Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Public Servants' Perceptions Of The Cybersecurity Posture Of The Local Government In Puerto Rico, Julio C. Rodriguez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The absence of legislation, the lack of a standard cybersecurity framework, and the failure to adopt a resilient cybersecurity posture can be detrimental to the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of municipal information systems. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the cybersecurity posture of municipalities from the perception of public servants serving in information technology (IT) leadership roles in highly populated municipalities in the San Juan-Carolina-Caguas Metropolitan Statistical Area of Puerto Rico. The study was also used to address key factors influencing the cybersecurity posture of these municipalities. The theoretical framework was open system theory used in combination …

Procure-To-Pay Software In The Digital Age: An Exploration And Analysis Of Efficiency Gains And Cybersecurity Risks In Modern Procurement Systems, Drew Lane

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Procure-to-Pay (P2P) softwares are an integral part of the payment and procurement processing functions at large-scale governmental institutions. These softwares house all of the financial functions related to procurement, accounts payable, and often human resources, helping to facilitate and automate the process from initiation of a payment or purchase, to the actual disbursal of funds. Often, these softwares contain budgeting and financial reporting tools as part of the offering. As such an integral part of the financial process, these softwares obviously come at an immense cost from a set of reputable vendors. In the case of government, these vendors mainly …

Assessment Of Two Pedagogical Tools For Cybersecurity Education, Pranita Deshpande

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Cybersecurity is an important strategic areas of computer science, and a difficult discipline to teach effectively. To enhance and provide effective teaching and meaningful learning, we develop and assess two pedagogical tools: Peer instruction, and Concept Maps. Peer instruction teaching methodology has shown promising results in core computer science courses by reducing failure rates and improving student retention in computer science major. Concept maps are well-known technique for improving student-learning experience in class. This thesis document presents the results of implementing and evaluating the peer instruction in a semester-long cybersecurity course, i.e., introduction to computer security. Development and evaluation of …

Evaluating An Educational Cybersecurity Playable Case Study, Tanner West Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The realities of cyberattacks have become more and more prevalent in the world today. Due to the growing number of these attacks, the need for highly trained individuals has also increased. Because of a shortage of qualified candidates for these positions, there is an increasing need for cybersecurity education within high schools and universities. In this thesis, I discuss the development and evaluation of Cybermatics, an educational simulation, or playable case study, designed to help students learn and develop skills within the cybersecurity discipline.

This playable case study was designed to allow students to gain an understanding of the field …

Designing Cybersecurity Competitions In The Cloud: A Framework And Feasibility Study, Chandler Ryan Newby

Theses and Dissertations

Cybersecurity is an ever-expanding field. In order to stay current, training, development, and constant learning are necessary. One of these training methods has historically been competitions. Cybersecurity competitions provide a method for competitors to experience firsthand cybersecurity concepts and situations. These experiences can help build interest in, and improve skills in, cybersecurity.

While there are diverse types of cybersecurity competitions, most are run with on-premise hardware, often centralized at a specific location, and are usually limited in scope by available hardware. This research focuses on the possibility of running cybersecurity competitions, specifically CCDC style competitions, in a public cloud environment. …

Hybrid Black-Box Solar Analytics And Their Privacy Implications, Dong Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

The aggregate solar capacity in the U.S. is rising rapidly due to continuing decreases in the cost of solar modules. For example, the installed cost per Watt (W) for residential photovoltaics (PVs) decreased by 6X from 2009 to 2018 (from $8/W to $1.2/W), resulting in the installed aggregate solar capacity increasing 128X from 2009 to 2018 (from 435 megawatts to 55.9 gigawatts). This increasing solar capacity is imposing operational challenges on utilities in balancing electricity's real-time supply and demand, as solar generation is more stochastic and less predictable than aggregate demand. To address this problem, both academia and utilities have …

Building Test Anonymity Networks In A Cybersecurity Lab Environment, John Schriner

Student Theses

This paper explores current methods for creating test anonymity networks in a laboratory environment for the purpose of improving these networks while protecting user privacy. We first consider how each of these networks is research-driven and interested in helping researchers to conduct their research ethically. We then look to the software currently available for researchers to set up in their labs. Lastly we explore ways in which digital forensics and cybersecurity students could get involved with these projects and look at several class exercises that help students to understand particular attacks on these networks and ways they can help to …

Offensive And Defensive Security For Everyday Computer Systems, Ian Markwood

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation treats a variety of topics in the computer security domain which have direct impact on everyday life. The first extends false data injection attacks against state estimation in electric power grids and then provides a novel power flow model camouflage method to hamper these attacks. The second deals with automotive theft response, detailing a method for a car to intelligently identify when it has been stolen, based on collected behavioral traits of its driver. The third demonstrates a new attack against the content integrity of the PDF file format, caus- ing humans and computers to see different information …

Analyzing Global Cyber Attack Correlates Through An Open Database, Brady Benjamin Aiello

Master's Theses

As humanity becomes more reliant on digital storage and communication for every aspect of life, cyber attacks pose a growing threat. However, cyber attacks are generally understood as individual incidents reported in technological circles, sometimes tied to a particular vulnerability. They are not generally understood through the macroscopic lens of statistical analysis spanning years over several countries and sectors, leaving researchers largely ignorant of the larger trends and correlates between attacks. This is large part due to the lack of a coherent and open database of prominent attacks. Most data about cyber attacks has been captured using a repository of …

Low Latency Intrusion Detection In Smart Grids, Israel Zairi Akingeneye

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The transformation of traditional power grids into smart grids has seen more new technologies such as communication networks and smart meters (sensors) being integrated into the physical infrastructure of the power grids. However, these technologies pose new vulnerabilities to the cybersecurity of power grids as malicious attacks can be launched by adversaries to attack the smart meters and modify the measurement data collected by these meters. If not timely detected and removed, these attacks may lead to inaccurate system state estimation, which is critical to the system operators for control decisions such as economic dispatch and other related functions.

This …

Cybersecurity In The Classroom: Bridging The Gap Between Computer Access And Online Safety, Andrew Malecki

Cyber Security Capstone Research Project Reports

According to ISACA, there will be a global shortage of 2 million cybersecurity professionals worldwide by 2019. Additionally, according to Experian Data Breach Resolution, as much as 80% of all network breaches can be traced to employee negligence. These problems will not solve themselves, and they likewise won’t improve without drastic action. An effort needs to be made to help direct interested and qualified individuals to the field of cybersecurity to move toward closing this gap. Moreover, steps need to be made to better inform the public of general safety measures while online, including the safeguarding of sensitive information.

A …

A Novel Cooperative Intrusion Detection System For Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, Adam Solomon

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) have experienced rapid growth in their use for various military, medical, and commercial scenarios. This is due to their dynamic nature that enables the deployment of such networks, in any target environment, without the need for a pre-existing infrastructure. On the other hand, the unique characteristics of MANETs, such as the lack of central networking points, limited wireless range, and constrained resources, have made the quest for securing such networks a challenging task. A large number of studies have focused on intrusion detection systems (IDSs) as a solid line of defense against various attacks targeting …

Conservation Of Limited Resources: Design Principles For Security And Usability On Mobile Devices, Ann-Marie Horcher

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Mobile devices have evolved from an accessory to the primary computing device for an increasing portion of the general population. Not only is mobile the primary device, consumers on average have multiple Internet-connected devices. The trend towards mobile has resulted in a shift to “mobile-first” strategies for delivering information and services in business organizations, universities, and government agencies. Though principles for good security design exist, those principles were formulated based upon the traditional workstation configuration instead of the mobile platform. Security design needs to follow the shift to a “mobile-first” emphasis to ensure the usability of the security interface. The …

Perceptions Of Female Cybersecurity Professionals Toward Factors That Encourage Females To The Cybersecurity Field, Kembley Kay Lingelbach

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Despite multiple national, educational, and industry initiatives, women continue to be underrepresented in the cybersecurity field. Only 11% of cybersecurity professionals, globally, are female. This contributes to the growing overall shortage of workers in the field. This research addressed the significant underrepresentation of females in the cybersecurity workforce. There are many practitioner and industry studies that suggest self-efficacy, discrimination and organizational culture play important roles in the low rate of women in the cybersecurity field. A limited number of scholarly studies identify causal factors; however, there is not a general consensus or framework to explain the problem thoroughly. Moreover, there …

Development And Validation Of A Proof-Of-Concept Prototype For Analytics-Based Malicious Cybersecurity Insider Threat In A Real-Time Identification System, Angel L. Hueca

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Insider threat has continued to be one of the most difficult cybersecurity threat vectors detectable by contemporary technologies. Most organizations apply standard technology-based practices to detect unusual network activity. While there have been significant advances in intrusion detection systems (IDS) as well as security incident and event management solutions (SIEM), these technologies fail to take into consideration the human aspects of personality and emotion in computer use and network activity, since insider threats are human-initiated. External influencers impact how an end-user interacts with both colleagues and organizational resources. Taking into consideration external influencers, such as personality, changes in organizational polices …

Countering Expansion And Organization Of Terrorism In Cyberspace, Sunday Oludare Ogunlana

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Terrorists use cyberspace and social media technology to create fear and spread violent ideologies, which pose a significant threat to public security. Researchers have documented the importance of the application of law and regulation in dealing with the criminal activities perpetrated through the aid of computers in cyberspace. Using routine activity theory, this study assessed the effectiveness of technological approaches to mitigating the expansion and organization of terrorism in cyberspace. The study aligned with the purpose area analysis objective of classifying and assessing potential terrorist threats to preempt and mitigate the attacks. Data collection included document content analysis of the …

Malware Analysis Skills Taught In University Courses, Swetha Gorugantu

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Career opportunities for malware analysts are growing at a fast pace due to the evolving nature of cyber threats as well as the necessity to counter them. However, employers are often unable to hire analysts fast though due to a lack of the required skillset. Hence, the primary purpose of the thesis is to conduct a gap analysis between the binary analysis skills taught in universities with those that the recruiters are looking for. Malware can be analyzed using three main types of tools and techniques: high-level profiling, static analysis, and dynamic analysis. These methods provide detailed information about the …

Breadcrumbs: Privacy As A Privilege, Prachi Bhardwaj

Capstones

Breadcrumbs: Privacy as a Privilege Abstract

By: Prachi Bhardwaj

In 2017, the world saw more data breaches than in any year prior. The count was more than the all-time high record in 2016, which was 40 percent more than the year before that.

That’s because consumer data is incredibly valuable today. In the last three decades, data storage has gone from being stored physically to being stored almost entirely digitally, which means consumer data is more accessible and applicable to business strategies. As a result, companies are gathering data in ways previously unknown to the average consumer, and hackers are …

Designing Secure Access Control Model In Cyber Social Networks, Katanosh Morovat

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays, information security in online communication has become an indisputable topic. People prefer pursuing their connection and public relations due to the greater flexibility and affordability of online communication. Recently, organizations have established online networking sites concerned with sharing assets among their employees. As more people engage in social network, requirements for protecting information and resources becomes vital. Over the years, many access control methods have been proposed. Although these methods cover various information security aspects, they have not provided an appropriate approach for securing information within distributed online networking sites. Moreover, none of the previous research provides an access …

Dynamic Adversarial Mining - Effectively Applying Machine Learning In Adversarial Non-Stationary Environments., Tegjyot Singh Sethi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While understanding of machine learning and data mining is still in its budding stages, the engineering applications of the same has found immense acceptance and success. Cybersecurity applications such as intrusion detection systems, spam filtering, and CAPTCHA authentication, have all begun adopting machine learning as a viable technique to deal with large scale adversarial activity. However, the naive usage of machine learning in an adversarial setting is prone to reverse engineering and evasion attacks, as most of these techniques were designed primarily for a static setting. The security domain is a dynamic landscape, with an ongoing never ending arms race …

The Efficacy Of Perceived Big Data Security, Trust, Perceived Leadership Competency, Information Sensitivity, Privacy Concern And Job Reward On Disclosing Personal Security Information Online, Iqbal Amiri

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Individuals’ reluctance to provide sensitive personal information online could affect the US Governments’ ability to hire and retain qualified personnel for sensitive cleared positions. The aim of this research study was to show how perceived big data security, trust, perceived leadership competency, information sensitivity, privacy concern and reward of a job play a significant role in limiting an individuals’ willingness of disclosing sensitive personal information online. While a significant volume of research has examined information disclosure in the health care field, there has not been any published studies on the willingness of online disclosure in order to attain a US …

Investigation On Security Issues And Features In Social Media Sites (Face Book, Twitter, & Google+), Puneet Kumar Goud Kandikanti

All Student Theses

Social media sites allow users to communicate and share their information which are a matter of privacy for users, so users should be aware about its limitations and disad-vantages to use social media sites. Likewise, there are many social media sites with its dif-ferent features and it typically works with the latest technology that is provided by the ex-perts to get connected and go along with the flow. The online privacy issues have been a re-al time problem and these however is the main aim for the experts to reduce the problems while sharing the kind of content that is …

Measuring Cybersecurity Competency: An Exploratory Investigation Of The Cybersecurity Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities Necessary For Organizational Network Access Privileges, Richard Nilsen

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Organizational information system users (OISU) that are victimized by cyber threats are contributing to major financial and information losses for individuals, businesses, and governments. Moreover, it has been argued that cybersecurity competency is critical for advancing economic prosperity and maintaining national security. The fact remains that technical cybersecurity controls may be rendered useless due to a lack of cybersecurity competency of OISUs. All OISUs, from accountants to cybersecurity forensics experts, can place organizational assets at risk. However, that risk is increased when OISUs do not have the cybersecurity competency necessary for operating an information system (IS). The main goal of …

Strategic Cyber-Risk Implications Of Cloud Technology Adoption In The U.S. Financial Services Sector, Olatunji Mujib Arowolo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to research, the risks of adopting new technology and the technological and organizational factors that influence adopting it are not clear. Thus, many financial institutions have hesitated to adopt cloud-computing. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to evaluate the cyber-risk implications of cloud-computing adoption in the U.S. financial services sector. The study examined 6 technological and organizational factors: organization size, relative advantage, compliance, security, compatibility, and complexity within the context of cyber-risk. Using a combination of diffusion of innovation theory and technology-organization-environment framework as the foundation, a predictive cybersecurity model was developed to determine the factors that …

Threat Intelligence In Support Of Cyber Situation Awareness, Billy Paul Gilliam

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite technological advances in the information security field, attacks by unauthorized individuals and groups continue to penetrate defenses. Due to the rapidly changing environment of the Internet, the appearance of newly developed malicious software or attack techniques accelerates while security professionals continue in a reactive posture with limited time for identifying new threats. The problem addressed in this study was the perceived value of threat intelligence as a proactive process for information security. The purpose of this study was to explore how situation awareness is enhanced by receiving advanced intelligence reports resulting in better decision-making for proper response to security …

Strategies To Minimize The Effects Of Information Security Threats On Business Performance, Stella Ifeyinwa Okoye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders in Nigeria are concerned about the high rates of business failure and economic loss from security incidents and may not understand strategies for reducing the effects of information security threats on business performance. Guided by general systems theory and transformational leadership theory, the focus of this exploratory multiple case study was to explore the strategies small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders use to minimize the effects of information security threats on business performance. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 SME leaders who worked in SME firms that support oil and gas industry sector in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, had …

A Formal Approach To Combining Prospective And Retrospective Security, Sepehr Amir-Mohammadian

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The major goal of this dissertation is to enhance software security by provably correct enforcement of in-depth policies. In-depth security policies allude to heterogeneous specification of security strategies that are required to be followed before and after sensitive operations. Prospective security is the enforcement of security, or detection of security violations before the execution of sensitive operations, e.g., in authorization, authentication and information flow. Retrospective security refers to security checks after the execution of sensitive operations, which is accomplished through accountability and deterrence. Retrospective security frameworks are built upon auditing in order to provide sufficient evidence to hold users accountable …

Ransomware In High-Risk Environments, Shallaw M. Aziz

Information Technology Capstone Research Project Reports

In today’s modern world, cybercrime is skyrocketing globally, which impacts a variety of organizations and endpoint users. Hackers are using a multitude of approaches and tools, including ransomware threats, to take over targeted systems. These acts of cybercrime lead to huge damages in areas of business, healthcare systems, industry sectors, and other fields. Ransomware is considered as a high risk threat, which is designed to hijack the data. This paper is demonstrating the ransomware types, and how they are evolved from the malware and trojan codes, which is used to attack previous incidents, and explains the most common encryption algorithms …

Developing An Abac-Based Grant Proposal Workflow Management System, Milson Munakami

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In the advent of the digital transformation, online business processes need to be automated and modeled as workflows. A workflow typically involves a sequence of coordinated tasks and shared data that need to be secured and protected from unauthorized access. In other words, a workflow can be described simply as the movement of documents and activities through a business process among different users. Such connected flow of information among various users with different permission level offers many benefits along with new challenges. Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated as skilled and motivated attackers both insiders and outsiders are equipped with …

Who's In And Who's Out?: What's Important In The Cyber World?, Tony M. Kelly

HON499 projects

The aim of this paper is to offer an introduction to the exploding field of cybersecurity by asking what are the most important concepts or topics that a new member of the field of cybersecurity should know. This paper explores this question from three perspectives: from the realm of business and how the cyber world is intertwined with modern commerce, including common weaknesses and recommendations, from the academic arena examining how cybersecurity is taught and how it should be taught in a classroom or laboratory environment, and lastly, from the author’s personal experience with the cyber world. Included information includes …