Digital Communications and Networking Commons^™

Security Issues With Network Connected Scada Systems, Chad Holm

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The use of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems has become common place and are being used in several different industries. These have evolved as the technology has progressed. The use of Internet of Things (IOT) devices makes for less human intervention to run daily operations in these industries. This can also allow hackers to gain access to these devices due to security holes that are overlooked. There have several different ways that have been exploited on SCADA networks and the goal is to recognize and secure them so hackers cannot gain access to them.

Corporate Cybersecurity In The Context Of M&A Transactions, Cameron Beck

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The rapid rise of digital devices has unlocked a new dimension of innovation and prosperity in the 21st century. Computers are now an integrated and ubiquitous part of our global culture. You would be hard-pressed to walk into any given room without several computer chips humming inaudibly inside the machines that facilitate our modern world. Even lightbulbs and doorbells are connected to the Internet, capturing information from the world around them and sending that information to the Cloud. The Internet expands access to communication, international marketplaces, entertainment, professional resources, and nearly every book in the world.

Modeling Iot Solutions: A Lack Of Iot Device Security, And User Education, Benjamin Newlin

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The Internet of Things, more commonly known as IoT devices, is an ever growing topic, both in the marketplace and in cyber security. While new devices are released into the public every year, a lack of standardized security concepts is also growing ever so clear. By having a model or standard for IoT devices and manufacturers to follow, the customer-base of these devices will have an easier time identifying trustworthy devices as well as how to secure their own devices.

Protection Of Patient Privacy On Mobile Device Machine Learning, Matthew Nguyen

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

An existing StudentLife Study mobile dataset was evaluated and organized to be applied to different machine learning methods. Different variables like user activity, exercise, sleep, study space, social, and stress levels are optimized to train a model that could predict user stress level. The different machine learning methods would test if both patient data privacy and training efficiency can be ensured.

Effects Of Cloud Computing In The Workforce, Kevin Rossi Acosta

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

In recent years, the incorporation of cloud computing and cloud services has increased in many different types of organizations and companies. This paper will focus on the philosophical, economical, and political factors that cloud computing and cloud services have in the workforce and different organizations. Based on various scholarly articles and resources it was observed that organizations used cloud computing and cloud services to increase their overall productivity as well as decrease the overall cost of their operations, as well as the different policies that were created by lawmakers to control the realm of cloud computing. The results of this …

Supporting Transportation System Management And Operations Using Internet Of Things Technology, Hong Yang, Yuzhong Shen, Mecit Cetin, Zhenyu Wang

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Low power wide-area network (LPWAN) technology aims to provide long range and low power wireless communication. It can serve as an alternative technology for data transmissions in many application scenarios (e.g., parking monitoring and remote flood sensing). In order to explore its feasibility in transportation systems, this project conducted a review of relevant literature to understand the current status of LPWAN applications. An online survey that targeted professionals concerned with transportation was also developed to elicit input about their experiences in using LPWAN technology for their projects. The literature review and survey results showed that LPWAN’s application in the U.S. …

Role Of Artificial Intelligence In The Internet Of Things (Iot) Cybersecurity, Murat Kuzlu, Corinne Fair, Ozgur Guler

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

In recent years, the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) has increased exponentially, and cybersecurity concerns have increased along with it. On the cutting edge of cybersecurity is Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is used for the development of complex algorithms to protect networks and systems, including IoT systems. However, cyber-attackers have figured out how to exploit AI and have even begun to use adversarial AI in order to carry out cybersecurity attacks. This review paper compiles information from several other surveys and research papers regarding IoT, AI, and attacks with and against AI and explores the relationship between these …

Are Entrepreneurial Capabilities And Prior Knowledge The Silver Bullet For The Generation Of New Digital Venture Ideas In A Digital Context?, Meifang Yao, Dan Ye, Gao Yang, Hui Shi, Xianrong Zheng

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Digital technology has had an important impact on entrepreneurship. It has changed the uncertain nature of the process of new venture idea generation, and it has also brought unprecedented opportunities for the generation of new digital venture ideas. In order to explore how startups can deal with major challenges brought by digital technology and create new digital venture ideas, this paper focuses on micro level entrepreneurial actions and constructs a theoretical model of the relationship among networking capabilities, IT capabilities, prior knowledge, and new digital venture ideas. Furthermore, through the hierarchical linear regression analysis of 278 sample data, the paper …

On The Usage And Vulnerabilities Of Api Systems, Conner D. Yu

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

To some, Application Programming Interface (API) is one of many buzzwords that seem to be blanketed in obscurity because not many people are overly familiar with this term. This obscurity is unfortunate, as APIs play a crucial role in today’s modern infrastructure by serving as one of the most fundamental communication methods for web services. Many businesses use APIs in some capacity, but one often overlooked aspect is cybersecurity. This aspect is most evident in the 2018 misuse case by Facebook, which led to the leakage of 50 million users’ records.1 During the 2018 Facebook data breach incident, threat actors …

Snitch Application: Addressing Cyber Trust In Future Living Spaces, Russell Moore

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The future of smart homes is filled with excitement and ample opportunity to live in an environment that features extraordinary convenience and energy efficiency. Devices such as Amazon Alexa and Roku Smart TV’s feature voice interaction options that provide the user with enhanced functionality. While voice-activated devices are accommodating, it is imperative to acknowledge how they work on the backend. The problem is that these devices collect and share a large amount of data from users who are oftentimes unaware that it’s even happening. The Snitch App is being developed in order to inform the user of what exactly is …

Human Behavior Is A Significant Flaw In Maintaining Cyber Security, Elizabeth Jackson

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Human behavior and data security utilization must be intertwined; in order to mitigate the negative effects of cyber attacks. No consumer wants their data hacked, breached, stolen, shared or wiped out. It is imperative to survey the type of education is needed to keep users safe and interested in securing their data. This can be done by simply seeking out the consumer's view of data security. The information obtained would allow the cybersecurity community to offer a simple way for consumers to protect their mobile data. There is a constant interaction between human behavior and the need for increased data …

Upgrading Of A Data Communication And Computer Networks Course In Engineering Technology Program, Murat Kuzlu, Otilia Popescu

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Data network communications is traditionally a course offered by computer engineering technology curricula, with the primary objective to introduce to the fundamental concepts in data communication and computer networks, as well as some level of hands-on component related to this area. Typical topics in such courses are the layered model of data communication, specifically the OSI seven-layered model, Internet routing, communication standards, protocols and technologies, and learning methods used to design the network and send data over the network in a secure manner. In the last decades, the data communication and applications have grown and become ubiquitous in both industry …

From Protecting To Performing Privacy, Garfield Benjamin

The Journal of Sociotechnical Critique

Privacy is increasingly important in an age of facial recognition technologies, mass data collection, and algorithmic decision-making. Yet it persists as a contested term, a behavioural paradox, and often fails users in practice. This article critiques current methods of thinking privacy in protectionist terms, building on Deleuze's conception of the society of control, through its problematic relation to freedom, property and power. Instead, a new mode of understanding privacy in terms of performativity is provided, drawing on Butler and Sedgwick as well as Cohen and Nissenbaum. This new form of privacy is based on identity, consent and collective action, a …

Virtual Satcom, Long Range Broadband Digital Communications, Dennis George Watson

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The current naval strategy is based on a distributed force, networked together with high-speed communications that enable operations as an intelligent, fast maneuvering force. Satellites, the existing network connector, are weak and vulnerable to attack. HF is an alternative, but it does not have the information throughput to meet the distributed warfighting need. The US Navy does not have a solution to reduce dependency on space-based communication systems while providing the warfighter with the required information speed.

Virtual SATCOM is a solution that can match satellite communications (SATCOM) data speed without the vulnerable satellite. It is wireless communication on a …

Topology Control, Scheduling, And Spectrum Sensing In 5g Networks, Prosanta Paul

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The proliferation of intelligent wireless devices is remarkable. To address phenomenal traffic growth, a key objective of next-generation wireless networks such as 5G is to provide significantly larger bandwidth. To this end, the millimeter wave (mmWave) band (20 GHz -300 GHz) has been identified as a promising candidate for 5G and WiFi networks to support user data rates of multi-gigabits per second. However, path loss at mmWave is significantly higher than today's cellular bands. Fortunately, this higher path loss can be compensated through the antenna beamforming technique-a transmitter focuses a signal towards a specific direction to achieve high signal gain …

Iot Devices In The Public Health Sector, Cayla Young

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

In this research, proper attention is drawn to privacy and security concerns with the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the public health sector. Often, not much attention is given to IoT devices and its vulnerabilities concerning the medical industry. Effects of COVID-19 contact tracing applications are explored through research of various source types. Mitigation techniques for these privacy and security issues is given. Focus is brought to topics outlining the risks associated with genetic testing companies and the vulnerabilities of data collection and data storage. Recommendations are provided to help consumers avoid these risks. Lastly, a comprehensive …

Minding Morality: Ethical Artificial Societies For Public Policy Modeling, Saikou Y. Diallo, F. Leron Shults, Wesley J. Wildman

VMASC Publications

Public policies are designed to have an impact on particular societies, yet policy-oriented computer models and simulations often focus more on articulating the policies to be applied than on realistically rendering the cultural dynamics of the target society. This approach can lead to policy assessments that ignore crucial social contextual factors. For example, by leaving out distinctive moral and normative dimensions of cultural contexts in artificial societies, estimations of downstream policy effectiveness fail to account for dynamics that are fundamental in human life and central to many public policy challenges. In this paper, we supply evidence that incorporating morally salient …

A Tutorial And Future Research For Building A Blockchain-Based Secure Communication Scheme For Internet Of Intelligent Things, Mohammad Wazid, Ashok Kumar Das, Sachin Shetty, Minho Jo

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

The Internet of Intelligent Things (IoIT) communication environment can be utilized in various types of applications (for example, intelligent battlefields, smart healthcare systems, the industrial internet, home automation, and many more). Communications that happen in such environments can have different types of security and privacy issues, which can be resolved through the utilization of blockchain. In this paper, we propose a tutorial that aims in desiging a generalized blockchain-based secure authentication key management scheme for the IoIT environment. Moreover, some issues with using blockchain for a communication environment are discussed as future research directions. The details of different types of …

Exploring The Relationship Between Teamwork Skills And Team Members' Centrality, Francisco Cima, Pilar Pazos, Ana Maria Canto

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The present paper describes an exploratory study of small teams working on a four-month project as part of a graduate engineering program. The research had two primary goals. The first was to utilize the log files from shared repositories used for team collaboration to describe the network structure of the teams. The second was to determine whether the network centrality of any individual team member is associated with their teamwork skills and attitudes towards the collaboration platform. The relationship between teamwork skills, attitudes towards the collaboration technology, and the centrality index was explored using Pearson correlations. A total of 35 …

Deepmag+ : Sniffing Mobile Apps In Magnetic Field Through Deep Learning, Rui Ning, Cong Wang, Chunsheng Xin, Jiang Li, Hongyi Wu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper reports a new side-channel attack to smartphones using the unrestricted magnetic sensor data. We demonstrate that attackers can effectively infer the Apps being used on a smartphone with an accuracy of over 80%, through training a deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). Various signal processing strategies have been studied for feature extractions, including a tempogram based scheme. Moreover, by further exploiting the unrestricted motion sensor to cluster magnetometer data, the sniffing accuracy can increase to as high as 98%. To mitigate such attacks, we propose a noise injection scheme that can effectively reduce the App sniffing accuracy to only …

Smart Communities: From Sensors To Internet Of Things And To A Marketplace Of Services, Stephan Olariu, Nirwan Ansari (Editor), Andreas Ahrens (Editor), Cesar Benavente-Preces (Editor)

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Our paper was inspired by the recent Society 5.0 initiative of the Japanese Government that seeks to create a sustainable human-centric society by putting to work recent advances in technology: sensor networks, edge computing, IoT ecosystems, AI, Big Data, robotics, to name just a few. The main contribution of this work is a vision of how these technological advances can contribute, directly or indirectly, to making Society 5.0 reality. For this purpose we build on a recently-proposed concept of Marketplace of Services that, in our view, will turn out to be one of the cornerstones of Society 5.0. Instead of …

Iomt Malware Detection Approaches: Analysis And Research Challenges, Mohammad Wazid, Ashok Kumar Das, Joel J.P.C. Rodrigues, Sachin Shetty, Youngho Park

VMASC Publications

The advancement in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has changed the entire paradigm of computing. Because of such advancement, we have new types of computing and communication environments, for example, Internet of Things (IoT) that is a collection of smart IoT devices. The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is a specific type of IoT communication environment which deals with communication through the smart healthcare (medical) devices. Though IoT communication environment facilitates and supports our day-to-day activities, but at the same time it has also certain drawbacks as it suffers from several security and privacy issues, such as replay, man-in-the-middle, impersonation, …

Ldakm-Eiot: Lightweight Device Authentication And Key Management Mechanism For Edge-Based Iot Deployment, Mohammad Wazid, Ashok Kumar Das, Sachin Shetty, Joel J. P. C. Rodrigues, Youngho Park

VMASC Publications

In recent years, edge computing has emerged as a new concept in the computing paradigm that empowers several future technologies, such as 5G, vehicle-to-vehicle communications, and the Internet of Things (IoT), by providing cloud computing facilities, as well as services to the end users. However, open communication among the entities in an edge based IoT environment makes it vulnerable to various potential attacks that are executed by an adversary. Device authentication is one of the prominent techniques in security that permits an IoT device to authenticate mutually with a cloud server with the help of an edge node. If authentication …

Impact Of Http Cookie Violations In Web Archives, Sawood Alam, Michele C. Weigle, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Certain HTTP Cookies on certain sites can be a source of content bias in archival crawls. Accommodating Cookies at crawl time, but not utilizing them at replay time may cause cookie violations, resulting in defaced composite mementos that never existed on the live web. To address these issues, we propose that crawlers store Cookies with short expiration time and archival replay systems account for values in the Vary header along with URIs.

Evaluating Stakeholder Bias In Stakeholder Analysis In Social Media, Ahmad A. Bajarwan

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Stakeholder analysis is the first step in the planning of most infrastructure projects. Selecting and then applying the best method for a project’s stakeholder analysis is extremely important for correctly assessing stakeholder opinions. Social media platforms allow stakeholders to participate directly in analysis. However, as with most other analysis methods, social media introduces inherent biases.

Social media is a powerful tool for communication and networking, and it also provides a valuable source of information for analyzing user opinions about infrastructure projects. By using data collected from Twitter, analysts can create networks to represent connections among users, quantify their similarities, and …

A Network Agent-Based Model Of Ethnocentrism And Intergroup Cooperation, Carlos M. Lemos, Ross J. Gore, Laurence Lessard-Phillips, F. Leron Shults

VMASC Publications

We present a network agent-based model of ethnocentrism and intergroup cooperation in which agents from two groups (majority and minority) change their communality (feeling of group solidarity), cooperation strategy and social ties, depending on a barrier of “likeness” (affinity). Our purpose was to study the model’s capability for describing how the mechanisms of preexisting markers (or “tags”) that can work as cues for inducing in-group bias, imitation, and reaction to non-cooperating agents, lead to ethnocentrism or intergroup cooperation and influence the formation of the network of mixed ties between agents of different groups. We explored the model’s behavior via four …

A Companion Study Guide For The Cisco Dcicn Data Center Certification Exam (200-150), Miguel Ramlatchan

Distance Learning Faculty & Staff Books

The official Cisco DCICN book and practice exams are great resources, but this is not an easy exam. This study guide is a companion to those resources and summarizes the subject areas into additional review questions with an answer description for each item. This book is not a "braindump" and it is not bootleg screenshots of the actual exam. Instead, this book provides additional context and examples, serves to complement other study guides, and provides additional examples. If you are getting ready to take the exam for the first time, I hope that this guide provides the extra help to …

Wireless Sensor Networks For Smart Communications, Mu Zhou, Qilian Liang, Hongyi Wu, Weixiao Meng, Kunjie Xu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In the first edition of the special issue titled “Wireless Sensor Networks for Smart Communications”, a total of 22 manuscripts were received and 6 of these were accepted. This issue demonstrated that network congestion, user mobility, and adjacent spectrum interference are the main reasons for the degradation ofcommunication quality inWireless Sensor Networks (WSNs).

To Relive The Web: A Framework For The Transformation And Archival Replay Of Web Pages, John Andrew Berlin

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

When replaying an archived web page (known as a memento), the fundamental expectation is that the page should be viewable and function exactly as it did at archival time. However, this expectation requires web archives to modify the page and its embedded resources, so that they no longer reference (link to) the original server(s) they were archived from but back to the archive. Although these modifications necessarily change the state of the representation, it is understood that without them the replay of mementos from the archive would not be possible. Unfortunately, because the replay of mementos and the modifications made …

A Reliable Data Provenance And Privacy Preservation Architecture For Business-Driven Cyber-Physical Systems Using Blockchain, Xueping Liang, Sachin Shetty, Deepak K. Tosh, Juan Zhao, Danyi Li, Jihong Liu

VMASC Publications

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) including power systems, transportation, industrial control systems, etc. support both advanced control and communications among system components. Frequent data operations could introduce random failures and malicious attacks or even bring down the whole system. The dependency on a central authority increases the risk of single point of failure. To establish an immutable data provenance scheme for CPS, the authors adopt blockchain and propose a decentralized architecture to assure data integrity. In business-driven CPS, end users are required to share their personal information with multiple third parties. To prevent data leakage and preserve user privacy, the authors isolate …