Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

After Https: Indicating Risk Instead Of Security, Matthew Wayne Holt

Theses and Dissertations

Browser security indicators show warnings when sites load without HTTPS, but more malicious sites are using HTTPS to appear legitimate in browsers and deceive users. We explore a new approach to browser indicators that overcomes several limitations of existing indicators. First, we develop a high-level risk assessment framework to identify risky interactions and evaluate the utility of this approach through a survey. Next, we evaluate potential designs for a new risk indicator to communicate risk rather than security. Finally, we conduct a within-subjects user study to compare the risk indicator to existing security indicators by observing participant behavior and collecting …

Cyber Security- A New Secured Password Generation Algorithm With Graphical Authentication And Alphanumeric Passwords Along With Encryption, Akash Rao

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Graphical passwords are always considered as an alternative of alphanumeric passwords for their better memorability and usability [1]. Alphanumeric passwords provide an adequate amount of satisfaction, but they do not offer better memorability compared to graphical passwords [1].

On the other hand, graphical passwords are considered less secured and provide better memorability [1]. Therefore many researchers have researched on graphical passwords to overcome the vulnerability. One of the most significant weaknesses of the graphical passwords is "Shoulder Surfing Attack," which means, sneaking into a victim's computer to learn the whole password or part of password or some confidential information. Such …

Frameup: An Incriminatory Attack On Storj: A Peer To Peer Blockchain Enabled Distributed Storage System, Xiaolu Zhang, Justin Grannis, Ibrahim Baggili, Nicole Lang Beebe

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this work we present a primary account of frameup, an incriminatory attack made possible because of existing implementations in distributed peer to peer storage. The frameup attack shows that an adversary has the ability to store unencrypted data on the hard drives of people renting out their hard drive space. This is important to forensic examiners as it opens the door for possibly framing an innocent victim. Our work employs Storj as an example technology, due to its popularity and market size. Storj is a blockchain enabled system that allows people to rent out their hard drive space …

Continuous Smartphone Authentication Using Wristbands, Shrirang Mare, Reza Rawassizadeh, Ronald Peterson, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Many users find current smartphone authentication methods (PINs, swipe patterns) to be burdensome, leading them to weaken or disable the authentication. Although some phones support methods to ease the burden (such as fingerprint readers), these methods require active participation by the user and do not verify the user’s identity after the phone is unlocked. We propose CSAW, a continuous smartphone authentication method that leverages wristbands to verify that the phone is in the hands of its owner. In CSAW, users wear a wristband (a smartwatch or a fitness band) with built-in motion sensors, and by comparing the wristband’s motion with …

An Empirical Study On Deterministic Collusive Attack Using Inter Component Communication In Android Applications, Tanzeer Hossain

Wayne State University Theses

Security threats using intent based inter component communication (ICC) channels in Android are under constant scrutiny of software engineering researchers. Though prior research provides empirical evidence on the existence of collusive communication channels in popular android apps, little is known about developers’willful involvement and motivation to exploit these channels.To shed light on this matter, in this paper we devised a novel methodology to deterministically identify developers’ involvement in establishing collusive inter app communication channels. We incorporate static analysis and relational database technology to discover sensitive collusive channels and domain knowledge of the Android SDK to build a model to identify …

Comprehending The Safety Paradox And Privacy Concerns With Medical Device Remote Patient Monitoring, Marc Doyle

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Medical literature identifies a number of technology-driven improvements in disease management such as implantable medical devices (IMDs) that are a standard treatment for candidates with specific diseases. Among patients using implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD), for example, problems and issues are being discovered faster compared to patients without monitoring, improving safety. What is not known is why patients report not feeling safer, creating a safety paradox, and why patients identify privacy concerns in ICD monitoring.

There is a major gap in the literature regarding the factors that contribute to perceived safety and privacy in remote patient monitoring (RPM). To address this …

Information Systems Security Leadership: An Empirical Study Of Behavioral Influences Of Leaders On Employees’ Security Compliance, Marcus Alan Winkfield

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

This empirical study examined the behavioral influences of leaders on employees’ security compliance. Organizations can use leadership concepts in the field of Information Systems (IS) security. Despite the adoption of technical and managerial approaches, organizations still face issues motivating employee IS security compliance. This dissertation argued that organizations need strong leadership to encourage employees. Using the expectancy theory, this paper created a theoretical model to help understand the influence of task and relationship-oriented leadership behaviors on nontechnical controls IS security compliance. The conceptual underpinnings translated into perceived security effort, perceived security performance, and expected security outcomes. The theoretical model was …

Securing Modern Cyberspace Using A Multi-Faceted Approach, Yu Li

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Security has become one of the most significant concerns for our cyberspace. Securing the cyberspace, however, becomes increasingly challenging. This can be attributed to the rapidly growing diversities and complexity of the modern cyberspace. Specifically, it is not any more dominated by connected personal computers (PCs); instead, it is greatly characterized by cyber-physical systems (CPS), embedded systems, dynamic services, and human-computer interactions. Securing modern cyberspace therefore calls for a multi-faceted approach capable of systematically integrating these emerging characteristics. This dissertation presents our novel and significant solutions towards this direction. Specifically, we have devised automated, systematic security solutions to three critical …

"Anon What What?": Children's Understanding Of The Language Of Privacy, Stacy Black, Rezvan Joshaghani, Dhanush Kumar Ratakonda, Hoda Mehrpouyan, Jerry Alan Fails

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Internet usage continues to increase among children ages 12 and younger. Because their digital interactions can be persistently stored, there is a need for building an understanding and foundational knowledge of privacy. We describe initial investigations into children’s understanding of privacy from a Contextual Integrity (CI) perspective by conducting semi-structured interviews. We share results – that echo what others have shown – that indicate children have limited knowledge and understanding of CI principles. We also share an initial exploration of utilizing participatory design theater as a possible educational mechanism to help children develop a stronger understanding of important privacy principles.

Virtual Environments Testing As A Cloud Service: A Methodology For Protecting And Securing Virtual Infrastructures, Elhadj Benkhelifa, Anoud Bani Hani, Thomas Welsh, Siyakha Mthunzi, Chirine Ghedira Guegan

All Works

© 2013 IEEE. Testing is a vital component of the system development life cycle. As information systems infrastructure move from native computing to cloud-based and virtualized platforms, it becomes necessary to evaluate their effectiveness to ensure completion of organizational goals. However, the complexity and scale of virtualized environments make this process difficult. Additionally, inherited and novel issues further complicate this process, while relatively high costs can be constraining. Enabling service-driven environments to provide this evaluation is therefore beneficial for both providers and users. No such complete service offering currently exists. This paper is therefore aimed to benefit industry and academia …

A Light-Weight Solution For Blackhole Attacks In Wireless Sensor Networks, Bi̇lal Erman Bi̇lgi̇n, Selçuk Baktir

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Wireless sensors, which are smaller and cheaper, have started being used in many different applications. Military applications, health care and industrial monitoring, environmental applications, smart grids, and vehicular ad-hoc networks are some of the best known applications of wireless sensors. In some applications, especially military, environmental, and health care applications, it is required that the communication between sensor nodes be encrypted to achieve privacy and confidentiality. In this work, some modifications have been made to the ad-hoc on-demand distance vector routing protocol, mostly preferred in wireless sensor networks, to make data communications more reliable. The proposed routing protocol is shown …

Inception: Virtual Space In Memory Space In Real Space, Peter Casey, Rebecca Lindsay-Decusati, Ibrahim Baggili, Frank Breitinger

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Virtual Reality (VR) has become a reality. With the technology's increased use cases, comes its misuse. Malware affecting the Virtual Environment (VE) may prevent an investigator from ascertaining virtual information from a physical scene, or from traditional “dead” analysis. Following the trend of antiforensics, evidence of an attack may only be found in memory, along with many other volatile data points. Our work provides the primary account for the memory forensics of Immersive VR systems, and in specific the HTC Vive. Our approach is capable of reconstituting artifacts from memory that are relevant to the VE, and is also capable …

Understanding The Ntru Cryptosystem, Benjamin Clark

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this paper, we will examine the NTRU Public Key Cryptosystem. The NTRU cryptosystem was created by Joseph Silverman, Jeffery Hoffstein, and Jill Pipher in 1996. This system uses truncated polynomial rings to encrypt and decrypt data. It was recently released into the public domain in 2013. This paper will describe how this cryptosystem works and give a basic understanding on how to encrypt and decrypt using this system.

The Security Layer, Mark Thomas O'Neill

Theses and Dissertations

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a vital component to the security ecosystem and the most popular security protocol used on the Internet today. Despite the strengths of the protocol, numerous vulnerabilities result from its improper use in practice. Some of these vulnerabilities arise from weaknesses in authentication, from the rigidity of the trusted authority system to the complexities of client certificates. Others result from the misuse of TLS by developers, who misuse complicated TLS libraries, improperly validate server certificates, employ outdated cipher suites, or deploy other features insecurely. To make matters worse, system administrators and users are powerless to fix …

A New Network Model For Cyber Threat Intelligence Sharing Using Blockchain Technology, Daire Homan, Ian Shiel, Christina Thorpe

Conference Papers

The aim of this research is to propose a new blockchain network model that facilitates the secure dissemination of Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) data. The primary motivations for this study are based around the recent changes to information security legislation in the European Union and the challenges that Computer Security and Incident Response Teams (CSIRT) face when trying to share actionable and highly sensitive data within systems where participants do not always share the same interests or motivations. We discuss the common problems within the domain of CTI sharing and we propose a new model, that leverages the security properties …

Analyzing Small Businesses' Adoption Of Big Data Security Analytics, Henry Mathias

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the increased cost of data breaches due to advanced, persistent threats from malicious sources, the adoption of big data security analytics among U.S. small businesses has been slow. Anchored in a diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine ways to increase the adoption of big data security analytics among small businesses in the United States by examining the relationship between small business leaders' perceptions of big data security analytics and their adoption. The research questions were developed to determine how to increase the adoption of big data security analytics, which can be measured …

Security And Accuracy Of Fingerprint-Based Biometrics: A Review, Wencheng Yang, Song Wang, Jiankun Hu, Guanglou Zhang, Craig Valli

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Biometric systems are increasingly replacing traditional password- and token-based authentication systems. Security and recognition accuracy are the two most important aspects to consider in designing a biometric system. In this paper, a comprehensive review is presented to shed light on the latest developments in the study of fingerprint-based biometrics covering these two aspects with a view to improving system security and recognition accuracy. Based on a thorough analysis and discussion, limitations of existing research work are outlined and suggestions for future work are provided. It is shown in the paper that researchers continue to face challenges in tackling the two …

Using Case Studies To Teach Cybersecurity Courses, Yu Cai

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

This paper introduces a holistic and case-analysis teaching model by integrating case studies into cybersecurity courses. The proposed model starts by analyzing real-world cyber breaches. Students look into the details of these attacks and learn how these attacks took place from the beginning to the end. During the process of case analysis, a list of security topics reflecting different aspects of these breaches is introduced. Through guided in-class discussion and hands-on lab assignments, student learning in lecture will be reinforced. Overall, the entire cybersecurity course is driven by case studies. The proposed model is great for teaching cybersecurity. First, the …

User Attitudes About Duo Two-Factor Authentication At Byu, Jonathan Dutson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Simple password-based authentication provides insufficient protection against increasingly common incidents of online identity theft and data loss. Although two-factor authentication (2FA) provides users with increased protection against attackers, users have mixed feelings about the usability of 2FA. We surveyed the students, faculty, and staff of Brigham Young University (BYU) to measure user sentiment about DUO Security, the 2FA system adopted by BYU in 2017. We find that most users consider DUO to be annoying, and about half of those surveyed expressed a preference for authentication without using a second-factor. About half of all participants reported at least one instance of …

Usable Security And Privacy For Secure Messaging Applications, Elham Vaziripour

Theses and Dissertations

The threat of government and corporate surveillance around the world, as well as the publicity surrounding major cybersecurity attacks, have increased interest in secure and private end-to-end communications. In response to this demand, numerous secure messaging applications have been developed in recent years. These applications have been welcomed and publically used not just by political activists and journalists but by everyday users as well. Most of these popular secure messaging applications are usable because they hide many of the details of how encryption is provided. The strength of the security properties of these applications relies on the authentication ceremony, wherein …

Secure Smart Health With Privacy-Aware Aggregate Authentication And Access Control In Internet Of Things, Yinghui Zhang, Robert H. Deng, Gang Han, Dong Zheng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the rapid technological advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless communication and cloud computing, smart health is expected to enable comprehensive and qualified healthcare services. It is important to ensure security and efficiency in smart health. However, existing smart health systems still have challenging issues, such as aggregate authentication, fine-grained access control and privacy protection. In this paper, we address these issues by introducing SSH, a Secure Smart Health system with privacy-aware aggregate authentication and access control in IoT. In SSH, privacy-aware aggregate authentication is enabled by an anonymous certificateless aggregate signature scheme, in which users' identity information …

Healthcare Monitoring System Security Platform Using Software Defined Networking Paradigm, Mohamad Issam Khayat

Information Security Theses

This thesis studies the security and privacy concerns of Healthcare Monitoring System (HMS) and proposes a state-of-the-art Security Platform for HMS using the newly emerging Software Defined Network (SDN) paradigm. In this thesis, we investigate the existing HMS architecture and the relevant solutions proposed for both security and privacy concerns in the literature today. Moreover, we develop a new HMS Security Integration Framework, in the form of a security platform for securing HMS. Finally, we perform a comparison among existing architectures and our proposed framework to highlight the added value of our proposed architecture. Our proposed integration framework eliminates the …

Pestel Analysis Of Hacktivism Campaign Motivations, Mikko Samuli Niemelae

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environment and legal (PESTEL) analysis is a framework or tool used to analyse and monitor the macro-environmental factors that have an impact on an organisation. The results identify threats and weaknesses which are used in a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. In this paper the PESTEL framework was utilized to categorize hacktivism motivations for attack campaigns against certain companies, governments or industries. Our study is based on empirical evidence: of thirty-three hacktivism attack campaigns in manifesto level. Then, the targets of these campaigns were analysed and studied accordingly. As a result, we claim …

Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing: Case Study On Web Application Security, Gazmend Krasniqi, Veton Bejtullahu

UBT International Conference

Complexity of information systems are increasing day by day. The security of information systems that are connected to public networks can be compromised by unauthorized, and usually anonymous, attempts to access them. By using public networks businesses and other institutions are exposed to numerous risks. This leads to more and more vulnerabilities in Information Systems. This situation calls for test methods that are devised from the attacker’s perspective to ensure that test conditions are as realistic as possible. In this paper we will describe complete stages of Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing on some systems in UBT and proactive action …

Malware Analysis On Android Using Supervised Machine Learning Techniques, Md Shohel Rana, Andrew H. Sung

Faculty Publications

In recent years, a widespread research is conducted with the growth of malware resulted in the domain of malware analysis and detection in Android devices. Android, a mobile-based operating system currently having more than one billion active users with a high market impact that have inspired the expansion of malware by cyber criminals. Android implements a different architecture and security controls to solve the problems caused by malware, such as unique user ID (UID) for each application, system permissions, and its distribution platform Google Play. There are numerous ways to violate that fortification, and how the complexity of creating a …

Database Security And Auditing (Ksu), Lei Li, Rebecca H. Rutherfoord, Svetana Peltsverger, Richard Halstead-Nussloch, Jack Zheng, Zhigang Li

Computer Science and Information Technology Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Database Security and Auditing was created under a Round Eleven ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Information Security Concepts And Administration (Ksu), Meng Han, Lei Li, Zhigang Li, Svetana Peltsverger, Ming Yang, Guangzhi Zheng

Computer Science and Information Technology Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Information Security Concepts and Administration was created under a Round Ten ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Saw: Wristband-Based Authentication For Desktop Computers, Shrirang Mare, Reza Rawassizadeh, Ronald Peterson, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Token-based proximity authentication methods that authenticate users based on physical proximity are effortless, but lack explicit user intentionality, which may result in accidental logins. For example, a user may get logged in when she is near a computer or just passing by, even if she does not intend to use that computer. Lack of user intentionality in proximity-based methods makes them less suitable for multi-user shared computer environments, despite their desired usability benefits over passwords. \par We present an authentication method for desktops called Seamless Authentication using Wristbands (SAW), which addresses the lack of intentionality limitation of proximity-based methods. SAW …

Forensic Analysis Of Immersive Virtual Reality Social Applications: A Primary Account, Ananya Yarramreddy, Peter Gromkowski, Ibrahim Baggili

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Our work presents the primary account for exploring the forensics of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) systems and their social applications. The Social VR applications studied in this work include Bigscreen, Altspace VR, Rec Room and Facebook Spaces. We explored the two most widely adopted consumer VR systems: the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. Our tests examined the efficacy of reconstructing evidence from network traffic as well as the systems themselves. The results showed that a significant amount of forensically relevant data such as user names, user profile pictures, events, and system details may be recovered. We anticipate that this …

Improving Performance And Security In Anonymity Systems, Mohsen Imani

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Tor is an anonymity network that provides online privacy for the Internet users. Tor hides the user's traffic among the others' traffic. The more users Tor attracts, the stronger anonymity it provides. Unfortunately, users of the Tor anonymity system suffer from less-than-ideal performance, in part because circuit building and selection processes are not tuned for speed. Moreover, there are some attacks like guard fingerprinting and website fingerprinting attacks that try to profile or de-anonymize the Tor users. In this dissertation, we propose methods to address both security and performance issues in Tor. We first examine the process of selecting among …