Engineering Commons^™

Paper Session V: Steganography And Terrorist Communications - Current Information And Trends - Tools, Analysis And Future Directions In Steganalysis In Context With Terrorists And Other Criminals, William Eyre, Marcus Rogers

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In ancient times, users communicated using steganography, “…derived from the Greek words steganos, meaning ‘covered’, and graphein, meaning ‘to write.’” (Singh, 1999, p.5) Steganography facilitates secret, undetected communication. In modern times, in the context of the Global War on Terror, national intelligence and law enforcement agencies need tools to detect hidden information (steganography) in various types of media, most specifically to uncover the placement of hidden information in images. This paper will look at steganography in general terms, presenting the theory of some common steganographic techniques and touching on some theoretical work in steganography. Then a discussion of how to …

Paper Session Iv: Toward Understanding Digital Forensics As A Profession: Defining Curricular Needs (***Research In Process ***), Michelle Wolf, Alan Shafer, Michael Gendron

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This research paper presents research in process which attempts to define the common body of knowledge (CBK) of digital forensics. Digital forensics is not well defined not does it have a generally accepted CBK. The first three phases of completed research, in a four-phase research process are discussed. The early results have created a preliminary CBK, and final validation is underway.

Paper Session Iv: Development And Delivery Of Coursework - The Legal/Regulatory/Policy Environment Of Cyberforensics, John W. Bagby, John C. Ruhnka

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper describes a cyber-forensics course that integrates important public policy and legal issues as well as relevant forensic techniques. Cyber-forensics refers to the amalgam of multi-disciplinary activities involved in the identification, gathering, handling, custody, use and security of electronic files and records, involving expertise from the forensic domain, and which produces evidence useful in the proof of facts for both commercial and legal activities. The legal and regulatory environment in which electronic discovery takes place is of critical importance to cyber-forensics experts because the legal process imposes both constraints and opportunities for the effective use of evidence gathered through …

Paper Session Iii: Research Brief: A Curriculum For Teaching Information Technology Investigative Techniques For Auditors, Grover S. Kearns, Elizabeth V. Mulig

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Recent prosecutions of highly publicized white-collar crimes combined with public outrage have resulted in heightened regulation and greater emphasis on systems of internal control. Because both white-collar and cybercrimes are usually perpetrated through computers, auditors’ knowledge of information technology (IT) is now more vital than ever. However, preserving digital evidence and investigative techniques, which can be essential to fraud examinations, are not skills frequently taught in accounting programs. Furthermore, many students are not instructed in the use of computer assisted auditing tools and techniques – applications that might uncover fraudulent activity. Only a limited number of university-level accounting classes provide …

Paper Session Ii: Forensic Scene Documentation Using Mobile Technology, Ibrahim Baggili

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper outlines a framework for integrating forensic scene documentation with mobile technology. Currently there are no set standards for documenting a forensic scene. Nonetheless, there is a conceptual framework that forensic scientists and engineers use that includes note taking, scene sketches, photographs, video, and voice interview recordings. This conceptual framework will be the basis that a mobile forensic scene documentation software system is built on. A mobile software system for documenting a forensic scene may help in standardizing forensic scene documentation by regulating the data collection and documentation processes for various forensic disciplines.

2nd Annual Undergraduate Research Conference Abstract Book, University Of Missouri--Rolla

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

No abstract provided.

2006 - The Eleventh Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Eleventh Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 7, 2006. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Internet Use By Teachers And Students In Engineering Colleges Of Punjab, Haryana, And Himachal Pradesh States Of India: An Analysis, Rajeev Kumar, Amritpal Kaur

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the use of the Internet and related issues among the teachers and the students of engineering colleges in India’s three States viz. Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. A well-structured questionnaire was distributed among the 1980 teachers and students of all the engineering colleges of the three states of India under study. The response rate was 80.9 percent. The present study demonstrates and elaborates the various aspects of Internet use, such as frequency of Internet use, methods used for learning of Internet skill, most frequently used place for Internet use, purposes for …

E-Resources And Services In Engineering College Libraries – A Case Study, K. R. Mulla, M. Chandrashekra

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

Libraries have witnessed a great metamorphosis in recent years both in their collection development and in their service structure. Over the last several years, a significant transformation has been noticed in collection development policies and practices. Print medium is increasingly giving way to the electronic form of materials. This study examines libraries by region within the State of Karnataka, India. It examines the level of effort taken by the engineering college libraries in Karnataka to build electronic resources.

The Effect Of Gender Schematicity On The Assessment Of Male And Female Pilots’ Competence Given Identical Scenarios, Jan D. Laplante

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Gender has been identified as one of the top three categories, along with race, and age that are subject to stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination (Fiske, 1998). With the emergence of women in stereotypical male domains, gender research has never been more important. The aviation community is a prime example of one such domain.

This study examined the presence of an existing perception that male pilots are more competent then female pilots. It suggested that there does not appear to be evidence that would explain why there should be a difference in this perception of competence. It also discussed social theories …

Fedora: An Architecture For Complex Objects And Their Relationships, Carl Lagoze, Sandy Payette, Edwin Shin, Chris Wilper

Edwin Shin

The Fedora architecture is an extensible framework for the storage, management, and dissemination of complex objects and the relationships among them. Fedora accommodates the aggregation of local and distributed content into digital objects and the association of services with objects. This allows an object to have several accessible representations, some of them dynamically produced. The architecture includes a generic Resource Description Framework (RDF)-based relationship model that represents relationships among objects and their components. Queries against these relationships are supported by an RDF triple store. The architecture is implemented as a web service, with all aspects of the complex object architecture …

Clarifying The Role Of Self-Efficacy And Metacognition As Indicators Of Learning: Construct Development And Test, Trevor T. Moores, Jerry Cha-Jan Chang, Deborah K. Smith

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Publications

We propose extending our understanding of self-efficacy by comparing self-efficacy with a related construct called metacognition. Metacognition involves the monitoring and control of one's thought processes and is often related, as is self-efficacy, to performance on a task. We develop an instrument that attempts to measure both self-efficacy and metacognition with respect to one's performance on a test covering declarative and procedural knowledge (knowing that, and knowing how) of DFDs and ERDs. With data collected from a sample of 124 students, we use partial least squares (PLS) to show that self-efficacy and metacognition are distinct yet related constructs. While self-efficacy …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 47 Number 4, Spring 2006, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - A DREAM OPPORTUNITY by Monte Lorenzet. Santa Clara University's sleep lab is one of just a handful of similar research facilities at undergraduate institutions. Students, alumni, faculty, and the research community are all benefiting from the fledgling lab.

10 - SCIENCE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE by Kim Kooyers. Social entrepreneurs use technology to address some of the world's urgent needs. Last November, some of these innovators were honored at the Tech Museum Awards, an international awards program.

14 - GIGANTES Y CABEZUDOS by Elizabeth Kelley Gillogly '93. In an intensive workshop featuring seasoned artists from Spain, SCU students explored …

A Study On Perceptions Of Civil Engineers Regarding Mandatory Continuing Education, Alee A. Sleymann

Dissertations

This study explored the perceptions of civil engineers regarding continuing professional competency requirements for license renewal. In this study,continuing professional competency is assumed to have a direct relationship to public welfare and safety. The policy of mandatory continuing education was adopted primarily for this reason. Currently, mandatory continuing education is adopted by 29 states as the method of assuring continued professional competency.

Many professionals, however, have not welcomed this mandatory continuing education (MCE) policy. The reason for this opposition is the claimed ineffectiveness of this policy in fostering continued competency. In addition, the regulatory boards and policy advocates have not …

A Graph Theoretic Analysis Of The Effects Of Organizational Structure On Employee Social Networks, John R. Hutzel

Theses and Dissertations

A simulation technique was used to investigate the impacts of organizational structure on an organization's social network. By simulating personnel in an organization as vertices in a graph and the aging of the corporation as the aging of the same graph, the maturation of an organization was realized. The characteristic path length of the graph was measured after each year returning an optimistic average organizational distance. Results include the finding that, per this model, an organization's characteristic path length can drop over 50% in a 20 year period with consideration of edges of all strengths. Next a series of random …

Modeling Network Centric Warfare (Ncw) With The System Effectiveness Analysis Simulation (Seas), Jason B. Honabarger

Theses and Dissertations

Significant technological advances over the past few decades have fueled the continual and rapid development of an information-based world. Network Centric Warfare (NCW) has become the buzzword of the young millennium within the Department of Defense (DoD) and is quickly becoming a popularly shared vision and rallying cry for force transformation among United States military leaders. An essential element in fully implementing this network-centric way of thinking is to develop useful measures to help gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of both our military networks and our strategic NCW doctrine. The goal of this research is first to provide a comprehensive …

Proposal To The Ethics Education In Science And Engineering Program, National Science Foundation: Role-Play Scenarios For Teaching Responsible Conduct Of Research, Michael C. Loui, C. K. Gunsalus

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

We propose to develop and assess role-play scenarios to teach central topics in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) to graduate students in science and engineering. Together the scenarios will cover plagiarism, authorship, conflict of interest, interpersonal conflicts in mentoring, and concerns about compliance with research regulations on human participants in research, animal subjects, or hazardous substances. Two scenarios will present potential whistleblowing situations.

Intellectual merit: Few previous studies have carefully assessed the effectiveness of role-play in teaching ethics. We will conduct a rigorous, systematic assessment of role-play, using multiple methods, with a diverse group of graduate students. We will …

Terrain And Spatial Effects On Hazard Prediction And Assessment Capability (Hpac) Software Dose-Rate Contour Plot Predictions As Compared To A Sample Of Local Fallout Data From Test Detonations In The Continental United States, 1945-1962, Kevin D. Pace

Theses and Dissertations

Hazard Prediction and Capability (HPAC) Software is validated by comparing modeled predictions to historical test data. Reanalysis weather data is acquired and reformatted for use in HPAC. Simulations are made using various amounts of weather data by use of a spatial domain. Simulations are also varied by levels of terrain resolution. The predicted output of the software is numerically compared to historical test data. The result of this research culminated in the knowledge that HPAC prediction accuracy is improved by using terrain resolutions beyond the flat earth assumption. Furthermore, this research establishes that domain size variation produces no significant advantage …

Imperative Of National Savings: A Case For Adoption Of Appropriate Benchmark Price For Crude Oil., Moses F. Otu

Bullion

Budgeting involves the design of plans that aligns expected financial resources and expenditure to accomplish specific national goals and objectives. It is in this regard that this paper provides a simple framework for deriving an acceptable bench-mark price for crude oil for budgeting purposes. This is aimed at enabling the elimination of subjectivity in budgeting process and promote understanding between all the stakeholders in order to fast track the process of passage of the appropriation bill. Following a brief introduction, the paper examines the need for national saving fund and constitutional provisions for national savings. Section three focuses on the …

Economic And Energy Aspects Of Motor Vehicle Taxation, Theodoros Zachariadis, Nadia Nicolaidou

Theodoros Zachariadis

No abstract provided.

Quantitative Analysis Of A Turbulent Wind Tunnel With Obstructions For Use In Liquid Flame Spread Experiments, Beau M. Brantley

Theses and Dissertations

The research was done as part of an effort to develop alternative fire suppressant technologies for aircraft engine nacelles. The turbulent shear flow behind a surface mounted fence inside an open circuit wind tunnel was investigated experimentally. The tunnel test section was designed to be 2-D and exhibit flow qualities similar to those found in a typical engine nacelle. A 279 mm wide fuel pan was inserted approximately four fence heights downstream of the fence location. The fuel pan was filled using water to simulate fuel with a depth of 32 mm. Cold flow tests were done on different fence …

Beneath The Tip Of The Iceberg: A Human Factors Analysis Of General Aviation Accidents In Alaska Versus The Rest Of The United States, Cristy Detwiler, Carla Hackworth, Kali Holcomb, Albert Boquet, Elaine Pfleiderer, Douglas Wiegmann, Scott Shappell

Publications

Historically, general aviation (GA) accidents have been overlooked and their impact under-appreciated when compared with those in the commercial or military sector. Recently however, the Federal Aviation Administration and other governmental and civilian organizations have focused their attention on one piece of this proverbial “iceberg,” that being GA accidents occurring in Alaska. This study examines more than 17,000 GA accidents using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System. Comparisons of Alaska to the rest of the U.S. (RoUS) included traditional demographic and environmental variables, as well as the human errors committed by aircrews. Overall, categorical differences among unsafe acts (decision …

Strategic Airlift En Route Analysis To Support The Global War On Terrorism Using A Value Focused Thinking Approach, Marykathryn W. Tharaldson

Theses and Dissertations

The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) has yielded new challenges to the United States' strategic airlift infrastructure. The network of en-route airfields that serve as refueling and maintenance stops were designed primarily to service relatively static Cold War requirements. However, the GWOT has resulted in the need for an infrastructure that is responsive to a highly dynamic environment. This research uses a "value focused" methodology to identify en-route airfield locations that simultaneously maximize cargo throughput capability while possessing a high degree of adaptability to volatile cargo delivery requirements.

A Methodology For Performing Effects-Based Assessments, Benjamin A. Thoele

Theses and Dissertations

In order to bring the doctrine of Effects-Based Operations (EBO) into a fully operational capability, Effects-Based Assessment (EBA) must provide relevant insight to the commander and his planning staff. Assessments of an effects-based plan and execution must include an assessment of the effects of a campaign on the enemy in addition to an assessment of the accomplishment of friendly actions taken to achieve the desired effects. Determining the effects of a campaign requires an analysis of the dynamics of the enemy systems. EBA must be able to recognize the states of the enemy's systems as the system states change over …

Hazardous Materials Transportation: A Meta-Analysis Of State Level Policy And Regulations, David J. Pastika

Theses and Dissertations

Every day, over 800,000 hazmat transactions take place across the United States. This segment of transportation is expected to grow at a modest two percent a year for the foreseeable future but differences of regulations between the state and Federal level have been a growing concern for both the government and members of the hazmat industry. A patchwork of often inconsistent permits, registration requirements, and hazmat organizational structures at the state level often create barriers to the efficient means of commerce for hazmat carriers and shippers. This thesis explores the history of hazardous regulations since de-regulation of the trucking industry …

An Epidemiological Approach To Terrorism, Kjirstin A. Bentson

Theses and Dissertations

There are many types of models for counterterrorism, explaining different problems that the military faces in the fight against terrorism. This thesis proposes that one of the fundamental assumptions underlying existing models of counterterrorism is that the struggle with terrorists can be understood as a war in the traditional sense of the term. We propose to rethink the struggle against terrorism as a fight against an infection. The epidemic of terrorist ideology within part of the world is a result, from this perspective, of the infectiousness of that ideology. Using the insights of the field of the epidemiology of ideas, …

Book Review: Digital Crime And Forensic Science In Cyberspace, Gary C. Kessler

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This issue presents the first Book Review column for the JDFSL. It is an experiment to broaden the services that the journal provides to readers, so we are anxious to get your reaction. Is the column useful and interesting? Should we include more than one review per issue? Should we also review products? Do you have suggested books/products for review and/or do you want to write a review? All of this type of feedback -- and more -- is appreciated. Please feel free to send comments to Gary Kessler (gary.kessler@champlain.edu) or Glenn Dardick (gdardick@dardick.net).

The 2006 Analysis Of Information Remaining On Disks Offered For Sale On The Second Hand Market, Andy Jones, Craig Valli, Iain Sutherland, Paula Thomas

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

All organisations, whether in the public or private sector, use computers for the storage and processing of information relating to their business or services, their employees and their customers. A large proportion of families and individuals in their homes now also use personal computers and, both intentionally and inadvertently, often store on those computers personal information. It is clear that most organisations and individuals continue to be unaware of the information that may be stored on the hard disks that the computers contain, and have not considered what may happen to the information after the disposal of the equipment.

In …

Development Of An Ontology Based Forensic Search Mechanism: Proof Of Concept, Jill Slay, Fiona Schulz

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper examines the problems faced by Law Enforcement in searching large quantities of electronic evidence. It examines the use of ontologies as the basis for new forensic software filters and provides a proof of concept tool based on an ontological design. It demonstrates that efficient searching is produced through the use of such a design and points to further work that might be carried out to extend this concept.

A Forensic Log File Extraction Tool For Icq Instant Messaging Clients, Kim Morfitt, Craig Valli

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Instant messenger programs such as ICQ are often used by hackers and criminals for illicit purposes and consequently the log files from such programs are of interest in a forensic investigation. This paper outlines research that has resulted in the development of a tool for the extraction of ICQ log file entries. Detailed reconstruction of data from log files was achieved with a number of different ICQ software. There are several limitations with the current design including timestamp information not adjusted for the time zone, data could be altered, and conversations must be manually reconstructed. Future research will aim to …