Digital Commons Network^™

With Speed The Hacker Cometh, Craig Valli

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper is an examination of six months of IDS reports and firewall logs for a small enterprise that has a new broadband ADSL connection. The paper examines the information contained in the logfiles and the implications of detected activities by would be attackers. An examination of the issues that the deployment of broadband has for home and small business users is also undertaken.

Firewall Or Folly - An Initial Investigation Into The Effectiveness Of Personal Firewalls In Securing Personal Computers From Attack, Jeshua Yee

Research outputs pre 2011

With the increase in the use of Personal Computer (PC) firewall, this study looks at the security features provided by eight PC firewall; they are BlackICE, Deerfield, Kirio, MacAfee, Outpost, Sygate, Tiny and Zonealarm. The Nessus network scanner was used to probe these systems in a variety of configurations. The paper discusses the results and their implications for users of this new range of software.

Ecdis Development Laboratory And Navigation Technology Demonstration Center, Lee Alexander, Maxim F. Van Norden, Charles M. Fralick

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The U.S. Navy is undergoing a major transition from traditional, paper chart navigation to computer-based electronic charting. The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) has mandated that all Navy ships will navigate strictly through electronic means by FY07. However, due to some recent groundings, the Navy is now striving to accelerate the full implementation of electronic navigation by FY04. The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) is making a concerted effort to support this transition with upgrades to state-of-the-art survey ships, instrumentation, and data processing equipment. NAVOCEANO is increasing its capability to rapidly collect and process hydrographic survey data, and to quickly produce …

Proceedings Of The 2001 Onr Decision-Support Workshop Series: Continuing The Revolution In Military Affairs, Collaborative Agent Design Research Center

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

In August of 1998 the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center (CADRC) of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), approached the Office of Naval Research (ONR) with the proposal for an annual workshop focusing on emerging concepts in decision-support systems for military applications. The proposal was considered timely by the ONR Logistics Program Office for at least two reasons. First, rapid advances in information systems technology over the past decade had produced distributed, collaborative computer-assistance capabilities with profound potential for providing meaningful support to military decision makers. Indeed, some systems based on these new capabilities such …

Immaccs: A Multi-Agent Decision-Support System, Jens G. Pohl, Mark Porczak, Kym Jason Pohl, Russell Leighton, Hisham Assal, Alan Davis, Lakshmi Vempati, Anthony Wood

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This report describes work performed by the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center for the US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL), on the IMMACCS experimental decision-support system. IMMACCS (Integrated Marine Multi-Agent Command and Control System) incorporates three fundamental concepts that distinguish it from existing (i.e., legacy) command and control applications. First, it is a collaborative system in which computer-based agents assist human operators by monitoring, analyzing, and reasoning about events in near real-time. Second, IMMACCS includes an ontological model of the battlespace that represents the behavioral characteristics and relationships among real world entities such as friendly and enemy assets, infrastructure objects …

An Analysis Of The Computer And Network Attack Taxonomy, Richard C. Daigle

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force's dependence on the Internet continues to increase daily. However, this increased dependence comes with risks. The popularity and potential of the Internet attracts users with illegal as well as legal intentions. Since the Air Force considers the Internet an integral component of its information Operations strategy, the Air Force must be confident that it can trust the security of this component. Therefore, reliable methods and information that helps the Air Force classify the risks associated with the Internet can help the Air Force determine the best processes to assure the security of its use of this resource. …

Models For Data Source Tracking With Xml, Teoman Yoruk

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Research arch Laboratory, Sensors Directorate Electronic Warfare Simulation Branch (APRL/SNZW) is responsible for developing and maintaining real-world and hypothetical scenarios for an array of threat engagement simulation systems. The general for scenario creation involves mapping from real-world databases and operations plans to specific fields in the input files represent the scenario. As part of the AFRL/SNZW's overall initiative for the development of a Concurrent Engineering Real-Time database CORrelation tool (CERCORT), as important to the scenario files themselves is the capability to trace hack to the source of data for the scenario fields. Acquiring this capability consequently results …

A Process For Vectoring Offensive Information Warfare As A Primary Weapon Option Within The United States Air Force, Sheila G. Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

Consistently and comprehensively using Information Operations (IO) capabilities as primary weapon option within the Air Force is the next step to operationalizing IO within the Air Force. Doctrine and official guidance has set the variables of mission and concepts of operations, organizational structure, and IW players in place. The missing variable to operationalizing IO and probably the most difficult is the 'how' or process of the equation. This research will introduce a useable process that can be incorporated within the Air Force for integrating offensive IW activities into the current and given environment. The process is the basis for further …

Malicious Hackers: A Framework For Analysis And Case Study, Laura J. Kleen

Theses and Dissertations

Recent years have seen an increase in the number and severity of Information Operations (IO) attacks upon DoD resources. At a higher level, the US as a whole has come under cyber attack by individuals and groups seeking thrills, monetary gain, publicity for their causes, and myriad other goals. This effort develops a first cut model of individual hacker mentality that can be utilized to improve threat assessment, mitigate Information Assurance (IA) vulnerabilities, and improve risk assessment. Further, it is a first step toward automated characterization of Information Warfare (IW) attacks based upon hacker types. All hackers are not the …

Modeling Information Assurance, Joseph E. Beauregard

Theses and Dissertations

The ever-increasing speed of information systems allows decision-makers around the world to gather, process, and disseminate information almost instantaneously. However, with this benefit there comes a price. Information is valuable and therefore a target to those who do not have it or wish to destroy it. The Internet has allowed information to flow freely, but it has also made information vulnerable to many forms of corruption. The U. S. military controls much of the world's most sensitive information, and since it cannot sacrifice losing the speed at which this information is currently processed and disseminated, it must find a way …

The Effects Of Budgetary Constraints, Multiple Strategy Selection, And Rationality On Equilibrium Attainment In An Information Warfare Simulation, Steven W. Tait

Theses and Dissertations

Information warfare (IW) has developed into a significant threat to the national security of the United States. Our critical infrastructures, linked together by information systems, are increasingly vulnerable to information attack. This study seeks to understand some of those factors which affect the ability of an individual to make accurate decisions in an IW environment. The study used game theory to analyze the behavior of decision-makers within an IW simulation. The IW game model is based on a set of games known as infinitely repeated games of incomplete information. It uses the Bayesian Nash equilibrium concept to determine the strategy …

The Effect Of Contextual-Based Training On Artifact-Based Deception Detection, Elizabeth A. Autrey

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force dependence on information technology (IT) creates vulnerabilities that it cannot ignore. With global availability of commercial IT and the Internet, the Air Force does not necessarily have the high technological advantage over potential adversaries that it once had. Furthermore, it is possible to directly and covertly manipulate information within information systems, or artifacts, without notice. This directly affects decision makers since the availability and integrity of information is critical. Air Force physical and network security measures taken to protect its information do not guarantee detection of direct information manipulation. This leaves it to information artifact users to detect …

A Semantic Interface To Scenario Component Reuse In Dod Simulation Systems, Lawrence A. Breighner

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense utilizes various simulation systems to model employment of forces and weapons systems in operational environments. The data files that model these environments and weapons systems are extremely large and complex, and require many person-hours to develop. Compounding the problem, these data files are distributed across multiple systems in a heterogeneous environment. Currently, there is no automated means of identifying and retrieving reusable portions of these files for reuse in a new scenario under development. This work develops a multi-agent system that catalogs the files, and provides the user with a means of identifying and retrieving reusable …

A Radial Basis Function Neural Network Approach To Two-Color Infrared Missile Detection, Kin-Weng Chan

Theses and Dissertations

Multicolor infrared imaging missile-warning systems require real-time detection techniques that can process the wide instantaneous field of regard of focal plane array sensors with a low false alarm rate. Current technology applies classical statistical methods to this problem and ignores neural network techniques. Thus the research reported here is novel in that it investigates the use of radial basis function (RBF) neural networks to detect sub-pixel missile signatures. An RBF neural network is designed and trained to detect targets in two-color infrared imagery using a recently developed regression tree algorithm. Features are calculated for 3 by 3 pixel sub-images in …

Using A Distributed Object-Oriented Database Management System In Support Of A High-Speed Network Intrusion Detection System Data Repository, Phillip W. Polk

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has multiple initiatives to develop data repositories for high-speed network intrusion detection systems (IDS). All of the developed systems utilize a relational database management system (RDBMS) as the primary data storage mechanism. The purpose of this thesis is to replace the RDBMS in one such system developed by AFRL, the Automated Intrusion Detection Environment (AIDE), with a distributed object-oriented database management system (DOODBMS) and observe a number of areas: its performance against the RDBMS in terms of IDS event insertion and retrieval, the distributed aspects of the new system, and the resulting object-oriented architecture. The resulting system, …

Seaway: A Multi-Agent Decision-Support System For Naval Expeditionary Logistic Operations, Anthony Wood, Kym Jason Pohl, Justin Crawford, Mark Lai, John Fanshier, Ken Cudworth, Tom Tate, Hisham Assal, Shawn Pan, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This report describes work performed by CDM Technologies Inc. in conjunction with the Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, for the Office of Naval Research (ONR), on the SEAWAY experimental system for planning, gaming and executing maritime logistic operations from a sea base. SEAWAY incorporates three fundamental concepts that distinguish it from existing (i.e., legacy) command and control applications. First, it is a collaborative system in which computer-based agents assist human operators by monitoring, analyzing and reasoning about events in near real-time. Second, SEAWAY includes an ontological model of the …

Immaccs: An Experimental Multi-Agent C2 System, Jens G. Pohl, Anthony A. Wood, Kym Jason Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The Integrated Marine Multi-Agent Command and Control System (IMMACCS) is a multi-agent, distributed software system, designed to provide a Common Tactical Picture (CTP) with integrated and meaningful decision-support facilities to authorized operators at any access node. IMMACCS has been implemented as a three-tier architecture that distinguishes between information, logic and presentation. It utilizes an object-serving communication facility with subscription and multi-casting capabilities that is based on the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). With an emphasis on application, IMMACCS was designed and implemented in concert with its military users as an integral component of experiments conceived by the Marine Corps …

Performance Analysis Of Mobile Agents For Filtering Data Streams On Wireless Networks, David Kotz, George Cybenko, Robert S. Gray, Guofei Jiang, Ronald A. Peterson, Martin O. Hofmann, Daria A. Chacon, Kenneth R. Whitebread

Computer Science Technical Reports

Wireless networks are an ideal environment for mobile agents, since their mobility allows them to move across an unreliable link to reside on a wired host, next to or closer to the resources that they need to use. Furthermore, client-specific data transformations can be moved across the wireless link and run on a wired gateway server, reducing bandwidth demands. In this paper we examine the tradeoffs faced when deciding whether to use mobile agents in a data-filtering application where numerous wireless clients filter information from a large data stream arriving across the wired network. We develop an analytical model and …

Applications Of Agent Architectures To Decision Support In Distributed Simulation And Training Systems, Plamen V. Petrov

Dissertations

This work develops the approach and presents the results of a new model for applying intelligent agents to complex distributed interactive simulation for command and control. In the framework of tactical command, control communications, computers and intelligence (C₄I), software agents provide a novel approach for efficient decision support and distributed interactive mission training. An agent-based architecture for decision support is designed, implemented and is applied in a distributed interactive simulation to significantly enhance the command and control training during simulated exercises. The architecture is based on monitoring, evaluation, and advice agents, which cooperate to provide alternatives to the …

Proceedings Of The 2000 Onr Decision-Support Workshop Series: The Human-Computer Partnership In Decision-Support, Collaborative Agent Design Research Center

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The Decision Support Workshop of May 2-4, 2000 held in San Luis Obispo, Cal., was the second in a series that was started one year earlier as a joint project of the Office of Naval Research and the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center of Cal Poly.

The goal of this series of Workshops is to provide a forum where connections can be established on one hand between developers and proponents of decision support tools, with potential users such as managers of large, complex organizations/systems on the other. Clearly, the military belong to this class of users and it is therefore …

Extracting Mission Semantics From Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Telemetry And Flight Plans, Walter T. Berridge

Theses and Dissertations

With the acceptance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as a primary platform within the Department of Defense (DOD) for gathering intelligence data, the amount of video information being recorded, analyzed, and archived continues to grow. Mechanisms for quickly locating and retrieving video segments of interest amongst the many hours of recorded video are required to accommodate the rapid turnaround expected in today's wartime planning environments. This research demonstrates that text-based data accompanying UAV video yields sufficient information to identify and create data items that can be indexed to provide for rapid identification and retrieval of video segments of interest. Four …

Global Positioning System (Gps) Error Source Prediction, Marcus G. Ferguson

Theses and Dissertations

With the initiation of the navigation accuracy prediction algorithm used to estimate the amount of GPS solution (location and time) error for receivers, the capability to accurately predict solution errors due to the major GPS error sources is growing. Although some sources of error within the GPS solution have been previously analyzed, modeled, and/or accounted for within various modeling efforts, a formal evaluation of the seven major error sources that distort GPS activity has not been officially conducted up until this point. This research offers a logical assessment of all the major GPS error sources and their definitive impact on …

Extensible Markup Language As A Weather Tool, Michael J. Calidonna

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a proof of concept work that will extend the Core Mapping Application Program Interface (CMAPI) components to include weather data. The CMAPI project is headed by Air Force Research Lab (AFRL)/Information Directorate Information Handling Branch (IFEB) at Rome labs in Rome, New York. This work extends the CMAPI project in two distinct areas. The first goal is to figure out how to overlay and display weather data on a dynamically linked Internet platform. This was accomplished by incorporating existing data from the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) into the CMAPI program in a static environment. The other …

Three-Dimensional Data Visualization Of Electronic Military Intelligence Using The Project Broadsword System, Michael L. Goeringer

Theses and Dissertations

Today's military electronic infrastructure solves many problems while creating others. Using computers, battlefield and global awareness is brought to bear through the near real-time linking of sensor platforms from around the globe. These intelligence networks produce vast amounts of data that must be parsed, interpreted, digested and stored by information gathering systems. As the amount of intelligence data continues to increase, these text-based systems become cumbersome and inadequate. To ensure vital information is not overlooked or discovered too late, other forms of intelligence product management and data navigation need to be investigated. This thesis explores procedures for enhancing the capabilities …

A Method Of Focusing The Attention Of The Decision-Maker On Uncertain Information, John F. Moesner Iv

Theses and Dissertations

Military decision-makers need to be able to synthesize large amounts of information quickly and make accurate and timely decisions. However, all too often, when a decision-maker is bombarded with important information that has an uncertainty associated with it, that information is often neglected. One method of dealing with this type of information overload is through proper data orientation. By reducing the clutter of irrelevant information, the proportions of useful and relevant data can be increased. At the same time, the attention of the decision-maker is directed to the critical tasks or centers of gravity. The WATCHDOG Decision Support Tool is …

An Architectural Framework For Performance Analysis: Supporting The Design, Configuration, And Control Of Dis /Hla Simulations, David B. Cavitt

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Technology advances are providing greater capabilities for most distributed computing environments. However, the advances in capabilities are paralleled by progressively increasing amounts of system complexity. In many instances, this complexity can lead to a lack of understanding regarding bottlenecks in run-time performance of distributed applications. This is especially true in the domain of distributed simulations where a myriad of enabling technologies are used as building blocks to provide large-scale, geographically disperse, dynamic virtual worlds. Persons responsible for the design, configuration, and control of distributed simulations need to understand the impact of decisions made regarding the allocation and use of the …

Network Security Versus Network Connectivity: A Framework For Addressing The Issues Facing The Air Force Medical Community, Franklin E. Cunningham Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has instituted Barrier Reef to protect its networks. The Air Force medical community operates network connections that are incompatible with Barrier Reef. To overcome this problem, OASD(HA) directed the Tri-Service Management Program Office (TIMPO) to develop an architecture that protects all military health systems and allows them to link with all three services and outside partners. This research studied the underlying networking issues and formed a framework based on data from network experts from the Air Force's medical centers and their base network organizations. The findings were compared TIMPO and a composite framework was developed that more …

Information System Incidents: The Development Of A Damage Assessment Model, Mark D. Horony

Theses and Dissertations

Information system (IS) incidents are on the rise. With low manning and undertrained information security specialists it is difficult for organizations to stop IS incidents from occurring. Once an incident has occurred it is the IS manager's responsibility to ensure that a full and accurate damage assessment has been accomplished. However, most IS managers lack the necessary tools to assess the damage from an incident. This exploratory thesis developed an IS incident damage assessment model (DAM) that can be part of the IS manager's tool kit. During the development of the model, it became apparent that the model was supported …

Towards A Game Theory Model Of Information Warfare, David A. Burke

Theses and Dissertations

The repeated game of incomplete information model, a subclass of game theory models, was modified to include aspects of information warfare. The repeated game of incomplete information model was first developed to analyze nuclear weapons disarmament negotiations. The central role of information in this model suggested its applicability to IW, which focuses on the defense and acquisition of information. A randomized experimental design was utilized to determine how people behave in a laboratory IW setting and to test the IW game model's basic predictions. The impact of experience and learning on IW performance was also assessed during the experiment. IW …

Immaccs: A Military Decision-Support System, Jens G. Pohl, Anthony A. Wood, Kym Jason Pohl, Arthur J. Chapman

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The Integrated Marine Multi-Agent Command and Control System (IMMACCS) is a multi-agent, distributed system, designed to provide a ‘common tactical picture’ with integrated and meaningful decision-support facilities to authorized operators at any access node. IMMACCS has been implemented as a three-tier architecture that distinguishes between information, logic and presentation. It utilizes an object-serving communication facility with subscription and multi-casting capabilities that is based on the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). With an emphasis on application, IMMACCS was designed and implemented in concert with its military users as an integral component of experiments conceived by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory …