FAIR: Forwarding Accountability for Internet Reputability

This paper presents FAIR, a forwarding accountability mechanism that incentivizes ISPs to apply stricter security policies to their customers. The Autonomous System (AS) of the receiver specifies a traffic profile that the sender AS must adhere to. Transit ASes on the path mark packets. In case of traffic profile violations, the marked packets are used as a proof of misbehavior. FAIR introduces low bandwidth overhead and requires no per-packet and no per-flow state for forwarding. We describe integration with IP and demonstrate a software switch running on commodity hardware that can switch packets at a line rate of 120 Gbps, and can forward 140M minimum-sized packets per second, limited by the hardware I/O subsystem. Moreover, this paper proposes a "suspicious bit" for packet headers - an application that builds on top of FAIR's proofs of misbehavior and flags packets to warn other entities in the network.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure

The Applications of Blockchain To Cybersecurity

A blockchain is a decentralized public ledger facilitating secure transactions between untrusted network nodes. It has garnered significant recognition for its pivotal role in cryptocurrency systems, where it ensures secure and decentralized transaction records. Over the past decade, blockchain has attracted considerable attention from various industries, as it holds the potential to revolutionize multiple sectors, including cybersecurity. However, this field of study is relatively new, and numerous questions remain unanswered regarding the effectiveness of blockchain in cybersecurity. This research adopted a qualitative research design to investigate the current implementations of blockchain-based security and their applicability in the current cybersecurity context. Additionally, this work explored the mechanisms employed by blockchain to uphold the security triad. Findings indicate that blockchain exhibits substantial potential in addressing existing challenges in cybersecurity, particularly those related to the Internet of Things, data integrity and ownership, and network security. Nonetheless, widespread adoption faces limitations due to technological immaturity, high-cost complexity, and regulatory hurdles. Therefore, utilizing blockchain-based solutions in cybersecurity necessitates a thorough analysis of their applicability to an organization\u27s specific needs, a clear definition of implementation goals, and careful navigation of challenges

The Visibility of (In)security: The Aesthetics of Planning Urban Defences Against Terrorism

Urban defences against terrorism have traditionally been based on territorial interventions that sought to seal off and surveil certain public and private spaces considered targets. Lately, though, a much wider range of crowded and public spaces have been viewed as potential targets and thus have been identified as requiring additional security. This has immense implications for the experience of the ‘everyday’ urban landscape. Drawing on contemporary notions that incorporate the study of aesthetics and emotions within critical security and terrorism studies, this article discusses the visual impact of counter-terrorism security measures. It analyses the ‘transmission’ of symbolic messages, as well as the variety of ways in which security might be ‘received’ by various stakeholders. The analysis takes place against the backdrop of concern that obtrusive security measures have the capacity to radically alter public experiences of space and in some cases lead to (intended and unintended) exclusionary practices or a range of negative emotional responses. The article concludes by outlining a ‘spectrum of visible security’ ranging between traditional obtrusive fortified approaches and approaches that embed security features seamlessly or even ‘invisibly’ into the urban fabric

Security and the smart city: A systematic review

The implementation of smart technology in cities is often hailed as the solution to many urban challenges such as transportation, waste management, and environmental protection. Issues of security and crime prevention, however, are in many cases neglected. Moreover, when researchers do introduce new smart security technologies, they rarely discuss their implementation or question how new smart city security might affect traditional policing and urban planning processes. This systematic review explores the recent literature concerned with new ‘smart city’ security technologies and aims to investigate to what extent these new interventions correspond with traditional functions of security interventions. Through an extensive literature search we compiled a list of security interventions for smart cities and suggest several changes to the conceptual status quo in the field. Ultimately, we propose three clear categories to categorise security interventions in smart cities: Those interventions that use new sensors but traditional actuators, those that seek to make old systems smart, and those that introduce entirely new functions. These themes are then discussed in detail and the importance of each group of interventions for the overall field of urban security and governance is assessed

TENTATIVE SECURITIES: 26/11, ISRAEL AND THE POLITICS OF MOBILITY

This dissertation examines the global mobility of security knowhow in relation to the management of terrorism in megacities. Specifically, it offers three insights. First, it shows how historical events are performed as sites in need of transnational policy intervention. Second, it enables an understanding of how and why the sourcing of policy ‘models’ actually takes place. Third, it sheds light on how mobile policy schemes travel geographically and are put to work in particular contexts. In doing so, it elaborates on the conditions under which policies move geographically but also addresses the kinds of constraints and contradictions they face. The dissertation develops two closely related theses. The first has to do with how policy models are constructed as mobile objects while the second highlights the kinds of pressures and conflicts that such models are used to resolve. Regarding the construction of policy models, Israel’s status as a global policy exemplar should not be understood as a closed professional consensus or incontrovertible fact that exists independently ‘out there’. Rather it is a deeply ideological construct, emerging from processes of geographic interaction. Israel’s claim to expertise in security knowledge needs to be constantly re- articulated. Indeed, the Israeli involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks (26/11) reveals a basic tension. On the one hand, the Israeli officials’ prerogatives to comment on the handling of 26/11 reflects Israel’s dominant position on matters of counter-terrorism and homeland security (HLS). On the other hand, the extensive efforts of Israeli officials to situate Israeli security expertise as a ‘solution’ also reveals that the relationship between 26/11 and the ‘Israeli experience’ of fighting terrorism was not, in fact, obvious or natural. This link had to be actively made. Indeed, the event’s status as a failure of governance in need of urgent policy intervention emerged through Israeli criticisms of Indian security authorities and comparisons to their own alleged success in managing live terror attacks. The second component of my thesis is that the Mumbai authorities’ decision to take up Israeli security ‘solutions’ must be situated in relation to local public pressures and conflicts to which 26/11 gave rise. The reason why Maharashtra politicians decided to learn from Israel in 2009 was not because they suddenly woke up to the reality of global terrorism and realized that ‘securing’ Mumbai against this threat would require a set of technical skills that they lacked. Rather it was because they believed that an association with Israel would be helpful in managing public dissent and restoring their authority to govern. What ‘learning from Israel’ offered was not a set of concrete policy prescriptions for how to manage terrorism but rather an image of progress and success

September 17, 2001

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia

METROPOLITAN BATTLEFIELDS: URBAN TOPOGRAPHY AND THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNANCE IN BAGHDAD

Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, challenges to the US-led reconstruction escalated into a complex conflict over control of the capital city of Baghdad. The Battle for Baghdad involved military combat, mass-casualty terrorism, extreme criminality, and communal strife, as well as welfare provision, civic outreach, economic development, and local politics. State and nonstate actors used bullets, bombs, and their ability to control the provision and denial of city services to residents in their attempts to achieve a range of strategic aims. During this battle, the city provided both the location for the conflict and the means to wage it – an arena and an arsenal. This study constructs a theoretical framework for analyzing both the spatial and instrumental aspects of urban environments during conflict, demonstrating how governance operates across networks of physical installations and political institutions. Exploiting vulnerabilities to governance systems, combatants pursue organizational aims, compete against rivals, and challenge state authority. The trajectory of the Battle for Baghdad was shaped by dynamic relationships among its belligerents and a complex urban topography of territorial, demographic, and infrastructural features. A three-part analysis of the Battle for Baghdad evaluates how the reconstruction policies of the US-led Coalition converged with the insurgencies of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM) to produce a complex conflict in which these combatants weaponized governance to assert control over Baghdad’s urban topography. Evaluation of combatant tactics produces a typology for categorizing efforts as catastrophic or concentrated denial, and legitimate, illicit, or alternative provision of services. Reflecting new approaches to the analysis of urban environments and political violence, this study aims to build bridges between those who understand cities and those who understand conflict. Concluding with recommendations for future research, this study aims to inform discussions on order, conflict, and violence, by highlighting how systems of urban infrastructure influence complex conflict on a metropolitan battlefield

Six Post-9/11 American War Films: Towards an Evolution of Nontraditional Masculine Constructs

abstract: Scholars argue that masculinity and war are united because masculinity is best observed through male-dominated arenas, such as the military. Moreover, film can serve as a medium to not only establish what is socially acceptable, but play an active role in the creation of one’s identity. Filmmakers past and present have employed the motif of masculinity in their war films, which put it at the center of the social structure and creates an overall acceptable cultural ideology. These filmmakers have established the overall rules, themes, and methods used as part of the war film genre. These rules, themes, and methods served well for pre-1970 American war cinema, when women were not allowed in the military as soldiers. However, as of 2003, female soldiers have grown to comprise twenty percent of the active soldiers and officers in the military. Studies on masculinity construction are well documented in World War II, Vietnam, and Gulf War-era combat films; however, little has been studied on post-9/11 American war films involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Using literature on masculinity constructs, both inside and outside of film, as well as social construction theory, identity theory, genre theory, and auteur theory, this dissertation textually examines masculinity construction in six post-9/11 American war films. This dissertation finds that the contemporary war genre continues to construct masculinity similar to past eras of war film. Comradery, the warrior image, not showing emotion, having a violent demeanor, and the demonization of women and cowardice were all prevalent in one or more of the films analyzed in this study. However, there were many nontraditional masculine ideals that were implemented, such as women being present and taking an active role as soldiers, as well as women being portrayed in the warrior image. The films analyzed demonstrate that the war film genre is still depicting and therefore socially constructing masculinity in a way that was prevalent in pre-1970 war films. However, the genre is evolving and nontraditional masculinity constructs are starting to present themselves.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Journalism and Mass Communication 201

Qualitative Inquiry of Resilience in Veterans Transitioning to Civilian Life

This qualitative phenomenological research focused on the resilience of 10 veterans transitioning back to civilian life. An increase in suicide rates among veterans over the last 10 years has become a major concern for the U.S. Congress and Department of Defense (DoD). The theoretical frameworks guiding the study are Durkheim’s suicide theory, Lindenberg and Frey’s social production function theory, and Diener’s deindividuation theory. Many veterans have no self-awareness of their need for psychological and transitional assistance, leaving them vulnerable during a time of potentially increased and unfamiliar stress. Understanding the need for effective psychological adjustment and resilience in military members and veterans is an important part of maintaining wellbeing and of suicide prevention. The research questions guiding this study examined the lived experiences of veterans transitioning from military to civilian life and benefits and challenges some veterans have when transitioning back to civilian life. Interviews were conducted with 10 African American veterans. Findings from veterans stressed the importance of having transitional assistance and personal support during transition from military to civilian life for successful coping and maneuvering through challenges of a different culture and lifestyle. The results from this study may advance knowledge for developing effective programs and interventions to increase resilience and decrease suicide in veterans transitioning out of the military to civilian life