Computer Sciences Commons^™

A Runtime Verification And Validation Framework For Self-Adaptive Software, David B. Sayre

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The concepts that make self-adaptive software attractive also make it more difficult for users to gain confidence that these systems will consistently meet their goals under uncertain context. To improve user confidence in self-adaptive behavior, machine-readable conceptual models have been developed to instrument the adaption behavior of the target software system and primary feedback loop. By comparing these machine-readable models to the self-adaptive system, runtime verification and validation may be introduced as another method to increase confidence in self-adaptive systems; however, the existing conceptual models do not provide the semantics needed to institute this runtime verification or validation. This research …

Pulsar Search Using Supervised Machine Learning, John M. Ford

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars which emit a strong beam of energy through mechanisms that are not entirely clear to physicists. These very dense stars are used by astrophysicists to study many basic physical phenomena, such as the behavior of plasmas in extremely dense environments, behavior of pulsar-black hole pairs, and tests of general relativity. Many of these tasks require information to answer the scientific questions posed by physicists. In order to provide more pulsars to study, there are several large-scale pulsar surveys underway, which are generating a huge backlog of unprocessed data. Searching for pulsars is a very …

Enhancing The Accuracy Of Synthetic File System Benchmarks, Salam Farhat

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

File system benchmarking plays an essential part in assessing the file system’s performance. It is especially difficult to measure and study the file system’s performance as it deals with several layers of hardware and software. Furthermore, different systems have different workload characteristics so while a file system may be optimized based on one given workload it might not perform optimally based on other types of workloads. Thus, it is imperative that the file system under study be examined with a workload equivalent to its production workload to ensure that it is optimized according to its usage. The most widely used …

An Exploratory Study Of The Approach To Bring Your Own Device (Byod) In Assuring Information Security, Coleen D. Santee

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The availability of smart device capabilities, easy to use apps, and collaborative capabilities has increased the expectations for the technology experience of employees. In addition, enterprises are adopting SaaS cloud-based systems that employees can access anytime, anywhere using their personal, mobile device. BYOD could drive an IT evolution for powerful device capabilities and easy to use apps, but only if the information security concerns can be addressed. This research proposed to determine the acceptance rate of BYOD in organizations, the decision making approach, and significant factors that led to the successful adoption of BYOD using the expertise of experienced internal …

Reducing The Download Time In Stochastic P2p Content Delivery Networks By Improving Peer Selection, Nicholas Hays

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Peer-to-peer (P2P) applications have become a popular method for obtaining digital content. Recent research has shown that the amount of time spent downloading from a poor performing peer effects the total download duration. Current peer selection strategies attempt to limit the amount of time spent downloading from a poor performing peer, but they do not use both advanced knowledge and service capacity after the connection has been made to aid in peer selection. Advanced knowledge has traditionally been obtained from methods that add additional overhead to the P2P network, such as polling peers for service capacity information, using round trip …

A Novel Approach To Determining Real-Time Risk Probabilities In Critical Infrastructure Industrial Control Systems, Michael Elrod

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Critical Infrastructure Industrial Control Systems are substantially different from their more common and ubiquitous information technology system counterparts. Industrial control systems, such as distributed control systems and supervisory control and data acquisition systems that are used for controlling the power grid, were not originally designed with security in mind. Geographically dispersed distribution, an unfortunate reliance on legacy systems and stringent availability requirements raise significant cybersecurity concerns regarding electric reliability while constricting the feasibility of many security controls. Recent North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection standards heavily emphasize cybersecurity concerns and specifically require entities to categorize and identify their …

Improved Detection For Advanced Polymorphic Malware, James B. Fraley

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Malicious Software (malware) attacks across the internet are increasing at an alarming rate. Cyber-attacks have become increasingly more sophisticated and targeted. These targeted attacks are aimed at compromising networks, stealing personal financial information and removing sensitive data or disrupting operations. Current malware detection approaches work well for previously known signatures. However, malware developers utilize techniques to mutate and change software properties (signatures) to avoid and evade detection. Polymorphic malware is practically undetectable with signature-based defensive technologies. Today’s effective detection rate for polymorphic malware detection ranges from 68.75% to 81.25%. New techniques are needed to improve malware detection rates. Improved detection …

Data Masking, Encryption, And Their Effect On Classification Performance: Trade-Offs Between Data Security And Utility, Juan C. Asenjo

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

As data mining increasingly shapes organizational decision-making, the quality of its results must be questioned to ensure trust in the technology. Inaccuracies can mislead decision-makers and cause costly mistakes. With more data collected for analytical purposes, privacy is also a major concern. Data security policies and regulations are increasingly put in place to manage risks, but these policies and regulations often employ technologies that substitute and/or suppress sensitive details contained in the data sets being mined. Data masking and substitution and/or data encryption and suppression of sensitive attributes from data sets can limit access to important details. It is believed …

Defining Usability Heuristics For Adoption And Efficiency Of An Electronic Workflow Document Management System, Steven Fuentes

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Usability heuristics have been established for different uses and applications as general guidelines for user interfaces. These can affect the implementation of industry solutions and play a significant role regarding cost reduction and process efficiency. The area of electronic workflow document management (EWDM) solutions, also known as workflow, lacks a formal definition of usability heuristics. With the advent of new technologies such as mobile devices, defining a set of usability heuristics contributes to the adoption and efficiency of an EWDM system. Workflow usability has been evaluated for various industries. Most significantly research has been done for electronic healthcare records (EHR). …

A Study Of How Young Adults Leverage Multiple Profile Management Functionality In Managing Their Online Reputation On Social Networking Sites, T. John Mccune

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

With privacy settings on social networking sites (SNS) perceived as complex and difficult to use and maintain, young adults can be left vulnerable to others accessing and using their personal information. Consequences of not regulating the boundaries their information on SNS include the ability for current and future employers to make career-impacting decisions based upon their online reputation that may include disqualifying them as job candidates. On SNS, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, young adults must decide on how to manage their online reputation by regulating boundaries to their own personal and professional information and identities. One known practice …

Individualized Instruction As A Faculty Training Strategy For Technology Integration, Jennifer Merritt

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

It is inevitable that campus-based higher education will adopt some form of a hybrid learning approach. For schools and their faculty members, this means the acknowledgment and acceptance of these changes are required. Campus-based higher education faculty members wish to change how they teach courses due to societal demands to better suit the next generation of students. Initially, schools began offering new technology to faculty that wished to use the technology; however, over the years, due to the demands of competition with other schools and next generation, tech-savvy students entering academia, schools are starting to require the use of technology …

A Heuristic Approach To Creating Technological Fair Use Guidelines In Higher Education, Jerry L. Roper

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Higher education has experienced challenges defining and implementing copyright compliance. Confusion among faculty and staff appears to be common regarding copyright and fair use. The original copyright doctrine was drafted over 200 years ago, which predates practically all technological advances that have and will continue to occur. Change is slow and onerous with most legislation; there is not much possibility the small amendments made to the law will be able to keep pace with the continual technological evolution. Further, judges are citing precedents in court rulings of copyright disputes that were made using the best interpretation of the law, even …

A Study Of Human-Machine Interface (Hmi) Learnability For Unmanned Aircraft Systems Command And Control, Tom Haritos

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The operation of sophisticated unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) involves complex interactions between human and machine. Unlike other areas of aviation where technological advancement has flourished to accommodate the modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS), the scientific paradigm of UAS and UAS user interface design has received little research attention and minimal effort has been made to aggregate accurate data to assess the effectiveness of current UAS human-machine interface (HMI) representations for command and control. UAS HMI usability is a primary human factors concern as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) moves forward with the full-scale integration of UAS in the …

Enhanced Prediction Of Network Attacks Using Incomplete Data, Jacob D. Arthur

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

For years, intrusion detection has been considered a key component of many organizations’ network defense capabilities. Although a number of approaches to intrusion detection have been tried, few have been capable of providing security personnel responsible for the protection of a network with sufficient information to make adjustments and respond to attacks in real-time. Because intrusion detection systems rarely have complete information, false negatives and false positives are extremely common, and thus valuable resources are wasted responding to irrelevant events. In order to provide better actionable information for security personnel, a mechanism for quantifying the confidence level in predictions is …

Strategies For Combining Tree-Based Ensemble Models, Yi Zhang

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Ensemble models have proved effective in a variety of classification tasks. These models combine the predictions of several base models to achieve higher out-of-sample classification accuracy than the base models. Base models are typically trained using different subsets of training examples and input features. Ensemble classifiers are particularly effective when their constituent base models are diverse in terms of their prediction accuracy in different regions of the feature space. This dissertation investigated methods for combining ensemble models, treating them as base models. The goal is to develop a strategy for combining ensemble classifiers that results in higher classification accuracy than …

The Efficacy Of Perceived Big Data Security, Trust, Perceived Leadership Competency, Information Sensitivity, Privacy Concern And Job Reward On Disclosing Personal Security Information Online, Iqbal Amiri

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Individuals’ reluctance to provide sensitive personal information online could affect the US Governments’ ability to hire and retain qualified personnel for sensitive cleared positions. The aim of this research study was to show how perceived big data security, trust, perceived leadership competency, information sensitivity, privacy concern and reward of a job play a significant role in limiting an individuals’ willingness of disclosing sensitive personal information online. While a significant volume of research has examined information disclosure in the health care field, there has not been any published studies on the willingness of online disclosure in order to attain a US …

Behavioral Intention And Use Behavior Of Social Networking Websites Among Senior Adults, Andrew M. Berry

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Use of social networking websites has rapidly increased over the last decade. Online social environments are quickly changing to meet the demands of younger users however the needs of senior adults are often ignored on most websites today and underrepresented in many Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) studies. The study sought to close the gap in research by providing greater knowledge about the behavioral intention and use behavior of social networking websites among senior adults. Senior adults from several locations and organizations were asked to complete an online self-administered survey answering questions that tie directly into …

Contextualizing Secure Information System Design: A Socio-Technical Approach, Abdul Rahim Charif

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Secure Information Systems (SIS) design paradigms have evolved in generations to adapt to IS security needs. However, modern IS are still vulnerable and are far from secure. The development of an underlying IS cannot be reduced to “technological fixes” neither is the design of SIS. Technical security cannot ensure IS security. Generations of SIS design paradigms have evolved, all with their own sets of shortcomings. A SIS design paradigm must meet well-defined requirements, yet contemporary paradigms do not meet all these requirements. Current SIS design paradigms are not easily applicable to IS. They lack a comprehensive modeling support and ignore …

Towards A Conceptual Framework For Persistent Use: A Technical Plan To Achieve Semantic Interoperability Within Electronic Health Record Systems, Shellon Blackman-Lees

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Semantic interoperability within the health care sector requires that patient data be fully available and shared without ambiguity across participating health facilities. The need for the current research was based on federal stipulations that required health facilities provide complete and optimal care to patients by allowing full access to their health records. The ongoing discussions to achieve interoperability within the health care industry continue to emphasize the need for healthcare facilities to successfully adopt and implement Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. Reluctance by the healthcare industry to implement these EHRs for the purpose of achieving interoperability has led to the …

Integration Of Simulation Into Healthcare Education Through Applied Constructivism: A Randomized, Switching Replications Experiment, Samuel A. Yoders

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

This report describes the development, deployment, and analysis of an experimental instructional unit using applied constructivism instructional design (ID). The ID template was used to integrate a high-fidelity simulator into an undergraduate health care degree curriculum in a private, not-for-profit university. A switching-replications experimental design was used with random assignment of volunteer participants to initial treatment and control groups. Quantitative analysis of learning outcomes using standardized assessments was performed, including correlational analysis for knowledge transfer of simulator skills to clinical skills. Statistically significant positive effects were found for the educational outcomes of participants when measuring both the knowledge and application …

The Effect Of Code Obfuscation On Authorship Attribution Of Binary Computer Files, Steven Hendrikse

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

In many forensic investigations, questions linger regarding the identity of the authors of the software specimen. Research has identified methods for the attribution of binary files that have not been obfuscated, but a significant percentage of malicious software has been obfuscated in an effort to hide both the details of its origin and its true intent. Little research has been done around analyzing obfuscated code for attribution. In part, the reason for this gap in the research is that deobfuscation of an unknown program is a challenging task. Further, the additional transformation of the executable file introduced by the obfuscator …

An Empirical Assessment Of Energy Management Information System Success Using Structural Equation Modeling, Gwendolyn D. Stripling

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The Energy Industry utilizes Energy Management Information Systems (EMIS) smart meters to monitor utility consumers’ energy consumption, communicate energy consumption information to consumers, and to collect a plethora of energy consumption data about consumer usage. The EMIS energy consumption information is typically presented to utility consumers via a smart meter web portal. The hope is that EMIS web portal use will aid utility consumers in managing their energy consumption by helping them make effective decisions regarding their energy usage. However, little research exists that evaluates the effectiveness or success of an EMIS smart meter web portal from a utility consumer …

The Effect Of Domain And Technical Expertise On The Training Outcomes For Case Management Systems In High Domain Expertise Fields, Steven L. Epstein

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The successful implementation of an enterprise system requires training and end users in the new systems and procedures. There has been no research reporting a relationship between Domain Expertise (DE) and the successful implementation of an enterprise system. This study sought to begin filling this knowledge gap by exploring the relationship between DE, technical proficiency, training outcomes, and perceived training effectiveness for a new enterprise system, specifically a Case Management System (CMS) in a small and medium enterprise (SME). The research examines different subjects of technical expertise including skills, abilities, and knowledge to increase professional acceptance in the high domain …

Performance Envelopes Of Adaptive Ensemble Data Stream Classifiers, Stefan Joe-Yen

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation documents a study of the performance characteristics of algorithms designed to mitigate the effects of concept drift on online machine learning. Several supervised binary classifiers were evaluated on their performance when applied to an input data stream with a non-stationary class distribution. The selected classifiers included ensembles that combine the contributions of their member algorithms to improve overall performance. These ensembles adapt to changing class definitions, known as “concept drift,” often present in real-world situations, by adjusting the relative contributions of their members. Three stream classification algorithms and three adaptive ensemble algorithms were compared to determine the capabilities …

An Empirical Assessment Of Employee Cyberslacking In The Public Sector, Wilnelia Hernández

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing use of the Internet, new challenges are presented to employees in the workplace. Employees spend time during work hours on non-work related activities including visiting e-commerce Websites, managing personal email accounts, and engaging in e-banking. These types of actions in the workplace are known as cyberslacking. Cyberslacking affects the employees’ productivity, presents legal concerns, and undermines the security of the organization’s network. This research study addressed the problem of cyberslacking in the public sector, by assessing the ethical severity of cyberslacking activities, as well as how employees perceived that the frequency of such activities occurred by their …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Security Information Technology Enhancements And Computer Security Breaches And Incidents, Linda Betz

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Financial services institutions maintain large amounts of data that include both intellectual property and personally identifiable information for employees and customers. Due to the potential damage to individuals, government regulators hold institutions accountable for ensuring that personal data are protected and require reporting of data security breaches. No company wants a data breach, but finding a security incident or breach early in the attack cycle may decrease the damage or data loss a company experiences. In multiple high profile data breaches reported in major news stories over the past few years, there is a pattern of the adversary being inside …

The Design And Implementation Of Online Radiology Modules Using The Addie Process And Rapid Prototyping, Leslie Bofill

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Medical schools in the United States have begun the process of changing the teaching methodologies used in the classroom. The traditional, teacher-centered environment is shifting toward a more student-centered, active learning environment. Part of this shift is the integration of online learning to deliver a continuously expanding medical curriculum by moving content learning outside the classroom and creating active learning activities for the classroom. As more medical schools adopt online learning as a supplemental teaching tool, medical education faculty are taking on the role of instructional designers without having any theoretical knowledge on adult learning theory or online learning practices. …

An Empirical Investigation Of Privacy And Security Concerns On Doctors’ And Nurses’ Behavioral Intentions To Use Rfid In Hospitals, Thomas George Winston

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is a useful technology that has myriad applications in technology, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare settings. Not dependent upon line-of-sight, RFID can scan devices in their proximity and report the information to connected (wired or other wireless) information systems. Once touted as the panacea for home healthcare, RFID devices can add benefit to patients in remote settings. RFID devices have been used to optimize systems in areas such as manufacturing and healthcare to expose inefficiencies in a system or process. Unlike manufacturing, however, RFID in healthcare settings presents security and privacy concerns to the people being …

Algorithmic Foundations Of Heuristic Search Using Higher-Order Polygon Inequalities, Newton Henry Campbell Jr.

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The shortest path problem in graphs is both a classic combinatorial optimization problem and a practical problem that admits many applications. Techniques for preprocessing a graph are useful for reducing shortest path query times. This dissertation studies the foundations of a class of algorithms that use preprocessed landmark information and the triangle inequality to guide A* search in graphs. A new heuristic is presented for solving shortest path queries that enables the use of higher order polygon inequalities. We demonstrate this capability by leveraging distance information from two landmarks when visiting a vertex as opposed to the common single landmark …

A Usability And Learnability Case Study Of Glass Flight Deck Interfaces And Pilot Interactions Through Scenario-Based Training, Thomas James De Cino

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

In the aviation industry, digitally produced and presented flight, navigation, and aircraft information is commonly referred to as glass flight decks. Glass flight decks are driven by computer-based subsystems and have long been a part of military and commercial aviation sectors. Over the past 15 years, the General Aviation (GA) sector of the aviation industry has become a recent beneficiary of the rapid advancement of computer-based glass flight deck (GFD) systems.

While providing the GA pilot considerable enhancements in the quality of information about the status and operations of the aircraft, training pilots on the use of glass flight decks …