Digital Commons Network^™

Detecting Rogue Access Points That Endanger The Maginot Line Of Wireless Authentication, Zhiqi Tao, A. B. Ruighaver

Research outputs pre 2011

The rapid growth in deployment of wireless networks in recent years may be an indication that many organizations believe that their system will be adequately secured by the implementation of enhanced encryption and authentication. However, in our view, the emphasis on cryptographic solutions in wireless security is repeating the history of the “Maginot Line”. Potential attackers of wireless networks currently will find many ways to get access to wireless networks to compromise the confidentiality of information without the need to crack the encryption. In this paper we analyze how rogue access points threaten the security of an organization’s wireless network …

Compressed Pattern Matching For Text And Images, Tao Tao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The amount of information that we are dealing with today is being generated at an ever-increasing rate. On one hand, data compression is needed to efficiently store, organize the data and transport the data over the limited-bandwidth network. On the other hand, efficient information retrieval is needed to speedily find the relevant information from this huge mass of data using available resources. The compressed pattern matching problem can be stated as: given the compressed format of a text or an image and a pattern string or a pattern image, report the occurrence(s) of the pattern in the text or image …

Leveraging Human Genomic Information To Identify Nonhuman Primate Sequences For Expression Array Development, Eliot R. Spindel, Mark Pauley, Yibing Jia, Courtney Gravett, Shaun L. Thompson, Nicholas F. Boyle, Sergio R. Ojeda, Robert B. Norgren Jr.

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

Background: Nonhuman primates (NHPs) are essential for biomedical research due to their similarities to humans. The utility of NHPs will be greatly increased by the application of genomicsbased approaches such as gene expression profiling. Sequence information from the 3' end of genes is the key resource needed to create oligonucleotide expression arrays.

Results: We have developed the algorithms and procedures necessary to quickly acquire sequence information from the 3' end of nonhuman primate orthologs of human genes. To accomplish this, we identified terminal exons of over 15,000 human genes by aligning mRNA sequences with genomic sequence. We found …

Adaptive Decision Support For Academic Course Scheduling Using Intelligent Software Agents, Prithviraj Dasgupta, Deepak Khazanchi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Academic course scheduling is a complex operation that requires the interaction between different users including instructors and course schedulers to satisfy conflicting constraints in an optimal manner. Traditionally, this problem has been addressed as a constraint satisfaction problem where the constraints are stationary over time. In this paper, we address academic course scheduling as a dynamic decision support problem using an agent-enabled adaptive decision support system. In this paper, we describe the Intelligent Agent Enabled Decision Support (IAEDS) system, which employs software agents to assist humans in making strategic decisions under dynamic and uncertain conditions. The IAEDS system has a …

An Interactive Distributed Simulation Framework With Application To Wireless Networks And Intrusion Detection, Oleg Kachirski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we describe the portable, open-source distributed simulation framework (WINDS) targeting simulations of wireless network infrastructures that we have developed. We present the simulation framework which uses modular architecture and apply the framework to studies of mobility pattern effects, routing and intrusion detection mechanisms in simulations of large-scale wireless ad hoc, infrastructure, and totally mobile networks. The distributed simulations within the framework execute seamlessly and transparently to the user on a symmetric multiprocessor cluster computer or a network of computers with no modifications to the code or user objects. A visual graphical interface precisely depicts simulation object states …

Human Mental Models Of Humanoid Robots, Sau-Lai Lee, Ivy Yee-Man Lau, Sara Kiesler, Chi-Yue Chiu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Effective communication between a person and a robot may depend on whether there exists a common ground of understanding between the two. In two experiments modelled after human-human studies we examined how people form a mental model of a robot's factual knowledge. Participants estimated the robot's knowledge by extrapolating from their own knowledge and from information about the robot's origin and language. These results suggest that designers of humanoid robots must attend not only to the social cues that robots emit but also to the information people use to create mental models of a robot.

The Amphere Algorithm: Area Masking With The Performance Equation, Bianca Schoen-Phelan, Gregory O'Hare, Brian Duffy, Alan Martin, John Bradley

Conference papers

This paper is concerned with the employment of an autonomous and intelligent agent within the context of a 3-dimensional virtual environment. As the agent is immersed within the virtual environment, it empowers the 3D world with mechanisms to adjust itself to the specific needs of its user. Therefore, the agent serves as a middle layer between user and the environment. The 3-dimensional environment thus evolved into an intelligent user interface. We track user’s motion within this environment and present an equation upon which the agent classifies the user’s performance. Based upon this performance value, the agent autonomously determines if the …

Secure 3g User Authentication In Ad-Hoc Serving Networks, Lyn L. Evans

LSU Master's Theses

The convergence of cellular and IP technologies has pushed the integration of 3G and WLAN networks to the forefront. With 3G networks' failure to deliver feasible bandwidth to the customer and the emerging popularity, ease of use and high throughput of 802.11 WLANs, integrating secure access to 3G services from WLANs has become a primary focus. 3G user authentication initiated from WLANs has been defined by an enhancement to the extensible authentication protocol, EAP, used to transport user authentication requests over WLANs. The EAP-AKA protocol executes the 3G USIM user challenge and response authentication process over the IP backbone for …

Multinomial Representation Of Majority Logic Coding, John B. Moore, Keng T. Tan

Research outputs pre 2011

Multinomial representations are derived for majority logic operations on bipolar binary data. The coefficients are given simply in terms of the readily computed lower Cholesky factor of Pascal matrices of order n for codes of block length n

Integrating Open Source Protections Into Scada Networks, Craig Valli

Research outputs pre 2011

SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) networks control much of the industrialised nations production and supply complexes. Various government reports and investigations have highlighted the vulnerability of these systems. Many of these systems are on private networks which are increasingly being connected to systems that are accessible from other networks such as the Internet. There are a range of open source tools that now offer fonctionality that can be used to secure SCADA networks from intrusion or compromise. This paper explores some of the issues with current SCADA deployment trends from a network security perspective and then examines open source …

A Uk And Australian Study Of Hard Disk Disposal, Craig Valli, Andrew Jones

Research outputs pre 2011

Recent studies in Australia and the United Kingdom indicate that a broad cross-section of organisations are failing to adequately protect or erase confidential data stored on hard disk drives before subsequent disposal. Over 90% of hard disks that were examined as a result of the two Independent studies were in an easily recoverable state with some drives simply requiring a boot. This paper will give an overview and comparison of the two studies conducted. Then an examination of possible factors responsible for the inadequate erasure of hard disk devices will be undertaken. Furthermore, possible future research directions will also be …

The Underestimation Of Threats To Patients Data In Clinical Practice, Patricia Williams

Research outputs pre 2011

Issues in the security of medical data present a greater challenge than in other data security environments. The complexity of the threats and ethics involved, coupled with the poor management of these threats makes the protection of data in clinical practice problematic. This paper discusses the security threats to medical data in terms of confidentiality, privacy, integrity, misuse and availability, and reviews the issue of responsibility with reference to clinical governance. Finally. the paper uncovers some of the underlying reasons for the underestimation of the threats to medical data by the medical profession.

Physician Secure Thyself, Patricia Williams

Research outputs pre 2011

Whilst discussion rages on the issues relating to security of medical data and the reason why it is important, there is little published information on how to tackle even basic security challenges for medical practice in Australia. Research suggests an underestimation of the threats to medical data by medical practitioners, hence there is sufficient reason to promote development of tools to assist medical practice with technical issues they are unfamiliar with. This paper provides an initial dialogue on how these security issues should be addressed. Included is a framework for risk assessment and elaboration of the implementation process to make …

Recommendations For Wireless Network Security Policy: An Analysis And Classification Of Current And Emerging Threats And Solutions For Different Organisations, Andrew Woodward

Research outputs pre 2011

Since their inception, 802.11 wireless networks have been plagued by a wide range of security problems. These problems relate to both data security and denial of service attacks, and there have been many solutions created by different vendors address these problems. However, the number of different types of attack, and the many possible solutions, makes it a difficult task to put in place an appropriate wireless network security policy. Such a policy must address both the size and nature of the enterprise, and the resources available to it. Measures such as WEP and MAC filtering are only appropriate for home …

Analysis Of Channel Estimation Error Of Ofdm Systems In Rayleigh Fading, Bin Jiao, Jitian Xiao, Jinlin Wang

Research outputs pre 2011

In wireless OFDM applications, since the radio channel is frequency selective and time-varying, a dynamic estimation of channel must be achieved before the demodulation of the transmitted OFDM signals. As an effective approach for solving the channel estimation problems, the pilot-assisted channel estimation technique has received considerable attention in recent years. In this paper, we investigate the channel estimation error in the existing pilot-assisted channel estimation approaches in detail, a new effective channel estimation approach with lower estimation error is proposed as well.

A Bipartite Graph Approach To Generate Optimal Test Sequences For Protocol Conformance Testing Using The Wp-Method, Jun Wang, Jitian Xiao, Chiou Peng Lam, Huaizhong Li

Research outputs pre 2011

Conformance testing using test sequences is used to ensure that a protocol implementation conforms to its specification. A commonly used technique to generate test sequences for specifications described by the finite state machines is the Wp-method with the Reset technique, which frequently results in long test sequences. In this paper, we propose a bipartite graph approach to generate optimal test sequences for protocol conformance testing. Our approach significantly reduces the length of the test sequences required for conformance testing while maintaining the same fault detection capability.

Similarity-Aware Web Content Management And Document Pre-Fetching, Jitian Xiao, Michael Collins

Research outputs pre 2011

Web caching is intended to reduce network traffic, server load and user-perceived retrieval latency. Web pre-fetching, which can be considered as "active" caching, builds on regular Web caching, minimizing further a Web user's access delay. To be effective, however, the pre-fetching techniques must be able to predict subsequent Web access with minimum computational overheads. This paper presents a similarity-based mechanism to support similarity-aware Web document pre-fetching between proxy caches and browsing clients. We first define a set of measures to assess similarities between Web documents, and then propose a multi-cache architecture to cache Web documents based on those similarities. A …

Ad2us: An Automated Approach To Generating Usage Scenarios From Uml Activity Diagrams, Robert Chandler, Chiou Peng Lam, Huaizhong Li

Research outputs pre 2011

Although attention has been given to the use of UML (Unified Modelling Language) activity diagrams in the generation of scenarios, thin-threads and test-cases, the processes described in the literature rely heavily on manual intervention either in the information extraction process or in the process of transforming them to an alternate structure. This paper introduces an approach that capture, store and output usage scenarios derived automatically from UML activity diagrams.

Heuristics For Optimising The Calculation Of Hypervolume For Multi-Objective Optimisation Problems, Lyndon While, Lucas Bradstreet, Luigi Barone, Philip Hingston

Research outputs pre 2011

The fastest known algorithm for calculating the hypervolume of a set of solutions to a multi-objective optimization problem is the HSO algorithm (hypervolume by slicing objectives). However, the performance of HSO for a given front varies a lot depending on the order in which it processes the objectives in that front. We present and evaluate two alternative heuristics that each attempt to identify a good order for processing the objectives of a given front. We show that both heuristics make a substantial difference to the performance of HSO for randomly-generated and benchmark data in 5-9 objectives, and that they both …

Enumerating Knight's Tours Using An Ant Colony Algorithm, Philip Hingston, Graham Kendall

Research outputs pre 2011

In this paper, we show how an ant colony optimisation algorithm may be used to enumerate knight's tours for variously sized chessboards. We have used the algorithm to enumerate all tours on 5×5 and 6×6 boards, and, while the number of tours on an 8×8 board is too large for a full enumeration, our experiments suggest that the algorithm is able to uniformly sample tours at a constant, fast rate for as long as is desired.

Ten More Years Of Educational Technologies In Education: How Far Have We Travelled?, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper describes the advancements that have occurred in the use of educational technologies over the past ten years (1995-2005) and argues that progress has been slow and reminiscent of the slow progress observed in the previous decade (1985-1995). The paper argues that one of the principal reasons for the less than spectacular results stems from the top-down approaches that always seem to drive technology use in education and schools. It argues the need for applications and activities to be driven by bottom-up forces, by the teachers and students themselves and presents the argument that more applied and grounded research …

Designing Comminution Circuits With A Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm, Simon Huband, Luigi Barone, Philip Hingston, Lyndon While, David Tuppurainen, Richard Bearman

Research outputs pre 2011

Mining is an important industry in Australia, contributing billions of dollars to the economy. The performance of a processing plant has a large impact on the profitability of a mining operation, yet plant design decisions are typically guided more by intuition and experience than by analysis. In this paper, we motivate the use of an evolutionary algorithm to aid in the design of such plants. We formalise plant design in terms suitable for application in a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm and create a simulation to assess the performance of candidate solutions. Results show the effectiveness of this approach with our algorithm …

Information Security: A Misnomer, William Hutchinson

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper argues that the definition of 'information' is crucial to the understanding of 'information security'. At present, information security concentrates on the technological aspects of data, computer and network security. This computer-centric approach ignores the fact that the majority of information within an organisation is derived from other sources than computer stored data. The implications for security are that much data can be leaked from an organisation even if the computer and network systems are secured.

An Ant Colony Optimization Approach To Test Sequence Generation For State-Based Software Testing, Huaizhong Li, Chiou Peng Lam

Research outputs pre 2011

Properly generated test suites may not only locate the defects in software systems, but also help in reducing the high cost associated with software testing, ft is often desired that test sequences in a test suite can be automatically generated to achieve required test coverage. However, automatic test sequence generation remains a major problem in software testing. This paper proposes an ant colony optimization approach to automatic test sequence generation for state-based software testing. The proposed approach can directly use UML artifacts to automatically generate test sequences to achieve required test coverage.

Using Adaptive Agents To Automatically Generate Test Scenarios From The Uml Activity Diagrams, Dong Xu, Huaizhong Li, Chiou Peng Lam

Research outputs pre 2011

Test case generation is one of the most important issues in software testing research and industrial practice. Test scenarios are frequently used to derive test cases for scenario-based software testing. However, the generation of the test scenarios is usually a manual and labor-intensive task. It is desired that test scenarios can be automatically generated. In this paper, we propose an automated approach using adaptive agents to directly generate test scenarios from the UML activity diagrams.

Seeking Information Superiority: Strategies For Business In The Commercial Application Of Information Operations, Martin Dart

Research outputs pre 2011

Information superiority is a condition that many businesses attempt to attain without truly understanding what it is, or how to get there. This paper presents an overview to help businesspeople recognize the road to information superiority, and some of the essential strategies to implement along the way. Information operations is a concept described to enable information superiority, when used with a network form of organization (as opposed to simply being networked). This paper describes information operations across their fundamental structure of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); and suggests a separation between industrial espionage and legitimate business information gathering. A model …

A Case For Constructivism In Workplace Education : Substantiated With The Design, Development, Implementation And Evaluation Of A Collaborative And Resource-Based Web Learning Environment, Carmel Burke

Theses

This thesis addresses the role of constructivism in workplace education, where organisations are currently going through a time of great change. The study starts with questioning the suitability of information and communication technology in current web based learning in the workplace. Organisations increasingly require professionals to possess knowledge in a dynamic way in order to deal with change and just-in-time demands. The research is firmly anchored in learning theories as they apply to workplace education and particularly as they apply to collaborative and resource-based web learning. An extensive literature review is produced in order to establish a theoretical starting point …

Pseudo-Triangulations, Rigidity And Motion Planning, Ileana Streinu

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

This paper proposes a combinatorial approach to planning non-colliding trajectories for a polygonal bar-and-joint framework with n vertices. It is based on a new class of simple motions induced by expansive one-degree-of-freedom mechanisms, which guarantee noncollisions by moving all points away from each other. Their combinatorial structure is captured by pointed pseudo-triangulations, a class of embedded planar graphs for which we give several equivalent characterizations and exhibit rich rigidity theoretic properties. The main application is an efficient algorithm for the Carpenter's Rule Problem: convexify a simple bar-and-joint planar polygonal linkage using only non-self-intersecting planar motions. A step of the algorithm …

Formalization Of Input And Output In Modern Operating Systems: The Hadley Model, Matthew Gerber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We present the Hadley model, a formal descriptive model of input and output for modern computer operating systems. Our model is intentionally inspired by the Open Systems Interconnection model of networking; I/O as a process is defined as a set of translations between a set of computer-sensible forms, or layers, of information. To illustrate an initial application domain, we discuss the utility of the Hadley model and a potential associated I/O system as a tool for digital forensic investigators. To illustrate practical uses of the Hadley model we present the Hadley Specification Language, an essentially functional language designed to allow …

Network Intrusion Detection: Monitoring, Simulation And Visualization, Mian Zhou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents our work on network intrusion detection and intrusion sim- ulation. The work in intrusion detection consists of two different network anomaly-based approaches. The work in intrusion simulation introduces a model using explicit traffic gen- eration for the packet level traffic simulation. The process of anomaly detection is to first build profiles for the normal network activity and then mark any events or activities that deviate from the normal profiles as suspicious. Based on the different schemes of creating the normal activity profiles, we introduce two approaches for intrusion detection. The first one is a frequency-based approach which …