Localizing unauthorized updates in published micro-data tables through secret order-based watermarking

The study of micro-data disclosure issue has largely focused on the privacy preservation aspect, whereas the integrity of a published micro-data table has received limited attention. Unauthorized updates to such a table may lead users to believe in misleading data. Traditional cryptographic stamp-based approaches allow users to detect unauthorized updates using credentials issued by the data owner. However, to localize the exact corrupted tuples would require a large number of cryptographic stamps to be stored, leading to prohibitive storage requirements. In this thesis, we explore the fact that tuples in a micro-data table must be stored in a particular order, which has no inherent meaning under the relational model. We propose a series of algorithms for embedding watermarks through reordering the tuples. The embedded watermarks allow users to detect, localize, and restore corrupted tuples with a single secret key issued by the data owner, and no additional storage is required. At the same time, our algorithms also allow for efficient updates by the data owner or legitimate users who know the secret key. The proposed algorithms are implemented and evaluated through experiments with real data

Cybersecurity and the Digital Health: An Investigation on the State of the Art and the Position of the Actors

Cybercrime is increasingly exposing the health domain to growing risk. The push towards a strong connection of citizens to health services, through digitalization, has undisputed advantages. Digital health allows remote care, the use of medical devices with a high mechatronic and IT content with strong automation, and a large interconnection of hospital networks with an increasingly effective exchange of data. However, all this requires a great cybersecurity commitment—a commitment that must start with scholars in research and then reach the stakeholders. New devices and technological solutions are increasingly breaking into healthcare, and are able to change the processes of interaction in the health domain. This requires cybersecurity to become a vital part of patient safety through changes in human behaviour, technology, and processes, as part of a complete solution. All professionals involved in cybersecurity in the health domain were invited to contribute with their experiences. This book contains contributions from various experts and different fields. Aspects of cybersecurity in healthcare relating to technological advance and emerging risks were addressed. The new boundaries of this field and the impact of COVID-19 on some sectors, such as mhealth, have also been addressed. We dedicate the book to all those with different roles involved in cybersecurity in the health domain

Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructures

This book contains the manuscripts that were accepted for publication in the MDPI Special Topic "Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure" after a rigorous peer-review process. Authors from academia, government and industry contributed their innovative solutions, consistent with the interdisciplinary nature of cybersecurity. The book contains 16 articles: an editorial explaining current challenges, innovative solutions, real-world experiences including critical infrastructure, 15 original papers that present state-of-the-art innovative solutions to attacks on critical systems, and a review of cloud, edge computing, and fog's security and privacy issues

The Changing Landscape of Digital Access: Public-Private Partnerships in US State and Territorial Archives.

This dissertation examines the network of public archives and private sector organizations engaged in the work of digitizing historical records. It focuses on the recent expansion of public-private partnerships involving US state and territorial archives and their effects on citizens’ access to digitized materials. It seeks to understand the ways in which government archives engage with the private sector around digitization of records documenting birth, death, land ownership, and other events central to life in a democratic society. I employ a theoretical framework combining ideas from archival studies, government information, public finance, and economics. I argue that archival materials are public goods as understood by economists and public policy scholars, and assert that this designation merits a new perspective on government archives. The dissertation project employs a mixed-methods research design, combining a survey, interviews, and document analysis to follow the trajectory of these partnerships, from the motivations of each group of organizations through contract negotiation, records selection, digitization work, challenges, and the implications for access to digitized government records. My results demonstrate widespread engagement between state and territorial archives and private sector organizations. More than 75% of survey respondents reported that their organization engaged in public-private partnerships. These partnerships largely focus on genealogical records which contain information about individuals. This makes sense from a business standpoint but threatens to undermine the public goods designation which protects government archives from market forces. I identify the negotiation period as a time when archivists have learned to leverage their unique holdings in order to advocate for their institutional interests. Through information sharing among government archives, they work to obtain the best contract terms on behalf of their holdings and users. I also highlight the impact of public records and freedom of information laws on the interactions between public archives and private firms. This dissertation documents an information environment in transition. The number of partnerships has increased in recent years but research has not kept pace. This project is the first comprehensive study of public-private partnerships involving state and territorial archives in the US, and serves as a basis for future work.PhDInformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111584/1/akriesbe_1.pd

Trustworthy AI Alone Is Not Enough

The aim of this book is to make accessible to both a general audience and policymakers the intricacies involved in the concept of trustworthy AI. In this book, we address the issue from philosophical, technical, social, and practical points of view. To do so, we start with a summary definition of Trustworthy AI and its components, according to the HLEG for AI report. From there, we focus in detail on trustworthy AI in large language models, anthropomorphic robots (such as sex robots), and in the use of autonomous drones in warfare, which all pose specific challenges because of their close interaction with humans. To tie these ideas together, we include a brief presentation of the ethical validation scheme for proposals submitted under the Horizon Europe programme as a possible way to address the operationalisation of ethical regulation beyond rigid rules and partial ethical analyses. We conclude our work by advocating for the virtue ethics approach to AI, which we view as a humane and comprehensive approach to trustworthy AI that can accommodate the pace of technological change

Security in Distributed, Grid, Mobile, and Pervasive Computing

This book addresses the increasing demand to guarantee privacy, integrity, and availability of resources in networks and distributed systems. It first reviews security issues and challenges in content distribution networks, describes key agreement protocols based on the Diffie-Hellman key exchange and key management protocols for complex distributed systems like the Internet, and discusses securing design patterns for distributed systems. The next section focuses on security in mobile computing and wireless networks. After a section on grid computing security, the book presents an overview of security solutions for pervasive healthcare systems and surveys wireless sensor network security

A Privacy-Preserving Outsourcing Data Storage Scheme with Fragile Digital Watermarking-Based Data Auditing

Cloud storage has been recognized as the popular solution to solve the problems of the rising storage costs of IT enterprises for users. However, outsourcing data to the cloud service providers (CSPs) may leak some sensitive privacy information, as the data is out of user's control. So how to ensure the integrity and privacy of outsourced data has become a big challenge. Encryption and data auditing provide a solution toward the challenge. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving and auditing-supporting outsourcing data storage scheme by using encryption and digital watermarking. Logistic map-based chaotic cryptography algorithm is used to preserve the privacy of outsourcing data, which has a fast operation speed and a good effect of encryption. Local histogram shifting digital watermark algorithm is used to protect the data integrity which has high payload and makes the original image restored losslessly if the data is verified to be integrated. Experiments show that our scheme is secure and feasible

Modern Costing Strategies for Improved Profitability in Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses

Small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) accounting managers use little to no modern costing strategies which can negatively impact profitability. Advances in technology, innovations in product design, and increases in globalization mean SMEs could benefit from modernizing their internal costing systems. This study is important to SME accounting managers because of offering new information and practical methods that SMEs might use for improved profitability. Grounded in the contingency theory of management accounting, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the modern costing strategies SME accounting managers used to improve profitability. Seven SME owners, CFOs, and administrators who manage the accounting function for their organization participated in this study. Data collection included semistructured interviews, direct observations, and documentation review. As a result of thematic analysis, 3 themes morphed as the prioritization of cost management using target and life-cycle costing, a focus on continuous improvement via lean strategies, and quality costing and activity-based costing use in response to external environmental contingencies. The implications for positive social change include increased sponsorships for local events with the potential increase of donations to local schools and outreach organizations supporting local community residents