Development Of An Algorithm To Identify The Presence Of Luks-Encrypted Volumes On A Forensic Image Of A Drive,
2025
University of South Alabama
Development Of An Algorithm To Identify The Presence Of Luks-Encrypted Volumes On A Forensic Image Of A Drive, Nicholas Flynn, Michael Black
Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum Posters
Current forensic tools struggle to effectively detect encrypted storage media. In recent years, there have been significant advancements, but a noticeable gap remains when it comes to identifying encrypted volumes from metadata alone. The goal of this research is to develop a novel algorithm that will identify the presence of volumes on a disk image which have been encrypted with the Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) encryption algorithm, in an effort to aid digital forensics investigations. Bad actors often use encryption as an anti-forensics tool to pose significant challenges to forensic investigators, especially when it is done within sections of …
False Narratives, Real Consequences,
2025
University of South Alabama
False Narratives, Real Consequences, Russell W. Cantrell, Matt Campbell
Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum Posters
Social media is an increasingly significant tool in modern cyber warfare, capable of rapidly shaping public opinion. The swift dissemination of information complicates efforts to distinguish fact from fiction [1]. During public health crises, healthcare professionals use these platforms to share updates, yet their credible content must contend with false or deliberately misleading narratives [2]. This environment creates an opportunity for cyberattacks through social media influence campaigns [3]. While disinformation's role in political interference has been widely studied, its potential to destabilize healthcare remains largely unexplored. Prior research primarily focuses on how vaccine misinformation affects the general public [4]. This …
Detecting Sensor Data Manipulation,
2025
University of South Alabama
Detecting Sensor Data Manipulation, Ricky Green, Michael Black
Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum Posters
The integration of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) have made OT devices vulnerable to threats that have been successfully exploited with devastating results. Many modern techniques for hardening and securing enterprise IT systems are either incompatible with OT components in an Industrial Control System (ICS), reduce the efficiency of processes, or are prohibitively expensive to implement. Research in the area of ICS security focuses on a top-down approach, such as intrusion prevention by securing the perimeter of the network and hardening computer systems. This approach is useful in business IT systems, but full compatibility with OT components in …
Using Machine Learning Models To Improve The Cyber Physical Security Of Drones,
2025
University of South Alabama
Using Machine Learning Models To Improve The Cyber Physical Security Of Drones, Sean Lee, Aviv Segev
Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum Posters
This research proposes a new manner of implementing machine learning models such that, when applied on a drone, it will be able to accurately identify and maintain the authenticity of the entity sending the control data to the drone. To begin with, the drone will, for a pre-determined amount of signals received per unit time, determine the average signal strength (RSSI) of them and use that average to determine the approximate distance between the drone and the source of those signals. This single data point will be fed into a custom implementation of the SCluStream algorithm (a real-time clustering machine …
Provable Security In Idealised Models,
2025
Indian Statistical Institute
Provable Security In Idealised Models, Chandranan Dhar
Doctoral Theses
This thesis is a compilation of provable security analyses of various cryptographic constructions in idealised models. The first construction examined is the ABR hash. We revisit the existing proof of the ABR hash in the random oracle model and identify significant errors in the proof. Although we are unable to correct the original proof, we establish the security of the ABR tree of height 3 from scratch, addressing the first non-trivial case. As our second contribution, we conduct a tight and comprehensive security analysis of the Ascon AEAD mode in the random permutation model. We show that the efficiency of …
Modeling And Evaluation Of False Data Injection Attacks (Fdia) In Der Inverters,
2025
University of North Dakota
Modeling And Evaluation Of False Data Injection Attacks (Fdia) In Der Inverters, Tanzim Jim Hassan, Akshay Ram Ramchandra, Farishta Rahman, Prakash Ranganathan
Graduate Research Achievement Day Posters
This poster develops and evaluates false data injection attack (FDIA) models to enhance the cybersecurity of distributed energy resources (DER) solar inverters using real-time frequency data from two Fronius single-phase inverters. Fifteen datasets with unique attack patterns were developed and analyzed using machine learning models, where the most challenging anomaly (V3) had F1 scores between 0.425 and 0.76, while the most detectable (V1) achieved up to 0.895. These findings contribute to improving anomaly detection mechanisms for securing distributed energy resources (DER) and ensuring grid stability.
Improving Rupture Status Prediction For Intracranial Aneurysms Using Wall Shear Stress Informatics,
2025
Michigan Technological University
Improving Rupture Status Prediction For Intracranial Aneurysms Using Wall Shear Stress Informatics, Jingfeng Jiang, Mostafa Rezaeitaleshmahalleh, Jinshan Tang, Joseph Gemmette, Aditya Pandey
Michigan Tech Publications
BACKGROUND: Wall shear stress (WSS) plays a crucial role in the natural history of intracranial aneurysms (IA). However, spatial variations among WSS have rarely been utilized to correlate with IAs' natural history. This study aims to establish the feasibility of using spatial patterns of WSS data to predict IAs' rupture status (i.e., ruptured versus unruptured). METHODS: "Patient-specific" computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed for 112 IAs; each IA's rupture status was known from medical records. Recall that CFD-simulated hemodynamics data (wall shear stress and its derivatives) are located on unstructured meshes. Hence, we mapped WSS data from an unstructured …
"It's Definitely New And Different...It's Really Engaging": Understanding The Power Of Storytelling Towards Secure Password Creation,
2025
Utah State University
"It's Definitely New And Different...It's Really Engaging": Understanding The Power Of Storytelling Towards Secure Password Creation, Rizu Paudel, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen
Computer Science Student Research
There is a dearth in existing literature to attain systematic understanding of leveraging digital storytelling in security designs. As we begin to address this gap, we focused on user authentication where the existing password composition policies and password meters often fail to help users around creating a strong and memorable password. To this end, we conducted a lab study with 19 participants, where we updated our initial designs in an iterative manner based on their feedback. We then conducted a between-subject online study with 104 participants over Amazon Mechanical Turk to evaluate our designs. We found that all of our …
Design And Implementation Of Secured Hybrid Gateway Node For Securing Iot - Enabled Distribution Automation,
2025
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Design And Implementation Of Secured Hybrid Gateway Node For Securing Iot - Enabled Distribution Automation, Ally Bitebo
Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)
The integration of smart grid and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies plays a crucial role in enhancing the quality of services provided by traditional electrical grids. This combination has enabled the introduction of new services, such as demand response, automatic meter reading, and IoT-enabled Distribution Automation (IoT-DA), which incorporates sensors, actuators, intelligent electrical devices (IEDs), and information and communication technologies to monitor and control the grid. However, this integration also introduces network security risks, including Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, false data injection, and masquerading attacks, such as system node impersonation that can transmit incorrect readings, trigger false alarms, and …
Scalable And Ethical Insider Threat Detection Through Data Synthesis And Analysis By Llms,
2025
Dakota State University
Scalable And Ethical Insider Threat Detection Through Data Synthesis And Analysis By Llms, Haywood Gelman, John Hastings
Research & Publications
Insider threats wield an outsized influence on organizations, disproportionate to their small numbers. This is due to the internal access insiders have to systems, information, and infrastructure. Signals for such risks may be found in anonymous submissions to public web-based job search site reviews. This research studies the potential for large language models (LLMs) to analyze and detect insider threat sentiment within job site reviews. Addressing ethical data collection concerns, this research utilizes synthetic data generation using LLMs alongside existing job review datasets. A comparative analysis of sentiment scores generated by LLMs is benchmarked against expert human scoring. Findings reveal …
Comparing Unidirectional, Bidirectional, And Word2vec Models For Discovering Vulnerabilities In Compiled Lifted Code,
2025
Dakota State University
Comparing Unidirectional, Bidirectional, And Word2vec Models For Discovering Vulnerabilities In Compiled Lifted Code, Gary Mccully, John Hastings, Shengjie Xu, Adam Fortier
Research & Publications
Ransomware and other forms of malware cause significant financial and operational damage to organizations by exploiting long-standing and often difficult-to-detect software vulnerabilities. To detect vulnerabilities such as buffer overflows in compiled code, this research investigates the application of unidirectional transformer-based embeddings, specifically GPT-2. Using a dataset of LLVM functions, we trained a GPT-2 model to generate embeddings, which were subsequently used to build LSTM neural networks to differentiate between vulnerable and non-vulnerable code. Our study reveals that embeddings from the GPT-2 model significantly outperform those from bidirectional models of BERT and RoBERTa, achieving an accuracy of 92.5\% and an F1-score …
Computing In The Commonwealth: Specialized Education In Computer Science And Information Technology For High School Students In Virginia – An Environmental Scan,
2025
Virginia Commonwealth University
Computing In The Commonwealth: Specialized Education In Computer Science And Information Technology For High School Students In Virginia – An Environmental Scan, Amy Corning, Jonathan D. Becker, Jon Graham, James Carrigan, Keisha Tennessee
ICRE Publications
Over the past two decades, Virginia has invested substantially in STEM education, in part through specialized programs focused on computer science and information technology (CS/IT). This study represents the first effort to identify Virginia’s specialized secondary CS/IT programs and examine them collectively. Findings from the statewide environmental scan indicate that the programs are delivered through a wide variety of institutional structures, including Governor’s STEM Academies, Governor’s Schools, specialty centers, and academies, but most often through Career and Technical Education (CTE) centers. Programs tend to be concentrated in metropolitan areas, and some rural divisions may not be served. The programs provide …
A Survey-Based Quantitative Analysis Of Stress Factors And Their Impacts Among Cybersecurity Professionals,
2025
Dakota State University
A Survey-Based Quantitative Analysis Of Stress Factors And Their Impacts Among Cybersecurity Professionals, Sunil Arora, John D. Hastings
Research & Publications
This study investigates the prevalence and underlying causes of work-related stress and burnout among cybersecurity professionals using a quantitative survey approach guided by the Job Demands-Resources model. Analysis of responses from 50 cybersecurity practitioners reveals an alarming reality: 44% report experiencing severe work-related stress and burnout, while an additional 28% are uncertain about their condition. The demanding nature of cybersecurity roles, unrealistic expectations, and unsupportive organizational cultures emerge as primary factors fueling this crisis. Notably, 66% of respondents perceive cybersecurity jobs as more stressful than other IT positions, with 84% facing additional challenges due to the pandemic and recent high-profile …
Cybersecurity And Business Analytics: Strengthening Financial And Governmental Digital Defenses,
2025
Lewis University
Cybersecurity And Business Analytics: Strengthening Financial And Governmental Digital Defenses, Bushra F. Malik, Ravindar Reddy Gopireddy
Accounting, Business Analytics, Economics, and Finance Department Faculty Articles
The rapid digitization of financial services and federal operations has significantly increased cybersecurity risks. Cybercriminals are continuously evolving their attack methodologies, targeting financial institutions and government agencies to exploit vulnerabilities in digital infrastructures. Business analytics has emerged as a powerful tool in combating these threats by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data analytics to detect, analyze, and prevent cyber threats in real time. This paper explores the convergence of cybersecurity and business analytics, emphasizing their combined role in strengthening threat intelligence, fraud detection, incident response, and regulatory compliance. The research provides insights into emerging security trends, …
Technology-Facilitated Abuse (Tfa): Analyzing Trends, Tactics, And Victim Responses On Reddit,
2025
University of Texas at Arlington
Technology-Facilitated Abuse (Tfa): Analyzing Trends, Tactics, And Victim Responses On Reddit, Solomon G. Dandekar
Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive
The increasing integration of technology into daily life has provided numerous benefits but also significant risks, particularly when exploited by malicious actors in cases of technology facilitated abuse (TFA). Per- petrators can misuse technology to monitor, control, and intimidate their partners, random strangers, etc. exacerbating cycles of abuse. From location tracking and cellphone surveillance to smart device manipula- tion, spyware, and doxing, digital tools have become powerful instruments for coercion and control. This research project investigates the role of technology in stalking and harassment by analyzing discussions on a relevant subreddit where victims share their experiences, strategies for coping, and …
Scalable Approaches Towards Characterizing And Mitigating Emerging Phishing Scams,
2025
University of Texas at Arlington
Scalable Approaches Towards Characterizing And Mitigating Emerging Phishing Scams, Sayak Saha Roy
Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive
Phishing scams are among the most dangerous and persistent forms of cybercrime, leveraging social engineering to exploit human behavior and obtain sensitive information, leading to widespread identity theft and data breaches. In the past year, these attacks have resulted in financial losses exceeding $10 billion in the United States alone. As phishing scams continue to evolve, they have not only expanded in scale but also grown in sophistication, spreading rapidly across social media and employing adversarial techniques to evade detection by anti-scam tools. The situation is further exacerbated by the availability of advanced phishing kits, and more recently, generative AI, …
Maritime Industry Cybersecurity Threats In 2025: Advanced Persistent Threats (Apts), Hacktivism And Vulnerabilities,
2025
National University of Science and Technology "Politehnica" Bucharest
Maritime Industry Cybersecurity Threats In 2025: Advanced Persistent Threats (Apts), Hacktivism And Vulnerabilities, Minodora Badea, Olga Bucovetchi, Adrian V. Gheorghe, Mihaela Hnatiuc, Gabriel Raicu
Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications
Background: The maritime industry, vital for global trade, faces escalating cyber threats in 2025. Critical port infrastructures are increasingly vulnerable due to rapid digitalization and the integration of IT and operational technology (OT) systems. Methods: Using 112 incidents from the Maritime Cyber Attack Database (MCAD, 2020-2025), we developed a novel quantitative risk assessment model based on a Threat-Vulnerability-Impact (T-V-I) framework, calibrated with MITRE ATT&CK techniques and validated against historical incidents. Results: Our analysis reveals a 150% rise in incidents, with OT compromise identified as the paramount threat (98/100 risk score). Ports in Poland and Taiwan face the …
Scalable, Secure, And Adaptable Perception Systems Through Adversarial Analysis And Federated Fine-Tuning,
2025
University of Texas at Arlington
Scalable, Secure, And Adaptable Perception Systems Through Adversarial Analysis And Federated Fine-Tuning, Arkajyoti Mitra
Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive
Perception systems are fundamental to intelligent machines, enabling them to sense, understand, and interpret complex environments. However, as perception increasingly underpins critical applications such as autonomous vehicles, IoT healthcare devices, and smart trading platforms, challenges related to security, scalability, and environmental understanding have become more pressing. This work addresses three core research questions: (1) How can we identify, analyze, and mitigate adversarial vulnerabilities in perception systems to ensure reliable operation under adversarial conditions? (2.1) How can AVPS models be efficiently scaled and fine-tuned across decentralized and resource-constrained environments while preserving privacy and performance? (2.2) How can we scale generative models …
Human Perception Of Ai Capabilities At Classifying Perturbed Roadway Signs,
2025
Rice University
Human Perception Of Ai Capabilities At Classifying Perturbed Roadway Signs, Katherine R. Garcia, Jing Chen, Yanru Xiao, Scott Mishler, Cong Wang, Bin Hu
Psychology Faculty Publications
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is crucial to numerous functions required for driving automation systems, including the computer vision techniques used to detect the roadway environment and make real-time decisions. However, the images used as inputs to the AI system may be maliciously perturbed, or manipulated, causing the AI system to make an incorrect classification. In this study, we examined humans’ perception of the AI’s computer vision capability of classifying various road sign images, including the original images, images with two different types of malicious attacks, and images that are scrambled randomly at the pixel level. Our results showed that participants rated …
Tedvil: Leveraging Transformer-Based Embeddings For Vulnerability Detection In Lifted Code,
2025
Dakota State University
Tedvil: Leveraging Transformer-Based Embeddings For Vulnerability Detection In Lifted Code, Gary Mccully, John Hastings, Shengjie Xu
Research & Publications
Ransomware and other malware inflict devastating financial and operational damage on organizations worldwide by exploiting deeply embedded, hard-to-detect vulnerabilities in their systems. Detecting these vulnerabilities in compiled code before malicious actors exploit them remains a critical challenge in cybersecurity. This research introduces TEDVIL (Transformer-based Embeddings for Discovering Vulnerabilities in Lifted Code), a novel framework which uses transformer-based embeddings to train neural networks to detect vulnerabilities in lifted code. The framework was implemented using bidirectional (BERT and RoBERTa) and unidirectional (GPT-1 and GPT-2) transformer-based models to generate embeddings for training Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural networks to detect stack-based buffer overflows …
