An Approach to Guide Users Towards Less Revealing Internet Browsers

When browsing the Internet, HTTP headers enable both clients and servers send extra data in their requests or responses such as the User-Agent string. This string contains information related to the sender’s device, browser, and operating system. Previous research has shown that there are numerous privacy and security risks result from exposing sensitive information in the User-Agent string. For example, it enables device and browser fingerprinting and user tracking and identification. Our large analysis of thousands of User-Agent strings shows that browsers differ tremendously in the amount of information they include in their User-Agent strings. As such, our work aims at guiding users towards using less exposing browsers. In doing so, we propose to assign an exposure score to browsers based on the information they expose and vulnerability records. Thus, our contribution in this work is as follows: first, provide a full implementation that is ready to be deployed and used by users. Second, conduct a user study to identify the effectiveness and limitations of our proposed approach. Our implementation is based on using more than 52 thousand unique browsers. Our performance and validation analysis show that our solution is accurate and efficient. The source code and data set are publicly available and the solution has been deployed

Intelligent Sensor Networks

In the last decade, wireless or wired sensor networks have attracted much attention. However, most designs target general sensor network issues including protocol stack (routing, MAC, etc.) and security issues. This book focuses on the close integration of sensing, networking, and smart signal processing via machine learning. Based on their world-class research, the authors present the fundamentals of intelligent sensor networks. They cover sensing and sampling, distributed signal processing, and intelligent signal learning. In addition, they present cutting-edge research results from leading experts

Verification of communication protocols in web-services

The last decade has seen a massive migration towards the service oriented paradigm that has resulted in 1) resolving the software interoperability issues, 2) increased re-usability of the code, 3) easy inter-application communications, and 4) significant cost reduction. However, individual web-services seldom meet the business requirements of an application. Usually an application life-cycle involves interacting with several web-services based on its workflow. Considering that this might require 1) sharing data with multiple services, 2) tracking the response for each service request, 3) tracking and compensating the service failures, etc., usually a domain-specific language is used for service composition. Each service has an interface to outline its functionality and they are composed based on these interfaces. Nevertheless, any error or omission in these exposed interfaces could result in a myriad of glitches in the composition and the overlying application. This is further exacerbated by dynamic service composition techniques wherein services could be added, removed or updated at runtime. Consequently service consuming applications heavily depend on the verification techniques to vouch for their reliability and usability. The scope of applications based on service composition is rapidly expanding into critical domains where the stakes are high (e.g. stock markets). Consequently their reliability cannot be solely based on testing, wherein educated guesses are involved. Model-checking is a formal method that has an unprecedented ability to endorse the correctness of a system. It involves modeling a system before verifying it for a set of properties using a model-checking tool. However it has hitherto been sparingly used because of the associated time and memory requirements. This thesis proposes novel solutions to deal with these limitations in verifying a service composition. We propose a technique for modeling a service composition prior to verifying it using a model-checking tool. Compared to existing techniques that are ad-hoc and temporary, our solution streamlines the transformation by introducing a generic framework that transforms the composition into intermediate data transfer objects (DTOs) before the actual modeling. These DTOs help in automating the transformation by allowing access to the required information programmatically. The experimental results indicate that the framework takes less than a second (on average) in transforming BPEL specifications. The solution is made more appealing by further reducing the aforementioned time and memory requirements for model-checking. The additional reduction in memory is attributed to storing the states as the difference from an adjoining state. The reduction in time is realized by exploring the modules of a hierarchical model concurrently. These techniques offer up to 95% reduction in memory requirements and 86% reduction in time requirements. Furthermore, the time reduction technique is also extended to non-hierarchical models. This involves introducing hierarchy into a flat model in linear time before applying the time reduction techniques. As compared to other techniques, our method ensures that the transformed model is equivalent to the original model

Outer suburban/interface services and development committee inquiry into liveability options in outer suburban Melbourne

This report presents a range of options for enhancing the liveability of Melbourne’s outer suburbs. Melbourne has an international reputation as one of the world’s most liveable cities. However, many areas within Melbourne’s outer suburbs currently lag behind the rest of Greater Melbourne on a range of liveability measures. On a number of those measures, the gap is growing. This situation is primarily due to the rapid pace at which Melbourne’s outer suburbs have expanded in recent years. There are a range of options for preserving and enhancing the liveability of Melbourne’s outer suburbs, many of which are increasingly being adopted by residents, community groups and local governments. The Government of Victoria has also indicated that preserving and enhancing the liveability of Greater Melbourne will be a major priority for the new Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Strategy

The Role of General Practitioners in Disaster Health Management

Disasters are a time of excess demand for medical care overwhelming available medical services. General Practitioners (GPs) are local healthcare professionals already onsite managing the ongoing health of the majority of the community when disaster strikes. They are a medical resource, knowledgeable about the local community context, and remain to share the journey of adaptation and recovery with their local community in the days to years of aftermath. Early observations at commencement of this research demonstrated that whether GPs chose to or not, as local community health professionals they will be involved in some way in any disaster that strikes their community either during, and/or after the event. In most countries, including Australia, GPs are excluded from disaster response systems. The research aim was to identify the role of GPs in disaster health management, and to propose a system of involvement that aligns with: - the epidemiological evidence of disaster healthcare needs relevant to GPs, - the perceptions of GPs and Disaster Managers (DM) experts, and - the current All Hazards All Agencies Prevention-Preparedness-Response-Recovery (PPRR) international framework of disaster management The first study was a systematic literature review utilising PRISMA guidelines to categorise the epidemiology of physical health consequences of disasters relevant to GPs. Following this the thesis reports a series of three qualitative studies employing a constructivist grounded theory approach: two using semi-structured interviews, and one using a focus group, with disaster-experienced GPs and DMs. These studies explored barriers and facilitators to inclusion of GPs and investigated current and future roles. Research findings led to a conceptual representation for future integration of GPs, utilising the PPRR framework. Ultimately the thesis proposes a strategy for integration of GPs into existing disaster health management systems that addresses some of the barriers highlighted by the research, and elucidates the roles of GPs. The researchers sought to synthesise the emerging knowledge and facilitate implementation by key stakeholders with the intention of closing the gap between what is known and what is practiced. Findings were disseminated as per Graham's Knowledge to Action framework. Key outputs were enacted through peer-reviewed journal publications, textbook sections, guidelines for a broad range of practitioners, presentations internationally and nationally, policy revision through professional committee memberships, and advocacy for GP involvement at international, national, and local levels. To manage the challenges of disasters, countries require a resilient healthcare system that maximises capacity of all levels of local health resources, accommodates the surge in demand, and continues to sustain the local health services response in the aftermath. Comprehensive, people-focused coordination & continuity of care has the potential to improve the holistic health outcomes of disaster-affected people. Examination of the evidence from this doctorate suggests clear roles for GPs in disaster healthcare across all phases of disasters, with sustained contributions over the recovery. A knowledge of the temporal epidemiological patterns of health effects provides an opportunity for surveillance for emerging conditions over time, prevention of deterioration of existing conditions, and promotion of patient preparedness for future events, all roles within the usual realm of General Practice healthcare. An important element of GP integration is ongoing research on disaster healthcare needs presenting to GPs to continue to evaluate, justify and support ongoing GP involvement. The future challenge is to change the focus of disaster health management to person-centred healthcare integrated across all levels of usual healthcare, including evidence-based General Practice primary care contributions