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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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- Keyword
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- Computer networks--Security measures (4)
- Computer security (4)
- #antcenter (2)
- Computer network protocols (2)
- Cyberterrorism--Prevention (2)
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- Data protection (2)
- Decision making (2)
- Drone aircraft (2)
- Evolutionary computation (2)
- Genetic algorithms (2)
- Information storage and retrieval systems (2)
- Swarm intelligence (2)
- Air pilots--Physiology (1)
- Anomaly detection (1)
- Artificial immune systems (1)
- Artificial intelligence (1)
- Biometric identification (1)
- Cartography--Digital techniques (1)
- Clustering (1)
- Combat--Computer simulation (1)
- Command and control systems--United States (1)
- Computational geometry (1)
- Computer forensics (1)
- Computer graphics--Equipment and supplies (1)
- Computer networks--Remote access (1)
- Computer security--Management (1)
- Computer viruses (1)
- Computer vision (1)
- Computers--Access control--Passwords (1)
- Cryptography--Mathematical models (1)
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 28 of 28
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Using Prospect Theory To Investigate Decision-Making Bias Within An Information Security Context, Neil J. Schroeder
Using Prospect Theory To Investigate Decision-Making Bias Within An Information Security Context, Neil J. Schroeder
Theses and Dissertations
Information security is an issue that has increased in importance over the past decade. In this time both practitioner and academic circles have researched and developed practices and process to more effectively handle information security. Even with growth in these areas there has been little research conducted into how decision makers actually behave. This is problematic because decision makers in the Department of Defense have been observed exhibiting risk seeking behavior when making information security decisions that seemingly violate accepted norms. There are presently no models in the literature that provide sufficient insight into this phenomenon. This study used Prospect …
Operator State Estimation For Adaptive Aiding In Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles, Christopher A. Russell
Operator State Estimation For Adaptive Aiding In Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles, Christopher A. Russell
Theses and Dissertations
This research demonstrated the first closed-loop implementation of adaptive automation using operator functional state in an operationally relevant environment. In the Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) environment, operators can become cognitively overloaded and their performance may decrease during mission critical events. This research demonstrates an unprecedented closed-loop system, one that adaptively aids UCAV operators based on their cognitive functional state A series of experiments were conducted to 1) determine the best classifiers for estimating operator functional state, 2) determine if physiological measures can be used to develop multiple cognitive models based on information processing demands and task type, 3) determine …
Cooperative Reinforcement Learning Using An Expert-Measuring Weighted Strategy With Wolf, Kevin Cousin, Gilbert L. Peterson
Cooperative Reinforcement Learning Using An Expert-Measuring Weighted Strategy With Wolf, Kevin Cousin, Gilbert L. Peterson
Faculty Publications
Gradient descent learning algorithms have proven effective in solving mixed strategy games. The policy hill climbing (PHC) variants of WoLF (Win or Learn Fast) and PDWoLF (Policy Dynamics based WoLF) have both shown rapid convergence to equilibrium solutions by increasing the accuracy of their gradient parameters over standard Q-learning. Likewise, cooperative learning techniques using weighted strategy sharing (WSS) and expertness measurements improve agent performance when multiple agents are solving a common goal. By combining these cooperative techniques with fast gradient descent learning, an agent’s performance converges to a solution at an even faster rate. This statement is verified in a …
Early Warning And Prediction Of Internet Attacks And Exploits, Brian P. Zeitz
Early Warning And Prediction Of Internet Attacks And Exploits, Brian P. Zeitz
Theses and Dissertations
A safe, secure, and functional information network is vital in today’s Air Force net centric environment. Information is more critical today than it has ever been. As more operational functions are placed in cyber space and greater computing power becomes available to everyone, keeping these networks safe and secure is an almost unattainable task. Network security entails Intrusion Detection Security, but another form of security or “insecurity” is quickly gaining attention. Honeypots allow the black hat community to attack and penetrate non-production systems. By monitoring and studying these attacks, network defenders can develop better Information Assurance tactics, techniques and procedures …
A Comparison Of Generalizability For Anomaly Detection, Gilbert L. Peterson, Robert F. Mills, Brent T. Mcbride, Wesley T. Allred
A Comparison Of Generalizability For Anomaly Detection, Gilbert L. Peterson, Robert F. Mills, Brent T. Mcbride, Wesley T. Allred
Faculty Publications
In security-related areas there is concern over the novel “zeroday” attack that penetrates system defenses and wreaks havoc. The best methods for countering these threats are recognizing “non-self” as in an Artificial Immune System or recognizing “self” through clustering. For either case, the concern remains that something that looks similar to self could be missed. Given this situation one could logically assume that a tighter fit to self rather than generalizability is important for false positive reduction in this type of learning problem. This article shows that a tight fit, although important, does not supersede having some model generality. This …
A Framework For Routing And Topological Decision-Making Within A Transformational Communications Architecture, Alexander I. Smith
A Framework For Routing And Topological Decision-Making Within A Transformational Communications Architecture, Alexander I. Smith
Theses and Dissertations
A Transformational Communications Architecture (TCA) has been proposed by the US government with the goal of creating "an Internet in the sky." This thesis presents a framework which places user requirements at the heart of routing and topological decision-making within the TCA. It provides new terminology to describe data transmissions and link characteristics and an approach to formulating cost functions to better meet user needs. The framework is intended to stimulate interest and focus efforts on how to meet military specific requirements by taking advantage of the TCA's diverse capabilities and topology. Cost functions using newly-defined parameters are simulated and …
An Evolutionary Algorithm To Generate Hyper-Ellipsoid Detectors For Negative Selection, Joseph M. Shapiro, Gary B. Lamont, Gilbert L. Peterson
An Evolutionary Algorithm To Generate Hyper-Ellipsoid Detectors For Negative Selection, Joseph M. Shapiro, Gary B. Lamont, Gilbert L. Peterson
Faculty Publications
This paper introduces hyper-ellipsoids as an improvement to hyper-spheres as intrusion detectors in a negative selection problem within an artificial immune system. Since hyper-spheres are a specialization of hyper-ellipsoids, hyper-ellipsoids retain the benefits of hyper-spheres. However, hyper-ellipsoids are much more flexible, mostly in that they can be stretched and reoriented. The viability of using hyper-ellipsoids is established using several pedagogical problems. We conjecture that fewer hyper-ellipsoids than hyper-spheres are needed to achieve similar coverage of nonself space in a negative selection problem. Experimentation validates this conjecture. In pedagogical benchmark problems, the number of hyper-ellipsoids to achieve good results is significantly …
Explicit Building Block Multiobjective Evolutionary Computation: Methods And Applications, Richard O. Day
Explicit Building Block Multiobjective Evolutionary Computation: Methods And Applications, Richard O. Day
Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation presents principles, techniques, and performance of evolutionary computation optimization methods. Concentration is on concepts, design formulation, and prescription for multiobjective problem solving and explicit building block (BB) multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). Current state-of-the-art explicit BB MOEAs are addressed in the innovative design, execution, and testing of a new multiobjective explicit BB MOEA. Evolutionary computation concepts examined are algorithm convergence, population diversity and sizing, genotype and phenotype partitioning, archiving, BB concepts, parallel evolutionary algorithm (EA) models, robustness, visualization of evolutionary process, and performance in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. The main result of this research is the development of …
The Analysis Of A Link Between A Remote Local Area Network And Its Server Resources, Theresa D. Beaver
The Analysis Of A Link Between A Remote Local Area Network And Its Server Resources, Theresa D. Beaver
Theses and Dissertations
As the Air Force transitions to an expeditionary force, the service's ability to provide computer capabilities at remote locations becomes more and more paramount. One way to provide this support is to create a Local Area Network (LAN) in which the workstations are positioned at the deployed location while the servers are maintained at a Main Operating Base (MOB). This saves the military money, because it eliminates the need to purchase and deploy server equipment as well as eliminating the need to deploy personnel to set-up and maintain the servers. There is, however, a tradeoff. As the number of personnel …
Assessing Information Trustability In A Secure Web Services Environment, Charles G. Penner
Assessing Information Trustability In A Secure Web Services Environment, Charles G. Penner
Theses and Dissertations
Decisions are made based on available information. A decision support system endeavors to provide information that is timely, accurate, and trustable. Information gathered from secure web service transactions has attributes that can be used to assess a level of trustability. The trust assessments enable a decision maker to determine a basis for confidence in the information presented from the web service. Existing trust assessment models do not provide a way to determine from a particular trust assessment what information attributes contributed to its computation. The present work creates trust values that retain and denote meaning, allowing a decision maker to …
An Analysis Of Perturbed Quantization Steganography In The Spatial Domain, Matthew D. Spisak
An Analysis Of Perturbed Quantization Steganography In The Spatial Domain, Matthew D. Spisak
Theses and Dissertations
Steganography is a form of secret communication in which a message is hidden into a harmless cover object, concealing the actual existence of the message. Due to the potential abuse by criminals and terrorists, much research has also gone into the field of steganalysis - the art of detecting and deciphering a hidden message. As many novel steganographic hiding algorithms become publicly known, researchers exploit these methods by finding statistical irregularities between clean digital images and images containing hidden data. This creates an on-going race between the two fields and requires constant countermeasures on the part of steganographers in order …
Web Usability Guidelines For Air Force Knowledge Now Web Site, Gary A. Felax
Web Usability Guidelines For Air Force Knowledge Now Web Site, Gary A. Felax
Theses and Dissertations
The Department of Defense Net-Centric Data Strategies number one key attribute is to ensure data is visible, available, and usable when and where needed to accelerate decision-making. The Internet provides opportunities for quick and efficient disseminating of information to the public, distributing information throughout the Air Force, and accessing information from a variety of sources. In 2002, the Air Force CIO designated the Air Force Knowledge Now (AFKN) as the center of excellence for Knowledge Management. The site is a one-stop resource, providing access to a great depth and breadth of information. This study seeks to determine how usable and …
An Evolutionary Algorithm To Generate Ellipsoid Detectors For Negative Selection, Joseph M. Shapiro
An Evolutionary Algorithm To Generate Ellipsoid Detectors For Negative Selection, Joseph M. Shapiro
Theses and Dissertations
Negative selection is a process from the biological immune system that can be applied to two-class (self and nonself) classification problems. Negative selection uses only one class (self) for training, which results in detectors for the other class (nonself). This paradigm is especially useful for problems in which only one class is available for training, such as network intrusion detection. Previous work has investigated hyper-rectangles and hyper-spheres as geometric detectors. This work proposes ellipsoids as geometric detectors. First, the author establishes a mathematical model for ellipsoids. He develops an algorithm to generate ellipsoids by training on only one class of …
Determination Of Structure From Motion Using Aerial Imagery, Paul R. Graham
Determination Of Structure From Motion Using Aerial Imagery, Paul R. Graham
Theses and Dissertations
The structure from motion process creates three-dimensional models from a sequence of images. Until recently, most research in this field has been restricted to land-based imagery. This research examines the current methods of land-based structure from motion and evaluates their performance for aerial imagery. Current structure from motion algorithms search the initial image for features to track though the subsequent images. These features are used to create point correspondences between the two images. The correspondences are used to estimate the motion of the camera and then the three-dimensional structure of the scene. This research tests current algorithms using synthetic data …
Assessing The Usefulness Of Visualization Tools To Investigate Hidden Patterns With Insider Attack Cases, Amy M. Rammel
Assessing The Usefulness Of Visualization Tools To Investigate Hidden Patterns With Insider Attack Cases, Amy M. Rammel
Theses and Dissertations
The insider threat is a major concern for organizations. Open markets, technological advances, and the evolving definition of employee have exacerbated the insider threat. Insider threat research efforts are focusing on both prevention and detection techniques. However, recent security violation trends highlight the damage insider attacks cause organizations and illuminate why organizations and researchers must develop new approaches to this challenge. Although fruitful research is being conducted and new technologies are being applied to the insider threat problem, companies remain susceptible to the costly damage generated by insider threat actions. This research explored how visualization tools may be useful in …
A Genetic Algorithm For Uav Routing Integrated With A Parallel Swarm Simulation, Matthew A. Russell
A Genetic Algorithm For Uav Routing Integrated With A Parallel Swarm Simulation, Matthew A. Russell
Theses and Dissertations
This research investigation addresses the problem of routing and simulating swarms of UAVs. Sorties are modeled as instantiations of the NP-Complete Vehicle Routing Problem, and this work uses genetic algorithms (GAs) to provide a fast and robust algorithm for a priori and dynamic routing applications. Swarms of UAVs are modeled based on extensions of Reynolds' swarm research and are simulated on a Beowulf cluster as a parallel computing application using the Synchronous Environment for Emulation and Discrete Event Simulation (SPEEDES). In a test suite, standard measures such as benchmark problems, best published results, and parallel metrics are used as performance …
A Three Dimensional Helmet Mounted Primary Flight Reference For Paratroopers, Jason I. Thompson
A Three Dimensional Helmet Mounted Primary Flight Reference For Paratroopers, Jason I. Thompson
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis seeks to develop a Heads Up Display (HUD) presented on a Helmet Mounted Display (HMD), which presents a three-dimensional, graphical, predictive navigational reference to a paratrooper during a High Altitude, High Opening (HAHO) parachute jump. A Path Generating Algorithm (PGA) takes as input the Landing Zone's (LZ) location, the wind profile, and the paratrooper's parachute's performance characteristics, and returns a set of waypoints for the paratrooper to follow. The PGA attempts to maximize the distance that the paratrooper travels. The PGA's output is used to build a path to the LZ from a Release Point (RP). During the …
Accelerating Missile Threat Engagement Simulations Using Personal Computer Graphics Cards, Sean E. Jeffers
Accelerating Missile Threat Engagement Simulations Using Personal Computer Graphics Cards, Sean E. Jeffers
Theses and Dissertations
The 453rd Electronic Warfare Squadron supports on-going military operations by providing battlefield commanders with aircraft ingress and egress routes that minimize the risk of shoulder or ground-fired missile attacks on our aircraft. To determine these routes, the 453rd simulates engagements between ground-to-air missiles and allied aircraft to determine the probability of a successful attack. The simulations are computationally expensive, often requiring two-hours for a single 10-second missile engagement. Hundreds of simulations are needed to perform a complete risk assessment which includes evaluating the effectiveness of countermeasures such as flares, chaff, jammers, and missile warning systems. Thus, the need for faster …
National Security Agency (Nsa) Systems And Network Attack Center (Snac) Security Guides Versus Known Worms, Matthew W. Sullivan
National Security Agency (Nsa) Systems And Network Attack Center (Snac) Security Guides Versus Known Worms, Matthew W. Sullivan
Theses and Dissertations
Internet worms impact Internet security around the world even though there are many defenses to prevent the damage they inflict. The National Security Agency (NSA) Systems and Network Attack Center (SNAC) publishes in-depth configuration guides to protect networks from intrusion; however, the effectiveness of these guides in preventing the spread of worms hasn't been studied. This thesis establishes how well the NSA SNAC guides protect against various worms and exploits compared to Microsoft patches alone. It also identifies the aspects of the configuration guidance that is most effective in the absence of patches and updates, against network worm and e-mail …
An Analysis Of Biometric Technology As An Enabler To Information Assurance, Darren A. Deschaine
An Analysis Of Biometric Technology As An Enabler To Information Assurance, Darren A. Deschaine
Theses and Dissertations
The use of and dependence on, Information technology (IT) has grown tremendously in the last two decades. Still, some believe the United States is only in the infancy of this growth. This explosive growth has opened the door to capabilities that were only dreamed of in the past. As easy as it is to see how advantageous this technology is, it also is clear that with its advantages come distinct responsibilities and new problems that must be addressed. For instance, the minute one begins using information processing systems, the world of information assurance (IA) becomes far more complex. As a …
Passwords: A Survey On Usage And Policy, Kurt W. Martinson
Passwords: A Survey On Usage And Policy, Kurt W. Martinson
Theses and Dissertations
Computer password use is on the rise. Passwords have become one of the primary authentication methods used today. It is because of their high use that organizations have started to place parameters on passwords. Are password restrictions a nuisance? What are some of the consequences that result as organizations place the burden of their computer security on passwords? This thesis analyzes the results of a survey instrument that was used to determine if individuals are using similar techniques or patterns when choosing or remembering their passwords. It also looks at how individuals feel about using passwords. In addition, the authors …
Modeling Information Quality Expectation In Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarm Sensor Databases, Patrick D. Baldwin
Modeling Information Quality Expectation In Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarm Sensor Databases, Patrick D. Baldwin
Theses and Dissertations
Swarming Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are the future of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). Swarms of hundreds of these vehicles, each equipped with multiple sensors, will one day fill the skies over hostile areas. As the sensors collect hundreds of gigabytes of data, telemetry data links will be unable to transmit the complete data picture to the ground in real time. The collected data will be stored on board the UAVs and selectively downloaded through queries issued from analysts on the ground. Analysts expect to find relevant sensor data within the collection of acquired sensor data. This expectation is not …
Real-Time Mapping Using Stereoscopic Vision Optimization, Kevin M. Biggs
Real-Time Mapping Using Stereoscopic Vision Optimization, Kevin M. Biggs
Theses and Dissertations
This research focuses on efficient methods of generating 2D maps from stereo vision in real-time. Instead of attempting to locate edges between objects, we make the assumption that the representative surfaces of objects in a view provide enough information to generate a map while taking less time to locate during processing. Since all real-time vision processing endeavors are extremely computationally intensive, numerous optimization techniques are applied to allow for a real-time application: horizontal spike smoothing for post-disparity noise, masks to focus on close-proximity objects, melding for object synthesis, and rectangular fitting for object extraction under a planar assumption. Additionally, traditional …
Robot Mapping With Real-Time Incremental Localization Using Expectation Maximization, Kevin L. Owens
Robot Mapping With Real-Time Incremental Localization Using Expectation Maximization, Kevin L. Owens
Theses and Dissertations
This research effort explores and develops a real-time sonar-based robot mapping and localization algorithm that provides pose correction within the context of a single room, to be combined with pre-existing global localization techniques, and thus produce a single, well-formed map of an unknown environment. Our algorithm implements an expectation maximization algorithm that is based on the notion of the alpha-beta functions of a Hidden Markov Model. It performs a forward alpha calculation as an integral component of the occupancy grid mapping procedure using local maps in place of a single global map, and a backward beta calculation that considers the …
Evaluation Of The Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing Protocol For Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, Amber J. Rickmon
Evaluation Of The Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing Protocol For Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, Amber J. Rickmon
Theses and Dissertations
Routing protocols designed for wired networks cannot be used in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) due to the dynamic topology, limited throughput, and energy constraints. New routing protocols have been designed for use in MANETs, but have not been thoroughly tested under realistic conditions such as node movement, number of sources, the presence of obstacles, and node speed. This research evaluates the performance of ad hoc on-demand distance vector routing with respect to throughput, goodput ratio, end-to-end (ETE) delay, node pair packet delivery rate, and node pair end-to-end delay. It shows these performance metrics vary significantly according to the choice …
Efficient Generation Of Social Network Data From Computer-Mediated Communication Logs, Jason Wei Sung Yee
Efficient Generation Of Social Network Data From Computer-Mediated Communication Logs, Jason Wei Sung Yee
Theses and Dissertations
The insider threat poses a significant risk to any network or information system. A general definition of the insider threat is an authorized user performing unauthorized actions, a broad definition with no specifications on severity or action. While limited research has been able to classify and detect insider threats, it is generally understood that insider attacks are planned, and that there is a time period in which the organization's leadership can intervene and prevent the attack. Previous studies have shown that the person's behavior will generally change, and it is possible that social network analysis could be used to observe …
Analysis Of Effects Of Bgp Black Hole Routing On A Network Like The Niprnet, Michael D. Kleffman
Analysis Of Effects Of Bgp Black Hole Routing On A Network Like The Niprnet, Michael D. Kleffman
Theses and Dissertations
The Department of Defense (DoD) relies heavily on the Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNET) to exchange information freely between departments, services, bases, posts, and ships. The NIPRNET is vulnerable to various attacks, to include physical and cyber attacks. One of the most frequently used cyber attacks by criminally motivated hackers is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. DDoS attacks can be used to exhaust network bandwidth and router processing capabilities, and as a leveraging tool for extortion. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) black hole routing is a responsive defensive network technique for mitigating DDoS attacks. BGP black hole routing …
A New Blind Method For Detecting Novel Steganography, Brent T. Mcbride, Gilbert L. Peterson, Steven C. Gustafson
A New Blind Method For Detecting Novel Steganography, Brent T. Mcbride, Gilbert L. Peterson, Steven C. Gustafson
Faculty Publications
Steganography is the art of hiding a message in plain sight. Modern steganographic tools that conceal data in innocuous-looking digital image files are widely available. The use of such tools by terrorists, hostile states, criminal organizations, etc., to camouflage the planning and coordination of their illicit activities poses a serious challenge. Most steganography detection tools rely on signatures that describe particular steganography programs. Signature-based classifiers offer strong detection capabilities against known threats, but they suffer from an inability to detect previously unseen forms of steganography. Novel steganography detection requires an anomaly-based classifier. This paper describes and demonstrates a blind classification …