145,559 research outputs found
Formal Requirements-Based Programming for Complex Systems
Computer science as a field has not yet produced a general method to mechanically transform complex computer system requirements into a provably equivalent implementation. Such a method would be one major step towards dealing with complexity in computing, yet it remains the elusive holy grail of system development. Currently available tools and methods that start with a formal model of a system and mechanically produce a provably equivalent implementation are valuable but not sufficient. The gap that such tools and methods leave unfilled is that the formal models cannot be proven to be equivalent to the system requirements as originated by the customer For the classes of complex systems whose behavior can be described as a finite (but significant) set of scenarios, we offer a method for mechanically transforming requirements (expressed in restricted natural language, or appropriate graphical notations) into a provably equivalent formal model that can be used as the basis for code generation and other transformations. While other techniques are available, this method is unique in offering full mathematical tractability while using notations and techniques that are well known and well trusted. We illustrate the application of the method to an example procedure from the Hubble Robotic Servicing Mission currently under study and preliminary formulation at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Using quantum key distribution for cryptographic purposes: a survey
The appealing feature of quantum key distribution (QKD), from a cryptographic
viewpoint, is the ability to prove the information-theoretic security (ITS) of
the established keys. As a key establishment primitive, QKD however does not
provide a standalone security service in its own: the secret keys established
by QKD are in general then used by a subsequent cryptographic applications for
which the requirements, the context of use and the security properties can
vary. It is therefore important, in the perspective of integrating QKD in
security infrastructures, to analyze how QKD can be combined with other
cryptographic primitives. The purpose of this survey article, which is mostly
centered on European research results, is to contribute to such an analysis. We
first review and compare the properties of the existing key establishment
techniques, QKD being one of them. We then study more specifically two generic
scenarios related to the practical use of QKD in cryptographic infrastructures:
1) using QKD as a key renewal technique for a symmetric cipher over a
point-to-point link; 2) using QKD in a network containing many users with the
objective of offering any-to-any key establishment service. We discuss the
constraints as well as the potential interest of using QKD in these contexts.
We finally give an overview of challenges relative to the development of QKD
technology that also constitute potential avenues for cryptographic research.Comment: Revised version of the SECOQC White Paper. Published in the special
issue on QKD of TCS, Theoretical Computer Science (2014), pp. 62-8
SensorCloud: Towards the Interdisciplinary Development of a Trustworthy Platform for Globally Interconnected Sensors and Actuators
Although Cloud Computing promises to lower IT costs and increase users'
productivity in everyday life, the unattractive aspect of this new technology
is that the user no longer owns all the devices which process personal data. To
lower scepticism, the project SensorCloud investigates techniques to understand
and compensate these adoption barriers in a scenario consisting of cloud
applications that utilize sensors and actuators placed in private places. This
work provides an interdisciplinary overview of the social and technical core
research challenges for the trustworthy integration of sensor and actuator
devices with the Cloud Computing paradigm. Most importantly, these challenges
include i) ease of development, ii) security and privacy, and iii) social
dimensions of a cloud-based system which integrates into private life. When
these challenges are tackled in the development of future cloud systems, the
attractiveness of new use cases in a sensor-enabled world will considerably be
increased for users who currently do not trust the Cloud.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, published as technical report of the Department
of Computer Science of RWTH Aachen Universit
Towards FollowMe User Profiles for Macro Intelligent Environments
We envision an Ambient Intelligent Environment as an environment with technology embedded within the framework of that environment to help enhance an users experience in that environment. Existing implementations , while working effectively, are themselves an expensive and time consuming investment. Applying the same expertise to an environment on a monolithic scale is very inefficient, and thus, will require a different approach. In this paper, we present this problem, propose theoretical solutions that would solve this problem, with the guise of experimentally verifying and comparing these approaches, as well as a formal method to model the entire scenario
Device-Based Isolation for Securing Cryptographic Keys
In this work, we describe an eective device-based isolation
approach for achieving data security. Device-based isolation
leverages the proliferation of personal computing devices to
provide strong run-time guarantees for the condentiality of
secrets. To demonstrate our isolation approach, we show its
use in protecting the secrecy of highly sensitive data that
is crucial to security operations, such as cryptographic keys
used for decrypting ciphertext or signing digital signatures.
Private key is usually encrypted when not used, however,
when being used, the plaintext key is loaded into the memory
of the host for access. In our threat model, the host may
be compromised by attackers, and thus the condentiality of
the host memory cannot be preserved. We present a novel
and practical solution and its prototype called DataGuard to
protect the secrecy of the highly sensitive data through the
storage isolation and secure tunneling enabled by a mobile
handheld device. DataGuard can be deployed for the key
protection of individuals or organizations
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