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Computer Sciences

Air Force Institute of Technology

Computer security

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Full-Text Articles in Computer Engineering

Effects Of Architecture On Information Leakage Of A Hardware Advanced Encryption Standard Implementation, Eric A. Koziel Sep 2012

Effects Of Architecture On Information Leakage Of A Hardware Advanced Encryption Standard Implementation, Eric A. Koziel

Theses and Dissertations

Side-channel analysis (SCA) is a threat to many modern cryptosystems. Many countermeasures exist, but are costly to implement and still do not provide complete protection against SCA. A plausible alternative is to design the cryptosystem using architectures that are known to leak little information about the cryptosystem's operations. This research uses several common primitive architectures for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and assesses the susceptibility of the full AES system to side-channel attack for various primitive configurations. A combined encryption/decryption core is also evaluated to determine if variation of high-level architectures affects leakage characteristics. These different configurations are evaluated under …


Developing Cyberspace Data Understanding: Using Crisp-Dm For Host-Based Ids Feature Mining, Joseph R. Erskine Mar 2010

Developing Cyberspace Data Understanding: Using Crisp-Dm For Host-Based Ids Feature Mining, Joseph R. Erskine

Theses and Dissertations

Current intrusion detection systems generate a large number of specific alerts, but do not provide actionable information. Many times, these alerts must be analyzed by a network defender, a time consuming and tedious task which can occur hours or days after an attack occurs. Improved understanding of the cyberspace domain can lead to great advancements in Cyberspace situational awareness research and development. This thesis applies the Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM) to develop an understanding about a host system under attack. Data is generated by launching scans and exploits at a machine outfitted with a set of …


Automated Virtual Machine Introspection For Host-Based Intrusion Detection, Brett A. Pagel Feb 2009

Automated Virtual Machine Introspection For Host-Based Intrusion Detection, Brett A. Pagel

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines techniques to automate configuration of an intrusion detection system utilizing hardware-assisted virtualization. These techniques are used to detect the version of a running guest operating system, automatically configure version-specific operating system information needed by the introspection library, and to locate and monitor important operating system data structures. This research simplifies introspection library configuration and is a step toward operating system independent introspection. An operating system detection algorithm and Windows virtual machine system service dispatch table monitor are implemented using the Xen hypervisor and a modified version of the XenAccess library. All detection and monitoring is implemented from …


An Analysis Of Botnet Vulnerabilities, Sean W. Hudson Jun 2008

An Analysis Of Botnet Vulnerabilities, Sean W. Hudson

Theses and Dissertations

Botnets are a significant threat to computer networks and data stored on networked computers. The ability to inhibit communication between servers controlling the botnet and individual hosts would be an effective countermeasure. The objective of this research was to find vulnerabilities in Unreal IRCd that could be used to shut down the server. Analysis revealed that Unreal IRCd is a very mature and stable IRC server and no significant vulnerabilities were found. While this research does not eliminate the possibility that a critical vulnerability is present in the Unreal IRCd software, none were identified during this effort.


Hardware Virtualization Applied To Rootkit Defense, Douglas P. Medley Mar 2007

Hardware Virtualization Applied To Rootkit Defense, Douglas P. Medley

Theses and Dissertations

This research effort examines the idea of applying virtualization hardware to enhance operating system security against rootkits. Rootkits are sets of tools used to hide code and/or functionality from the user and operating system. Rootkits can accomplish this feat through using access to one part of an operating system to change another part that resides at the same privilege level. Hardware assisted virtualization (HAV) provides an opportunity to defeat this tactic through the introduction of a new operating mode. Created to aid operating system virtualization, HAV provides hardware support for managing and saving multiple states of the processor. This hardware …


A Distributed Agent Architecture For A Computer Virus Immune System, Paul K. Harmer Mar 2000

A Distributed Agent Architecture For A Computer Virus Immune System, Paul K. Harmer

Theses and Dissertations

Information superiority is identified as an Air Force core competency and is recognized as a key enabler for the success of future missions. Information protection and information assurance are vital components required for achieving superiority in the Infosphere, but these goals are threatened by the exponential birth rate of new computer viruses. The increased global interconnectivity that is empowering advanced information systems is also increasing the spread of malicious code and current anti-virus solutions are quickly becoming overwhelmed by the burden of capturing and classifying new viral stains. To overcome this problem, a distributed computer virus immune system (CVIS) based …