Computer Sciences Commons^™

Locating Potential Aspect Interference Using Clustering Analysis, Brian Todd Bennett

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Software design continues to evolve from the structured programming paradigm of the 1970s and 1980s and the object-oriented programming (OOP) paradigm of the 1980s and 1990s. The functional decomposition design methodology used in these paradigms reduced the prominence of non-functional requirements, which resulted in scattered and tangled code to address non-functional elements. Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) allowed the removal of crosscutting concerns scattered throughout class code into single modules known as aspects. Aspectization resulted in increased modularity in class code, but introduced new types of problems that did not exist in OOP. One such problem was aspect interference, in which aspects …

Immunology Inspired Detection Of Data Theft From Autonomous Network Activity, Theodore O. Cochran

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The threat of data theft posed by self-propagating, remotely controlled bot malware is increasing. Cyber criminals are motivated to steal sensitive data, such as user names, passwords, account numbers, and credit card numbers, because these items can be parlayed into cash. For anonymity and economy of scale, bot networks have become the cyber criminal’s weapon of choice. In 2010 a single botnet included over one million compromised host computers, and one of the largest botnets in 2011 was specifically designed to harvest financial data from its victims. Unfortunately, current intrusion detection methods are unable to effectively detect data extraction techniques …

Image Enhancement Of Cancerous Tissue In Mammography Images, Richard Thomas Richardson

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

This research presents a framework for enhancing and analyzing time-sequenced mammographic images for detection of cancerous tissue, specifically designed to assist radiologists and physicians with the detection of breast cancer. By using computer aided diagnosis (CAD) systems as a tool to help in the detection of breast cancer in computed tomography (CT) mammography images, previous CT mammography images will enhance the interpretation of the next series of images. The first stage of this dissertation applies image subtraction to images from the same patient over time. Image types are defined as temporal subtraction, dual-energy subtraction, and Digital Database for Screening Mammography …

Governance And Organizational Sponsorship As Success Factors In Free/Libre And Open Source Software Development: An Empirical Investigation Using Structural Equation Modeling, Aleksandr Blekh

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in information technologies and subsequent explosive growth of computer software use in practically all aspects of everyday life provide tremendous opportunities and benefits for improving people's lives. However, significant proportion of software projects represents cancelled, abandoned or otherwise failed projects. This situation exists not only in commercial software products or government information systems, but also in an increasingly popular and important domain of free/libre and open source software (FLOSS).

The problem of failures in software development projects requires identification and understanding of the factors of success and their interrelationships. Practice and previous research suggest that governance of software …

Affect And Online Privacy Concerns, David Charles Castano

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of affect on privacy concerns and privacy behaviors. A considerable amount of research in the information systems field argues that privacy concerns, usually conceptualized as an evaluation of privacy risks, influence privacy behaviors. However, recent theoretical work shows that affect, a pre-cognitive evaluation, has a significant effect on preferences and choices in risky situations. Affect is contrasted with cognitive issues in privacy decision making and the role of affective versus cognitive-consequentialist factors is reviewed in privacy context.

A causal model was developed to address how affect influences privacy concerns and …

News Feeds Clustering Research Study, Haytham Abuel-Futuh

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

With over 0.25 billion web pages hosted in the World Wide Web, it is virtually impossible to navigate through the Internet. Many applications try to help users achieve this task. For example, search engines build indexes to make the entire World Wide Web searchable, and news curators allow users to browse topics of interest on different structured sites. One problem that arises for these applications and others with similar goals is identifying documents with similar contents. This helps the applications show users documents with unique contents as well as group various similar documents under similar topics. There has been a …

Usable Security Using Goms: A Study To Evaluate And Compare The Usability Of User Accounts On E-Government Websites, Amran Din

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The term e-Government refers to providing citizens a series of services that can be conveniently conducted over the Internet. However, the potential to redefine and transform e-Government increasingly relies on citizens successfully establishing and managing a user account profile online. E-Government has not adequately addressed user-centric designs for social inclusion of all citizens on e-Government websites. There is a lack of research on the usability of user account management, and a clear lack of innovation in incorporating user-friendly authentication interfaces to accommodate a diverse user population given the wealth of existing research in web authentication techniques within Identity Management. The …

Formative Research On An Instructional Design Theory For Virtual Patients In Clinical Education: A Pressure Ulcer Prevention Clinical Reasoning Case, Manon Maitland Schladen

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Despite advances in health care over the past decades, medical errors and omissions remain significant threats to patient safety and health. A large number of these mistakes are made by trainees, persons who are just beginning to build the case-based experiences that will transform them from novices to expert practitioners. Clinicians use both intuitive and deductive problem-solving skills in caring for patients and they acquire expertise in applying these skills through interaction with many and varied cases.

The contemporary heath care environment, with decreased lengths of stay for patients and reduced duty hours for trainees, makes getting optimal patient exposure …

An Enhanced Mapreduce Workload Allocation Tool For Spot Market Resources, John Stephen Hudzina

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

When a cloud user allocates a cluster to execute a map-reduce workload, the user must determine the number and type of virtual machine instances to minimize the workload's financial cost. The cloud user may rent on-demand instances at a fixed price or spot instances at a variable price to execute the workload. Although the cloud user may bid on spot virtual machine instances at a reduced rate, the spot market auction may delay the workload's start or terminate the spot instances before the workload completes. The cloud user requires a forecast for the workload's financial cost and completion time to …

The Impact Of Image Synonyms In Graphical-Based Authentication Systems, Jonathan William Sparks

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Traditional text-based passwords used for authentication in information systems have several known issues in the areas of usability and security. Research has shown that when users generate passwords for systems, they tend to create passwords that are subject to compromise more so than those created randomly by the computer. Research has also shown that users have difficulty remembering highly secure, randomly created, text-based passwords.

Graphical-based passwords have been shown to be highly memorable for users when applied to system authentication. However, graphical-based authentication systems require additional cognitive load to recognize and enter a password compared to traditional text-based authentication that …

An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Inquiry Into Facebook Newcomer Motivations For Participatory Activities, Kristin Raub

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study provided insight into the phenomenon of newcomers in social networking, in particular, to understand what role specific Facebook features play in motivating content sharing and contribution among newcomers. Research indicated that the first several months or years of social networking site (SNS) membership are the most crucial in terms of indicating long-term participation and commitment to the SNS. Long-term participation is specifically manifested through interactions with peers who are members of the same website and through interactivity such as content sharing and contribution. A number of quantitative studies have focused on motivations for user contribution in social …

A Makeover For The Captured Lecture: Applying Multimedia Learning Principles To Lecture Video, Richard Alan Lamb

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Making video recordings of large classroom lectures and putting them online is increasingly common in distance and blended learning courses. However, the best way to use lecture video is not well understood. Using long streams of one-way communication is not consistent with best practices in online learning. During lectures, students assume a largely passive role. They think faster than instructors speak, so boredom and daydreaming are common. Yet, when complex or novel ideas are presented, students may have inadequate time to encode, organize, and integrate the input with prior experience. Especially for students with low prior knowledge of the subject …

Examining Social Network Site Usage By Older Adults: A Phenomenological Approach, Betsy Baugess

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The Internet has infiltrated our daily lives in many ways. Social networking on the Internet is a great example of how the Internet has expanded interpersonal communication. Many individuals have made social networking sites, like FaceBook and Twitter, an essential part of their lives and use these platforms to communicate daily. Until recently, young people have been the primary participants in this fast-growing phenomenon, and older adults' participation in the Internet, specifically social networking sites, has lagged far behind. However, in recent years, there has been a noteworthy increase in the number of older adult participants. The increase in older …

A Heuristic Evolutionary Method For The Complementary Cell Suppression Problem, Hira B. Herrington

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Cell suppression is a common method for disclosure avoidance used to protect sensitive information in two-dimensional tables where row and column totals are published along with non-sensitive data. In tables with only positive cell values, cell suppression has been demonstrated to be non-deterministic NP-hard. Therefore, finding more efficient methods for producing low-cost solutions is an area of active research.

Genetic algorithms (GA) have shown to be effective in finding good solutions to the cell suppression problem. However, these methods have the shortcoming that they tend to produce a large proportion of infeasible solutions. The primary goal of this research was …

Role-Based Access Control Administration Of Security Policies And Policy Conflict Resolution In Distributed Systems, Stephen Sakawa Kibwage

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Security models using access control policies have over the years improved from Role-based access control (RBAC) to newer models which have added some features like support for distributed systems and solving problems in older security policy models such as identifying policy conflicts. Access control policies based on hierarchical roles provide more flexibility in controlling system resources for users. The policies allow for granularity when extended to have both allow and deny permissions as well as weighted priority attribute for the rules in the policies. Such flexibility allows administrators to succinctly specify access for their system resources but also prone to …

Identifying Unethical Personally Identifiable Information (Pii) Privacy Violations Committed By Is/It Practitioners: A Comparison To Computing Moral Exemplars, Mark H. Rosenbaum

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

In some instances, Information Systems and Information Technology (IS/IT) practitioners have been noted to commit privacy violations to Personally Identifiable Information (PII). However, computing exemplars, due to their notable dispositional Hallmark Features of morality, understandings of ethical abstractions, and other components that comprise their virtuous makeups, are theoretically less likely to commit privacy violations to PII. This research attempted to verify if those IS/IT practitioners who identify with some of the Hallmark Features of moral and computing exemplar were less willing to commit privacy violations to PII than were those IS/IT practitioners that did not identify themselves with some of …

The Effect Of Computerized Cognitive Training On The Working Memory And Mathematics Achievement Of Low Achievers, Shalette Ashman-East

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Computerized cognitive training is recognized as an appropriate tool in enhancing working memory in individuals with and without physical limitations. Previous researchers have examined the application of computerized cognitive training in stroke patients, children suffering from ADHD, and older adults. Presently, there is a lack of controlled studies regarding computerized cognitive training in low-achieving primary school students. The goal of this study was to examine the interactions among working memory, computerized cognitive training and academic achievement. Specifically, the study sought to determine whether low-achieving primary school students would significantly improve their mathematics achievement (as measured by the Grade Four Literacy …

Dynamic Game-Theoretic Models To Determine The Value Of Intrusion Detection Systems In The Face Of Uncertainty, David Paul Moured

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Firms lose millions of dollars every year to cyber-attacks and the risk to these companies is growing exponentially. The threat to monetary and intellectual property has made Information Technology (IT) security management a critical challenge to firms. Security devices, including Intrusion Detections Systems (IDS), are commonly used to help protect these firms from malicious users by identifying the presence of malicious network traffic. However, the actual value of these devices remains uncertain among the IT security community because of the costs associated with the implementation of different monitoring strategies that determine when to inspect potentially malicious traffic and the costs …

Design And Development Of A Framework For Traffic Management In A Global Manufacturing Enterprise: The American Standard Case Study, Nathaniel J. Melby

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Managed Bandwidth Services (MBSs) use Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees to effectively control traffic flows and reduce network delay. In the past, the provision of MBS in a global manufacturing enterprise was a difficult task for network administrators. However, advances in recently emerging technologies, such as Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS), Integrated Services (IntServ), Differentiated Services (DiffServ), and Constraint-based Routing (CBR), hold promise to make MBS implementation more manageable. QoS technologies, such as DiffServ and IntServ, offer the benefits of better application performance and delivery of reliable network service. As a consequence of network traffic loads, …

Gathering The Requirements For A Mobile Device Tutorial For Older Adults, Michele A. Washington

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The United States, as well as other nations, is experiencing an increase in the older adult population. As a result of older adults living longer, mobile devices can be a major component in improving older adults' quality of life. However, older adults may encounter difficulties when using the mobile devices. This research examined the requirements in addressing the needs of older adults when using a mobile device. Specifically, the research focused on gathering the task and feature requirements for a mobile device tutorial for older adults. The approach was accomplished by the development of a mobile device questionnaire, which was …

Digital Forensics Tool Interface Visualization, Roberto A. Altiero

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Recent trends show digital devices utilized with increasing frequency in most crimes committed. Investigating crime involving these devices is labor-intensive for the practitioner applying digital forensics tools that present possible evidence with results displayed in tabular lists for manual review. This research investigates how enhanced digital forensics tool interface visualization techniques can be shown to improve the investigator's cognitive capacities to discover criminal evidence more efficiently. This paper presents visualization graphs and contrasts their properties with the outputs of The Sleuth Kit (TSK) digital forensic program. Exhibited is the textual-based interface proving the effectiveness of enhanced data presentation. Further demonstrated …

Security Frameworks For Machine-To-Machine Devices And Networks, Michael Demblewski

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Attacks against mobile systems have escalated over the past decade. There have been increases of fraud, platform attacks, and malware. The Internet of Things (IoT) offers a new attack vector for Cybercriminals. M2M contributes to the growing number of devices that use wireless systems for Internet connection. As new applications and platforms are created, old vulnerabilities are transferred to next-generation systems. There is a research gap that exists between the current approaches for security framework development and the understanding of how these new technologies are different and how they are similar. This gap exists because system designers, security architects, and …

Police Opinions Of Digital Evidence Response Handling In The State Of Georgia: An Examination From The Viewpoint Of Local Agencies’ Patrol Officers, Tanya Macneil

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

This research examined opinions of local law enforcement agencies’ patrol officers in the State of Georgia regarding preparedness and expectations for handling of digital evidence. The increased criminal use of technology requires that patrol officers be prepared to handle digital evidence in many different situations. The researcher’s goal was to gain insight into how patrol officers view their preparedness to handle digital evidence as well as their opinions on management expectations regarding patrol officers’ abilities to handle digital evidence. The research focused on identifying whether a gap existed between patrol officers’ opinions of digital evidence and the patrol officers’ views …

Characterization Of Prose By Rhetorical Structure For Machine Learning Classification, James Java

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Measures of classical rhetorical structure in text can improve accuracy in certain types of stylistic classification tasks such as authorship attribution. This research augments the relatively scarce work in the automated identification of rhetorical figures and uses the resulting statistics to characterize an author's rhetorical style. These characterizations of style can then become part of the feature set of various classification models.

Our Rhetorica software identifies 14 classical rhetorical figures in free English text, with generally good precision and recall, and provides summary measures to use in descriptive or classification tasks. Classification models trained on Rhetorica's rhetorical measures paired with …

Virtue Ethics: Examining Influences On The Ethical Commitment Of Information System Workers In Trusted Positions, John Max Gray

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Despite an abundance of research on the problem of insider threats, only limited success has been achieved in preventing trusted insiders from committing security violations. Virtue ethics may be an approach that can be utilized to address this issue. Human factors such as moral considerations impact Information System (IS) design, use, and security; consequently they affect the security posture and culture of an organization. Virtue ethics based concepts have the potential to influence and align the moral values and behavior of information systems workers with those of an organization in order to provide increased protection of IS assets. An individual’s …

Identifying Key Determinants Of Service Provider Effectiveness And The Impact It Has On Outsourced Security Success, James B. Lewis

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to identify key determinants of service provider effectiveness and how it impacts outsourced security success. As environments have become more robust and dynamic, many organizations have made the decision to leverage external security expertise and have outsourced many of their information technology security functions to Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs).

Information Systems Outsourcing, at its core, is when a customer chooses to outsource certain information technology functions or services to a service provider and engages in a legally binding agreement. While legal contracts govern many aspects of an outsourcing arrangement, it cannot serve as …

Motivations Of Students In The Open-Ended Use Of Mobile Computing In Lecture-Based Classrooms, Jeffrey Kimball

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

While research supports the integration of mobile computing into instruction, there is disagreement concerning the unstructured use of mobile devices in lecture-based college classrooms. Research supports the argument that unstructured use creates distraction and decreased academic performance. Research also suggests that unstructured use actually supports lecture instruction through personalized learning situations. In either case, the motivations of students to use mobile device is often unclear. This study sought to investigate the motivations for students’ acceptance of mobile devices. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was utilized to identify the factors leading to college students’ adoption of …

Use Of Entropy For Feature Selection With Intrusion Detection System Parameters, Frank Acker

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The metric of entropy provides a measure about the randomness of data and a measure of information gained by comparing different attributes. Intrusion detection systems can collect very large amounts of data, which are not necessarily manageable by manual means. Collected intrusion detection data often contains redundant, duplicate, and irrelevant entries, which makes analysis computationally intensive likely leading to unreliable results. Reducing the data to what is relevant and pertinent to the analysis requires the use of data mining techniques and statistics. Identifying patterns in the data is part of analysis for intrusion detections in which the patterns are categorized …

Incremental Sparse-Pca Feature Extraction For Data Streams, Jean-Pierre Nziga

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Intruders attempt to penetrate commercial systems daily and cause considerable financial losses for individuals and organizations. Intrusion detection systems monitor network events to detect computer security threats. An extensive amount of network data is devoted to detecting malicious activities.

Storing, processing, and analyzing the massive volume of data is costly and indicate the need to find efficient methods to perform network data reduction that does not require the data to be first captured and stored. A better approach allows the extraction of useful variables from data streams in real time and in a single pass. The removal of irrelevant attributes …

Examining The Security Awareness, Information Privacy, And The Security Behaviors Of Home Computer Users, Keith Edwards

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Attacks on computer systems continue to be a problem. The majority of the attacks target home computer users. To help mitigate the attacks some companies provide security awareness training to their employees. However, not all people work for a company that provides security awareness training and typically, home computer users do not have the incentive to take security awareness training on their own. Research in security awareness and security behavior has produced conflicting results. Therefore, it is not clear, how security aware home computer users are or to what extent security awareness affects the security behavior of home computer users. …