their data to the base station by switching ON and OFF of the reflected IR beam. Intensity of reflected light differs with the position and the direction of the terminal, and sometimes the intensity of OFF signal at a certain condition is brighter than that of ON signal at another condition. To improve the communication quality, use of machine learning technique is a possibility of the solution. In this paper, we compare various machine learning techniques for the purpose of free space optical communication, and propose a new algorithm that improves the robustness of the data link. Evaluation using an actual free-space communication system is also described.

Physical Layer Built-In Security Analysis and Enhancement Algorithms for CDMA Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Tongtong

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Historically developed for secure communication and military use, CDMA has been identified as a major modulation and multiple-access technique for 3G systems and beyond. In addition to the wide bandwidth and low power-spectrum density which make CDMA signals robust to narrowband jamming and easy to be concealed within the noise floor, the physical layer built-in information privacy of CDMA system is provided by pseudorandom scrambling. In this paper, first, security weakness of the operational and proposed CDMA airlink interfaces is analyzed. Second, based on the advanced encryption standard (AES, we propose to enhance the physical layer built-in security of CDMA systems through secure scrambling. Performance analysis demonstrates that while providing significantly improved information privacy, CDMA systems with secure scrambling have comparable computational complexity and overall system performance with that of conventionally scrambled systems. Moreover, it is shown that by scrambling the training sequence and the message sequence separately with two independent scrambling sequences, both information privacy and system performance can be further improved. The proposed scheme can readily be applied to 3G systems and beyond.

Robustness of Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2008-01-01

This paper describes the background of the robustness requirements implemented in the Danish Code of Practice for Safety of Structures and in the Danish National Annex to the Eurocode 0, see (DS-INF 146, 2003), (DS 409, 2006), (EN 1990 DK NA, 2007) and (Sørensen and Christensen, 2006). More...... frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure combined with increased requirements to efficiency in design and execution followed by increased risk of human errors has made the need of requirements to robustness of new structures essential....... According to Danish design rules robustness shall be documented for all structures in high consequence class. The design procedure to document sufficient robustness consists of: 1) Review of loads and possible failure modes / scenarios and determination of acceptable collapse extent; 2) Review...

Dynamics robustness of cascading systems.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan T Young

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A most important property of biochemical systems is robustness. Static robustness, e.g., homeostasis, is the insensitivity of a state against perturbations, whereas dynamics robustness, e.g., homeorhesis, is the insensitivity of a dynamic process. In contrast to the extensively studied static robustness, dynamics robustness, i.e., how a system creates an invariant temporal profile against perturbations, is little explored despite transient dynamics being crucial for cellular fates and are reported to be robust experimentally. For example, the duration of a stimulus elicits different phenotypic responses, and signaling networks process and encode temporal information. Hence, robustness in time courses will be necessary for functional biochemical networks. Based on dynamical systems theory, we uncovered a general mechanism to achieve dynamics robustness. Using a three-stage linear signaling cascade as an example, we found that the temporal profiles and response duration post-stimulus is robust to perturbations against certain parameters. Then analyzing the linearized model, we elucidated the criteria of when signaling cascades will display dynamics robustness. We found that changes in the upstream modules are masked in the cascade, and that the response duration is mainly controlled by the rate-limiting module and organization of the cascade's kinetics. Specifically, we found two necessary conditions for dynamics robustness in signaling cascades: 1 Constraint on the rate-limiting process: The phosphatase activity in the perturbed module is not the slowest. 2 Constraints on the initial conditions: The kinase activity needs to be fast enough such that each module is saturated even with fast phosphatase activity and upstream changes are attenuated. We discussed the relevance of such robustness to several biological examples and the validity of the above conditions therein. Given the applicability of dynamics robustness to a variety of systems, it

Robust and distributed hypothesis testing

CERN Document Server

Gül, Gökhan

2017-01-01

This book generalizes and extends the available theory in robust and decentralized hypothesis testing. In particular, it presents a robust test for modeling errors which is independent from the assumptions that a sufficiently large number of samples is available, and that the distance is the KL-divergence. Here, the distance can be chosen from a much general model, which includes the KL-divergence as a very special case. This is then extended by various means. A minimax robust test that is robust against both outliers as well as modeling errors is presented. Minimax robustness properties of the given tests are also explicitly proven for fixed sample size and sequential probability ratio tests. The theory of robust detection is extended to robust estimation and the theory of robust distributed detection is extended to classes of distributions, which are not necessarily stochastically bounded. It is shown that the quantization functions for the decision rules can also be chosen as non-monotone. Finally, the boo...

Robustness Property of Robust-BD Wald-Type Test for Varying-Dimensional General Linear Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao Guo

2018-03-01

Full Text Available An important issue for robust inference is to examine the stability of the asymptotic level and power of the test statistic in the presence of contaminated data. Most existing results are derived in finite-dimensional settings with some particular choices of loss functions. This paper re-examines this issue by allowing for a diverging number of parameters combined with a broader array of robust error measures, called “robust- BD ”, for the class of “general linear models”. Under regularity conditions, we derive the influence function of the robust- BD parameter estimator and demonstrate that the robust- BD Wald-type test enjoys the robustness of validity and efficiency asymptotically. Specifically, the asymptotic level of the test is stable under a small amount of contamination of the null hypothesis, whereas the asymptotic power is large enough under a contaminated distribution in a neighborhood of the contiguous alternatives, thus lending supports to the utility of the proposed robust- BD Wald-type test.

An Improved and Secure Biometric Authentication Scheme for Telecare Medicine Information Systems Based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhry, Shehzad Ashraf; Mahmood, Khalid; Naqvi, Husnain; Khan, Muhammad Khurram

2015-11-01

Telecare medicine information system (TMIS) offers the patients convenient and expedite healthcare services remotely anywhere. Patient security and privacy has emerged as key issues during remote access because of underlying open architecture. An authentication scheme can verify patient's as well as TMIS server's legitimacy during remote healthcare services. To achieve security and privacy a number of authentication schemes have been proposed. Very recently Lu et al. (J. Med. Syst. 39(3):1-8, 2015) proposed a biometric based three factor authentication scheme for TMIS to confiscate the vulnerabilities of Arshad et al.'s (J. Med. Syst. 38(12):136, 2014) scheme. Further, they emphasized the robustness of their scheme against several attacks. However, in this paper we establish that Lu et al.'s scheme is vulnerable to numerous attacks including (1) Patient anonymity violation attack, (2) Patient impersonation attack, and (3) TMIS server impersonation attack. Furthermore, their scheme does not provide patient untraceability. We then, propose an improvement of Lu et al.'s scheme. We have analyzed the security of improved scheme using popular automated tool ProVerif. The proposed scheme while retaining the plusses of Lu et al.'s scheme is also robust against known attacks.

A Taxonomy for Enhancing Usability, Flexibility, and Security of User Authentication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan Gottschlich

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Two technology trends – a move toward software defined capabilities and toward networked devices – support both unprecedented innovations and requirements for security. A fundamental aspect of security is user authentication, which allows devices and software applications to establish their user’s identity and identity is in turn used to establish which of its capabilities the user is authorized to access. While multiple authentication steps, known as multifactor authentication, are being used more widely throughout the military, government, businesses, and consumer sectors, the selection and implementation of which authentication factors to require is typically defined by security policy. Security policy is in turn typically established by a security organization that may have no formal metrics or means to guide its selection of authentication factors. This paper will present a taxonomy for describing authentication factors including important attributes that characterize authentication robustness to aid in the selection of factors that are consistent with the user’s mission. One particular authentication factor that I have developed will be discussed in the context of this taxonomy to motivate the need to broaden current definitions and security policies. The ultimate goal of this paper is to inspire the development of standards for authentication technologies to both support mission aware authentication innovation and to inform decision making about security policies concerning user authentication and authorization. Further, this paper aims to demonstrate that such an approach will fundamentally enhance both security and usability of increasingly networked, software-defined devices, equipment and software applications.

Parallel Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution

OpenAIRE

Jain, Rahul; Miller, Carl A.; Shi, Yaoyun

2017-01-01

A prominent application of quantum cryptography is the distribution of cryptographic keys with unconditional security. Recently, such security was extended by Vazirani and Vidick (Physical Review Letters, 113, 140501, 2014) to the device-independent (DI) scenario, where the users do not need to trust the integrity of the underlying quantum devices. The protocols analyzed by them and by subsequent authors all require a sequential execution of N multiplayer games, where N is the security parame...

Security research roadmap; Security-tutkimuksen roadmap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naumanen, M.; Rouhiainen, V. (eds.)

2006-02-15

Requirements for increasing security have arisen in Europe after highly visible and tragic events in Madrid and in London. While responsibility for security rests largely with the national activities, the EU has also started planning a research area .Space and security. as a part of the 7th Framework Programme. As the justification for this research area it has been presented that technology alone can not assure security, but security can not be assured without the support of technology. Furthermore, the justification highlights that security and military research are becoming ever closer. The old separation between civil and military research is decreasing, because it has been noticed that both areas are nowadays utilising the same knowledge. In Finland, there is already now noteworthy entrepreneurship related to security. Although some of the companies are currently only operating in Finland, others are already international leaders in their area. The importance of the security area is increasing and remarkable potential for new growth business areas can already be identified. This however also requires an increase in research efforts. VTT has a broad range of security research ongoing in many technology areas. The main areas have been concentrating on public safety and security, but VTT is participating also in several research projects related to the defence technology. For identifying and defining in more detail the expertise and research goals, the Security research roadmap was developed. The roadmap identified three particularly significant areas related to security. The assurance of critical infrastructure emphasises the protection of energy networks, information networks, water supply, traffic and transport, and obviously also the citizens. For assuring the activities of entrepreneurship, significant areas include the security of production and services, the security of sites and assets, and information security for embedded systems. The most important

INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY (CYBER SECURITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Siddique Ansari

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract - Business Organizations and Government unequivocally relies on upon data to deal with their business operations. The most unfavorable impact on association is disappointment of friendship, goodness, trustworthiness, legitimacy and probability of data and administrations. There is an approach to ensure data and to deal with the IT framework's Security inside association. Each time the new innovation is made, it presents some new difficulties for the insurance of information and data. To secure the information and data in association is imperative on the grounds that association nowadays inside and remotely joined with systems of IT frameworks. IT structures are inclined to dissatisfaction and security infringement because of slips and vulnerabilities. These slips and vulnerabilities can be brought on by different variables, for example, quickly creating headway, human slip, poor key particulars, poor movement schedules or censuring the threat. Likewise, framework changes, new deserts and new strikes are a huge piece of the time displayed, which helpers augmented vulnerabilities, disappointments and security infringement all through the IT structure life cycle. The business went to the confirmation that it is essentially difficult to ensure a slip free, risk free and secure IT structure in perspective of the disfigurement of the disavowing security parts, human pass or oversight, and part or supplies frustration. Totally secure IT frameworks don't exist; just those in which the holders may have changing degrees of certainty that security needs of a framework are fulfilled do. The key viewpoints identified with security of data outlining are examined in this paper. From the start, the paper recommends pertinent legitimate structure and their duties including open association obligation, and afterward it returns to present and future time, system limits, structure security in business division. At long last, two key inadequacy markers

A Fast Enhanced Secure Image Chaotic Cryptosystem Based on Hybrid Chaotic Magic Transform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Srinivas Koppu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An enhanced secure image chaotic cryptosystem has been proposed based on hybrid CMT-Lanczos algorithm. We have achieved fast encryption and decryption along with privacy of images. The pseudorandom generator has been used along with Lanczos algorithm to generate root characteristics and eigenvectors. Using hybrid CMT image, pixels are shuffled to accomplish excellent randomness. Compared with existing methods, the proposed method had more robustness to various attacks: brute-force attack, known cipher plaintext, chosen-plaintext, security key space, key sensitivity, correlation analysis and information entropy, and differential attacks. Simulation results show that the proposed methods give better result in protecting images with low-time complexity.

Robustness Beamforming Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sajad Dehghani

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Adaptive beamforming methods are known to degrade in the presence of steering vector and covariance matrix uncertinity. In this paper, a new approach is presented to robust adaptive minimum variance distortionless response beamforming make robust against both uncertainties in steering vector and covariance matrix. This method minimize a optimization problem that contains a quadratic objective function and a quadratic constraint. The optimization problem is nonconvex but is converted to a convex optimization problem in this paper. It is solved by the interior-point method and optimum weight vector to robust beamforming is achieved.

Control Systems Cyber Security:Defense in Depth Strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David Kuipers; Mark Fabro

2006-05-01

Information infrastructures across many public and private domains share several common attributes regarding IT deployments and data communications. This is particularly true in the control systems domain. A majority of the systems use robust architectures to enhance business and reduce costs by increasing the integration of external, business, and control system networks. However, multi-network integration strategies often lead to vulnerabilities that greatly reduce the security of an organization, and can expose mission-critical control systems to cyber threats. This document provides guidance and direction for developing ‘defense-in-depth’ strategies for organizations that use control system networks while maintaining a multi-tier information architecture that requires: Maintenance of various field devices, telemetry collection, and/or industrial-level process systems Access to facilities via remote data link or modem Public facing services for customer or corporate operations A robust business environment that requires connections among the control system domain, the external Internet, and other peer organizations.

Upper bounds for the security of two distributed-phase reference protocols of quantum cryptography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Branciard, Cyril; Gisin, Nicolas; Scarani, Valerio

2008-01-01

The differential-phase-shift (DPS) and the coherent-one-way (COW) are among the most practical protocols for quantum cryptography, and are therefore the object of fast-paced experimental developments. The assessment of their security is also a challenge for theorists: the existing tools, that allow to prove security against the most general attacks, do not apply to these two protocols in any straightforward way. We present new upper bounds for their security in the limit of large distances (d∼>50 km with typical values in optical fibers) by considering a large class of collective attacks, namely those in which the adversary attaches ancillary quantum systems to each pulse or to each pair of pulses. We introduce also two modified versions of the COW protocol, which may prove more robust than the original one

Design and Hardware Implementation of a New Chaotic Secure Communication Technique.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Xiong

Full Text Available In this paper, a scheme for chaotic modulation secure communication is proposed based on chaotic synchronization of an improved Lorenz system. For the first time, the intensity limit and stability of the transmitted signal, the characteristics of broadband and the requirements for accuracy of electronic components are presented by Multisim simulation. In addition, some improvements are made on the measurement method and the proposed experimental circuit in order to facilitate the experiments of chaotic synchronization, chaotic non-synchronization, experiment without signal and experiment with signal. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, some numerical simulations are presented. Then, the proposed chaotic secure communication circuit is implemented through analog electronic circuit, which is characterized by its high accuracy and good robustness.

Design and Hardware Implementation of a New Chaotic Secure Communication Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Li; Lu, Yan-Jun; Zhang, Yong-Fang; Zhang, Xin-Guo; Gupta, Parag

2016-01-01

In this paper, a scheme for chaotic modulation secure communication is proposed based on chaotic synchronization of an improved Lorenz system. For the first time, the intensity limit and stability of the transmitted signal, the characteristics of broadband and the requirements for accuracy of electronic components are presented by Multisim simulation. In addition, some improvements are made on the measurement method and the proposed experimental circuit in order to facilitate the experiments of chaotic synchronization, chaotic non-synchronization, experiment without signal and experiment with signal. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, some numerical simulations are presented. Then, the proposed chaotic secure communication circuit is implemented through analog electronic circuit, which is characterized by its high accuracy and good robustness.

A resilient and secure software platform and architecture for distributed spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Otte, William R.; Dubey, Abhishek; Karsai, Gabor

2014-06-01

A distributed spacecraft is a cluster of independent satellite modules flying in formation that communicate via ad-hoc wireless networks. This system in space is a cloud platform that facilitates sharing sensors and other computing and communication resources across multiple applications, potentially developed and maintained by different organizations. Effectively, such architecture can realize the functions of monolithic satellites at a reduced cost and with improved adaptivity and robustness. Openness of these architectures pose special challenges because the distributed software platform has to support applications from different security domains and organizations, and where information flows have to be carefully managed and compartmentalized. If the platform is used as a robust shared resource its management, configuration, and resilience becomes a challenge in itself. We have designed and prototyped a distributed software platform for such architectures. The core element of the platform is a new operating system whose services were designed to restrict access to the network and the file system, and to enforce resource management constraints for all non-privileged processes Mixed-criticality applications operating at different security labels are deployed and controlled by a privileged management process that is also pre-configuring all information flows. This paper describes the design and objective of this layer.

An enhanced security solution for electronic medical records based on AES hybrid technique with SOAP/XML and SHA-1.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiah, M L Mat; Nabi, Mohamed S; Zaidan, B B; Zaidan, A A

2013-10-01

This study aims to provide security solutions for implementing electronic medical records (EMRs). E-Health organizations could utilize the proposed method and implement recommended solutions in medical/health systems. Majority of the required security features of EMRs were noted. The methods used were tested against each of these security features. In implementing the system, the combination that satisfied all of the security features of EMRs was selected. Secure implementation and management of EMRs facilitate the safeguarding of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of e-health organization systems. Health practitioners, patients, and visitors can use the information system facilities safely and with confidence anytime and anywhere. After critically reviewing security and data transmission methods, a new hybrid method was proposed to be implemented on EMR systems. This method will enhance the robustness, security, and integration of EMR systems. The hybrid of simple object access protocol/extensible markup language (XML) with advanced encryption standard and secure hash algorithm version 1 has achieved the security requirements of an EMR system with the capability of integrating with other systems through the design of XML messages.

Robustness Analyses of Timber Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkegaard, Poul Henning; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Hald, Frederik

2013-01-01

The robustness of structural systems has obtained a renewed interest arising from a much more frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure. In order to minimise the likelihood of such disproportionate structural failures, many mo...... with respect to robustness of timber structures and will discuss the consequences of such robustness issues related to the future development of timber structures.......The robustness of structural systems has obtained a renewed interest arising from a much more frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure. In order to minimise the likelihood of such disproportionate structural failures, many...... modern building codes consider the need for the robustness of structures and provide strategies and methods to obtain robustness. Therefore, a structural engineer may take necessary steps to design robust structures that are insensitive to accidental circumstances. The present paper summaries issues...

Scalable Arbitrated Quantum Signature of Classical Messages with Multi-Signers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Yuguang; Wang Yuan; Teng Yiwei; Chai Haiping; Wen Qiaoyan

2010-01-01

Unconditionally secure signature is an important part of quantum cryptography. Usually, a signature scheme only provides an environment for a single signer. Nevertheless, in real applications, many signers may collaboratively send a message to the verifier and convince the verifier that the message is actually transmitted by them. In this paper, we give a scalable arbitrated signature protocol of classical messages with multi-signers. Its security is analyzed and proved to be secure even with a compromised arbitrator. (general)

Improved E-Banking System With Advanced Encryption Standards And Security Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharaaf N. A.

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Emerging new Technologies and large scale businesses have made this world a global village. Many business organizations provide online services targeting global consumer bases. Transaction in international scale has been enabled by banks all around the world through E-banking in order to supply the needs of above business organizations. E-banking serves lots of benefits to both customers of banks and banks itself. It adds value to customers satisfaction with better service quality and enables banks to gain a competitive advantage over other competitors. Online banking need to possess high level security in order to provide safe consistent and robust online environment which guarantees secure data transmission and identity of both bank and customer. Lack of security may lead to less trust or hard to trust attitude towards online banking. Although customers are attracted by online banking convenience they seem largely in concern about identity theft and phishing. Analysis of many research papers on e-banking security models and their respective advantages and disadvantages have been discussed in literature review. Username password E-banking dongles fractal images biometric scans and advanced encryption standards are some of the suggested solutions for E-banking security. This study focuses on the security beyond above mechanisms. This paper ensures security of online banking at three levels. At client side using internet dongle integrated with finger print scanning technology at banking sever side and data transmission level. This model also includes username password and advanced encryption for further security. Complete description on the model has been discussed in methodology section. Future works on this topic and Conclusion are covered in separate sections.

Resilient and Robust High Performance Computing Platforms for Scientific Computing Integrity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Yier [Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL (United States)

2017-07-14

As technology advances, computer systems are subject to increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks that compromise both their security and integrity. High performance computing platforms used in commercial and scientific applications involving sensitive, or even classified data, are frequently targeted by powerful adversaries. This situation is made worse by a lack of fundamental security solutions that both perform efficiently and are effective at preventing threats. Current security solutions fail to address the threat landscape and ensure the integrity of sensitive data. As challenges rise, both private and public sectors will require robust technologies to protect its computing infrastructure. The research outcomes from this project try to address all these challenges. For example, we present LAZARUS, a novel technique to harden kernel Address Space Layout Randomization (KASLR) against paging-based side-channel attacks. In particular, our scheme allows for fine-grained protection of the virtual memory mappings that implement the randomization. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by hardening a recent Linux kernel with LAZARUS, mitigating all of the previously presented side-channel attacks on KASLR. Our extensive evaluation shows that LAZARUS incurs only 0.943% overhead for standard benchmarks, and is therefore highly practical. We also introduced HA2lloc, a hardware-assisted allocator that is capable of leveraging an extended memory management unit to detect memory errors in the heap. We also perform testing using HA2lloc in a simulation environment and find that the approach is capable of preventing common memory vulnerabilities.

What is Security? A perspective on achieving security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Atencio, Julian J.

2014-05-05

This presentation provides a perspective on achieving security in an organization. It touches upon security as a mindset, ability to adhere to rules, cultivating awareness of the reason for a security mindset, the quality of a security program, willingness to admit fault or acknowledge failure, peer review in security, science as a model that can be applied to the security profession, the security vision, security partnering, staleness in the security program, security responsibilities, and achievement of success over time despite the impossibility of perfection.

International Conference on Robust Statistics

CERN Document Server

Filzmoser, Peter; Gather, Ursula; Rousseeuw, Peter

2003-01-01

Aspects of Robust Statistics are important in many areas. Based on the International Conference on Robust Statistics 2001 (ICORS 2001) in Vorau, Austria, this volume discusses future directions of the discipline, bringing together leading scientists, experienced researchers and practitioners, as well as younger researchers. The papers cover a multitude of different aspects of Robust Statistics. For instance, the fundamental problem of data summary (weights of evidence) is considered and its robustness properties are studied. Further theoretical subjects include e.g.: robust methods for skewness, time series, longitudinal data, multivariate methods, and tests. Some papers deal with computational aspects and algorithms. Finally, the aspects of application and programming tools complete the volume.

Security and privacy preserving approaches in the eHealth clouds with disaster recovery plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahi, Aqeel; Lai, David; Li, Yan

2016-11-01

Cloud computing was introduced as an alternative storage and computing model in the health sector as well as other sectors to handle large amounts of data. Many healthcare companies have moved their electronic data to the cloud in order to reduce in-house storage, IT development and maintenance costs. However, storing the healthcare records in a third-party server may cause serious storage, security and privacy issues. Therefore, many approaches have been proposed to preserve security as well as privacy in cloud computing projects. Cryptographic-based approaches were presented as one of the best ways to ensure the security and privacy of healthcare data in the cloud. Nevertheless, the cryptographic-based approaches which are used to transfer health records safely remain vulnerable regarding security, privacy, or the lack of any disaster recovery strategy. In this paper, we review the related work on security and privacy preserving as well as disaster recovery in the eHealth cloud domain. Then we propose two approaches, the Security-Preserving approach and the Privacy-Preserving approach, and a disaster recovery plan. The Security-Preserving approach is a robust means of ensuring the security and integrity of Electronic Health Records, and the Privacy-Preserving approach is an efficient authentication approach which protects the privacy of Personal Health Records. Finally, we discuss how the integrated approaches and the disaster recovery plan can ensure the reliability and security of cloud projects. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Robust Scientists

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gorm Hansen, Birgitte

their core i nterests, 2) developing a selfsupply of industry interests by becoming entrepreneurs and thus creating their own compliant industry partner and 3) balancing resources within a larger collective of researchers, thus countering changes in the influx of funding caused by shifts in political...... knowledge", Danish research policy seems to have helped develop politically and economically "robust scientists". Scientific robustness is acquired by way of three strategies: 1) tasting and discriminating between resources so as to avoid funding that erodes academic profiles and push scientists away from...

Robust coordinated control of a dual-arm space robot

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Lingling; Kayastha, Sharmila; Katupitiya, Jay

2017-09-01

Dual-arm space robots are more capable of implementing complex space tasks compared with single arm space robots. However, the dynamic coupling between the arms and the base will have a serious impact on the spacecraft attitude and the hand motion of each arm. Instead of considering one arm as the mission arm and the other as the balance arm, in this work two arms of the space robot perform as mission arms aimed at accomplishing secure capture of a floating target. The paper investigates coordinated control of the base's attitude and the arms' motion in the task space in the presence of system uncertainties. Two types of controllers, i.e. a Sliding Mode Controller (SMC) and a nonlinear Model Predictive Controller (MPC) are verified and compared with a conventional Computed-Torque Controller (CTC) through numerical simulations in terms of control accuracy and system robustness. Both controllers eliminate the need to linearly parameterize the dynamic equations. The MPC has been shown to achieve performance with higher accuracy than CTC and SMC in the absence of system uncertainties under the condition that they consume comparable energy. When the system uncertainties are included, SMC and CTC present advantageous robustness than MPC. Specifically, in a case where system inertia increases, SMC delivers higher accuracy than CTC and costs the least amount of energy.

A Secure Mobile-Based Authentication System for e-Banking

Science.gov (United States)

Rifà-Pous, Helena

Financial information is extremely sensitive. Hence, electronic banking must provide a robust system to authenticate its customers and let them access their data remotely. On the other hand, such system must be usable, affordable, and portable. We propose a challenge-response based one-time password (OTP) scheme that uses symmetric cryptography in combination with a hardware security module. The proposed protocol safeguards passwords from keyloggers and phishing attacks. Besides, this solution provides convenient mobility for users who want to bank online anytime and anywhere, not just from their own trusted computers.

Identification of Two Disease-causing Genes TJP2 and GJB2 in a Chinese Family with Unconditional Autosomal Dominant Nonsyndromic Hereditary Hearing Impairment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong-Yang Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: There are more than 300 genetic loci that have been found to be related to hereditary hearing impairment (HHI, including 92 causative genes for nonsyndromic hearing loss, among which 34 genes are related to autosomal dominant nonsyndromic HHI (ADNSHHI. Traditional linkage analysis and candidate gene sequencing are not effective at detecting the ADNSHHI, especially for the unconditional families that may have more than one pathogenic cause. This study identified two disease-causing genes TJP2 and GJB2 in a Chinese family with unconditional ADNSHHI. Methods: To decipher the genetic code of a Chinese family (family 686 with ADNSHHI, different gene screening techniques have been performed, including linkage analysis, candidate genes screening, high-throughput sequencing and Sanger sequencing. These techniques were done on samples obtained from this family over a period of 10 years. Results: We identified a pathogenic missense mutation, c. 2081G>A (p.G694E, in TJP2, a gene that plays a crucial role in apoptosis and age-related hearing loss (ARHL. The mutation was co-segregated in this pedigree in all, but not in the two patients who presented with different phenotypes from the other affected family members. In one of the two patients, we confirmed that the compound heterozygosity for p.Y136FNx01 and p.G45E in the GJB2 gene may account for the phenotype shown in this patient. Conclusions: We identified the co-occurrence of two genetic causes in family 686. The possible disease-causing missense mutation of TJP2 in family 686 presents an opportunity for further investigation into ARHL. It is necessary to combine various genes screening methods, especially for some unconventional cases.

Robust Trust in Expert Testimony

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Christian Dahlman

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The standard of proof in criminal trials should require that the evidence presented by the prosecution is robust. This requirement of robustness says that it must be unlikely that additional information would change the probability that the defendant is guilty. Robustness is difficult for a judge to estimate, as it requires the judge to assess the possible effect of information that the he or she does not have. This article is concerned with expert witnesses and proposes a method for reviewing the robustness of expert testimony. According to the proposed method, the robustness of expert testimony is estimated with regard to competence, motivation, external strength, internal strength and relevance. The danger of trusting non-robust expert testimony is illustrated with an analysis of the Thomas Quick Case, a Swedish legal scandal where a patient at a mental institution was wrongfully convicted for eight murders.

RIDES: Robust Intrusion Detection System for IP-Based Ubiquitous Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Syed Obaid; Siddiqui, Muhammad Shoaib; Hong, Choong Seon; Lee, Sungwon

2009-01-01

The IP-based Ubiquitous Sensor Network (IP-USN) is an effort to build the "Internet of things". By utilizing IP for low power networks, we can benefit from existing well established tools and technologies of IP networks. Along with many other unresolved issues, securing IP-USN is of great concern for researchers so that future market satisfaction and demands can be met. Without proper security measures, both reactive and proactive, it is hard to envisage an IP-USN realm. In this paper we present a design of an IDS (Intrusion Detection System) called RIDES (Robust Intrusion DEtection System) for IP-USN. RIDES is a hybrid intrusion detection system, which incorporates both Signature and Anomaly based intrusion detection components. For signature based intrusion detection this paper only discusses the implementation of distributed pattern matching algorithm with the help of signature-code, a dynamically created attack-signature identifier. Other aspects, such as creation of rules are not discussed. On the other hand, for anomaly based detection we propose a scoring classifier based on the SPC (Statistical Process Control) technique called CUSUM charts. We also investigate the settings and their effects on the performance of related parameters for both of the components.

Robustness Analysis of Timber Truss Structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rajčić, Vlatka; Čizmar, Dean; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

2010-01-01

The present paper discusses robustness of structures in general and the robustness requirements given in the codes. Robustness of timber structures is also an issues as this is closely related to Working group 3 (Robustness of systems) of the COST E55 project. Finally, an example of a robustness...... evaluation of a widespan timber truss structure is presented. This structure was built few years ago near Zagreb and has a span of 45m. Reliability analysis of the main members and the system is conducted and based on this a robustness analysis is preformed....

Application of Intrusion Tolerance Technology to Joint Battlespace Infosphere (JBI)

Science.gov (United States)

2003-02-01

performance, scalability and Security Issues and Requirements for Internet-Scale Publish-Subscribe Systems Chenxi Wang, Antonio Carzaniga, David ...by the Defense Advanced Research Agency, under the agreement number F30602-96-1-0314. The work of David Evans was supported by in part by the...Future Generations of Computer Science. October 1998. [10]. D. Chaum , C. Crepeau, and I. Damgard. “Multiparty Unconditionally Secure Protocols,” In

Multiparty Quantum English Auction Scheme Using Single Photons as Message Carrier

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ge; Zhang, Jian-Zhong; Xie, Shu-Cui

2018-03-01

In this paper, a secure and economic multiparty english auction protocol using the single photons as message carrier of bids is proposed. In order to achieve unconditional security, fairness, undeniability and so on, we adopt the decoy photon checking technique and quantum encryption algorithm. Analysis result shows that our protocol satisfies all the characteristics of traditional english auction, meanwhile, it can resist malicious attacks.

A Cryptographic SoC for Robust Protection of Secret Keys in IPTV DRM Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sanghan; Yang, Hae-Yong; Yeom, Yongjin; Park, Jongsik

The security level of an internet protocol television (IPTV) digital right management (DRM) system ultimately relies on protection of secret keys. Well known devices for the key protection include smartcards and battery backup SRAMs (BB-SRAMs); however, these devices could be vulnerable to various physical attacks. In this paper, we propose a secure and cost-effective design of a cryptographic system on chip (SoC) that integrates the BB-SRAM with a cell-based design technique. The proposed SoC provides robust safeguard against the physical attacks, and satisfies high-speed and low-price requirements of IPTV set-top boxes. Our implementation results show that the maximum encryption rate of the SoC is 633Mb/s. In order to verify the data retention capabilities, we made a prototype chip using 0.18µm standard cell technology. The experimental results show that the integrated BB-SRAM can reliably retain data with a 1.4µA leakage current.

Qualitative Robustness in Estimation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Nasser

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} Qualitative robustness, influence function, and breakdown point are three main concepts to judge an estimator from the viewpoint of robust estimation. It is important as well as interesting to study relation among them. This article attempts to present the concept of qualitative robustness as forwarded by first proponents and its later development. It illustrates intricacies of qualitative robustness and its relation with consistency, and also tries to remove commonly believed misunderstandings about relation between influence function and qualitative robustness citing some examples from literature and providing a new counter-example. At the end it places a useful finite and a simulated version of   qualitative robustness index (QRI. In order to assess the performance of the proposed measures, we have compared fifteen estimators of correlation coefficient using simulated as well as real data sets.

Robustness in econometrics

CERN Document Server

Sriboonchitta, Songsak; Huynh, Van-Nam

2017-01-01

This book presents recent research on robustness in econometrics. Robust data processing techniques – i.e., techniques that yield results minimally affected by outliers – and their applications to real-life economic and financial situations are the main focus of this book. The book also discusses applications of more traditional statistical techniques to econometric problems. Econometrics is a branch of economics that uses mathematical (especially statistical) methods to analyze economic systems, to forecast economic and financial dynamics, and to develop strategies for achieving desirable economic performance. In day-by-day data, we often encounter outliers that do not reflect the long-term economic trends, e.g., unexpected and abrupt fluctuations. As such, it is important to develop robust data processing techniques that can accommodate these fluctuations.

Combination of Rivest-Shamir-Adleman Algorithm and End of File Method for Data Security

Science.gov (United States)

Rachmawati, Dian; Amalia, Amalia; Elviwani

2018-03-01

Data security is one of the crucial issues in the delivery of information. One of the ways which used to secure the data is by encoding it into something else that is not comprehensible by human beings by using some crypto graphical techniques. The Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) cryptographic algorithm has been proven robust to secure messages. Since this algorithm uses two different keys (i.e., public key and private key) at the time of encryption and decryption, it is classified as asymmetric cryptography algorithm. Steganography is a method that is used to secure a message by inserting the bits of the message into a larger media such as an image. One of the known steganography methods is End of File (EoF). In this research, the cipher text resulted from the RSA algorithm is compiled into an array form and appended to the end of the image. The result of the EoF is the image which has a line with black gradations under it. This line contains the secret message. This combination of cryptography and steganography in securing the message is expected to increase the security of the message, since the message encryption technique (RSA) is mixed with the data hiding technique (EoF).

All projects related to South Africa | Page 4 | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

South Africa has one of the largest unconditional cash transfer systems in the developing ... This grant will allow the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), through its ... to explore the causal links between weak state authority and the emergence of ...

Robust Reliability or reliable robustness? - Integrated consideration of robustness and reliability aspects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kemmler, S.; Eifler, Tobias; Bertsche, B.

2015-01-01

products are and vice versa. For a comprehensive understanding and to use existing synergies between both domains, this paper discusses the basic principles of Reliability- and Robust Design theory. The development of a comprehensive model will enable an integrated consideration of both domains...

Secure Fusion Estimation for Bandwidth Constrained Cyber-Physical Systems Under Replay Attacks.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bo; Ho, Daniel W C; Hu, Guoqiang; Yu, Li; Bo Chen; Ho, Daniel W C; Guoqiang Hu; Li Yu; Chen, Bo; Ho, Daniel W C; Hu, Guoqiang; Yu, Li

2018-06-01

State estimation plays an essential role in the monitoring and supervision of cyber-physical systems (CPSs), and its importance has made the security and estimation performance a major concern. In this case, multisensor information fusion estimation (MIFE) provides an attractive alternative to study secure estimation problems because MIFE can potentially improve estimation accuracy and enhance reliability and robustness against attacks. From the perspective of the defender, the secure distributed Kalman fusion estimation problem is investigated in this paper for a class of CPSs under replay attacks, where each local estimate obtained by the sink node is transmitted to a remote fusion center through bandwidth constrained communication channels. A new mathematical model with compensation strategy is proposed to characterize the replay attacks and bandwidth constrains, and then a recursive distributed Kalman fusion estimator (DKFE) is designed in the linear minimum variance sense. According to different communication frameworks, two classes of data compression and compensation algorithms are developed such that the DKFEs can achieve the desired performance. Several attack-dependent and bandwidth-dependent conditions are derived such that the DKFEs are secure under replay attacks. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode: Or, How Not to Design Authentication

Science.gov (United States)

Murdoch, Steven J.; Anderson, Ross

Banks worldwide are starting to authenticate online card transactions using the '3-D Secure' protocol, which is branded as Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode. This has been partly driven by the sharp increase in online fraud that followed the deployment of EMV smart cards for cardholder-present payments in Europe and elsewhere. 3-D Secure has so far escaped academic scrutiny; yet it might be a textbook example of how not to design an authentication protocol. It ignores good design principles and has significant vulnerabilities, some of which are already being exploited. Also, it provides a fascinating lesson in security economics. While other single sign-on schemes such as OpenID, InfoCard and Liberty came up with decent technology they got the economics wrong, and their schemes have not been adopted. 3-D Secure has lousy technology, but got the economics right (at least for banks and merchants); it now boasts hundreds of millions of accounts. We suggest a path towards more robust authentication that is technologically sound and where the economics would work for banks, merchants and customers - given a gentle regulatory nudge.

A Reliable Measure of Information Security Awareness and the Identification of Bias in Responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agata McCormac

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The Human Aspects of Information Security Questionnaire (HAIS-Q is designed to measure Information Security Awareness. More specifically, the tool measures an individual’s knowledge, attitude, and self-reported behaviour relating to information security in the workplace. This paper reports on the reliability of the HAIS-Q, including test-retest reliability and internal consistency. The paper also assesses the reliability of three preliminary over-claiming items, designed specifically to complement the HAIS-Q, and identify those individuals who provide socially desirable responses. A total of 197 working Australians completed two iterations of the HAIS-Q and the over-claiming items, approximately 4 weeks apart. Results of the analysis showed that the HAIS-Q was externally reliable and internally consistent. Therefore, the HAIS-Q can be used to reliably measure information security awareness. Reliability testing on the preliminary over-claiming items was not as robust and further development is required and recommended. The implications of these findings mean that organisations can confidently use the HAIS-Q to not only measure the current state of employee information security awareness within their organisation, but they can also measure the effectiveness and impacts of training interventions, information security awareness programs and campaigns. The influence of cultural changes and the effect of security incidents can also be assessed.

PMU-Aided Voltage Security Assessment for a Wind Power Plant: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, H.; Zhang, Y. C.; Zhang, J. J.; Muljadi, E.

2015-04-08

Because wind power penetration levels in electric power systems are continuously increasing, voltage stability is a critical issue for maintaining power system security and operation. The traditional methods to analyze voltage stability can be classified into two categories: dynamic and steady-state. Dynamic analysis relies on time-domain simulations of faults at different locations; however, this method needs to exhaust faults at all locations to find the security region for voltage at a single bus. With the widely located phasor measurement units (PMUs), the Thevenin equivalent matrix can be calculated by the voltage and current information collected by the PMUs. This paper proposes a method based on a Thevenin equivalent matrix to identify system locations that will have the greatest impact on the voltage at the wind power plant’s point of interconnection. The number of dynamic voltage stability analysis runs is greatly reduced by using the proposed method. The numerical results demonstrate the feasibility, effectiveness, and robustness of the proposed approach for voltage security assessment for a wind power plant.

THE INFORMATION CONFIDENTIALITY AND CYBER SECURITY IN MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SABAU-POPA CLAUDIA DIANA

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The information confidentiality and cyber security risk affects the right to confidentiality and privacy of the patient, as regulated in Romania by the Law 46/2002. The manifestation of the cyber security risk event affects the reputation of the healthcare institution and is becoming more and more complex and often due to the: development of network technology, the medical equipment connected to wifi and the electronic databases. The databases containing medical records were implemented due to automation. Thus, transforming data into medical knowledge contribute to a better understanding of the disease. Due to these factors, the measures taken by the hospital management for this type of risk are adapted to the cyber changes. The hospital objectives aim: the implementation of a robust information system, the early threats identifications and the incident reporting. Neglecting this type of risk can generate financial loss, inability to continue providing health care services for a certain period of time, providing an erroneous diagnosis, medical equipment errors etc. Thus, in a digital age the appropriate risk management for the information security and cyber risk represent a necessity. The main concern of hospitals worldwide is to align with international requirements and obtain credentials in terms of data security from the International Organisation for Standardization, which regulates the management of this type of risk. Romania is at the beginning in terms of concerns regarding the management, avoidance and mitigation of information security, the health system being most highly exposed to its manifestation. The present paper examines the concerns of the health system to the confidentiality of information and cyber security risk and its management arrangements. Thus, a set of key risk indicators is implemented and monitored for 2011-2013, using a user interface, a Dashboard, which acts as an early warning system of the manifestation of the

List randomization for soliciting experience of intimate partner violence: Application to the evaluation of Zambia's unconditional child grant program.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterman, Amber; Palermo, Tia M; Handa, Sudhanshu; Seidenfeld, David

2018-03-01

Social scientists have increasingly invested in understanding how to improve data quality and measurement of sensitive topics in household surveys. We utilize the technique of list randomization to collect measures of physical intimate partner violence in an experimental impact evaluation of the Government of Zambia's Child Grant Program. The Child Grant Program is an unconditional cash transfer, which targeted female caregivers of children under the age of 5 in rural areas to receive the equivalent of US $24 as a bimonthly stipend. The implementation results show that the list randomization methodology functioned as planned, with approximately 15% of the sample identifying 12-month prevalence of physical intimate partner violence. According to this measure, after 4 years, the program had no measurable effect on partner violence. List randomization is a promising approach to incorporate sensitive measures into multitopic evaluations; however, more research is needed to improve upon methodology for application to measurement of violence. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Computer Security: the security marathon, part 2

CERN Multimedia

Computer Security Team

2014-01-01

Do you recall our latest article on the “Security Marathon” (see here) and why it’s wrong to believe that computer security is a sprint, that a quick hack is invulnerable, that quick bug-fixing is sufficient, that plugging security measures on top of existing structures is a good idea, that once you are secure, your life is cosy?   In fact, security is a marathon for us too. Again and again, we have felt comfortable with the security situation at CERN, with dedicated protections deployed on individual hosts, with the security measures deployed by individual service managers, with the attentiveness and vigilance of our users, and with the responsiveness of the Management. Again and again, however, we subsequently detect or receive reports that this is wrong, that protections are incomplete, that security measures are incomplete, that security awareness has dropped. Thus, unfortunately, we often have to go back to square one and address similar issues over and over...

Secure Cooperation of Autonomous Mobile Sensors Using an Underwater Acoustic Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gianluca Dini

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Methodologies and algorithms are presented for the secure cooperation of a team of autonomous mobile underwater sensors, connected through an acoustic communication network, within surveillance and patrolling applications. In particular, the work proposes a cooperative algorithm in which the mobile underwater sensors (installed on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles—AUVs respond to simple local rules based on the available information to perform the mission and maintain the communication link with the network (behavioral approach. The algorithm is intrinsically robust: with loss of communication among the vehicles the coverage performance (i.e., the mission goal is degraded but not lost. The ensuing form of graceful degradation provides also a reactive measure against Denial of Service. The cooperative algorithm relies on the fact that the available information from the other sensors, though not necessarily complete, is trustworthy. To ensure trustworthiness, a security suite has been designed, specifically oriented to the underwater scenario, and in particular with the goal of reducing the communication overhead introduced by security in terms of number and size of messages. The paper gives implementation details on the integration between the security suite and the cooperative algorithm and provides statistics on the performance of the system as collected during the UAN project sea trial held in Trondheim, Norway, in May 2011.

Cost-Sensitive Learning for Emotion Robust Speaker Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongdong Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the field of information security, voice is one of the most important parts in biometrics. Especially, with the development of voice communication through the Internet or telephone system, huge voice data resources are accessed. In speaker recognition, voiceprint can be applied as the unique password for the user to prove his/her identity. However, speech with various emotions can cause an unacceptably high error rate and aggravate the performance of speaker recognition system. This paper deals with this problem by introducing a cost-sensitive learning technology to reweight the probability of test affective utterances in the pitch envelop level, which can enhance the robustness in emotion-dependent speaker recognition effectively. Based on that technology, a new architecture of recognition system as well as its components is proposed in this paper. The experiment conducted on the Mandarin Affective Speech Corpus shows that an improvement of 8% identification rate over the traditional speaker recognition is achieved.

Cost-sensitive learning for emotion robust speaker recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dongdong; Yang, Yingchun; Dai, Weihui

2014-01-01

In the field of information security, voice is one of the most important parts in biometrics. Especially, with the development of voice communication through the Internet or telephone system, huge voice data resources are accessed. In speaker recognition, voiceprint can be applied as the unique password for the user to prove his/her identity. However, speech with various emotions can cause an unacceptably high error rate and aggravate the performance of speaker recognition system. This paper deals with this problem by introducing a cost-sensitive learning technology to reweight the probability of test affective utterances in the pitch envelop level, which can enhance the robustness in emotion-dependent speaker recognition effectively. Based on that technology, a new architecture of recognition system as well as its components is proposed in this paper. The experiment conducted on the Mandarin Affective Speech Corpus shows that an improvement of 8% identification rate over the traditional speaker recognition is achieved.

Information-theoretic security proof for quantum-key-distribution protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renner, Renato; Gisin, Nicolas; Kraus, Barbara

2005-01-01

We present a technique for proving the security of quantum-key-distribution (QKD) protocols. It is based on direct information-theoretic arguments and thus also applies if no equivalent entanglement purification scheme can be found. Using this technique, we investigate a general class of QKD protocols with one-way classical post-processing. We show that, in order to analyze the full security of these protocols, it suffices to consider collective attacks. Indeed, we give new lower and upper bounds on the secret-key rate which only involve entropies of two-qubit density operators and which are thus easy to compute. As an illustration of our results, we analyze the Bennett-Brassard 1984, the six-state, and the Bennett 1992 protocols with one-way error correction and privacy amplification. Surprisingly, the performance of these protocols is increased if one of the parties adds noise to the measurement data before the error correction. In particular, this additional noise makes the protocols more robust against noise in the quantum channel

Security by quantum key distribution and IPSEC (SEQKEIP): feasibility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sfaxi, M.A.; Ghernaouti-Helie, S.; Ribordy, G; Gay, O.

2005-01-01

Full text: Classical cryptography algorithms are based on mathematical functions. The robustness of a given cryptosystem is based essentially on the secrecy of its (private) key and the difficulty with which the inverse of its one-way function(s) can be calculated. Unfortunately, there is no mathematical proof that will establish whether it is not possible to find the inverse of a given one-way function. On the contrary, quantum cryptography is a method for sharing secret keys, whose security can be formally demonstrated. It is based on the laws of physics. The possible applications of quantum cryptography are mainly linked to telecommunication services that require very high level of security. Quantum cryptography could be integrated in various existing concepts and protocols. One of the possible use of quantum cryptography is within IPSEC. The aim of this paper is to analyse the feasibility of using quantum cryptography in IPSEC and to present the estimated performances of this solution. (author)

Information-theoretic security proof for quantum-key-distribution protocols

Science.gov (United States)

Renner, Renato; Gisin, Nicolas; Kraus, Barbara

2005-07-01

We present a technique for proving the security of quantum-key-distribution (QKD) protocols. It is based on direct information-theoretic arguments and thus also applies if no equivalent entanglement purification scheme can be found. Using this technique, we investigate a general class of QKD protocols with one-way classical post-processing. We show that, in order to analyze the full security of these protocols, it suffices to consider collective attacks. Indeed, we give new lower and upper bounds on the secret-key rate which only involve entropies of two-qubit density operators and which are thus easy to compute. As an illustration of our results, we analyze the Bennett-Brassard 1984, the six-state, and the Bennett 1992 protocols with one-way error correction and privacy amplification. Surprisingly, the performance of these protocols is increased if one of the parties adds noise to the measurement data before the error correction. In particular, this additional noise makes the protocols more robust against noise in the quantum channel.

Robust

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2017-01-01

‘Robust – Reflections on Resilient Architecture’, is a scientific publication following the conference of the same name in November of 2017. Researches and PhD-Fellows, associated with the Masters programme: Cultural Heritage, Transformation and Restoration (Transformation), at The Royal Danish...

Alternative security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weston, B.H.

1990-01-01

This book contains the following chapters: The Military and Alternative Security: New Missions for Stable Conventional Security; Technology and Alternative Security: A Cherished Myth Expires; Law and Alternative Security: Toward a Just World Peace; Politics and Alternative Security: Toward a More Democratic, Therefore More Peaceful, World; Economics and Alternative Security: Toward a Peacekeeping International Economy; Psychology and Alternative Security: Needs, Perceptions, and Misperceptions; Religion and Alternative Security: A Prophetic Vision; and Toward Post-Nuclear Global Security: An Overview

Application of HGSO to security based optimal placement and parameter setting of UPFC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarafdar Hagh, Mehrdad; Alipour, Manijeh; Teimourzadeh, Saeed

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A new method for solving the security based UPFC placement and parameter setting problem is proposed. • The proposed method is a global method for all mixed-integer problems. • The proposed method has the ability of the parallel search in binary and continues space. • By using the proposed method, most of the problems due to line contingencies are solved. • Comparison studies are done to compare the performance of the proposed method. - Abstract: This paper presents a novel method to solve security based optimal placement and parameter setting of unified power flow controller (UPFC) problem based on hybrid group search optimization (HGSO) technique. Firstly, HGSO is introduced in order to solve mix-integer type problems. Afterwards, the proposed method is applied to the security based optimal placement and parameter setting of UPFC problem. The focus of the paper is to enhance the power system security through eliminating or minimizing the over loaded lines and the bus voltage limit violations under single line contingencies. Simulation studies are carried out on the IEEE 6-bus, IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus systems in order to verify the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method. The results indicate that by using the proposed method, the power system remains secure under single line contingencies

Security infrastructures: towards the INDECT system security

OpenAIRE

Stoianov, Nikolai; Urueña, Manuel; Niemiec, Marcin; Machník, Petr; Maestro, Gema

2012-01-01

This paper provides an overview of the security infrastructures being deployed inside the INDECT project. These security infrastructures can be organized in five main areas: Public Key Infrastructure, Communication security, Cryptography security, Application security and Access control, based on certificates and smartcards. This paper presents the new ideas and deployed testbeds for these five areas. In particular, it explains the hierarchical architecture of the INDECT PKI...

Secure and interoperable communication infrastructures for PPDR organisations

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Wilmuth; Marques, Hugo; Pereira, Luis; Rodriguez, Jonathan; Brouwer, Frank; Bouwers, Bert; Politis, Ilias; Lykourgiotis, Asimakis; Ladas, Alexandros; Adigun, Olayinka; Jelenc, David

2016-05-01

The growing number of events affecting public safety and security (PS&S) on a regional scale with potential to grow up to large scale cross border disasters puts an increased pressure on agencies and organisation responsible for PS&S. In order to respond timely and in an adequate manner to such events, Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) organisations need to cooperate, align their procedures and activities, share the needed information and be interoperable. Existing PPDR/PMR technologies such as TETRA, TETRAPOL or P25, do not currently provide broadband capability nor is expected such technologies to be upgraded in the future. This presents a major limitation in supporting new services and information flows. Furthermore, there is no known standard that addresses interoperability of these technologies. In this contribution the design of a next generation communication infrastructure for PPDR organisations which fulfills the requirements of secure and seamless end-to-end communication and interoperable information exchange within the deployed communication networks is presented. Based on Enterprise Architecture of PPDR organisations, a next generation PPDR network that is backward compatible with legacy communication technologies is designed and implemented, capable of providing security, privacy, seamless mobility, QoS and reliability support for mission-critical Private Mobile Radio (PMR) voice and broadband data services. The designed solution provides a robust, reliable, and secure mobile broadband communications system for a wide variety of PMR applications and services on PPDR broadband networks, including the ability of inter-system, interagency and cross-border operations with emphasis on interoperability between users in PMR and LTE.

Robustness in Railway Operations (RobustRailS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jens Parbo; Nielsen, Otto Anker

This study considers the problem of enhancing railway timetable robustness without adding slack time, hence increasing the travel time. The approach integrates a transit assignment model to assess how passengers adapt their behaviour whenever operations are changed. First, the approach considers...

Enhancing Experiment Central Service Reliability: from delivery to security and virtualization

CERN Document Server

Donno, Flavia; Buzykaev, Alexey; Saiz Santos, Maria Dolores

2011-01-01

The four LHC experiments rely on experiment specific services running on machines mainly located at CERN. Some of these services have been rated by the experiments as very critical: any loss or degradation of performance has a major impact on the experiment's production and analysis activities. It is therefore important to provide a reliable and robust operational environment. In this work we describe the strategy based on service deployment, security and virtualization adopted to enhance the reliability of ATLAS and CMS central services.

Enhancing energy security in Malayia: the challenges towards sustainable environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahid, E J M; Peng, L Y; Siang, C Ch

2013-01-01

Energy is known as one of the essential ingredients for economic development and security of energy supply is crucial in ensuring continuous economic development of a country. Malaysia's proven domestic oil reserves are estimated to last for another 25 years, while that of gas for another 39 years as of 2011. Despite the depleting indigenous energy resources, the primary energy demand has continued to grow robustly, at an annual rate of 6.3 percent per year from 1990 to 2010, while the primary energy import has grown 7.2% per year and the primary energy export has grown at a slower rate of 1.9% per year. This worrying trend is further compounded by the faster rate of primary oil import averaging 10.5% per year while the primary energy export has shrink at a rate of 1.4% per year. This paper has identified two main concerns namely overdependence on fossil fuel and increasing energy import dependency in creating a precarious position towards energy self-sufficiency. The study will analyse the energy security of the country and explore possible options and challenges in enhancing the energy supply security toward sustainable environment.

Robust statistical methods with R

CERN Document Server

Jureckova, Jana

2005-01-01

Robust statistical methods were developed to supplement the classical procedures when the data violate classical assumptions. They are ideally suited to applied research across a broad spectrum of study, yet most books on the subject are narrowly focused, overly theoretical, or simply outdated. Robust Statistical Methods with R provides a systematic treatment of robust procedures with an emphasis on practical application.The authors work from underlying mathematical tools to implementation, paying special attention to the computational aspects. They cover the whole range of robust methods, including differentiable statistical functions, distance of measures, influence functions, and asymptotic distributions, in a rigorous yet approachable manner. Highlighting hands-on problem solving, many examples and computational algorithms using the R software supplement the discussion. The book examines the characteristics of robustness, estimators of real parameter, large sample properties, and goodness-of-fit tests. It...

All-photonic quantum repeaters

Science.gov (United States)

Azuma, Koji; Tamaki, Kiyoshi; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2015-01-01

Quantum communication holds promise for unconditionally secure transmission of secret messages and faithful transfer of unknown quantum states. Photons appear to be the medium of choice for quantum communication. Owing to photon losses, robust quantum communication over long lossy channels requires quantum repeaters. It is widely believed that a necessary and highly demanding requirement for quantum repeaters is the existence of matter quantum memories. Here we show that such a requirement is, in fact, unnecessary by introducing the concept of all-photonic quantum repeaters based on flying qubits. In particular, we present a protocol based on photonic cluster-state machine guns and a loss-tolerant measurement equipped with local high-speed active feedforwards. We show that, with such all-photonic quantum repeaters, the communication efficiency scales polynomially with the channel distance. Our result paves a new route towards quantum repeaters with efficient single-photon sources rather than matter quantum memories. PMID:25873153

Nation State as Security Provider in Human Security Issue

OpenAIRE

Maya Padmi, Made Fitri

2015-01-01

Human Security notion is emphasizing on human as the central of security studies, challenging the position of state as the core of security. Some studies are tried to separate the state security and human security, however there are strong connection between these two notions. State has important role in establishing and maintaining the security of its own citizens. Through social contract and social security protection, state are oblige to set the security of its own people as their security...

Quantum key distribution without sending a quantum signal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ralph, T C; Walk, N

2015-01-01

Quantum Key Distribution is a quantum communication technique in which random numbers are encoded on quantum systems, usually photons, and sent from one party, Alice, to another, Bob. Using the data sent via the quantum signals, supplemented by classical communication, it is possible for Alice and Bob to share an unconditionally secure secret key. This is not possible if only classical signals are sent. While this last statement is a long standing result from quantum information theory it turns out only to be true in a non-relativistic setting. If relativistic quantum field theory is considered we show it is possible to distribute an unconditionally secure secret key without sending a quantum signal, instead harnessing the intrinsic entanglement between different regions of space–time. The protocol is practical in free space given horizon technology and might be testable in principle in the near term using microwave technology. (paper)

Security Policy and Developments in Central Asia : Security Documents Compared with Security Challenges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haas, de M.

2016-01-01

This article examines the security policy of the Central Asian (CA) states, by comparing theory (security documents) with practice (the actual security challenges). The lack of CA regional (security) cooperation and authoritarian rule puts political and economic stability at stake. The internal and

Robust Manufacturing Control

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

This contributed volume collects research papers, presented at the CIRP Sponsored Conference Robust Manufacturing Control: Innovative and Interdisciplinary Approaches for Global Networks (RoMaC 2012, Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany, June 18th-20th 2012). These research papers present the latest developments and new ideas focusing on robust manufacturing control for global networks. Today, Global Production Networks (i.e. the nexus of interconnected material and information flows through which products and services are manufactured, assembled and distributed) are confronted with and expected to adapt to: sudden and unpredictable large-scale changes of important parameters which are occurring more and more frequently, event propagation in networks with high degree of interconnectivity which leads to unforeseen fluctuations, and non-equilibrium states which increasingly characterize daily business. These multi-scale changes deeply influence logistic target achievement and call for robust planning and control ...

An one-time-pad key communication protocol with entanglement

OpenAIRE

Cai, Qing-yu

2003-01-01

We present an one-time-pad key communication protocol that allows secure direct communication with entanglement. Alice can send message to Bob in a deterministic manner by using local measurements and public communication. The theoretical efficiency of this protocol is double compared with BB84 protocol. We show this protocol is unconditional secure under arbitrary quantum attack. And we discuss that this protocol can be perfectly implemented with current technologies.

Robustness - theoretical framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Rizzuto, Enrico; Faber, Michael H.

2010-01-01

More frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure combined with increased requirements to efficiency in design and execution followed by increased risk of human errors has made the need of requirements to robustness of new struct...... of this fact sheet is to describe a theoretical and risk based framework to form the basis for quantification of robustness and for pre-normative guidelines....

Internet Banking Security Strategy: Securing Customer Trust

OpenAIRE

Frimpong Twum; Kwaku Ahenkora

2012-01-01

Internet banking strategies should enhance customers¡¯ online experiences which are affected by trust and security issues. This study provides perspectives of users and nonusers on internet banking security with a view to understanding trust and security factors in relation to adoption and continuous usage. Perception of internet banking security influenced usage intentions. Nonusers viewed internet banking to be insecure but users perceived it to be secure with perceived ease of use influenc...

The robustness of the power system. What is the problem and what can be done?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

The water influx failure during the autumn of 2002 is a reminder of the vulnerability of the power system. The social costs of a major failure can be great and it is therefore reason to consider what may be done to guarantee the stability of the power system. Since the influx varies considerably from year to year it is necessary to secure sufficient flexibility at the consumer, in the production, and in the trade with other countries. The price mechanism is the prime mover that coordinates the measures of the different operators across the frontiers. The market therefore has an important stabilizing function, but it is nevertheless possible that the market does not adequately secures the power system against shock. It may thus be necessary to intervene in order to preserve and possibly strengthen the robustness of the power system. Such measures may partly aim to make the market more efficient, and partly supplement the market mechanisms.

The Primacy of Alliance: Deterrence and European Security - Proliferation Papers No. 46

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freedman, Lawrence

2013-03-01

Since the end of the Cold War, the international security environment has been transformed and nuclear weapons have been marginalized in the West. However, the NATO security policies remain almost unchanged: deterrence is still considered as a principle guiding the Atlantic Alliance, even though the actual policy statements lack target, direction and urgency. Questioning the credibility of deterrence in Europe and its future, this text recalls that it lies first and foremost with solidarity and political cohesion among members of the Alliance, and only secondly with the threat of nuclear retaliation. As a consequence, the decreasing salience of nuclear weapons in the West seems less worrying for the robustness of deterrence in Europe than a long-term and lasting shift of US foreign policy away from the European continent. (author)

Robustness Assessment of Spatial Timber Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

2012-01-01

Robustness of structural systems has obtained a renewed interest due to a much more frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure. In order to minimise the likelihood of such disproportionate structural failures many modern buildi...... to robustness of spatial timber structures and will discuss the consequences of such robustness issues related to the future development of timber structures.......Robustness of structural systems has obtained a renewed interest due to a much more frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure. In order to minimise the likelihood of such disproportionate structural failures many modern building...... codes consider the need for robustness of structures and provide strategies and methods to obtain robustness. Therefore a structural engineer may take necessary steps to design robust structures that are insensitive to accidental circumstances. The present paper summaries issues with respect...

An unconditioned stimulus retrieval extinction procedure to prevent the return of fear memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jianfeng; Zhao, Liyan; Xue, Yanxue; Shi, Jie; Suo, Lin; Luo, Yixiao; Chai, Baisheng; Yang, Chang; Fang, Qin; Zhang, Yan; Bao, Yanping; Pickens, Charles L; Lu, Lin

2014-12-01

Conditioned fear memories can be updated by extinction during reconsolidation, and this effect is specific to the reactivated conditioned stimulus (CS). However, a traumatic event can be associated with several cues, and each cue can potentially trigger recollection of the event. We introduced a technique to target all diverse cues associated with an aversive event that causes fear. In human experiments, 161 subjects underwent modified fear conditioning, in which they were exposed to an unconditioned stimulus (US) or unreinforced CS to reactivate the memory and then underwent extinction, spontaneous recovery, and reinstatement. In animal experiments, 343 rats underwent contextual fear conditioning under a similar protocol as that used in the human experiments. We also explored the molecular alterations after US reactivation in rats. Presentation of a lower intensity US before extinction disrupted the associations between the different CS and reactivated US in both humans and rats. This effect persisted for at least 6 months in humans and was selective to the reactivated US. This procedure was also effective for remote memories in both humans and rats. Compared with the CS, the US induced stronger endocytosis of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid glutamate receptors 1 and 2 and stronger activation of protein kinase A, p70S6 kinase, and cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein in the dorsal hippocampus in rats. These findings demonstrate that a modified US retrieval extinction strategy may have a potential impact on therapeutic approaches to prevent the return of fear. Copyright © 2014 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Comparative Theoretical and Computational Study on Robust Counterpart Optimization: I. Robust Linear Optimization and Robust Mixed Integer Linear Optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zukui; Ding, Ran; Floudas, Christodoulos A.

2011-01-01

Robust counterpart optimization techniques for linear optimization and mixed integer linear optimization problems are studied in this paper. Different uncertainty sets, including those studied in literature (i.e., interval set; combined interval and ellipsoidal set; combined interval and polyhedral set) and new ones (i.e., adjustable box; pure ellipsoidal; pure polyhedral; combined interval, ellipsoidal, and polyhedral set) are studied in this work and their geometric relationship is discussed. For uncertainty in the left hand side, right hand side, and objective function of the optimization problems, robust counterpart optimization formulations induced by those different uncertainty sets are derived. Numerical studies are performed to compare the solutions of the robust counterpart optimization models and applications in refinery production planning and batch process scheduling problem are presented. PMID:21935263

Threats or threads: from usable security to secure experience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bødker, Susanne; Mathiasen, Niels Raabjerg

2008-01-01

While the domain of security dependent technologies brings new challenges to HCI research it seems that the results and breakthroughs of HCI have not been used in design of security dependent technologies. With exceptions, work in the research field of usable security may be criticized for focusing...... mainly on adjusting user behavior to behave securely. With our background in newer HCI perspectives we address secure interaction from the perspective of security technology as experience. We analyze a number of collected user stories to understand what happens when everyday users encounter security...... dependent technologies. We apply McCarthy & Wright's [12] experience framework to the security domain and our collected stories. We point out that there are significant differences between being secure and having a secure experience, and conclude that classical usable security, focus on people's immediate...

Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) Prototype Radio - Generation 2 Security Flight Test Report

Science.gov (United States)

Iannicca, Dennis C.; Ishac, Joseph A.; Shalkhauser, Kurt A.

2015-01-01

NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), in cooperation with Rockwell Collins, is working to develop a prototype Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) radio platform as part of NASA Integrated Systems Research Program's (ISRP) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) project. A primary focus of the project is to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and industry standards bodies to build and demonstrate a safe, secure, and efficient CNPC architecture that can be used by industry to evaluate the feasibility of deploying a system using these technologies in an operational capacity. GRC has been working in conjunction with these groups to assess threats, identify security requirements, and to develop a system of standards-based security controls that can be applied to the GRC prototype CNPC architecture as a demonstration platform. The proposed security controls were integrated into the GRC flight test system aboard our S-3B Viking surrogate aircraft and several network tests were conducted during a flight on November 15th, 2014 to determine whether the controls were working properly within the flight environment. The flight test was also the first to integrate Robust Header Compression (ROHC) as a means of reducing the additional overhead introduced by the security controls and Mobile IPv6. The effort demonstrated the complete end-to-end secure CNPC link in a relevant flight environment.

Robust procedures in chemometrics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kotwa, Ewelina

properties of the analysed data. The broad theoretical background of robust procedures was given as a very useful supplement to the classical methods, and a new tool, based on robust PCA, aiming at identifying Rayleigh and Raman scatters in excitation-mission (EEM) data was developed. The results show...

Security an introduction

CERN Document Server

Purpura, Philip P

2011-01-01

Section I The History and Profession of SecurityDefinition, Role, and History of Security Security Defined The Contexts of Security The Roles of Security The History of Security Security in an Environment of Threats, Terrorism, and All-Hazards Threats and Hazards Terrorism National Strategies The Profession and Business of Security The Business of Security Professionalism and Security Associations Ethics Regulation of the Security Industry Security Training Higher Education Careers Section II Protecting People and AssetsSecurity Methodology Methodology Defined Security Business Proposals Secur

ORDER SECURITY – NATIONAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. NATIONAL SECURITY DEFENSE AS SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION

OpenAIRE

Zoltán BALLA

2009-01-01

National security administration is the special executivedisposal activity of the national security agencies, the section of the state administration that helps the governmental work by reconnoitering and preventing with secret-servicing methods of the risks that shall harm or endanger the national security’s interests. The main operational principles of national security governing are the followings among others: - controlling the operation of national security organization belongs to the ex...

Robust canonical correlations: A comparative study

OpenAIRE

Branco, JA; Croux, Christophe; Filzmoser, P; Oliveira, MR

2005-01-01

Several approaches for robust canonical correlation analysis will be presented and discussed. A first method is based on the definition of canonical correlation analysis as looking for linear combinations of two sets of variables having maximal (robust) correlation. A second method is based on alternating robust regressions. These methods axe discussed in detail and compared with the more traditional approach to robust canonical correlation via covariance matrix estimates. A simulation study ...

Computer Security: Security operations at CERN (4/4)

CERN Document Server

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

Stefan Lueders, PhD, graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and joined CERN in 2002. Being initially developer of a common safety system used in all four experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, he gathered expertise in cyber-security issues of control systems. Consequently in 2004, he took over responsibilities in securing CERN's accelerator and infrastructure control systems against cyber-threats. Subsequently, he joined the CERN Computer Security Incident Response Team and is today heading this team as CERN's Computer Security Officer with the mandate to coordinate all aspects of CERN's computer security --- office computing security, computer centre security, GRID computing security and control system security --- whilst taking into account CERN's operational needs. Dr. Lueders has presented on these topics at many different occasions to international bodies, governments, and companies, and published several articles. With the prevalence of modern information technologies and...

Cryptography In The Bounded Quantum-Storage Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgård, Ivan Bjerre; Salvail, Louis; Schaffner, Christian

2005-01-01

We initiate the study of two-party cryptographic primitives with unconditional security, assuming that the adversary's quantum memory is of bounded size. We show that oblivious transfer and bit commitment can be implemented in this model using protocols where honest parties need no quantum memory...

Cryptography in the Bounded Quantum-Storage Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgård, Ivan Bjerre; Serge, Fehr; Schaffner, Christian

2008-01-01

We initiate the study of two-party cryptographic primitives with unconditional security, assuming that the adversary's quantum memory is of bounded size. We show that oblivious transfer and bit commitment can be implemented in this model using protocols where honest parties need no quantum memory...

Off-line electronic cash based on secret-key certificates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S.A. Brands (Stefan)

1995-01-01

textabstractAn off-line electronic coin system is presented that offers multi-party security and unconditional privacy of payments. The system improves significantly on the efficiency of the previously most efficient such system known in the literature, due to application of a recently proposed

17 CFR 240.19h-1 - Notice by a self-regulatory organization of proposed admission to or continuance in membership or...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notice by a self-regulatory... Notice by a self-regulatory organization of proposed admission to or continuance in membership or... statutory disqualification. (1) Any self-regulatory organization proposing, conditionally or unconditionally...

CHANGES IN THE SECURITY AGENDA: CRITICAL SECURITY STUDIES AND HUMAN SECURITY. THE CASE OF CHINA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nguyen THI THUY HANG

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Since the end of the Cold War the meaning of security has fundamentally changed. Issues which are labeled as non-traditional security namely human development, economic crises, environmental degradation, natural disaster, poverty, epidemics… have become a crucial part of the security agenda. These changes have been intensified with the development of the two approaches: Critical Security Studies and Human Security. This article explores how the meaning of security has changed and how the boundaries between traditional and non-traditional security have become blurred. The case of China is taken as empirical evidence to support the assertion that security has evolved beyond its traditional focus on the state.

Linear VSS and Distributed Commitments Based on Secret Sharing and Pairwise Checks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fehr, Serge; Maurer, Ueli M.

2002-01-01

. VSS and DC are main building blocks for unconditional secure multi-party computation protocols. This general approach covers all known linear VSS and DC schemes. The main theorem states that the security of a scheme is equivalent to a pure linear-algebra condition on the linear mappings (e.......g. described as matrices and vectors) describing the scheme. The security of all known schemes follows as corollaries whose proofs are pure linear-algebra arguments, in contrast to some hybrid arguments used in the literature. Our approach is demonstrated for the CDM DC scheme, which we generalize to be secure...

RIDES: Robust Intrusion Detection System for IP-Based Ubiquitous Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sungwon Lee

2009-05-01

Full Text Available TheIP-based Ubiquitous Sensor Network (IP-USN is an effort to build the “Internet of things”. By utilizing IP for low power networks, we can benefit from existing well established tools and technologies of IP networks. Along with many other unresolved issues, securing IP-USN is of great concern for researchers so that future market satisfaction and demands can be met. Without proper security measures, both reactive and proactive, it is hard to envisage an IP-USN realm. In this paper we present a design of an IDS (Intrusion Detection System called RIDES (Robust Intrusion DEtection System for IP-USN. RIDES is a hybrid intrusion detection system, which incorporates both Signature and Anomaly based intrusion detection components. For signature based intrusion detection this paper only discusses the implementation of distributed pattern matching algorithm with the help of signature-code, a dynamically created attack-signature identifier. Other aspects, such as creation of rules are not discussed. On the other hand, for anomaly based detection we propose a scoring classifier based on the SPC (Statistical Process Control technique called CUSUM charts. We also investigate the settings and their effects on the performance of related parameters for both of the components.

Robust multi-objective control of hybrid renewable microgeneration systems with energy storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allison, John

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A hybrid energy system of micro-CHP, solar PV, and battery storage is presented. • Possible to exploit synergy of systems to fulfil the thermal and electrical demands. • Can control to minimise the interaction with the local electrical network. • Three different control approaches were compared. • The nonlinear inversion-based control strategy exhibits optimum performance. - Abstract: Microgeneration technologies are positioned to address future building energy efficiency requirements and facilitate the integration of renewables into buildings to ensure a sustainable, energy-secure future. This paper explores the development of a robust multi-input multi-output (MIMO) controller applicable to the control of hybrid renewable microgeneration systems with the objective of minimising the electrical grid utilisation of a building while fulfilling the thermal demands. The controller employs the inverse dynamics of the building, servicing systems, and energy storage with a robust control methodology. These inverse dynamics provides the control system with knowledge of the complex cause and effect relationships between the system, the controlled inputs, and the external disturbances, while an outer-loop control ensures robust, stable control in the presence of modelling deficiencies/uncertainty and unknown disturbances. Variable structure control compensates for the physical limitations of the systems whereby the control strategy employed switches depending on the current utilisation and availability of the energy supplies. Preliminary results presented for a system consisting of a micro-CHP unit, solar PV, and battery storage indicate that the control strategy is effective in minimising the interaction with the local electrical network and maximising the utilisation of the available renewable energy.

Generating WS-SecurityPolicy documents via security model transformation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Meiko

2009-01-01

When SOA-based business processes are to be enhanced with security properties, the model-driven business process development approach enables an easier and more reliable security definition compared to manually crafting the security realizations afterwards. In this paper, we outline an appropriat...... security model definition and transformation approach, targeting the WS-SecurityPolicy and WS-BPEL specifications, in order to enable a Web-Service-based secure business process development.......When SOA-based business processes are to be enhanced with security properties, the model-driven business process development approach enables an easier and more reliable security definition compared to manually crafting the security realizations afterwards. In this paper, we outline an appropriate...

Security Engine Management of Router based on Security Policy

OpenAIRE

Su Hyung Jo; Ki Young Kim; Sang Ho Lee

2007-01-01

Security management has changed from the management of security equipments and useful interface to manager. It analyzes the whole security conditions of network and preserves the network services from attacks. Secure router technology has security functions, such as intrusion detection, IPsec(IP Security) and access control, are applied to legacy router for secure networking. It controls an unauthorized router access and detects an illegal network intrusion. This paper re...

PUFKEY: A High-Security and High-Throughput Hardware True Random Number Generator for Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongfang Li

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Random number generators (RNG play an important role in many sensor network systems and applications, such as those requiring secure and robust communications. In this paper, we develop a high-security and high-throughput hardware true random number generator, called PUFKEY, which consists of two kinds of physical unclonable function (PUF elements. Combined with a conditioning algorithm, true random seeds are extracted from the noise on the start-up pattern of SRAM memories. These true random seeds contain full entropy. Then, the true random seeds are used as the input for a non-deterministic hardware RNG to generate a stream of true random bits with a throughput as high as 803 Mbps. The experimental results show that the bitstream generated by the proposed PUFKEY can pass all standard national institute of standards and technology (NIST randomness tests and is resilient to a wide range of security attacks.

PUFKEY: a high-security and high-throughput hardware true random number generator for sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dongfang; Lu, Zhaojun; Zou, Xuecheng; Liu, Zhenglin

2015-10-16

Random number generators (RNG) play an important role in many sensor network systems and applications, such as those requiring secure and robust communications. In this paper, we develop a high-security and high-throughput hardware true random number generator, called PUFKEY, which consists of two kinds of physical unclonable function (PUF) elements. Combined with a conditioning algorithm, true random seeds are extracted from the noise on the start-up pattern of SRAM memories. These true random seeds contain full entropy. Then, the true random seeds are used as the input for a non-deterministic hardware RNG to generate a stream of true random bits with a throughput as high as 803 Mbps. The experimental results show that the bitstream generated by the proposed PUFKEY can pass all standard national institute of standards and technology (NIST) randomness tests and is resilient to a wide range of security attacks.

Pragmatic security metrics applying metametrics to information security

CERN Document Server

Brotby, W Krag

2013-01-01

Other books on information security metrics discuss number theory and statistics in academic terms. Light on mathematics and heavy on utility, PRAGMATIC Security Metrics: Applying Metametrics to Information Security breaks the mold. This is the ultimate how-to-do-it guide for security metrics.Packed with time-saving tips, the book offers easy-to-follow guidance for those struggling with security metrics. Step by step, it clearly explains how to specify, develop, use, and maintain an information security measurement system (a comprehensive suite of metrics) to

Strategic information security

CERN Document Server

Wylder, John

2003-01-01

Introduction to Strategic Information SecurityWhat Does It Mean to Be Strategic? Information Security Defined The Security Professional's View of Information Security The Business View of Information SecurityChanges Affecting Business and Risk Management Strategic Security Strategic Security or Security Strategy?Monitoring and MeasurementMoving Forward ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESThe Life Cycles of Security ManagersIntroductionThe Information Security Manager's Responsibilities The Evolution of Data Security to Information SecurityThe Repository Concept Changing Job Requirements Business Life Cycles

Security Expertise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

systematic study of security expertise and opens up a productive dialogue between science and technology studies and security studies to investigate the character and consequences of this expertise. In security theory, the study of expertise is crucial to understanding whose knowledge informs security making......This volume brings together scholars from different fields to explore the power, consequences and everyday practices of security expertise. Expertise mediates between different forms of knowledge: scientific and technological, legal, economic and political knowledge. This book offers the first...... and to reflect on the impact and responsibility of security analysis. In science and technology studies, the study of security politics adds a challenging new case to the agenda of research on expertise and policy. The contributors investigate cases such as academic security studies, security think tanks...

Robust plasmonic substrates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kostiučenko, Oksana; Fiutowski, Jacek; Tamulevicius, Tomas

2014-01-01

Robustness is a key issue for the applications of plasmonic substrates such as tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced spectroscopies, enhanced optical biosensing, optical and optoelectronic plasmonic nanosensors and others. A novel approach for the fabrication of robust plasmonic...... substrates is presented, which relies on the coverage of gold nanostructures with diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films of thicknesses 25, 55 and 105 nm. DLC thin films were grown by direct hydrocarbon ion beam deposition. In order to find the optimum balance between optical and mechanical properties...

Composite indicators for security of energy supply using ordered weighted averaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costescu Badea, Anca; Rocco S, Claudio M.; Tarantola, Stefano; Bolado, Ricardo

2011-01-01

In this paper we propose to use an aggregation rule derived from the Group Decision Theory, and based on the ranks of a set of individual indicators, for building a family of composite indicators for the security of energy supply. This family of composite indicators depends on a parameter associated with the risk-averse level of the decision maker, which can hence vary continuously from risk-prone to risk-averse. It represents a valuable and objective instrument to evaluate the degree of security of energy supply of different countries without entering into controversial matters related to the choice of the weights. This methodology can be used to aggregate either ranks or normalized values of the individual indicators. We apply it to a set of individual indicators, accounting for different dimensions of the security of supply and derived from the outputs of an energy system model. We study the evolution in time of the countries' performances, as well as the propagation of the uncertainties associated with the individual indicators to the composite. We also studied the robustness of such composite indicators with respect to the risk-averse level.

A robust standard deviation control chart

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoonhoven, M.; Does, R.J.M.M.

2012-01-01

This article studies the robustness of Phase I estimators for the standard deviation control chart. A Phase I estimator should be efficient in the absence of contaminations and resistant to disturbances. Most of the robust estimators proposed in the literature are robust against either diffuse

Interaction à deux joueurs en informatique quantique : primitives cryptographiques et complexité en requêtes

OpenAIRE

Magnin , Loïck

2011-01-01

This dissertation studies two different aspects of two-player interaction in the model of quantum communication and quantum computation.First, we study two cryptographic primitives, that are used as basic blocks to construct sophisticated cryptographic protocols between two players, e.g. identification protocols.The first primitive is ``quantum bit commitment''. This primitive cannot be done in an unconditionally secure way. However, security can be obtained by restraining the power of the tw...

Microsoft Security Bible A Collection of Practical Security Techniques

CERN Document Server

Mullen, Timothy "Thor"

2011-01-01

Thor's Microsoft® Security Bible provides a "one-stop-shop" for Microsoft-related security techniques and procedures as applied to the typical deployment of a Microsoft-based infrastructure. The book contains detailed security concepts and methodologies described at every level: Server, Client, Organizational Structure, Platform-specific security options, application specific security (IIS, SQL, Active Directory, etc.) and also includes new, never-before-published security tools complete with source code. Detailed technical information on security processes for all major Microsoft applications

Security 2020 Reduce Security Risks This Decade

CERN Document Server

Howard, Doug; Schneier, Bruce

2010-01-01

Identify real security risks and skip the hype After years of focusing on IT security, we find that hackers are as active and effective as ever. This book gives application developers, networking and security professionals, those that create standards, and CIOs a straightforward look at the reality of today's IT security and a sobering forecast of what to expect in the next decade. It debunks the media hype and unnecessary concerns while focusing on the knowledge you need to combat and prioritize the actual risks of today and beyond.IT security needs are constantly evolving; this guide examine

Security Evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

De Patta, Joe

2003-01-01

Examines how to evaluate school security, begin making schools safe, secure schools without turning them into fortresses, and secure schools easily and affordably; the evolution of security systems into information technology systems; using schools' high-speed network lines; how one specific security system was developed; pros and cons of the…

A robust internet-based auction to procure electricity forwards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woo, C.K.; Lloyd, D.; Borden, M.; Warrington, R.; Baskette, C.

2004-01-01

Securing forward contracts to manage procurement-cost risk is an intuitively appealing and economically reasonable strategy for a load-serving local distribution company (LDC) in today's volatile electricity marketplace. However, knowing what to buy does not guarantee least-cost implementation. The forward-contract price quoted by a prospective seller may not be the 'best deal' that an LDC could have obtained, especially when the forward contract desired by the LDC is not actively traded. This paper reports the results from five internet-based auctions for electricity forward contracts with non-firm delivery and varying hourly quantities held monthly by a Florida municipal utility (MU) from September 2002 to January 2003. The results confirm that a multi-round auction design is robust in realizing competitive price offers made by credit-worthy sellers, time-efficient contracting, and consistent cost savings to the MU. Thus, the Anglo-Dutch auction described herein is a reasonable substitute for generation ownership by an LDC. (author)

Rheological and fractal characteristics of unconditioned and conditioned water treatment residuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Y J; Wang, Y L; Feng, J

2011-07-01

The rheological and fractal characteristics of raw (unconditioned) and conditioned water treatment residuals (WTRs) were investigated in this study. Variations in morphology, size, and image fractal dimensions of the flocs/aggregates in these WTR systems with increasing polymer doses were analyzed. The results showed that when the raw WTRs were conditioned with the polymer CZ8688, the optimum polymer dosage was observed at 24 kg/ton dry sludge. The average diameter of irregularly shaped flocs/aggregates in the WTR suspensions increased from 42.54 μm to several hundred micrometers with increasing polymer doses. Furthermore, the aggregates in the conditioned WTR system displayed boundary/surface and mass fractals. At the optimum polymer dosage, the aggregates formed had a volumetric average diameter of about 820.7 μm, with a one-dimensional fractal dimension of 1.01 and a mass fractal dimension of 2.74 on the basis of the image analysis. Rheological tests indicated that the conditioned WTRs at the optimum polymer dosage showed higher levels of shear-thinning behavior than the raw WTRs. Variations in the limiting viscosity (η(∞)) of conditioned WTRs with sludge content could be described by a linear equation, which were different from the often-observed empirical exponential relationship for most municipal sludge. With increasing temperature, the η(∞) of the raw WTRs decreased more rapidly than that of the raw WTRs. Good fitting results for the relationships between lgη(∞)∼T using the Arrhenius equation indicate that the WTRs had a much higher activation energy for viscosity of about 17.86-26.91 J/mol compared with that of anaerobic granular sludge (2.51 J/mol) (Mu and Yu, 2006). In addition, the Bingham plastic model adequately described the rheological behavior of the conditioned WTRs, whereas the rheology of the raw WTRs fit the Herschel-Bulkley model well at only certain sludge contents. Considering the good power-law relationships between the

IAEA Completes Nuclear Security Review Mission in United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

Full text: A team of nuclear security experts led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today completed a mission to review nuclear security practices of civil nuclear facilities licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Conducted at the U.S. Government's request, the two-week International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) mission reviewed the United States' nuclear security-related legislative and regulatory framework. As part of this work, the IPPAS team, led by John O'Dacre of Canada and comprising nine experts from eight IAEA Member States, met with NRC officials and reviewed the physical protection systems at the Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The IPPAS team concluded that nuclear security within the U.S. civil nuclear sector is robust and sustainable and has been significantly enhanced in recent years. The team identified a number of good practices in the nation's nuclear security regime and at the NCNR. The IPPAS team also made a recommendation and some suggestions for the continuing improvement of nuclear security overall. The mission in the United States was the 60th IPPAS mission organized by the IAEA. 'Independent international peer reviews such as IAEA IPPAS missions are increasingly being recognized for their value as a key component for exchanges of views and advice on nuclear security measures', said Khammar Mrabit, Director of the IAEA Office of Nuclear Security. 'The good practices identified during this mission will contribute to the continuous improvements of nuclear security in other Member States'. The IPPAS team provided a draft report to the NRC and will submit a final report soon. Because it contains security-related information about a specific nuclear site, IPPAS reports are not made public. 'The IPPAS programme gives us a chance to learn from the experience and perspective of our international partners', said NRC Chairman Allison M

Secure Distributed Detection under Energy Constraint in IoT-Oriented Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guomei; Sun, Hao

2016-12-16

We study the secure distributed detection problems under energy constraint for IoT-oriented sensor networks. The conventional channel-aware encryption (CAE) is an efficient physical-layer secure distributed detection scheme in light of its energy efficiency, good scalability and robustness over diverse eavesdropping scenarios. However, in the CAE scheme, it remains an open problem of how to optimize the key thresholds for the estimated channel gain, which are used to determine the sensor's reporting action. Moreover, the CAE scheme does not jointly consider the accuracy of local detection results in determining whether to stay dormant for a sensor. To solve these problems, we first analyze the error probability and derive the optimal thresholds in the CAE scheme under a specified energy constraint. These results build a convenient mathematic framework for our further innovative design. Under this framework, we propose a hybrid secure distributed detection scheme. Our proposal can satisfy the energy constraint by keeping some sensors inactive according to the local detection confidence level, which is characterized by likelihood ratio. In the meanwhile, the security is guaranteed through randomly flipping the local decisions forwarded to the fusion center based on the channel amplitude. We further optimize the key parameters of our hybrid scheme, including two local decision thresholds and one channel comparison threshold. Performance evaluation results demonstrate that our hybrid scheme outperforms the CAE under stringent energy constraints, especially in the high signal-to-noise ratio scenario, while the security is still assured.

Systematic implementation of spectral CT with a photon counting detector for liquid security inspection

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiaofei; Xing, Yuxiang; Wang, Sen; Zhang, Li

2018-06-01

X-ray liquid security inspection system plays an important role in homeland security, while the conventional dual-energy CT (DECT) system may have a big deviation in extracting the atomic number and the electron density of materials in various conditions. Photon counting detectors (PCDs) have the capability of discriminating the incident photons of different energy. The technique becomes more and more mature in nowadays. In this work, we explore the performance of a multi-energy CT imaging system with a PCD for liquid security inspection in material discrimination. We used a maximum-likelihood (ML) decomposition method with scatter correction based on a cross-energy response model (CERM) for PCDs so that to improve the accuracy of atomic number and electronic density imaging. Experimental study was carried to examine the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed system. Our results show that the concentration of different solutions in physical phantoms can be reconstructed accurately, which could improve the material identification compared to current available dual-energy liquid security inspection systems. The CERM-base decomposition and reconstruction method can be easily used to different applications such as medical diagnosis.

Security Dilemma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wivel, Anders

2011-01-01

What is a security dilemma? What are the consequences of security dilemmas in international politics?......What is a security dilemma? What are the consequences of security dilemmas in international politics?...

Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) Prototype Radio - Generation 2 Security Architecture Lab Test Report

Science.gov (United States)

Iannicca, Dennis C.; McKim, James H.; Stewart, David H.; Thadhani, Suresh K.; Young, Daniel P.

2015-01-01

NASA Glenn Research Center, in cooperation with Rockwell Collins, is working to develop a prototype Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) radio platform as part of NASA Integrated Systems Research Program's (ISRP) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) project. A primary focus of the project is to work with the FAA and industry standards bodies to build and demonstrate a safe, secure, and efficient CNPC architecture that can be used by industry to evaluate the feasibility of deploying a system using these technologies in an operational capacity. GRC has been working in conjunction with these groups to assess threats, identify security requirements, and to develop a system of standards-based security controls that can be applied to the current GRC prototype CNPC architecture as a demonstration platform. The security controls were integrated into a lab test bed mock-up of the Mobile IPv6 architecture currently being used for NASA flight testing, and a series of network tests were conducted to evaluate the security overhead of the controls compared to the baseline CNPC link without any security. The aim of testing was to evaluate the performance impact of the additional security control overhead when added to the Mobile IPv6 architecture in various modes of operation. The statistics collected included packet captures at points along the path to gauge packet size as the sample data traversed the CNPC network, round trip latency, jitter, and throughput. The effort involved a series of tests of the baseline link, a link with Robust Header Compression (ROHC) and without security controls, a link with security controls and without ROHC, and finally a link with both ROHC and security controls enabled. The effort demonstrated that ROHC is both desirable and necessary to offset the additional expected overhead of applying security controls to the CNPC link.

Robustness: confronting lessons from physics and biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesne, Annick

2008-11-01

The term robustness is encountered in very different scientific fields, from engineering and control theory to dynamical systems to biology. The main question addressed herein is whether the notion of robustness and its correlates (stability, resilience, self-organisation) developed in physics are relevant to biology, or whether specific extensions and novel frameworks are required to account for the robustness properties of living systems. To clarify this issue, the different meanings covered by this unique term are discussed; it is argued that they crucially depend on the kind of perturbations that a robust system should by definition withstand. Possible mechanisms underlying robust behaviours are examined, either encountered in all natural systems (symmetries, conservation laws, dynamic stability) or specific to biological systems (feedbacks and regulatory networks). Special attention is devoted to the (sometimes counterintuitive) interrelations between robustness and noise. A distinction between dynamic selection and natural selection in the establishment of a robust behaviour is underlined. It is finally argued that nested notions of robustness, relevant to different time scales and different levels of organisation, allow one to reconcile the seemingly contradictory requirements for robustness and adaptability in living systems.

Subliminal influence on preferences? A test of evaluative conditioning for brief visual conditioned stimuli using auditory unconditioned stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Heycke, Tobias; Aust, Frederik; Stahl, Christoph

2017-09-01

In the field of evaluative conditioning (EC), two opposing theories-propositional single-process theory versus dual-process theory-are currently being discussed in the literature. The present set of experiments test a crucial prediction to adjudicate between these two theories: Dual-process theory postulates that evaluative conditioning can occur without awareness of the contingency between conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US); in contrast, single-process propositional theory postulates that EC requires CS-US contingency awareness. In a set of three studies, we experimentally manipulate contingency awareness by presenting the CSs very briefly, thereby rendering it unlikely to be processed consciously. We address potential issues with previous studies on EC with subliminal or near-threshold CSs that limited their interpretation. Across two experiments, we consistently found an EC effect for CSs presented for 1000 ms and consistently failed to find an EC effect for briefly presented CSs. In a third pre-registered experiment, we again found evidence for an EC effect with CSs presented for 1000 ms, and we found some indication for an EC effect for CSs presented for 20 ms.

The intelligence-security services and national security

OpenAIRE

Mijalković, Saša

2011-01-01

Since their inception, states have been trying to protect their vital interests and values more effectively, in which they are often impeded by other countries. At the same time, they seek to protect the internal order and security against the so-called internal enemy. Therefore, the states organize (national) security systems within their (state) systems, in which they form some specialized security entities. Among them, however, intelligence and security services are the ones that stand out...

Stable operation of a Secure QKD system in the real-world setting

Science.gov (United States)

Tomita, Akihisa

2007-06-01

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) now steps forward from the proof of principle to the validation of the practical feasibility. Nevertheless, the QKD technology should respond to the challenges from the real-world such as stable operation against the fluctuating environment, and security proof under the practical setting. We report our recent progress on stable operation of a QKD system, and key generation with security assurance. A QKD system should robust to temperature fluctuation in a common office environment. We developed a loop-mirror, a substitution of a Faraday mirror, to allow easy compensation for the temperature dependence of the device. Phase locking technique was also employed to synchronize the system clock to the quantum signals. This technique is indispensable for the transmission system based on the installed fiber cables, which stretch and shrink due to the temperature change. The security proof of QKD, however, has assumed the ideal conditions, such as the use of a genuine single photon source and/or unlimited computational resources. It has been highly desirable to give an assurance of security for practical systems, where the ideal conditions are no longer satisfied. We have constructed a theory to estimate the leakage information on the transmitted key under the practically attainable conditions, and have developed a QKD system equipped with software for secure key distillation. The QKD system generates the final key at the rate of 2000 bps after 20 km fiber transmission. Eavesdropper's information on the final key is guaranteed to be less than 2-7 per bit. This is the first successful generation of the secure key with quantitative assurance of the upper bound of the leakage information. It will put forth the realization of highly secure metropolitan optical communication network against any types of eavesdropping.

Analysis and improvement of security of energy smart grids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halimi, Halim

2014-01-01

The Smart grid is the next generation power grid, which is a new self-healing, self-activating form of electricity network, and integrates power-flow control, increased quality of electricity, and energy reliability, energy efficiency and energy security using information and communication technologies. Communication networks play a critical role in smart grid, as the intelligence of smart grid is built based on information exchange across the power grid. Its two-way communication and electricity flow enable to monitor, predict and manage the energy usage. To upgrade an existing power grid into a smart grid, it requires an intelligent and secure communication infrastructure. Because of that, the main goal of this dissertation is to propose new architecture and implementation of algorithms for analysis and improvement of the security and reliability in smart grid. In power transmission segments of smart grid, wired communications are usually adopted to ensure robustness of the backbone power network. In contrast, for a power distribution grid, wireless communications provide many benefits such as low cost high speed links, easy setup of connections among different devices/appliances, and so on. Wireless communications are usually more vulnerable to security attacks than wired ones. Developing appropriate wireless communication architecture and its security measures is extremely important for a smart grid system. This research addresses physical layer security in a Wireless Smart Grid. Hence a defense Quorum- based algorithm is proposed to ensure physical security in wireless communication. The new security architecture for smart grid that supports privacy-preserving, data aggregation and access control is defined. This architecture consists of two parts. In the first part we propose to use an efficient and privacy-preserving aggregation scheme (EPPA), which aggregates real-time data of consumers by Local Gateway. During aggregation the privacy of consumers is

Robust AIC with High Breakdown Scale Estimate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shokrya Saleh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Akaike Information Criterion (AIC based on least squares (LS regression minimizes the sum of the squared residuals; LS is sensitive to outlier observations. Alternative criterion, which is less sensitive to outlying observation, has been proposed; examples are robust AIC (RAIC, robust Mallows Cp (RCp, and robust Bayesian information criterion (RBIC. In this paper, we propose a robust AIC by replacing the scale estimate with a high breakdown point estimate of scale. The robustness of the proposed methods is studied through its influence function. We show that, the proposed robust AIC is effective in selecting accurate models in the presence of outliers and high leverage points, through simulated and real data examples.

Methodology in robust and nonparametric statistics

CERN Document Server

Jurecková, Jana; Picek, Jan

2012-01-01

Introduction and SynopsisIntroductionSynopsisPreliminariesIntroductionInference in Linear ModelsRobustness ConceptsRobust and Minimax Estimation of LocationClippings from Probability and Asymptotic TheoryProblemsRobust Estimation of Location and RegressionIntroductionM-EstimatorsL-EstimatorsR-EstimatorsMinimum Distance and Pitman EstimatorsDifferentiable Statistical FunctionsProblemsAsymptotic Representations for L-Estimators

Security intelligence a practitioner's guide to solving enterprise security challenges

CERN Document Server

Li, Qing

2015-01-01

Identify, deploy, and secure your enterprise Security Intelligence, A Practitioner's Guide to Solving Enterprise Security Challenges is a handbook for security in modern times, against modern adversaries. As leaders in the design and creation of security products that are deployed globally across a range of industries and market sectors, authors Qing Li and Gregory Clark deliver unparalleled insight into the development of comprehensive and focused enterprise security solutions. They walk you through the process of translating your security goals into specific security technology domains, fo

Center for computer security: Computer Security Group conference. Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1982-06-01

Topics covered include: computer security management; detection and prevention of computer misuse; certification and accreditation; protection of computer security, perspective from a program office; risk analysis; secure accreditation systems; data base security; implementing R and D; key notarization system; DOD computer security center; the Sandia experience; inspector general's report; and backup and contingency planning. (GHT)

Security dialogues: building better relationships between security and business

OpenAIRE

Ashenden, Debi; Lawrence, Darren

2016-01-01

In the real world, there's often a discrepancy between an organization's mandated security processes and what actually happens. The social practice of security flourishes in the space between and around formal organizational security processes. By recognizing the value of risk management as a communication tool, security practitioners can tap opportunities to improve the security dialogue with staff.

Enterprise security IT security solutions : concepts, practical experiences, technologies

CERN Document Server

Fumy, Walter

2013-01-01

Addressing IT managers and staff, as well as CIOs and other executives dealing with corporate IT security, this book provides a broad knowledge on the major security issues affecting today's corporations and organizations, and presents state-of-the-art concepts and current trends for securing an enterprise.Areas covered include information security management, network and system security, identity and access management (IAM), authentication (including smart card based solutions and biometrics), and security certification. In-depth discussion of relevant technologies and standards (including cr

Robust Approaches to Forecasting

OpenAIRE

Jennifer Castle; David Hendry; Michael P. Clements

2014-01-01

We investigate alternative robust approaches to forecasting, using a new class of robust devices, contrasted with equilibrium correction models. Their forecasting properties are derived facing a range of likely empirical problems at the forecast origin, including measurement errors, implulses, omitted variables, unanticipated location shifts and incorrectly included variables that experience a shift. We derive the resulting forecast biases and error variances, and indicate when the methods ar...

Securing Chinese nuclear power development: further strengthening nuclear security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Hui

2014-01-01

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses China's new concept of nuclear security with four 'equal emphasis' at the third Nuclear Security Summit, and makes four commitments to strengthen nuclear security in the future. To convert President Xi's political commitments into practical, sustainable reality, China should take further steps to install a complete, reliable, and effective security system to ensure that all its nuclear materials and nuclear facilities are effectively protected against the full spectrum of plausible terrorist and criminal threats. This paper suggests the following measures be taken to improve China's existing nuclear security system, including updating and clarifying the requirements for a national level DBT; updating and enforcing existing regulations; further promoting nuclear security culture; balancing the costs of nuclear security, and further strengthening international cooperation on nuclear security. (author)

Theoretical Framework for Robustness Evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2011-01-01

This paper presents a theoretical framework for evaluation of robustness of structural systems, incl. bridges and buildings. Typically modern structural design codes require that ‘the consequence of damages to structures should not be disproportional to the causes of the damages’. However, although...... the importance of robustness for structural design is widely recognized the code requirements are not specified in detail, which makes the practical use difficult. This paper describes a theoretical and risk based framework to form the basis for quantification of robustness and for pre-normative guidelines...

Robust portfolio selection under norm uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Wang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract In this paper, we consider the robust portfolio selection problem which has a data uncertainty described by the ( p , w $(p,w$ -norm in the objective function. We show that the robust formulation of this problem is equivalent to a linear optimization problem. Moreover, we present some numerical results concerning our robust portfolio selection problem.

To The Question Of The Concepts "National Security", "Information Security", "National Information Security" Meanings

OpenAIRE

Alexander A. Galushkin

2015-01-01

In the present article author analyzes value of the concepts "national security", "information security", "national information security". Author gives opinions of scientists-jurists, definitions given by legislators and normotvorets in various regulations.

BSNCare+: A Robust IoT-Oriented Healthcare System with Non-Repudiation Transactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuo-Hui Yeh

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Recently, the rapid advancement in technologies of modern intelligent objects has led to a new network paradigm, called the Internet of Things (IoT, in which every networked and automated object has been connected in a pervasive manner. New types of IoT-based application services are thus presented. In a healthcare oriented environment, the usage of IoT has brought opportunities for assisting physicians (or nurses to provide on-demand and real-time body-care services to patients with higher accuracy and better efficiency. However, while IoT-oriented techniques deliver such advantages, they may encounter system security vulnerabilities and patient privacy threats not seen in the past. In this paper, we propose a robust IoT-based healthcare system, called BSNCare+, in which body sensor networks (BSNs are adopted as the underlying communication architecture. In the proposed healthcare system, we exploit lightweight crypto-primitives to construct a secure communication mechanism that does achieve data confidentiality and entity authentication among intelligent body sensors, the mobile gateway and the backend BSN-Care server. In addition, we evaluate the performance of the proposed healthcare system using the Raspberry PI series platform. The results show the practicability and feasibility of BSNCare+.

Robustness and structure of complex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Shuai

This dissertation covers the two major parts of my PhD research on statistical physics and complex networks: i) modeling a new type of attack -- localized attack, and investigating robustness of complex networks under this type of attack; ii) discovering the clustering structure in complex networks and its influence on the robustness of coupled networks. Complex networks appear in every aspect of our daily life and are widely studied in Physics, Mathematics, Biology, and Computer Science. One important property of complex networks is their robustness under attacks, which depends crucially on the nature of attacks and the structure of the networks themselves. Previous studies have focused on two types of attack: random attack and targeted attack, which, however, are insufficient to describe many real-world damages. Here we propose a new type of attack -- localized attack, and study the robustness of complex networks under this type of attack, both analytically and via simulation. On the other hand, we also study the clustering structure in the network, and its influence on the robustness of a complex network system. In the first part, we propose a theoretical framework to study the robustness of complex networks under localized attack based on percolation theory and generating function method. We investigate the percolation properties, including the critical threshold of the phase transition pc and the size of the giant component Pinfinity. We compare localized attack with random attack and find that while random regular (RR) networks are more robust against localized attack, Erdoḧs-Renyi (ER) networks are equally robust under both types of attacks. As for scale-free (SF) networks, their robustness depends crucially on the degree exponent lambda. The simulation results show perfect agreement with theoretical predictions. We also test our model on two real-world networks: a peer-to-peer computer network and an airline network, and find that the real-world networks

Security negotiation

OpenAIRE

Mitrović, Miroslav M.; Ivaniš, Željko

2013-01-01

Contemporary security challenges, risks and threats represent a resultant of the achieved level of interaction between various entities within the paradigm of global security relations. Asymmetry and nonlinearity are main features of contemporary challenges in the field of global security. Negotiation in the area of security, namely the security negotiation, thus goes beyond just the domain of negotiation in conflicts and takes into consideration particularly asymmetric forms of possible sour...

Unconditionally stable methods for simulating multi-component two-phase interface models with Peng-Robinson equation of state and various boundary conditions