Information Security Commons^™

A Framework For Identifying Malware Threat Distribution On The Dark Web, Shelby Caldwell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

The Dark Web is an ever-growing phenomenon that has not been deeply explored. It is no secret that in recent years, malware has become a powerful threat to technology users. The Dark Web is known for supporting anonymity and secure connections for private interactions. Over the years, it has become a rich environment for displaying trends, details, and indicators of emerging malware threats. Through the application of data science and open-source intelligence techniques, trends in malware distribution can be studied. In this research, we create a framework for helping identify malware threat distribution patterns. We examine this type of Dark …

Risk Assessment Framework For Evaluation Of Cybersecurity Threats And Vulnerabilities In Medical Devices, Maureen S. Van Devender

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Medical devices are vulnerable to cybersecurity exploitation and, while they can provide improvements to clinical care, they can put healthcare organizations and their patients at risk of adverse impacts. Evidence has shown that the proliferation of devices on medical networks present cybersecurity challenges for healthcare organizations due to their lack of built-in cybersecurity controls and the inability for organizations to implement security controls on them. The negative impacts of cybersecurity exploitation in healthcare can include the loss of patient confidentiality, risk to patient safety, negative financial consequences for the organization, and loss of business reputation. Assessing the risk of vulnerabilities …

Fine-Grained Commit-Level Vulnerability Type Prediction By Cwe Tree Structure, Shengyi Pan, Lingfeng Bao, Xin Xia, David Lo, Shanping Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Identifying security patches via code commits to allow early warnings and timely fixes for Open Source Software (OSS) has received increasing attention. However, the existing detection methods can only identify the presence of a patch (i.e., a binary classification) but fail to pinpoint the vulnerability type. In this work, we take the first step to categorize the security patches into fine-grained vulnerability types. Specifically, we use the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) as the label and perform fine-grained classification using categories at the third level of the CWE tree. We first formulate the task as a Hierarchical Multi-label Classification (HMC) problem, …

Colefunda: Explainable Silent Vulnerability Fix Identification, Jiayuan Zhou, Michael Pacheco, Jinfu Chen, Xing Hu, Xin Xia, David Lo, Ahmed E. Hassan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

It is common practice for OSS users to leverage and monitor security advisories to discover newly disclosed OSS vulnerabilities and their corresponding patches for vulnerability remediation. It is common for vulnerability fixes to be publicly available one week earlier than their disclosure. This gap in time provides an opportunity for attackers to exploit the vulnerability. Hence, OSS users need to sense the fix as early as possible so that the vulnerability can be remediated before it is exploited. However, it is common for OSS to adopt a vulnerability disclosure policy which causes the majority of vulnerabilities to be fixed silently, …

Premium Wireless, Dakota Burkhart, Andrew Clark, Garrett Kenney, Brandon Monroe

ATU Scholars Symposium

Our work implements an inventory system and appointment system for the Premium Wireless phone company. It includes separate views for employees to manage inventory and view appointments for the day and the near future and allows customers to view all current inventory and set an appointment.

Analysis Of Honeypots In Detecting Tactics, Techniques, And Procedure (Ttp) Changes In Threat Actors Based On Source Ip Address, Carson Reynolds, Andy Green

Symposium of Student Scholars

The financial and national security impacts of cybercrime globally are well documented. According to the 2020 FBI Internet Crime Report, financially motivated threat actors committed 86% of reported breaches, resulting in a total loss of approximately $4.1 billion in the United States alone. In order to combat this, our research seeks to determine if threat actors change their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) based on the geolocation of their target’s IP address. We will construct a honeypot network distributed across multiple continents to collect attack data from geographically separate locations concurrently to answer this research question. We will configure the …

The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On The Cybersecurity Industry, Lindsey Shearstone

Honors Projects in Information Systems and Analytics

As our world becomes more digitalized, cyber criminals have an increasing landscape to launch their attacks. Developments in Artificial Intelligence are being used both to attack and defend networks, therefore, what is the next step for cybersecurity companies when it comes to beating these criminals? A study was conducted that utilizes previous literature sources written on the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the cybersecurity industry. In addition, the insights of professionals in the industry today are included through a survey and interviews to dive into the details of this battle and what lays in its future. The purpose of …

Visual Art In The Age Of Ai, Roshnica Gurung

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Artists and researchers have been deeply interested in using AI programs that generate art for quite some time now. As a result, there have been many advancements in making AI more accessible and easier to use for the public. This is because AI is not just for business anymore. Nowadays an individual without a college degree with even the slightest interest in art can go on a website like Stable Diffusion and create an artistic image using a text prompt in a quick couple minutes. The only limit is your imagination- and your internet’s stability. This accessibility was a huge …

Assessing The Frequency And Severity Of Malware Attacks: An Exploratory Analysis Of The Advisen Cyber Loss Dataset, Ahmed M. Abdelmagid, Farshid Javadnejad, C. Ariel Pinto, Michael K. Mcshane, Rafael Diaz, Elijah Gartell

Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Student Capstone Conference

In today's business landscape, cyberattacks present a significant threat that can lead to severe financial losses and damage to a company's reputation. To mitigate this risk, it is essential for stakeholders to have an understanding of the latest types and patterns of cyberattacks. The primary objective of this research is to provide this knowledge by utilizing the Advisen cyber loss dataset, which comprises over 137,000 cyber incidents that occurred across various industry sectors from 2013 to 2020. By using text mining techniques, this paper will conduct an exploratory data analysis to identify the most common types of malware, including ransomware. …

Role Of Ai In Threat Detection And Zero-Day Attacks, Kelly Morgan

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Cybercrime and attack methods have been steadily increasing since the 2019 pandemic. In the years following 2019, the number of victims and attacks per hour rapidly increased as businesses and organizations transitioned to digital environments for business continuity amidst lockdowns. In most scenarios cybercriminals continued to use conventional attack methods and known vulnerabilities that would cause minimal damage to an organization with a robust cyber security posture. However, zero-day exploits have skyrocketed across all industries with an increasingly growing technological landscape encompassing internet of things (IoT), cloud hosting, and more advanced mobile technologies. Reports by Mandiant Threat Intelligence (2022) concluded …

Cybersecurity Workforce Development In Nigeria: Transforming The Cybercrime Gangs Into Cybersecurity Specialists, Olohi Favor Anteyi

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

This paper addresses the issue of cybercrime in Nigeria and the possibility of creating a cybersecurity workforce development program for cyber criminals to develop their skills for the cybersecurity profession, which may facilitate Nigeria’s economic development.

Unveiling The Dark Web And The Impact Of Revil's Cyberattacks, Tanya Sasnouskaya

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The United States Navy originally created the Dark Web for intelligence purposes, but it was later promoted by Western countries as a tool for safeguarding privacy and anonymity. Currently, the Dark Web serves as a platform for deliberate information leaks by nations that want to keep certain information out of the mainstream media. This paper provides an overview of the dark web and the browser used to access it. It covers the layers of the internet and highlights REvil ransomware and some of its technical details. By understanding these risks, users can take appropriate preventive measures to protect themselves from …

Some Legal And Practical Challenges In The Investigation Of Cybercrime, Ritz Carr

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), in 2021, the United States lost around $6.9 billion to cybercrime. In 2022, that number grew to over $10.2 billion (IC3, 2022). In one of many efforts to combat cybercrimes, at least 40 states “introduced or considered more than 250 bills or resolutions that deal significantly with cybersecurity” with 24 states officially enacting a total of 41 bills (National Conference on State Legislatures, 2022).

The world of cybercrime evolves each day. Nevertheless, challenges arise when we investigate and prosecute cybercrime, which will be examined in the following collection of essays that highlight …

The Linkage Between The Climate Change And The Cybercrimes, Min Kim

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

At the beginning of the new era, the rise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has been rapidly transforming society into a new form that has never been experienced before. While previous industrial revolutions have also contributed to societal growth through phenomenal inventions and discoveries, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to break the most conventional rule, and one that has dominated social and economic activities: physical interaction. In the near future, sitting at the office, having an in-person meeting, or going on a business trip may no longer be needed as physical barriers are destroyed by cyberspace. However, two …

Cyber Security In Cyber Space, James D. Lee Jr.

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

For almost twenty years, the Internet has been a driving force in global communication and an integral part of people's everyday lives. As a result of technical developments and declining prices, over 3 billion people worldwide now utilize the Internet. The Internet has created a global infrastructure, and it is worth billions of dollars annually to the global economy (Judge et al.). Today's economic, commercial, cultural, social, and governmental activities and exchanges occur in Cyberspace, involving individuals, enterprises, non-profit organizations, and government and governmental agencies (Aghajani and Ghadimi 220). Cyberspace is the birthplace of much of the world's most essential …

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning For Enhanced Cybersecurity: A Proposal To Defeat Malware, Emmanuel Boateng

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Cybersecurity is very crucial in the digital age in order to safeguard the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of data and systems. Mitigation techniques used in the industry include Multi-factor Authentication (MFA), Incident Response Planning (IRP), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), and Signature-based and Heuristic Detection.

MFA is employed as an additional layer of protection in several sectors to help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data. IRP is a plan in place to address cybersecurity problems efficiently and expeditiously. SIEM offers real-time analysis and alerts the system of threats and vulnerabilities. Heuristic-based detection relies on detecting anomalies when it comes …

Cheating Detection In Online Exams Based On Captured Video Using Deep Learning, Aysha Sultan Alkalbani

Theses

Today, e-learning has become a reality and a global trend imposed and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are many risks and challenges related to the credibility of online exams which are of widespread concern to educational institutions around the world. Online exam system continues to gain popularity, particularly during the pandemic, due to the rapid expansion of digitalization and globalization. To protect the integrity of the examination and provide objective and fair results, cheating detection and prevention in examination systems is a must. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to develop an effective way of detection …

A Comparative Study On Microchip Implants In Humans And Wearable Devices, Ltifa Mohammed Almansoori

Theses

After the tragic covid pandemic in 2020, many things changed in the world, from learning physically all the way to e-learning, as the whole world was forced to switch digitally. It is expected that a lot of people will be more willing to invest in new technologies that aid in human development and among them are human microchip implants. The emerging technology of human microchip implants is slowly catching the attention of various countries around the world after the sudden surge of adoption in Europe. With the introduction of Biohax microchip implants in the UAE by Etisalat it is most …

Data Leakage In Isolated Virtualized Enterprise Computing Systems, Zechariah D.J. Wolf

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Virtualization and cloud computing have become critical parts of modern enterprise computing infrastructure. One of the benefits of using cloud infrastructure over in-house computing infrastructure is the offloading of security responsibilities. By hosting one’s services on the cloud, the responsibility for the security of the infrastructure is transferred to a trusted third party. As such, security of customer data in cloud environments is of critical importance. Side channels and covert channels have proven to be dangerous avenues for the leakage of sensitive information from computing systems. In this work, we propose and perform two experiments to investigate side and covert …

A Targeted Study On The Match Between Cybersecurity Higher Education Offerings And Workforce Needs, Diane Murphy, Nektaria Tryfona, Andrew M. Marshall

Virginia Journal of Science

The Cybersecurity Workforce Gap is a call to action on a two-fold problem: the worldwide shortage of qualified cybersecurity workers and the need to develop a growing highly-knowledgeable, agile, well-trained cybersecurity workforce. This paper presents a methodological approach to achieve this goal in the Northern Virginia area. The area is characterized by an abundance of cyber-related industries, government agencies, and large businesses with high demand of skilled cybersecurity workers; at the same time, academic institutions offer cutting edge education and training access to highly capable students. Central to this methodology is the collaboration between local academia and industry and it …

An Analysis Of Successful Sqlia For Future Evolutionary Prediction, Andrew Pechin

Senior Honors Theses

Web applications are a fundamental component of the internet, many interact with backend databases. Securing web applications and their databases from hackers should be a top priority for cybersecurity researchers. Structured Query Language (SQL) injection attacks (SQLIA) constitute a significant threat to web applications. They can hijack the backend databases to steal personally identifiable information (PII), initiate scams, or launch more sophisticated cyberattacks. SQLIA has evolved since its conception in the early 2000s and will continue to do so in the coming years. This paper analyzes past literature and successful SQLIA from specific time periods to identify themes and methods …

Informational Content Of Factor Structures In Simultaneous Discrete Response Models, Shakeeb Khan, Arnaud Maurel, Yichong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study the informational content of factor structures in discrete triangular systems. Factor structures have been employed in a variety of settings in cross sectional and panel data models, and in this paper we attempt to formally quantify their informational content in a bivariate system often employed in the treatment effects literature. Our main findings are that under the factor structures often imposed in the literature, point identification of parameters of interest, such as both the treatment effect and the factor load, is attainable under weaker assumptions than usually required in these systems. For example, we show is that an …

C-Wall: Conflict-Resistance In Privacy-Preserving Cloud Storage, Xiaoguo Li, Tao Xiang, Yi Mu, Fuchun Guo, Zhongyuan Yao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Following the success of cloud computing, it has been shown its importance to realize various access control models in the cloud storage setting. Chinese Wall is a traditional access control model in business for solving the conflict of interest (CoI) problem, and it would be very interesting to achieve conflict-resistant in cloud storage system. However, the access control model does not ensure the privacy of users, and it may reveal the user's interest, investment tendency, etc. Therefore, it raises a big challenge to implement the Chinese Wall without compromising the user's privacy. In this paper, we focus on the Chinese …

Research Trends In Cybercrime And Cybersecurity: A Review Based On Web Of Science Core Collection Database, Ling Wu, Qiong Peng, Michael Lembke

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

Studies on cybercrime and cybersecurity have expanded in both scope and breadth in recent years. This study offers a bibliometric review of research trends in cybercrime and cybersecurity over the past 26 years (1995-2021) based on Web of Science core collection database. Specifically, we examine the growth of scholarship and the expanded scope of subject categories and relevant journals. We also analyze the research collaboration network based on authors’ affiliated institutions and countries. Finally, we identify major topics within the fields, how each topic relates to – and diverges from – one another, and their evolution over time. Overall, we …

New Knowledge, Better Decisions: Promoting Effective Policymaking Through Cybercrime Analysis, Austen D. Givens

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

This editorial introduction will present an overview of the four articles contained in this issue of the International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime. The articles examine the profiling of hackers, the role of the media in shaping public perceptions of cyberterrorism, research trends in cybersecurity and cybercrime, as well as the impacts of cyberbullying.

Threat Construction And Framing Of Cyberterrorism In The U.S. News Media, Mehmet F. Bastug, Ismail Onat, Ahmet Guler

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

This research aims to explore the influence of news media on the fear of cyberterrorism and how cyberterrorism is framed in the media. Using a mixed-method approach as a research strategy, this paper reports on two studies that explore the influence of news reading on the fear of cyberterrorism. The first study analyzed survey responses from 1,190 participants and found that increased exposure to reading news media was associated with increased fear of cyberterrorism. The second study, built on the first, sought to investigate how cyberterrorism is framed and constructed as a threat by the US local and national newspapers. …

Prevalence And Trends Of Depression Among Cyberbullied Adolescents - Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2011 – 2019, Jason Nicholson, Catherine Marcum, George E. Higgins

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

The difference in depression between non-cyberbullied and cyberbullied youth is not well understood. To describe the prevalence and trends in depression among cyberbullied adolescents. Using cross-sectional, nationally-representative data from the YRBS 2011 - 2019, we estimated the prevalence and trends of depression across the total years and within cyberbullied groups that include biological sex and race and ethnicity among adolescents. The results indicated the prevalence of depression was higher among those that were cyberbullied. Within the cyberbullied groups the total trend was higher than the non-cyberbullied, females had a higher prevalence of depression than males, and Hispanics had a higher …

Understanding The Connection Between Hackers And Their Hacks: Analyzing Usdoj Reports For Hacker Profiles, Joshua Gerstenfeld

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

Recently, it seems as if hacking-related stories can be found in the news every day. To study, and hopefully prevent, this new type of crime, the field of cyber criminology has emerged. This study adds to the existing cybercrime literature by examining hacking behavior specifically. It determines if there is a relationship between the age, gender, and nationality of hackers and characteristics of the cyberattacks that they perpetrate. To do this, this study analyzes 122 United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) press reports from January 2019 to December 2021. Some key results include the finding that older hackers and international …

Healthcare Facilities: Maintaining Accessibility While Implementing Security, Ryan Vilter

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

In the wake of the Tulsa, Oklahoma hospital shooting in the summer of 2022, it was made clear that more security needed to be implemented in healthcare facilities. As a result, I inquired: What is the happy balance for healthcare facilities to maintain their accessibility to the public while also implementing security measures to prevent terrorist attacks? With that base, I give recommendations in the areas of cybersecurity, physical infrastructure, and physical and mental health, based off the existing literature and data gathered from terrorist attacks against hospitals over several decades.

Self-Learning Algorithms For Intrusion Detection And Prevention Systems (Idps), Juan E. Nunez, Roger W. Tchegui Donfack, Rohit Rohit, Hayley Horn

SMU Data Science Review

Today, there is an increased risk to data privacy and information security due to cyberattacks that compromise data reliability and accessibility. New machine learning models are needed to detect and prevent these cyberattacks. One application of these models is cybersecurity threat detection and prevention systems that can create a baseline of a network's traffic patterns to detect anomalies without needing pre-labeled data; thus, enabling the identification of abnormal network events as threats. This research explored algorithms that can help automate anomaly detection on an enterprise network using Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity data. This study demonstrates that Neural Networks with Bayesian …