Active Virtual Network Management Prediction: Complexity as a Framework for Prediction, Optimization, and Assurance

Research into active networking has provided the incentive to re-visit what has traditionally been classified as distinct properties and characteristics of information transfer such as protocol versus service; at a more fundamental level this paper considers the blending of computation and communication by means of complexity. The specific service examined in this paper is network self-prediction enabled by Active Virtual Network Management Prediction. Computation/communication is analyzed via Kolmogorov Complexity. The result is a mechanism to understand and improve the performance of active networking and Active Virtual Network Management Prediction in particular. The Active Virtual Network Management Prediction mechanism allows information, in various states of algorithmic and static form, to be transported in the service of prediction for network management. The results are generally applicable to algorithmic transmission of information. Kolmogorov Complexity is used and experimentally validated as a theory describing the relationship among algorithmic compression, complexity, and prediction accuracy within an active network. Finally, the paper concludes with a complexity-based framework for Information Assurance that attempts to take a holistic view of vulnerability analysis

“This is the way ‘I’ create my passwords ...":does the endowment effect deter people from changing the way they create their passwords?

The endowment effect is the term used to describe a phenomenon that manifests as a reluctance to relinquish owned artifacts, even when a viable or better substitute is offered. It has been confirmed by multiple studies when it comes to ownership of physical artifacts. If computer users also "own", and are attached to, their personal security routines, such feelings could conceivably activate the same endowment effect. This would, in turn, lead to their over-estimating the \value" of their existing routines, in terms of the protection they afford, and the risks they mitigate. They might well, as a consequence, not countenance any efforts to persuade them to adopt a more secure routine, because their comparison of pre-existing and proposed new routine is skewed by the activation of the endowment effect.In this paper, we report on an investigation into the possibility that the endowment effect activates when people adopt personal password creation routines. We did indeed find evidence that the endowment effect is likely to be triggered in this context. This constitutes one explanation for the failure of many security awareness drives to improve password strength. We conclude by suggesting directions for future research to confirm our findings, and to investigate the activation of the effect for other security routines

Strategic Theory, Methodology, Air Power, and Coercion in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War

This thesis analyzes the air power, coercion, strategic theory, and strategic methodology in the 2006 Israel/Hezbollah War. In state versus non-state actor conflicts, air power\u27s utility is different from state versus state conflicts. The dynamics of coercion also differ greatly from state versus state conflict. Additionally the strategic theories, and the methodologies used to develop these theories differ as well, both in their goals and their utility. By examining the 2006 Israel/Hezbollah war, which is an excellent example of a high-intensity conflict between a very capable state military, and a well-equipped non-state actor, Hezbollah, I analyze the ways in which air power is most useful in state versus non-state actor conflicts, the efficacy of coercion in such conflicts, and the role of strategic theory and methodology in such conflicts. I conclude that air power is best used against material high value targets, and against outside state sponsors of non-state actors, as non-state actors often blend amongst non-combatants, disperse their men and material widely, and are difficult to target with accuracy. I also conclude that the basic logic of coercion used in state versus state conflict is sound, but that the logic is complicated by the non-state actor\u27s reliance on outside powers for war material, meaning that attempts to coerce without applying pressure to the outside power will be unlikely to succeed. Finally I conclude that strategic theory and methodology are of the greatest importance to success, and that the most important factor in both is adaptability. He who adapts fastest often wins in asymmetric warfare

Burying (With Kindness) the Felicific Calculus of Civil Procedure

On January 2, 1986, Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit announced to an astonished legal profession, not to mention the unsuspecting attorneys-of-record, that, in the future, the Seventh Circuit would decide whether to grant or deny a preliminary injunction by applying the following simple formula: P x Hp \u3e (1-P) x Hd With one fell swoop of his algebraic-judicial pen, Judge Posner not only stirred the deepest math anxieties of the practicing bar, but revolutionized preliminary injunction law. Despite Judge Posner\u27s protestations that his simple formula was not offered as a new legal standard, preliminary injunction law will never be the same. This Article addresses the transcendental question raised by this preliminary injunction formula: What hath Judge Posner wrought? On sober reflection, it is abundantly clear that Judge Posner\u27s preliminary injunction formula sprang full-blown from the head of an academic-economist turned judge. The preliminary injunction formula is a logical extension of Judge Posner\u27s desire to impose econometrics on all aspects of the law. Dissatisfied with the untidiness of mere mortal judicial decision making, Judge Posner intends to rationalize the law by Benthamizing it--by subjecting the law to a twentieth century version of felicific calculus. This Article sounds the alarm concerning Judge Posner\u27s seemingly innocent mathematical foray into preliminary injunction aw. Judge Posner\u27s formula should not be viewed simply as an intellectually diverting exercise, but should be recognized for what it truly is: the camel\u27s head in the tent. Judge Posner long has been an advocate of market analysis in appropriate substantive legal contexts such as antitrust, tort, corporation, securities, and tax law.\u27 With his preliminary injunction formula, however, he has crossed the great divide between market and nonmarket applications of econometrics. If Professor Posner has his druthers as a judge, he will reduce all of civil procedure to a neat set of formulas. This Article argues that Judge Posner\u27s efforts to Benthamize civil procedure are an abomination in theory and practice. Judge Posner\u27s preliminary injunction formula should be bur[ied] with kindness, and any further attempts to quantify civil procedure should be resisted swiftly and sternly. Econometrics should be relegated to limited substantive applications and not engrafted onto inappropriate procedural motions. Part II of this Article outlines the short happy life of formula Posner. This section first discusses Judge Posner\u27s articulation of the preliminary injunction formula in American Hospital Supply Corp. v. Hospital Products Ltd.1 and then describes the formula\u27s reception in the Seventh Circuit and among the district courts. Far from being repudiated outright, Judge Posner\u27s formula has taken shallow root at the trial court level. Significantly, however, trial judges have manifested groping uncertainties in utilizing the new-fangled formula. Consequently, recent Seventh Circuit decisions amply demonstrate the many problems inherent in quantifying the preliminary injunction process. Part III explores the roots of Judge Posner\u27s preliminary injunction formula and illustrates that the formula is a logical extension of Judge Posner\u27s lifelong commitment to rationalizing legal substance and procedure. This section demonstrates that Judge Posner is an intellectual heir of Jeremy Bentham, who attempted to develop a felicific calculus of the law, and Judge Learned Hand, who attempted to develop algebraic torts. More recently,Professor John Leubsdorf has provided Judge Posner with an economic analysis of preliminary injunctions, stressing minimization of error through probabilistic calculations. This section further demonstrates that these intellectual strands have merged in Professor Posner\u27s writing and Judge Posner\u27s decisions.\u27 More importantly, however, this section exposes the problems associated with applying econometric methodology to civil procedure, including the methodology\u27s reliance on unsound premises, uncertain probabilistic assessments, implicit subjectivity, and illusory objectivity. Part IV demonstrates that Judge Posner\u27s preliminary injunction formula is not an isolated decisional novelty. Instead, the formula represents an initial foray into mathematical civil procedure. Unless the formulaic approach is reproved swiftly, the legal profession can expect Judge Posner to announce additional procedural formulas. Judge Posner\u27s efforts to Benthamize civil procedure should be rejected because they undermine principled decisionmaking. This Article is not merely about preliminary injunctions. Nor is it a roaming discussion of the ever-burgeoning field of law and economics.\u27 Rather, it is an article that rejects and warns of the incipient Benthamization of civil procedure. In the final analysis, this Article is an attempt to supply reasoned argument to one district judge\u27s plaintive response to Judge Posner\u27s preliminary injunction formula: [I]f it ain\u27t broke, don\u27t fix it. \u2

Comparative Analysis Based on Survey of DDOS Attacks’ Detection Techniques at Transport, Network, and Application Layers

Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) is one of the most prevalent attacks and can be executed in diverse ways using various tools and codes. This makes it very difficult for the security researchers and engineers to come up with a rigorous and efficient security methodology. Even with thorough research, analysis, real time implementation, and application of the best mechanisms in test environments, there are various ways to exploit the smallest vulnerability within the system that gets overlooked while designing the defense mechanism. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of various methodologies implemented by researchers and engineers to detect DDOS attacks at network, transport, and application layers using comparative analysis. DDOS attacks are most prevalent on network, transport, and application layers justifying the need to focus on these three layers in the OSI model

Security of Vehicular Platooning

Platooning concept involves a group of vehicles acting as a single unit through coordination of movements. While Platooning as an evolving trend in mobility and transportation diminishes the individual and manual driving concerns, it creates new risks. New technologies and passenger’s safety and security further complicate matters and make platooning attractive target for the malicious minds. To improve the security of the vehicular platooning, threats and their potential impacts on vehicular platooning should be identified to protect the system against security risks. Furthermore, algorithms should be proposed to detect intrusions and mitigate the effects in case of attack. This dissertation introduces a new vulnerability in vehicular platooning from the control systems perspective and presents the detection and mitigation algorithms to protect vehicles and passengers in the event of the attack

Control Theory in Engineering

The subject matter of this book ranges from new control design methods to control theory applications in electrical and mechanical engineering and computers. The book covers certain aspects of control theory, including new methodologies, techniques, and applications. It promotes control theory in practical applications of these engineering domains and shows the way to disseminate researchers’ contributions in the field. This project presents applications that improve the properties and performance of control systems in analysis and design using a higher technical level of scientific attainment. The authors have included worked examples and case studies resulting from their research in the field. Readers will benefit from new solutions and answers to questions related to the emerging realm of control theory in engineering applications and its implementation

DAG-Based Attack and Defense Modeling: Don't Miss the Forest for the Attack Trees

This paper presents the current state of the art on attack and defense modeling approaches that are based on directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). DAGs allow for a hierarchical decomposition of complex scenarios into simple, easily understandable and quantifiable actions. Methods based on threat trees and Bayesian networks are two well-known approaches to security modeling. However there exist more than 30 DAG-based methodologies, each having different features and goals. The objective of this survey is to present a complete overview of graphical attack and defense modeling techniques based on DAGs. This consists of summarizing the existing methodologies, comparing their features and proposing a taxonomy of the described formalisms. This article also supports the selection of an adequate modeling technique depending on user requirements