Game Theory Meets Network Security: A Tutorial at ACM CCS

The increasingly pervasive connectivity of today's information systems brings up new challenges to security. Traditional security has accomplished a long way toward protecting well-defined goals such as confidentiality, integrity, availability, and authenticity. However, with the growing sophistication of the attacks and the complexity of the system, the protection using traditional methods could be cost-prohibitive. A new perspective and a new theoretical foundation are needed to understand security from a strategic and decision-making perspective. Game theory provides a natural framework to capture the adversarial and defensive interactions between an attacker and a defender. It provides a quantitative assessment of security, prediction of security outcomes, and a mechanism design tool that can enable security-by-design and reverse the attacker's advantage. This tutorial provides an overview of diverse methodologies from game theory that includes games of incomplete information, dynamic games, mechanism design theory to offer a modern theoretic underpinning of a science of cybersecurity. The tutorial will also discuss open problems and research challenges that the CCS community can address and contribute with an objective to build a multidisciplinary bridge between cybersecurity, economics, game and decision theory

Synthesis about a collaborative project on “Technology Assessment of Autonomous Systems”

The project started in 2009 with the support of DAAD in Germany and CRUP in Portugal under the “Collaborative German-Portuguese University Actions” programme. One central goal is the further development of a theory of technology assessment applied to robotics and autonomous systems in general that reflects in its methodology the changing conditions of knowledge production in modern societies and the emergence of new robotic technologies and of associated disruptive changes. Relevant topics here are handling broadened future horizons and new clusters of science and technology (medicine, engineering, interfaces, industrial automation, micro-devices, security and safety), as well as new governance structures in policy decision making concerning research and development (R&D).Robotic systems, Autonomous systems, Technology assessment, Germany, Portugal

An Efficient Vein Pattern-based Recognition System

This paper presents an efficient human recognition system based on vein pattern from the palma dorsa. A new absorption based technique has been proposed to collect good quality images with the help of a low cost camera and light source. The system automatically detects the region of interest from the image and does the necessary preprocessing to extract features. A Euclidean Distance based matching technique has been used for making the decision. It has been tested on a data set of 1750 image samples collected from 341 individuals. The accuracy of the verification system is found to be 99.26% with false rejection rate (FRR) of 0.03%.Comment: IEEE Publication format, International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, IJCSIS, Vol. 8 No. 1, April 2010, USA. ISSN 1947 5500, http://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis

Evaluating Sustainable Decision Making on Water Resources: Comparing Cooperation Around the Aral Sea and Penobscot River

Natural-resource security is an increasingly important area of international affairs. While there is a great deal of cooperation at the international level between actors with a stake in shared natural resources, there is also contention. Military and security issues can arise out of the coming together of nations over natural resources. A waterway or reservoir that is abutted by one or more nations can be problematic. This study seeks to clarify processes surrounding two specific examples of water-resource decision making involving state and non-state actors. The following questions guide my research: 1) How do international cooperations focused on water security work? 2) What, in the context of international cooperations focused on water security, does peace mean? 3) How and to what extent do these cooperations advance peaceful outcomes for water security? This thesis intends to develop a greater understanding of cooperation and conflict around natural resources and also contribute to knowledge about peace processes in this important area of international affairs. My methods are based on and build from my social science research experience with the Future of Dams project which is a National Science Foundation project to understand and support linking knowledge with decision making about dams. In this research, I look at media articles to analyze discourse around negotiations and interactions around shared waters. My case study and cross-case comparison focuses on two specific cases. The first draws from interactions in the Aral Sea basin where states are cooperating to deal with the fallout of historically intensive irrigation practices that decimated the sea. The second focuses on the Penobscot River where a recently completed dam-removal project is being heralded as a new standard in collaborative decision making around natural resources. Through my analysis, I discover some general trends in decision making on shared water resources and how actors can achieve successful outcomes. These insights arise from considering the similarities and differences between these two cases

THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY - ACADEMIA KNOWLEDGE PARTNERSHIP

As part of the wider doctoral research „Reforming the intelligence sector through academic education. Implications for the military higher education”, the paper focuses on the lack of intelligence education as a threat to the national security and also on the Intelligence – University nexus as a critical part of todays Knowledge Society and of the Bologna process to create the EHEA by making academic degree tandards&quality assurance standards compatible throughout Europe. Firstly, we will examine the Sherman Kent approach of the link between intelligence, knowledge and decision making. Then, we will argument the need for an academic outreach of intelligence based on the new context of the 21st century (the heightened role of intelligence in international affairs and in its influence upon political agenda setting, decision making and policy making; the preminence of intelligence and security issues in political discourse as well as at the level of public opinion) also pointing out the main approaches to academic outreach for intelligence. The paper also discussess the new intelligence paradigm -marked by the ""Clearances Matter Less Than Knowledge""- versus the open science dilemma. A key-issue of the paper is about the need for Intelligence Studies as a new field of intellectual inquiry, scholarly debate and as an academic study program within the social sciences field of study. "Intelligence studies, Academic outreach, Research cluster, Knowledge, Open science dilemma

Can digital discussion support tools provide cost-effective options for agricultural extension services?

Agricultural extension that delivers timely, targeted, and cost-effective support to farmers will help ensure the sustainability and adaptive capacity of agriculture, enhancing both food security and environmental security. Leveraging advances in agriclimate science and adult education, innovative digital technologies offer significant new opportunities to engage with farmers and to support decision making. In this study, animated video clips (machinimas), developed using the Second LifeTM virtual world gaming platform, model conversations around climate risk and critical on-farm decisions in the Australian sugarcane farming industry. Early evaluation indicates that this is an engaging format that promotes discussion by leveraging farmers’ natural modes of information gathering and social learning. Comparison with conventional extension practices indicates that these discussion support tools may be a cost-effective addition to existing approaches. The format’s flexibility means machinimas are readily updated with new information and customized to meet the needs of different farmer groups. Rapid growth in digital access globally and the scalability of such approaches promise greater equity of access to high-value information, critical to better risk management decision making, at minimal cost, for millions of farmers

Roots of Stability: Arab Civil-Military Relations During Times of Political Crisis

Militaries generally play a vital role in the survival of states, neutralizing both domestic and foreign threats. In addition, during moments of political crisis when political institutions and processes break down, militaries play an integral part of a particular regime’s survival. Each chapter of this study analyzes a critical component of military decision-making and regime survival in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Jordan is the central case study for each chapter. Through the collection of data from interviews with security personnel in Jordan, this study offers an in-depth investigation of civil-military relations in the MENA region. There is a shortage of research on this topic, and this study seeks to fill the gaps in important places in the political science literature. In order to fill these gaps, this study begins by establishing a new and alternative approach to understanding security decision-making called the identity-rationalist model. This new model incorporates notions of identity into cost-benefit analysis. Then the study tests hypotheses on military loyalty, finding that integration of the military into the political economy of a country has the greatest explanatory power for military defection. Finally, this study gives a detailed exploration of Jordanian intelligence services to understand why the institutions are effective at maintaining state stability despite the volatility of the MENA region. Together the three core chapters each contribute to the literature on civil-military relations and understanding the complexity of security forces in the Arab world

Space Science & Technology in the Arctic: Promises of Cooperation and Development amid New Security Challenges

Space science and technology (S & T) holds great potential for international scientific cooperation in the Arctic, especially concerning climate change. Space-based earth observation, navigation/positioning and communication is of great value to Arctic local and indigenous communities. Space-based S & T is also a prerequisite for development of Arctic shipping and natural resources. At the same time, space S & T in the Arctic holds dynamics, which may undermine Arctic and international stability and security. The Arctic houses key infrastructure for nuclear strategic stability, weapon systems, early warning, and ballistic missile defense. Arctic high latitudes provide significant advantages to space S & T with the potential for dual use. Space, which now underpins all societies, may become militarized. Strategic stability safeguards humanity. During the Cold War, there was an effective decision-making process mediated by game theory and modelling. However, new technologies, a far more complex multi-player, multi-nation environment and new space S & T reduce the effectiveness of traditional approaches. This research proposes to address the current intellectual vacuum by creating a clearer understanding of the parameters, players, technologies, and their interactions and develop a new and robust theoretical basis that will contribute in the longer term towards appropriate and balanced Arctic governance for achieving strategic stability and space security. This research will test the hypothesis that Arctic space S & T destabilizes strategic stability and space security. New theory, empirical overview, and modelling will provide a new intellectual basis for governance of Arctic space S & T for strategic stability and space security in the new era