Secure and Usable Bio-Passwords based on Confidence Interval

The most popular user-authentication method is the password. Many authentication systems try to enhance their security by enforcing a strong password policy, and by using the password as the first factor, something you know, with the second factor being something you have. However, a strong password policy and a multi-factor authentication system can make it harder for a user to remember the password and login in. In this paper a bio-password-based scheme is proposed as a unique authentication method, which uses biometrics and confidence interval sets to enhance the security of the log-in process and make it easier as well. The method offers a user-friendly solution for creating and registering strong passwords without the user having to memorize them. Here we also show the results of our experiments which demonstrate the efficiency of this method and how it can be used to protect against a variety of malicious attacks

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

The founder\u27s vision & its influence on the outcomes of high tech start-up companies

This study examined the impact of sustaining, changing or disregarding the founder\u27s vision on the outcomes of Venture Funded High Tech Start-up Companies (VFSCs). The motivation for the study was to provide knowledge that would enable Venture Capital (VC) investors to enhance their investment portfolio success rates. A model (VFSC Success - Failure continuum) was developed and introduced to provide a framework for the study. This model broke the universe of VFSC companies into two groups; those that have had their fates decided, namely Super-successes, Successes and Failures and those whose fate remained to be decided, namely Projected Successes and Living Dead. A theory was proposed that suggested sustaining the founder\u27s vision through-out the pre-IPO period enhanced the probability of VFSC success, and that changing or disregarding the founder\u27s vision led to Living Dead and/or Failure firm outcomes. The study was segmented into three phases: (a) a Pilot Study established survey instrument content validity and test-retest reliability; (b) an electronic survey instrument captured the data required to examine the study\u27s theory and research questions; and (c) a Non-response Bias Test established that no statistically significant difference existed between the survey and non-respondent sample data sets. The study investigated five primary research questions related to sustaining the founder\u27s vision, vision change and disregarding the (founder\u27s) vision and their influence on firm outcomes. Twenty-one secondary research questions examined contextual variables and current industry success/failure rates. The significant outcomes from this study are (a) vision change classifications, vision change, vision disregard and sustaining the (founder\u27s) vision, had limited, but not insignificant impact on firm outcomes, (b) contextual variables, vision valuation, vision clarity and vision conformity (with the study\u27s definition), influenced firm outcomes, (c) articulation of (founder\u27s) visions in writing was linked to very clear visions, vision conformity, and vision valuation by VFSC directors; and (d) the influence of succession events on firm outcomes and vision change classifications was found to be statistically insignificant. The study concluded by identifying its limitations and suggesting a number of areas for future research and investigation