92,008 research outputs found
An Iterative and Toolchain-Based Approach to Automate Scanning and Mapping Computer Networks
As today's organizational computer networks are ever evolving and becoming
more and more complex, finding potential vulnerabilities and conducting
security audits has become a crucial element in securing these networks. The
first step in auditing a network is reconnaissance by mapping it to get a
comprehensive overview over its structure. The growing complexity, however,
makes this task increasingly effortful, even more as mapping (instead of plain
scanning), presently, still involves a lot of manual work. Therefore, the
concept proposed in this paper automates the scanning and mapping of unknown
and non-cooperative computer networks in order to find security weaknesses or
verify access controls. It further helps to conduct audits by allowing
comparing documented with actual networks and finding unauthorized network
devices, as well as evaluating access control methods by conducting delta
scans. It uses a novel approach of augmenting data from iteratively chained
existing scanning tools with context, using genuine analytics modules to allow
assessing a network's topology instead of just generating a list of scanned
devices. It further contains a visualization model that provides a clear, lucid
topology map and a special graph for comparative analysis. The goal is to
provide maximum insight with a minimum of a priori knowledge.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Health Figures: An Open Source JavaScript Library for Health Data Visualization
The way we look at data has a great impact on how we can understand it,
particularly when the data is related to health and wellness. Due to the
increased use of self-tracking devices and the ongoing shift towards preventive
medicine, better understanding of our health data is an important part of
improving the general welfare of the citizens. Electronic Health Records,
self-tracking devices and mobile applications provide a rich variety of data
but it often becomes difficult to understand. We implemented the hFigures
library inspired on the hGraph visualization with additional improvements. The
purpose of the library is to provide a visual representation of the evolution
of health measurements in a complete and useful manner. We researched the
usefulness and usability of the library by building an application for health
data visualization in a health coaching program. We performed a user evaluation
with Heuristic Evaluation, Controlled User Testing and Usability
Questionnaires. In the Heuristics Evaluation the average response was 6.3 out
of 7 points and the Cognitive Walkthrough done by usability experts indicated
no design or mismatch errors. In the CSUQ usability test the system obtained an
average score of 6.13 out of 7, and in the ASQ usability test the overall
satisfaction score was 6.64 out of 7. We developed hFigures, an open source
library for visualizing a complete, accurate and normalized graphical
representation of health data. The idea is based on the concept of the hGraph
but it provides additional key features, including a comparison of multiple
health measurements over time. We conducted a usability evaluation of the
library as a key component of an application for health and wellness
monitoring. The results indicate that the data visualization library was
helpful in assisting users in understanding health data and its evolution over
time.Comment: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 16.1 (2016
The Topology ToolKit
This system paper presents the Topology ToolKit (TTK), a software platform
designed for topological data analysis in scientific visualization. TTK
provides a unified, generic, efficient, and robust implementation of key
algorithms for the topological analysis of scalar data, including: critical
points, integral lines, persistence diagrams, persistence curves, merge trees,
contour trees, Morse-Smale complexes, fiber surfaces, continuous scatterplots,
Jacobi sets, Reeb spaces, and more. TTK is easily accessible to end users due
to a tight integration with ParaView. It is also easily accessible to
developers through a variety of bindings (Python, VTK/C++) for fast prototyping
or through direct, dependence-free, C++, to ease integration into pre-existing
complex systems. While developing TTK, we faced several algorithmic and
software engineering challenges, which we document in this paper. In
particular, we present an algorithm for the construction of a discrete gradient
that complies to the critical points extracted in the piecewise-linear setting.
This algorithm guarantees a combinatorial consistency across the topological
abstractions supported by TTK, and importantly, a unified implementation of
topological data simplification for multi-scale exploration and analysis. We
also present a cached triangulation data structure, that supports time
efficient and generic traversals, which self-adjusts its memory usage on demand
for input simplicial meshes and which implicitly emulates a triangulation for
regular grids with no memory overhead. Finally, we describe an original
software architecture, which guarantees memory efficient and direct accesses to
TTK features, while still allowing for researchers powerful and easy bindings
and extensions. TTK is open source (BSD license) and its code, online
documentation and video tutorials are available on TTK's website
Kernel arquitecture for CAD/CAM in shipbuilding enviroments
The capabilities of complex software products such as CAD/CAM systems are strongly supported by basic information technologies related with data management, visualization, communication, geometry modeling and others related with the development process. These basic information technologies are involved in a continuous evolution process, but over recent years this evolution has been dramatic. The main reason for this has been that new hardware capabilities (including graphic cards) are available at very low cost, but also a contributing factor has been the evolution of the prices of basic software. To take advantage of these new features, the existing CAD/CAM systems must undergo a complete and drastic redesign. This process is complicated but strategic for the future evolution of a system. There are several examples in the market of how a bad decision has lead to a cul-de-sac (both technically and commercially). This paper describes what the authors consider are the basic architectural components of a kernel for a CAD/CAM system oriented to shipbuilding. The proposed solution is a combination of in-house developed frameworks together with commercial products that are accepted as standard components. The proportion of in-house frameworks within this combination of products is a key factor, especially when considering CAD/CAM systems oriented to shipbuilding. General-purpose CAD/CAM systems are mainly oriented to the mechanical CAD market. For this reason several basic products exist devoted to geometry modelling in this context. But these basic products are not well suited to deal with the very specific geometry modelling requirements of a CAD/CAM system oriented to shipbuilding. The complexity of the ship model, the different model requirements through its short and changing life cycle and the many different disciplines involved in the process are reasons for this inadequacy. Apart from these basic frameworks, specific shipbuilding frameworks are also required. This second layer is built over the basic technology components mentioned above. This paper describes in detail the technological frameworks which have been used to develop the latest FORAN version.Postprint (published version
Interactive Visual Analysis of Networked Systems: Workflows for Two Industrial Domains
We report on a first study of interactive visual analysis of networked systems. Working with ABB Corporate Research and Ericsson Research, we have created workflows which demonstrate the potential of visualization in the domains of industrial automation and telecommunications. By a workflow in this context, we mean a sequence of visualizations and the actions for generating them. Visualizations can be any images that represent properties of the data sets analyzed, and actions typically either change the selection of data visualized or change the visualization by choice of technique or change of parameters
The Need to Support of Data Flow Graph Visualization of Forensic Lucid Programs, Forensic Evidence, and their Evaluation by GIPSY
Lucid programs are data-flow programs and can be visually represented as data
flow graphs (DFGs) and composed visually. Forensic Lucid, a Lucid dialect, is a
language to specify and reason about cyberforensic cases. It includes the
encoding of the evidence (representing the context of evaluation) and the crime
scene modeling in order to validate claims against the model and perform event
reconstruction, potentially within large swaths of digital evidence. To aid
investigators to model the scene and evaluate it, instead of typing a Forensic
Lucid program, we propose to expand the design and implementation of the Lucid
DFG programming onto Forensic Lucid case modeling and specification to enhance
the usability of the language and the system and its behavior. We briefly
discuss the related work on visual programming an DFG modeling in an attempt to
define and select one approach or a composition of approaches for Forensic
Lucid based on various criteria such as previous implementation, wide use,
formal backing in terms of semantics and translation. In the end, we solicit
the readers' constructive, opinions, feedback, comments, and recommendations
within the context of this short discussion.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, index; extended abstract presented at VizSec'10
at http://www.vizsec2010.org/posters ; short paper accepted at PST'1
Embedding Spatial Software Visualization in the IDE: an Exploratory Study
Software visualization can be of great use for understanding and exploring a
software system in an intuitive manner. Spatial representation of software is a
promising approach of increasing interest. However, little is known about how
developers interact with spatial visualizations that are embedded in the IDE.
In this paper, we present a pilot study that explores the use of Software
Cartography for program comprehension of an unknown system. We investigated
whether developers establish a spatial memory of the system, whether clustering
by topic offers a sound base layout, and how developers interact with maps. We
report our results in the form of observations, hypotheses, and implications.
Key findings are a) that developers made good use of the map to inspect search
results and call graphs, and b) that developers found the base layout
surprising and often confusing. We conclude with concrete advice for the design
of embedded software maps.Comment: To appear in proceedings of SOFTVIS 2010 conferenc
P ORTOLAN: a Model-Driven Cartography Framework
Processing large amounts of data to extract useful information is an
essential task within companies. To help in this task, visualization techniques
have been commonly used due to their capacity to present data in synthesized
views, easier to understand and manage. However, achieving the right
visualization display for a data set is a complex cartography process that
involves several transformation steps to adapt the (domain) data to the
(visualization) data format expected by visualization tools. To maximize the
benefits of visualization we propose Portolan, a generic model-driven
cartography framework that facilitates the discovery of the data to visualize,
the specification of view definitions for that data and the transformations to
bridge the gap with the visualization tools. Our approach has been implemented
on top of the Eclipse EMF modeling framework and validated on three different
use cases
- …