Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Android Memory Capture And Applications For Security And Privacy, Joseph T. Sylve

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Android operating system is quickly becoming the most popular platform for mobiledevices. As Android’s use increases, so does the need for both forensic and privacy toolsdesigned for the platform. This thesis presents the first methodology and toolset for acquiringfull physical memory images from Android devices, a proposed methodology for forensicallysecuring both volatile and non-volatile storage, and details of a vulnerability discovered by theauthor that allows the bypass of the Android security model and enables applications to acquirearbitrary permissions.

Automated Pollen Image Classification, Nicholas Quentin Haas

Masters Theses

This Master of Science thesis reviews previous research, proposes a method anddemonstrates proof-of-concept software for the automated matching of pollen grainimages to satisfy degree requirements at the University of Tennessee. An ideal imagesegmentation algorithm and shape representation data structure is selected, alongwith a multi-phase shape matching system. The system is shown to be invariantto synthetic image translation, rotation, and to a lesser extent global contrast andintensity changes. The proof-of-concept software is used to demonstrate how pollengrains can be matched to images of other pollen grains, stored in a database, thatshare similar features with up to a 75% accuracy rate.

Investigating The Role Of The Internet In Women And Minority Stem Participation: A Case Study Of Two Florida Engineering Programs, Arland Nguema Ndong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite our awareness of the fascination modern humans have with the Internet, little is known about how and why colleges and universities create and maintain Websites. At the most general level, in this case study, I hypothesize that university Websites serve as communication and marketing tools in attracting students. At the most specific level, I postulate that civil engineering programs with Web pages depicting images of women and minorities would be more successful in recruiting and retaining women and students of color than civil engineering programs with Web pages displaying fewer or no images of women and minorities. The primary …

Improving Search Engine Results By Query Extension And Categorization, Guo Mei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Since its emergence, the Internet has changed the way in which information is distributed and it has strongly influenced how people communicate. Nowadays, Web search engines are widely used to locate information on the Web, and online social networks have become pervasive platforms of communication.

Retrieving relevant Web pages in response to a query is not an easy task for Web search engines due to the enormous corpus of data that the Web stores and the inherent ambiguity of search queries. We present two approaches to improve the effectiveness of Web search engines. The first approach allows us to retrieve …

Workflow-Net Based Cooperative Multi-Agent Systems, Yehia T. Kotb

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Workflow-nets are mathematical frameworks that are used to formally describe, model and implement workflows. First, we propose critical section workflow nets (abbreviated WFCSnet). This framework allows feedbacks in workflow systems while ensuring the soundness of the workflow. Feedback is generally not recommended in workflow systems as they threaten the soundness of the system. The proposed WFCSnet allows safe feedback and limits the maximum number of activities per workflow as required. A theorem for soundness of WFCSnet is presented. Serializability, Separability, Quasi-liveness and CS-Properties of WFCSnet are examined and some theorems and lemmas are proposed to mathematically formalize them. In this …

Social Network Leverage Search, Payal Gupta

Master's Projects

Social networks are at an all time high, nowadays. They make the world a smaller place to live in. People can stay in touch with friends and can make new friends on these social networks which traditionally were not possible without internet service. The possibilities provided by social networks enable vast and immediate contact. People tend to spend lot of time on the social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter peeping into their friend‟s accounts and trying to stay connected with the world.
However, recently people have started closing their accounts on these famous social networks after having been irritated …

Onboard Video Stabilization For Unmanned Air Vehicles, Nicholas Stewart Cross

Master's Theses

Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) enable the observation of hazardous areas without endangering a pilot. Observational capabilities are provided by on-board video cameras and images are relayed to remote operators for analysis. However, vibration and wind cause video camera mounts to move and can introduce unintended motion that makes video analysis more difficult. Video stabilization is a process that attempts to remove unwanted movement from a video input to provide a clearer picture.

This thesis presents an onboard video stabilization solution that removes high-frequency jitter, displays output at 20 frames per second (FPS), and runs on a Blackfin embedded processor. Any …

Symbolic Quantum Circuit Simplification In Sympy, Matthew Curry

Physics

In the field of quantum information science, one can design a series of quantum logic operations known as a circuit. Circuits are the basis for quantum computations in quantum computing. As circuits will most likely be designed from a logical standpoint, there could exist mathematical redundancies which will lead to a larger circuit than necessary. These redundancies are computationally expensive, and there is a need for them to be found and eliminated to simplify the circuit. We present our research on finding the rules for simplifying circuits and its implementation in SymPy.

An Introductory Educational Board Game For Use In Early Computer Science Education, Tyler Moore

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Early computer science education should be necessary in high school curricula, but often it becomes inextricably linked to the act of programming instead of the study of the principles of computation. In order to divest computer science from programming a new teaching medium is needed, and early research into games as teaching tools shows some positive results when used properly. In order to find a better way to teach early computer science concepts I have designed and implemented a board game which illustrates and defines a few necessary computer science terms and mechanics. I had reasonable success in the classroom, …

Substitution Cipher With Non­Prefix Codes, Rashmi Bangalore Muralidhar

Master's Projects

Substitution ciphers normally use prefix free codes ­ there is no code word which is the prefix of some other code word. Prefix free codes are used for encryption because it makes the decryption process easier at the receiver's end.
In this project, we study the feasibility of substitution ciphers with non­prefix codes. The advantage of using non­prefix codes is that extracting statistical information is more difficult. However, the ciphertext is nontrivial to decrypt.
We present a dynamic programming technique for decryption and verify that the plaintext can be recovered. This shows that substitution ciphers with non­prefix codes are feasible. …

Decompiler For Pseudo Code Generation, Ankit Patel

Master's Projects

Decompiling is an area of interest for researchers in the field of software reverse engineering. When the source code from a high-level programming language is compiled, it loses a great deal of information, including code structure, syntax, and punctuation.
The purpose of this research is to develop an algorithm that can efficiently decompile assembly language into pseudo C code. There are tools available that claim to extract high-level code from an executable file, but the results of these tools tend to be inaccurate and unreadable.
Our proposed algorithm can decompile assembly code to recover many basic high-level programming structures, including …

Rna Secondary Structure Prediction Tool, Meenakshee Mali

Master's Projects

Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is one of the major macromolecules essential to all forms of life. Apart from the important role played in protein synthesis, it performs several important functions such as gene regulation, catalyst of biochemical reactions and modification of other RNAs. In some viruses, instead of DNA, RNA serves as the carrier of genetic information. RNA is an interesting subject of research in the scientific community. It has lead to important biological discoveries. One of the major problems researchers are trying to solve is the RNA structure prediction problem. It has been found that the structure of RNA is …

Robust Watermarking Using Hidden Markov Models, Mausami Mungale

Master's Projects

Software piracy is the unauthorized copying or distribution of software. It is a growing problem that results in annual losses in the billions of dollars. Prevention is a difficult problem since digital documents are easy to copy and distribute. Watermarking is a possible defense against software piracy. A software watermark consists of information embedded in the software, which allows it to be identified. A watermark can act as a deterrent to unauthorized copying, since it can be used to provide evidence for legal action against those responsible for piracy.
In this project, we present a novel software watermarking scheme that …

Automated Penetration Testing, Neha Samant

Master's Projects

Penetration testing is used to search for vulnerabilities that might exist in a system. The testing usually involves simulating different types of attacks on the target system. This type of testing provides an organized and controlled way to identify security shortcomings. The resources and time required for comprehensive testing can make penetration testing cost intensive. Consequently, such tests are usually only performed during important milestones.
In this project we have automated the penetration testing process for several protocol-based attacks. Our automated penetration testing application covers several attacks based on HTTP, SIP and TCP/IP. The objective of this work is to …

Online And Offline Ebook Management System Using W-Cms, Rohan Vibhandik

Master's Projects

In this internet and smart-phone era paper books are almost obsolete. Many developers have come up with the eBooks which can be read online on computer or on a smart-phone. Users can now access them offline any time without carrying a bulky pBook (Paper Book). The stable eBook application should restrict and control the use of contents to protect the copyrights. Encryption and enforcement of digital policies are generally managed by Digital Rights Management (DRM). The stable system for online as well as offline readers safeguard the intellectual properties for authors, publishers by providing a protection to their digital content, …

Fbchatters: A Facebook Application For Gtalk, Ronak Shah

Master's Projects

The motto of this project is to provide accessibility to Google talk (gtalk) service within a Facebook account by creating Facebook application called FBchatters and also by creating Firefox plug-in called FBchatters. Most of all internet users have account on Facebook and Google. Social network site, Facebook has more than 600 million users and half of them log on to Facebook in any given day [1]. Google also has 170 million users who are using gmail and gtalk services every day. There are lot of users who do chatting simultaneously on Facebook and Gtalk. Also, Google talk provides a facility …

Video Chat Application For Facebook, Shirali Chokshi

Master's Projects

This project is mainly written for the facebook users. In today’s world, there are many social networking sites available. Among those social networking web sites, facebook is widely used web site. Like all other social networking web sites, Facebook also provides many features to attract more and more users. But it lacks in providing the most important feature of social networking, i.e. video chat. I explore the different options and requirements needed to build the video chat application. I have also described the integration of the application with the facebook.

Ab Initio Protein Structure Prediction Algorithms, Maciej Kicinski

Master's Projects

Genes that encode novel proteins are constantly being discovered and added to databases, but the speed with which their structures are being determined is not keeping up with this rate of discovery. Currently, homology and threading methods perform the best for protein structure prediction, but they are not appropriate to use for all proteins. Still, the best way to determine a protein's structure is through biological experimentation. This research looks into possible methods and relations that pertain to ab initio protein structure prediction. The study includes the use of positional and transitional probabilities of amino acids obtained from a non-redundant …

Similarity Tests For Metamorphic Virus Detection, Mahim Patel

Master's Projects

A metamorphic computer virus generates copies of itself using code morphing techniques. A new virus has the same functionality as the parent but it has a different internal structure. The goal of the metamorphic virus writer is to produce viral copies that have no common signature. If the viral copies are sufficiently different, they can evade signature detection, which is the most widely-used anti-virus technique.
In previous research, hidden Markov models (HMMs) have been used to detect some metamorphic viruses. However, recent research has shown that it is possible for carefully designed metamorphic viruses to evade HMM-based detection.
In this …

User Monitor & Feedback Mechanism For Social Scientific Study On Laptop Energy Reduction, Namrata Buddhadev

Master's Projects

The dawn of the laptop era presents new challenges to the computing research community. Performance is no longer the end all be all of computing research because a new, significant requirement has cropped up: reducing the power consumption and improving battery usage. The key restriction to mobility is the constant need to be near a power outlet to recharge the laptop battery. Thus, extending battery life without compromising performance is a pressing concern.
A research named as "iGreen" was proposed to stimulate power consumption awareness and behavioral change among laptop users via interactive energy-usage feedback with college students as the …

Metamorphic Detection Via Emulation, Sushant Priyadarshi

Master's Projects

In parallel with improvements in anti-virus technologies, computer virus writers have developed innovative viruses that are challenging to detect. Metamorphic viruses change their appearance from one generation to another by using various code obfuscation techniques. Today, signature detection is the most common method used in anti-virus products, but well designed metamorphic viruses cannot be detected using signatures. Hence, there is a need for a more robust anti-virus technology.
To counter metamorphic virus, a very successful tool based on hidden Markov models (HMM) has been previously developed. This tool was able to detect all hacker produced metamorphic viruses on which it …

Dynamic Code Checksum Generator, Ashish Sharma

Master's Projects

A checksum (i.e., a cryptographic hash) of a file can be used as an integrity check, if an attacker tries to change the code in an executable file, a checksum can be used to detect the tampering. While it is easy to compute a checksum for any static file, it is possible for an attacker to tamper with an executable file as it is being loaded into memory, or after it has been loaded. Therefore, it would be more useful to checksum an executable file dynamically only after the file has been loaded into memory. However, checksumming dynamic code is …

An Executable Packer, Neel Bavishi

Master's Projects

This thesis addresses the topic of development and advancement of the Packer technology. It aims to prove that with the implementation of advanced code encryption and cryptographic techniques in conjunction with standard packing
methods, testing binaries with anti-virus will become increasingly difficult.
Study on this topic reveals that the idea of encoding data has already been established, but it is still not fully incorporated into a technique to pack an executable file. There are some noticeable defects as un-packer tools have also made a great advancement in the field of dynamic analysis. The addition of new capability to recognize emulation …

A Modeling And Simulation Framework For Electrokinetic Nanoparticle Treatment, James Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations

The focus of this research is to model and provide a simulation framework for the packing of differently sized spheres within a hard boundary. The novel contributions of this dissertation are the cylinders of influence (COI) method and sectoring method implementations. The impetus for this research stems from modeling electrokinetic nanoparticle (EN) treatment, which packs concrete pores with differently sized nanoparticles. We show an improved speed of the simulation compared to previously published results of EN treatment simulation while obtaining similar porosity reduction results. We mainly focused on readily, commercially available particle sizes of 2 nm and 20 nm particles, …

Android Protection System: A Signed Code Security Mechanism For Smartphone Applications, Jonathan D. Stueckle

Theses and Dissertations

This research develops the Android Protection System (APS), a hardware-implemented application security mechanism on Android smartphones. APS uses a hash-based white-list approach to protect mobile devices from unapproved application execution. Functional testing confirms this implementation allows approved content to execute on the mobile device while blocking unapproved content. Performance benchmarking shows system overhead during application installation increases linearly as the application package size increases. APS presents no noticeable performance degradation during application execution. The security mechanism degrades system performance only during application installation, when users expect delay. APS is implemented within the default Android application installation process. Applications are hashed …

Amid The Vipers: Establishing Malware's Position Within The Information Ecosystem, Shawn Louis Everett Robertson

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The paper consists of a detailed examination of malware broken down into three main sections.

1. Introduction: Malware in the World Today. Begins with a definition of terms, examination of the types of malware, research into historical pieces of malicious code, a detailed analysis of the attackers, why malware is so prevalent, and why it is so hard to defend against. This section finishes with a comparison of reasons to create and not to create malware.
2. Background: "Good" Pieces of Malware. Examination of what makes malware effective. Analysis of the existing CVSS standard and proposal of the alternative VIPERS classification system. …

Jshield: A Java Anti-Reversing Tool, Deepti Kundu

Master's Projects

Java is a platform independent language. Java programs can be executed on any machine, irrespective of its hardware or the operating system, as long as a Java virtual machine for that platform is available. A Java compiler converts the source code into „bytecode‟ instead of native binary machine code. This bytecode contains a lot of information from and about the source code, which makes it easy to decompile, and hence, vulnerable to „reverse engineering attacks‟. In addition to the obvious security implications, businesses and the wider software engineering community also risk widespread IP theft - proprietary algorithms, for example, that …

Algorithmic Contributions To The Theory Of Regular Chains, Wei Pan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Regular chains, introduced about twenty years ago, have emerged as one of the major

tools for solving polynomial systems symbolically. In this thesis, we focus on different

algorithmic aspects of the theory of regular chains, from theoretical questions to high-

performance implementation issues.

The inclusion test for saturated ideals is a fundamental problem in this theory.

By studying the primitivity of regular chains, we show that a regular chain generates

its saturated ideal if and only if it is primitive. As a result, a family of inclusion tests

can be detected very efficiently.

The algorithm to compute the regular GCDs …

Evaluation Of Interfaces For Senior Citizens: Bigscreenlive, Eldy And Pointerware, Bella Manoim

Senior Projects Spring 2011

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing of Bard College.

A Framework For The Automation Of Discrete-Event Simulation Experiments, Bryan Ward

Honors Theses

Simulation is an important resource for researchers in diverse fields. However, many researchers have found flaws in the methodology of published simulation studies and have described the state of the simulation community as being in a crisis of credibility. This work describes the project of the Simulation Automation Framework for Experiments (SAFE), which addresses the issues that undermine credibility by automating the workflow in the execution of simulation studies. Automation reduces the number of opportunities for users to introduce error in the scientific process thereby improvingthe credibility of the final results. Automation also eases the job of simulation users and …