Privacy-preserving Payments for Transportation Systems

The operation of our society heavily relies on high mobility of people. Not only our social life but also our economy and trade are built upon a system where people need to be able to move around easily. The costs for building and maintaining a suitable transportation infrastructure to satisfy those needs are high, and to charge users is thus a central requirement. This calls for well functioning payment systems satisfying the multitude of requirements that transportation systems impose on them. Electronic payment systems have many benefits over traditional cash payments as they are easy to maintain, can be more secure, reduce revenue collection costs, and can reduce the execution time of a payment. However, as a drawback, currently employed electronic payment systems usually reveal a payer’s identity during a payment which greatly infringes customer privacy. In the transportation domain this allows to generate fine grain patterns of customers’ locations. Cryptographic payment protocols called e-cash have been proposed which allow to preserve a customer’s privacy. E-cash provides provable guarantees for both security and user privacy, as it allows secure, unlinkable payments which do not reveal the identity of the payer during a payment. From a security and privacy perspective these protocols present a good solution. However, even though e-cash protocols have been proposed three decades ago, there are relatively few actual implementations. One reason for this is their high computational complexity which makes an implementation on potential mobile payment devices rather difficult. While customers usually value their privacy they often do not accept to sacrifice convenience. A fast execution of payments is thus a hard constraint, which conflicts with the computational complexity of e-cash schemes. This dissertation analyzes how e-cash can be used to solve the issue of privacy in the domain of transportation payments while satisfying the unique requirements of transportation payment systems and achieving high security and ease of use. Highlyefficient implementations of the underlying cryptographic primitives of e-cash schemes on constrained devices as they might be used in the transportation setting are presented. Based on the efficient implementations of these primitives, e-cash schemes are analyzed with regards to speed and hardware requirements. The results show that e-cash presents a good solution for privacy-preserving payments in the domain of public transport, if the number of coins that have to be spent can be limited. It is further practically shown that this limitation can be alleviated relying on the e-cash based privacy-preserving pre-payments with refunds scheme (P4R). Moreover, it is demonstrated that the promising feature of supporting the encoding of user attributes into electronic coins can be implemented at only moderate extra cost. Finally, an ecash based e-mobility payment scheme is presented which highlights the flexibility and unique advantages of e-cash based transportation payment schemes

Electronic Evidence and Electronic Signatures

In this updated edition of the well-established practitioner text, Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng have brought together a team of experts in the field to provide an exhaustive treatment of electronic evidence and electronic signatures. This fifth edition continues to follow the tradition in English evidence text books by basing the text on the law of England and Wales, with appropriate citations of relevant case law and legislation from other jurisdictions. Stephen Mason (of the Middle Temple, Barrister) is a leading authority on electronic evidence and electronic signatures, having advised global corporations and governments on these topics. He is also the editor of International Electronic Evidence (British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2008), and he founded the innovative international open access journal Digital Evidence and Electronic Signatures Law Review in 2004. Daniel Seng (Associate Professor, National University of Singapore) is the Director of the Centre for Technology, Robotics, AI and the Law (TRAIL). He teaches and researches information technology law and evidence law. Daniel was previously a partner and head of the technology practice at Messrs Rajah & Tann. He is also an active consultant to the World Intellectual Property Organization, where he has researched, delivered papers and published monographs on copyright exceptions for academic institutions, music copyright in the Asia Pacific and the liability of Internet intermediaries

Sandton: a linguistic ethnography of small stories in a site of luxury

Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2018This is a linguistic ethnography that focuses on small stories (Bamberg and Georgakopoulou 2008, De Fina 2009, De Fina and Georgakopoulou 2015, Georgakopoulou 2006a and 2006b, 2008, 2014) within Bucholtz and Hall’s (2005) approach to identity and interaction. These two intersecting theoretical scaffoldings are completed by a geosemiotic approach (Scollon and Scollon 2003) to the discursive environment. The research therefore studies narrative interactions within communities of practice (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet 1992, 2007) across the spaces and fields of the research site of Sandton, Johannesburg; investigating both participant behaviour and discursive environment, in particular with respect to the semiotic landscape. It is a ‘new’ ethnography in that its aim is to better understand the new spaces of South Africa’s cities (Duff 2014). Methodologically the narrative interactions of participants are plotted onto the space of Sandton using GIS technology. This allows attention to be brought to the trajectories of participants and thus to change in interactive style, role and behaviour as participants enter, remain within and leave the site. Three principles of identity and interaction are explored and unpacked in depth for this linguistic ethnography: emergence, positionality and relationality. In addition to a focus on the site itself and its socio-historic processes, this thesis examines the trajectories across the space of the site, institutional discourse and practice through four emblematic companies and, finally, the ‘Born Free’ or ‘millenial’ participants. Through the different participants the research seeks to give an account of the subjectivities and understandings that will be relevant to the present, and future, of the site, and of the country. Axes of investigation are emergence of identity work, masculinity, religion, modernity, codeswitching, positionality with respect to macro, meso and micro discourses and interaction, and tactics of intersubjectivity (Bucholtz and Hall 2004b).MT 201

Европейский и национальный контексты в научных исследованиях

В настоящем электронном сборнике «Европейский и национальный контексты в научных исследованиях. Технология» представлены работы молодых ученых по геодезии и картографии, химической технологии и машиностроению, информационным технологиям, строительству и радиотехнике. Предназначены для работников образования, науки и производства. Будут полезны студентам, магистрантам и аспирантам университетов.=In this Electronic collected materials “National and European dimension in research. Technology” works in the fields of geodesy, chemical technology, mechanical engineering, information technology, civil engineering, and radio-engineering are presented. It is intended for trainers, researchers and professionals. It can be useful for university graduate and post-graduate students

Exploring value co-creation within buyer-seller relationship in mobile applications services : a model development

Mobile phones have become an indispensable part of consumers’ life where they access core and supporting services via mobile applications services (m-applications). The focus of the present study is to explore dyadic buyer-seller roles in m-applications services’ value creation taking mobile banking applications services (MB-applications) as a case study. While prior research on value co-creation in service dominant logic (S-d logic) serves as a foundation for this study, it does not provide adequate guidance on how buyer and seller co-create value in m-applications services.To address this shortcoming, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 12 banks’ officials in banks’ headquarters of Saudi Arabia. Also, six focus groups were conducted; three with MB-application services users and three with non-users which were held in Riyadh College of Technology (RCT). In addition, a content analysis of MB-applications services was conducted to support suppliers’ perspectives regarding value propositions (service offering). A conceptual framework is developed for managing co-creation to illustrate practical application of the framework.The findings pointed to six factors that shape shape service suppliers’ ability to offer and deliver value via MB-applications, namely; brand image building, bank’s business vision, customer culture-orientation, bank’s internal environment, information technology system and positioning strategy. These factors combine to establish a value proposition for banks’ customers in the MB-applications services domain.Customer’s value creation as value in-use during usage emerged in different usage situations. A value framework incorporating value consumptions (Sheth et al., 1991a) is proposed. It identifies the main value-adding elements in m-applications and the primary drivers for adopting m-applications. Findings revealed that bank managers attempted to support customers’ value creation, which was reflected in MB-application content. However, support was constrained by some insufficient assumptions about customers and the m-commerce architecture. Factors that impede MB-applications use include consumers’ banking habits, perceived risk (security and privacy); usability hindrance, marketing and promotion, technical problems, and socio-cultural barriers. Implications are drawn for service delivery value perception and mobile marketing theory, and recommendations are made to service suppliers and commercial banks to achieve sustained returns of investment from MB-applications services

Beyond oracles – a critical look at real-world blockchains

This thesis intends to provide answers to the following questions: 1) What is the oracle problem, and how do the limitations of oracles affect different real-world applications? 2) What are the characteristics of the portion of the literature that leaves the oracle problem unaddressed? 3) Who are the main contributors to solving the oracle problem, and which issues are they focusing on? 4) How can the oracle problem be overcome in real-world applications? The first chapter aims to answer the first question through a literature review of the most current papers published in the field, bringing clarity to the blockchain oracle problem by discussing its effects in some of the most promising real-world blockchain applications. Thus, the chapter investigates the sectors of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), healthcare, supply chains, academic records, resource management, and law. By comparing the different applications, the review reveals that heterogeneous issues arise depending on the sector. The analysis supports the view that the more trusted a system is, the less the oracle problem has an impact. The second chapter presents the results of a systematic review intended to highlight the state-of-the-art of real-world blockchain applications using the oracle problem as a lens of analysis. Academic papers proposing real-world blockchain applications were reviewed to see if the authors considered the oracle’s role in the applications and related issues. The results found that almost 90% of the inspected literature neglected the role of oracles, thereby proposing incomplete or irreproducible projects. Through a bibliometric analysis, the third chapter sheds light on the institutions and authors that are actively contributing to the literature on oracles and promoting progress and cooperation. The study shows that, although there is still a lack of collaboration worldwide, there are dedicated authors and institutions working toward a similar and beneficial cause. The results also make it clear that most areas of oracle research are poorly addressed, with some remaining untouched. The fourth and last chapter focuses on a case study of a dairy company operating in the northeast region of Italy. The company applied blockchain technology to support the traceability of their products worldwide, and the study investigated the benefits of their innovation from the point of view of sustainability. The study also considers the role of oracle management, as it is a critical aspect of a blockchain-based project. Thus, the relationship between the company, the blockchain oracle, and the supervising authority is discussed, offering insight into how sustainable innovations can positively impact supply chain management. This work as a whole aims to shed light on blockchain oracles as an academic area of research, explaining why the study of oracles should be considered the backbone of blockchain literature development

Electronic Evidence and Electronic Signatures

In this updated edition of the well-established practitioner text, Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng have brought together a team of experts in the field to provide an exhaustive treatment of electronic evidence and electronic signatures. This fifth edition continues to follow the tradition in English evidence text books by basing the text on the law of England and Wales, with appropriate citations of relevant case law and legislation from other jurisdictions. Stephen Mason (of the Middle Temple, Barrister) is a leading authority on electronic evidence and electronic signatures, having advised global corporations and governments on these topics. He is also the editor of International Electronic Evidence, and he founded the innovative international open access journal Digital Evidence and Electronic Signatures Law Review in 2004. Daniel Seng (Associate Professor, National University of Singapore) is the Director of the Centre for Technology, Robotics, AI and the Law (TRAIL). He teaches and researches information technology law and evidence law. Daniel was previously a partner and head of the technology practice at Messrs Rajah & Tann. He is also an active consultant to the World Intellectual Property Organization, where he has researched, delivered papers and published monographs on copyright exceptions for academic institutions, music copyright in the Asia Pacific and the liability of Internet intermediaries

The Impacts of Asynchronous Video Reflection on Perceived Learner Social Presence

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.December 2015. Major: Education, Curriculum and Instruction. Advisor: Charles Miller. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 119 pages.This dissertation examined how an asynchronous video reflection tool impacted learners’ perception of social presence and their feeling of community in an online learning environment. More than ever before learning in postsecondary education takes place online through computer mediated communication, as almost all colleges and universities offer some of their courses online (Moore & Kearsley, 2012). There are many benefits of online learning (Graham, 2006; Griffiths & Graham, 2009b; Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, & Archer, 2001), but there are problems as well. One of the problems students can have while learning online is the feeling of isolation and the lack social presence with others (Ali & Leeds, 2009; Borup, West, & Graham, 2012; Rovai, 2002). To help mediate this problem, instructors use different online technologies that encourage learners to communicate in a variety of ways, including through video and visual media. There are many video-based tools available and many are newly in development; this study examines one in particular called Flipgrid that can be used by instructors and students to create and share video-based reflections on course content. The purpose of this study is to help online instructors, instructional designers and educational app developers find new ways of enhancing or increasing social presence for their target audience by exploring the following research questions: (1) How does an asynchronous video reflection tool impact students’ perception of social presence in an online class? (2) How does seeing classmates’ video recordings influence students’ feeling of community in an online class? And (3) How does creating video recordings influence students’ feeling of community in an online class? This interpretive case study (Stake, 1995) was informed by the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) and utilized qualitative methods for data collection and inductive data analysis to understand the phenomenon of social presence and how learners experienced it while using an asynchronous video reflection tool. Data was collected from students from five separate undergraduate courses that took place fully online. Analysis of qualitative surveys, focus group, and individual interviews revealed three themes from the data: familiarization, authenticity, and distractions. Participants expressed that getting to know classmates by seeing and hearing them in an online course was important to them, and authentic videos in which students shared personal stories to support their points of views were highly valued. There were also distracting elements, like privacy concerns and the feeling of being rushed while doing recording, that negatively impacted the experience of recording and watching video reflections. Based on the findings of this study, a refined definition of social presence is proposed

An examination of the Asus WL-HDD 2.5 as a nepenthes malware collector

The Linksys WRT54g has been used as a host for network forensics tools for instance Snort for a long period of time. Whilst large corporations are already utilising network forensic tools, this paper demonstrates that it is quite feasible for a non-security specialist to track and capture malicious network traffic. This paper introduces the Asus Wireless Hard disk as a replacement for the popular Linksys WRT54g. Firstly, the Linksys router will be introduced detailing some of the research that was undertaken on the device over the years amongst the security community. It then briefly discusses malicious software and the impact this may have for a home user. The paper then outlines the trivial steps in setting up Nepenthes 0.1.7 (a malware collector) for the Asus WL-HDD 2.5 according to the Nepenthes and tests the feasibility of running the malware collector on the selected device. The paper then concludes on discussing the limitations of the device when attempting to execute Nepenthes