Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Design And Validation Of Hardware-In-The-Loop Testbed For Proximity Operations Payloads, Kristia K. Harris

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The research presented here is a new testbed design for CubeSat and payload testing and development. This research demonstrates a low-cost, hardware-in-the-loop testing apparatus for use with university CubeSat programs for testing throughout the different levels of the development process. The average university CubeSat program undergoes very little hardware-in-the-loop testing. Most of the focus is the targeted towards performance testing and environmental testing which occur after completion the development process. This research shows that, for minimal schedule and cost impact, testing can occur early in the development process. The testbed presented here demonstrates suitable accuracy to be used for advanced …

Front Matter

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Back Matter

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Masthead

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Gravity Wave Propagation Through A Vertically And Horizontally Inhomogeneous Background Wind, C. J. Heale, J. B. Snively

Publications

"A combination of ray theory and 2-D time-dependent simulations is used to investigate the linear effects of a time-dependent, vertically, and horizontally inhomogeneous background horizontal wind field on the propagation, refraction, and reflection of small-scale gravity wave packets. Interactions between propagating waves of different scales are likely to be numerous and important. We find that a static medium-scale wave wind field of sufficient amplitude can channel and/or critical-level filter a small-scale wave or cause significant reflection, depending upon both waves' parameters. However, the inclusion of a time-dependent phase progression of the medium-scale wave can reduce energy loss through critical-level filtering …

Solar Wind Energy Input To The Magnetosheath And At The Magnetopause, T. I. Pulkkinen, A. P. Dimmock, A. Osmane, K. Nykyri

Publications

Using Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms observations, we show that the efficiency of the energy entry through the magnetopause as measured by the Poynting vector normal component depends on the combination of the solar wind speed and the southward component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF): Most efficient energy transfer occurs when the IMF BZ is only moderately negative, and the solar wind speed is high. This means that for the same level of solar wind driver parameters (electric field, epsilon, or other), different combinations of V and BZ will produce different driving at the magnetopause. …

Direct Atmospheric Evidence For The Irreversible Formation Of Aqueous Secondary Organic Aerosol, Marwa M. El-Sayed, Yingqing Wang, Christopher J. Hennigan

Publications

The reversible nature of aqueous secondary organic aerosol (aqSOA) formation was characterized for the first time through direct atmospheric measurements. Water-soluble organic carbon in the gas and particle phases (WSOCg and WSOCp) was measured simultaneously to quantify aqSOA formation in Baltimore, Maryland. During the nighttime, aqSOA formation was evident as WSOCg increasingly partitioned to the particle phase with increasing relative humidity (RH). To characterize the reversible/irreversible nature of this aqSOA, the WSOCp measurement was alternated through an unperturbed ambient channel and through a “dried” channel maintained at ~40% RH (with 7 s residence time) to mimic the natural drying particles …

Hurricanes And Climate The U.S. Clivar Working Group On Hurricanes, Kevin J.E. Walsh, Suzana J. Camargo, Gabriel A. Vecchi, Anne Sophie Daloz, James Elsner, Kerry Emanuel, Michael Horn, Young-Kwon Lim, Malcom Roberts, Christina Patricola, Enrico Scoccimarro, Adam H. Sobel, Sarah Strazzo, Gabrielle Villarini, Michael Wehner, Ming Zhao, James P. Kossin, Tim Larow, Kazuyoshi Oouchi, Sigfried Schubert, Hui Wang, Julio Bacmeister, Ping Chang, Fabrice Chauvin, Christiane Jablonowski, Arun Kumar, Hiroyuki Murakami, Tomoaki Ose, Kevin A. Reed, Ramalingam Saravanan, Yohei Yamada, Colin M. Zarzycki, Pier Luigi Vidale, Jefferey A. Jonas, Naomi Henderson

Publications

While a quantitative climate theory of tropical cyclone formation remains elusive, considerable progress has been made recently in our ability to simulate tropical cyclone climatologies and to understand the relationship between climate and tropical cyclone formation. Climate models are now able to simulate a realistic rate of global tropical cyclone formation, although simulation of the Atlantic tropical cyclone climatology remains challenging unless horizontal resolutions finer than 50 km are employed. This article summarizes published research from the idealized experiments of the Hurricane Working Group of U.S. Climate and Ocean: Variability, Predictability and Change (CLIVAR). This work, combined with results from …

Book Review: The Scientific Exploration Of Venus, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of The Scientific Exploration of Venus, by Fredric W. Taylor. Cambridge, 2014 295p bibl index, 9781107023482 $48.00

Observer-Based Sliding Mode Control Of Rijke-Type Combustion Instability, Jaime Rubio-Hervas, Mahmut Reyhanoglu, William Mackunis

Publications

Observer-based sliding mode control of combustion instability in a Rijke-type thermoacoustic system is considered. A commonly used thermoacoustic model with sensors and monopole-like actuators is linearized and formulated in a statespace form. It is assumed that the velocity or pressure sensor locations are chosen to assure the observability of the system. An observer-based sliding mode controller is then implemented to tune the actuators so that the system is asymptotically stable. The effectiveness of the controller is illustrated through a simulation example involving two modes and one sensor. The successful demonstration indicates that the observer-based feedback controller can be applied to …

Magnetic Flux Circulation In The Rotationally Driven Giant Magnetospheres, P. A. Delamere, A. Otto, X. Ma, F. Bagenal, R. J. Wilson

Publications

The giant‐planet magnetodiscs are shaped by the radial transport of plasma originating in the inner magnetosphere. Magnetic flux transport is a key aspect of the stretched magnetic field configuration of the magnetodisc. While net mass transport is outward (ultimately lost to the solar wind), magnetic flux conservation requires a balanced two‐way transport process. Magnetic reconnection is a critical aspect of the balanced flux transport. We present a comprehensive analysis of current sheet crossings in Saturn's magnetosphere using Cassini magnetometer data from 2004 to 2012 in an attempt to quantify the circulation of magnetic flux, emphasizing local time dependence. A key …

Barotropic Frw Cosmologies With Chiellini Damping In Comoving Time, Haret C. Rosu, S.C. Mancas, Pisin Chen

Publications

For nonzero cosmological constant Λ, we show that the barotropic FRW cosmologies as worked out in the comoving time lead in the radiation-dominated case to scale factors of identical form as for the Chiellini dissipative scale factors in conformal time obtained recently by us in Phys. Lett. A 379, 882 (2015). This is due to the Ermakov equation which is obtained in this case. For zero cosmological constant, several textbook solutions are easily obtained as particular cases of our formulas and hypergeometric solutions are also reminded.

A Statistical Study Of The Dawn-Dusk Asymmetry Of Ion Temperature Anistrophy And Mirror Mode Occurrence In The Terrestrial Dayside Magnetosheath Using Themis Data, A. P. Dimmock, A. Osmane, T. I. Pulkkinen, K. Nykyri

Publications

We present a statistical study of ion temperature anisotropy and mirror mode activity in the Earth's dayside magnetosheath using 6 years of Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) observations focusing on the quantification of dawn-dusk asymmetry as a function of upstream conditions and distance from the magnetopause. Our statistical data show a pronounced dusk favored asymmetry of T⊥/T∥ which drives a similar asymmetry of mirror mode activity. T⊥/T∥ decreases with increasing solar wind Alfvén Mach number, whereas mirror mode occurrence increases. In both cases, the relative asymmetry between the dawn and dusk flanks decrease with increasing …

Tracking Criminals On Facebook: A Case Study From A Digital Forensics Reu Program, Daniel Weiss, Gary Warner

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The 2014 Digital Forensics Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) focused its summer efforts on tracking criminal forums and Facebook groups. The UAB-REU Facebook team was provided with a list of about 60 known criminal groups on Facebook, with a goal to track illegal information posted in these groups and ultimately store the information in a searchable database for use by digital forensic analysts. Over the course of about eight weeks, the UAB-REU Facebook team created a database with over 400 Facebook groups conducting criminal activity along with over 100,000 unique users …

Towards A Digital Forensics Competency-Based Program: Making Assessment Count, Rose Shumba

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper describes an approach that UMUC has initiated to revise its graduate programs to a Competency-Based Education (CBE) curriculum. The approach, which is Learning Demonstration (LD) centric, includes the identification of learning goals and competences, identification and description of the LDs, mapping of the LDs to the competences, scripting the LDs, placing the LDs into the respective courses, validating the developed materials, and the development of the open learning resources. Programs in the Cybersecurity and Information Assurance Department, including the Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigations program, are being revised. An LD centric approach to curriculum development helps align programs …

Phishing Intelligence Using The Simple Set Comparison Tool, Jason Britt, Alan Sprague, Gary Warner

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Phishing websites, phish, attempt to deceive users into exposing their passwords, user IDs, and other sensitive information by imitating legitimate websites, such as banks, product vendors, and service providers. Phishing investigators need fast automated tools to analyze the volume of phishing attacks seen today. In this paper, we present the Simple Set Comparison tool. The Simple Set Comparison tool is a fast automated tool that groups phish by imitated brand allowing phishing investigators to quickly identify and focus on phish targeting a particular brand. The Simple Set Comparison tool is evaluated against a traditional clustering algorithm over a month's worth …

Identifying Common Characteristics Of Malicious Insiders, Nan Liang, David Biros

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Malicious insiders account for large proportion of security breaches or other kinds of loss for organizations and have drawn attention of both academics and practitioners. Although methods and mechanism have been developed to monitor potential insider via electronic data monitoring, few studies focus on predicting potential malicious insiders. Based on the theory of planned behavior, certain cues should be observed or expressed when an individual performs as a malicious insider. Using text mining to analyze various media content of existing insider cases, we strive to develop a method to identify crucial and common indicators that an individual might be a …

Continuous Monitoring System Based On Systems' Environment, Eli Weintraub, Yuval Cohen

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

We present a new framework (and its mechanisms) of a Continuous Monitoring System (CMS) having new improved capabilities, and discuss its requirements and implications. The CMS is based on the real-time actual configuration of the system and the environment rather than a theoretic or assumed configuration. Moreover, the CMS predicts organizational damages taking into account chains of impacts among systems' components generated by messaging among software components. In addition, the CMS takes into account all organizational effects of an attack. Its risk measurement takes into account the consequences of a threat, as defines in risk analysis standards. Loss prediction is …

Html5 Zero Configuration Covert Channels: Security Risks And Challenges, Jason Farina, Mark Scanlon, Stephen Kohlmann, Nhien-An Le-Khac, Tahar Kechadi

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In recent months there has been an increase in the popularity and public awareness of secure, cloudless file transfer systems. The aim of these services is to facilitate the secure transfer of files in a peer-to-peer (P2P) fashion over the Internet without the need for centralized authentication or storage. These services can take the form of client installed applications or entirely web browser based interfaces. Due to the P2P nature, there is generally no limit to the file sizes involved or to the volume of data transmitted - and where these limitations do exist they will be purely reliant on …

Measuring Hacking Ability Using A Conceptual Expertise Task, Justin S. Giboney, Jeffrey G. Proudfoot, Sanjay Goel, Joseph S. Valacich

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Hackers pose a continuous and unrelenting threat to organizations. Industry and academic researchers alike can benefit from a greater understanding of how hackers engage in criminal behavior. A limiting factor of hacker research is the inability to verify that self-proclaimed hackers participating in research actually possess their purported knowledge and skills. This paper presents current work in developing and validating a conceptual-expertise based tool that can be used to discriminate between novice and expert hackers. The implications of this work are promising since behavioral information systems researchers operating in the information security space will directly benefit from the validation of …

Invited Paper - A Profile Of Prolonged, Persistent Ssh Attack On A Kippo Based Honeynet, Craig Valli, Priya Rabadia, Andrew Woodard

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper is an investigation focusing on activities detected by SSH honeypots that utilised kippo honeypot software. The honeypots were located across a variety of geographical locations and operational platforms. The honeynet has suffered prolonged, persistent and attack from a /24 network which appears to be of Chinese geographical origin. In addition to these attacks, other attackers have been successful in compromising real hosts in a wide range of other countries that were subsequently involved in attacking the honeypot machines in the honeynet.

Keywords: Cyber Security, SSH, Secure Shell, Honeypots, Kippo

Inivited Paper - Potential Changes To Ediscovery Rules In Federal Court: A Discussion Of The Process, Substantive Changes And Their Applicability And Impact On Virginia Practice, Joseph J. Schwerha, Susan L. Mitchell, John W. Bagby

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) are subject to a unique process also once used in revising the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE). Today, this process is followed in revisions of the FRCP, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Bankruptcy Rules. This unique rulemaking process differs significantly from traditional notice and comment rulemaking required for a majority of federal regulatory agencies under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).1 Most notably, rule-making for the federal courts’ procedural matters remain unaffected by the invalidation of legislative veto. It is still widely, but wrongly believed, that the legislative veto was …

On The Network Performance Of Digital Evidence Acquisition Of Small Scale Devices Over Public Networks, Irvin Homem, Spyridon Dosis

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

While cybercrime proliferates – becoming more complex and surreptitious on the Internet – the tools and techniques used in performing digital investigations are still largely lagging behind, effectively slowing down law enforcement agencies at large. Real-time remote acquisition of digital evidence over the Internet is still an elusive ideal in the combat against cybercrime. In this paper we briefly describe the architecture of a comprehensive proactive digital investigation system that is termed as the Live Evidence Information Aggregator (LEIA). This system aims at collecting digital evidence from potentially any device in real time over the Internet. Particular focus is made …

A Review Of Recent Case Law Related To Digital Forensics: The Current Issues, Kelly A. Cole, Shruti Gupta, Dheeraj Gurugubelli, Marcus K. Rogers

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Digital forensics is a new field without established models of investigation. This study uses thematic analysis to explore the different issues seen in the prosecution of digital forensic investigations. The study looks at 100 cases from different federal appellate courts to analyze the cause of the appeal. The issues are categorized into one of four categories, ‘search and seizure’, ‘data analysis’, ‘presentation’ and ‘legal issues’. The majority of the cases reviewed related to the search and seizure activity.

Keywords: Computer Investigation, Case Law, Digital Forensics, Legal Issues, and Courts

A New Cyber Forensic Philosophy For Digital Watermarks In The Context Of Copyright Laws, Vinod P. Bhattathiripad, Sneha Sudhakaran, Roshna K. Thalayaniyil

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The objective of this paper is to propose a new cyber forensic philosophy for watermark in the context of copyright laws for the benefit of the forensic community and the judiciary worldwide. The paper first briefly introduces various types of watermarks, and then situates watermarks in the context of the ideaexpression dichotomy and the copyright laws. It then explains the forensic importance of watermarks and proposes a forensic philosophy for them in the context of copyright laws. Finally, the paper stresses the vital need to incorporate watermarks in the forensic tests to establish software copyright infringement and also urges the …

A Survey Of Software-Based String Matching Algorithms For Forensic Analysis, Yi-Ching Liao

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Employing a fast string matching algorithm is essential for minimizing the overhead of extracting structured files from a raw disk image. In this paper, we summarize the concept, implementation, and main features of ten software-based string matching algorithms, and evaluate their applicability for forensic analysis. We provide comparisons between the selected software-based string matching algorithms from the perspective of forensic analysis by conducting their performance evaluation for file carving. According to the experimental results, the Shift-Or algorithm (R. Baeza-Yates & Gonnet, 1992) and the Karp-Rabin algorithm (Karp & Rabin, 1987) have the minimized search time for identifying the locations of …

Investigating Forensics Values Of Windows Jump Lists Data, Ahmad Ghafarian

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Starting with Windows 7, Microsoft introduced a new feature to the Windows Operating Systems called Jump Lists. Jump Lists stores information about user activities on the host machine. These activities may include links to the recently visited web pages, applications executed, or files processed. Computer forensics investigators may find traces of misuse in Jump Lists auto saved files. In this research, we investigate the forensics values of Jump Lists data. Specifically, we use several tools to view Jump Lists data on a virtual machine. We show that each tool reveal certain types of information about user’s activity on the host …

An Empirical Comparison Of Widely Adopted Hash Functions In Digital Forensics: Does The Programming Language And Operating System Make A Difference?, Satyendra Gurjar, Ibrahim Baggili, Frank Breitinger, Alice Fischer

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Hash functions are widespread in computer sciences and have a wide range of applications such as ensuring integrity in cryptographic protocols, structuring database entries (hash tables) or identifying known files in forensic investigations. Besides their cryptographic requirements, a fundamental property of hash functions is efficient and easy computation which is especially important in digital forensics due to the large amount of data that needs to be processed when working on cases. In this paper, we correlate the runtime efficiency of common hashing algorithms (MD5, SHA-family) and their implementation. Our empirical comparison focuses on C-OpenSSL, Python, Ruby, Java on Windows and …

Two Challenges Of Stealthy Hypervisors Detection: Time Cheating And Data Fluctuations, Igor Korkin

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Hardware virtualization technologies play a significant role in cyber security. On the one hand these technologies enhance security levels, by designing a trusted operating system. On the other hand these technologies can be taken up into modern malware which is rather hard to detect. None of the existing methods is able to efficiently detect a hypervisor in the face of countermeasures such as time cheating, temporary self-uninstalling, memory hiding etc. New hypervisor detection methods which will be described in this paper can detect a hypervisor under these countermeasures and even count several nested ones. These novel approaches rely on the …

Integrable Equations With Ermakov-Pinney Nonlinearities And Chiellini Damping, S.C. Mancas, Haret C. Rosu

Publications

We introduce a special type of dissipative Ermakov–Pinney equations of the form v_ζζ+g(v)v_ζ+h(v)=0, where h(v)=h_0(v)+cv^{-3} and the nonlinear dissipation g(v) is based on the corresponding Chiellini integrable Abel equation. When h_0(v) is a linear function, h_0(v)=λ^2v, general solutions are obtained following the Abel equation route. Based on particular solutions, we also provide general solutions containing a factor with the phase of the Milne type. In addition, the same kinds of general solutions are constructed for the cases of higher-order Reid nonlinearities. The Chiellini dissipative function is actually a dissipation-gain function because it can be negative on some intervals. We also …