A Survey on Service Composition Middleware in Pervasive Environments

The development of pervasive computing has put the light on a challenging problem: how to dynamically compose services in heterogeneous and highly changing environments? We propose a survey that defines the service composition as a sequence of four steps: the translation, the generation, the evaluation, and finally the execution. With this powerful and simple model we describe the major service composition middleware. Then, a classification of these service composition middleware according to pervasive requirements - interoperability, discoverability, adaptability, context awareness, QoS management, security, spontaneous management, and autonomous management - is given. The classification highlights what has been done and what remains to do to develop the service composition in pervasive environments

The expectations of Chinese tourists from New Zealand motels and their implications: Case study of A City Motel, Hamilton

The number of Chinese tourists who travel to New Zealand are increasing and maintain high numbers. However, the number of Chinese tourists who stay in A City Motel is minimal, and only stand for 1/15 of the total customers. This survey aims to understand the factors affecting Chinese tourists’ choice of motel in New Zealand as well as identify their expectations, in order to improve motel popularity and sales. This survey adopted a paper questionnaire with 19 closed questions. These questions focused on eight aspects of the motel: price, facilities, service, location, decoration, cleaning, security, and booking. The sample size was 60 Chinese tourists who stayed in the motel, and they were selected by convenience sampling. The data analysis method used here was manual calculation. The results showed participants' evaluations and expectations of the motel. Among them, the booking, location, and price of the motel got great evaluations. The service and cleaning of the motel got good evaluations. However, the facilities, decoration, and security of the motel got poor evaluations, with a lot of participants dissatisfied. Therefore, the motel should listen to the expectations of Chinese tourists and believe it is worthwhile to make changes. It is recommended that the motel should make corresponding changes, especially in facilities, decoration and security, to further attract Chinese tourists

Using quantum key distribution for cryptographic purposes: a survey

The appealing feature of quantum key distribution (QKD), from a cryptographic viewpoint, is the ability to prove the information-theoretic security (ITS) of the established keys. As a key establishment primitive, QKD however does not provide a standalone security service in its own: the secret keys established by QKD are in general then used by a subsequent cryptographic applications for which the requirements, the context of use and the security properties can vary. It is therefore important, in the perspective of integrating QKD in security infrastructures, to analyze how QKD can be combined with other cryptographic primitives. The purpose of this survey article, which is mostly centered on European research results, is to contribute to such an analysis. We first review and compare the properties of the existing key establishment techniques, QKD being one of them. We then study more specifically two generic scenarios related to the practical use of QKD in cryptographic infrastructures: 1) using QKD as a key renewal technique for a symmetric cipher over a point-to-point link; 2) using QKD in a network containing many users with the objective of offering any-to-any key establishment service. We discuss the constraints as well as the potential interest of using QKD in these contexts. We finally give an overview of challenges relative to the development of QKD technology that also constitute potential avenues for cryptographic research.Comment: Revised version of the SECOQC White Paper. Published in the special issue on QKD of TCS, Theoretical Computer Science (2014), pp. 62-8

Attitude Towards Civil Service of Pakistan: A Perception Survey

Amid growing concerns on the popularity of the civil service among the students, the study reports the findings of a perception survey of enrolled university students. Contrary to common perceptions, the results suggest that the civil service still retains its allure among the potential entrants. Those who prefer the civil service as a career are more concerned with job security than those who prefer a job in the private sector. The Foreign Service of Pakistan appears to be the most favourite group whereas the Accounts Group is the least preferred. The District Management Group (DMG) seems to no longer enjoy a coveted position due perhaps to the implementation of the devolution plan which has stripped the group of its power and privileges.Students, Civil Service, Public Choice, Job Search, Employment Decision

A Survey on Quantitative Evaluation of Web Service Security

The number of web services available on the Internet has grown rapidly. Service consumers face a hard decision over which service to choose among the available ones. Security holds a key after various vulnerabilities have been exploited by attackers on number of notable web services. This paper carries out a survey on how security has been expressed and promised for web services, through both the Web Service Description Language and Service Level Agreements. It reviews existing technologies used for comparing individual web services, as well as for service compositions. Taking security into account further complicates the already difficult process of choosing the right service. The paper reveals that despite existing efforts, a quantitative solution needs to be established urgently in order to help service consumers to choose the most secure service for them to use

Online Security in the Middle East and North Africa: A Survey of Perceptions, Knowledge, and Practice

Digital communication has become a more perilous activity, particularly for activists, political dissidents, and independent media. The recent surge in digital activism that has helped to shape the Arab spring has been met with stiff resistance by governments in the region intent on reducing the impact of digital organizing and independent media. No longer content with Internet filtering, many governments in the Middle East and around the world are using a variety of technological and offline strategies to go after online media and digital activists. In Tunisia, before and during the January 2011 protest movement that led to a change in government there, Internet service providers were apparently logging usernames and passwords to hack into and dismantle online organizing and information sharing among protesters. In early June 2011, Google reported a phishing attack targeted at military and human rights activists to gain access to their Gmail accounts. In Syria, a well organized effort known as the Syrian Electronic Army has been carrying out attacks to disable and compromise web sites that are critical of the Syrian regime. These stories are only a few selected from the set that have become public, and an unknown number of attacks go unnoticed and unreported. Many of these attacks are impossible to attribute to specific actors and may involve a mix of private sector and governmental actors, blurring the lines between cyber attacks and government surveillance. In such an environment, maintaining online security is a growing challenge.In this report we describe the results of a survey of 98 bloggers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) carried out in May 2011 in order to study bloggers' perceptions of online risk and the actions they take to address digital communications security, including both Internet and cell phone use. The survey was implemented in the wake of the Arab spring and documents a proliferation of online security problems among the respondents. In the survey, we address the respondents' perceptions of online risk, their knowledge of digital security practices, and their reported online security practices. The survey results indicate that there is much room for improving online security practices, even among this sample of respondents who are likely to have relatively high technical knowledge and experience

An Empirical Investigation of the Level of Users’ Acceptance of E-Banking in Nigeria

Nigeria was depicted to be the fastest growing telecommunications nation in African. Presently, all members of the Nigeria banking industry have engaged the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a platform for effective and efficient means of conducting financial transactions. This paper focuses on determining the level of users’ acceptance of the electronic banking services and investigating the factors that determine users’ behavioral intentions to use electronic banking systems in Nigeria. The survey instrument employed involved design and administration of a total of 500 survey questionnaires within the Lagos metropolis and its environs. An extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was employed as a conceptual framework to investigate the factors that influence users’ acceptance and intention to use electronic banking. To test the model, data was collected from 292 customers from various commercial banks in Nigeria. The model measured the impact of Perceived Credibility (PC), Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE), Perceived Usefulness (PU), and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) on customer attitude and customer attitude on customer adaptation. The result of this research shows that ATM still remains the most widely used form e-Banking service. Banks’ customers who are active users of e-Banking system use it because it is convenient, easy to use, time saving and appropriate for their transaction needs. Also the network security and the security of the system in terms of privacy are the major concerns of the users and constitute hindrance to intending users