A patient agent controlled customized blockchain based framework for internet of things

Although Blockchain implementations have emerged as revolutionary technologies for various industrial applications including cryptocurrencies, they have not been widely deployed to store data streaming from sensors to remote servers in architectures known as Internet of Things. New Blockchain for the Internet of Things models promise secure solutions for eHealth, smart cities, and other applications. These models pave the way for continuous monitoring of patient’s physiological signs with wearable sensors to augment traditional medical practice without recourse to storing data with a trusted authority. However, existing Blockchain algorithms cannot accommodate the huge volumes, security, and privacy requirements of health data. In this thesis, our first contribution is an End-to-End secure eHealth architecture that introduces an intelligent Patient Centric Agent. The Patient Centric Agent executing on dedicated hardware manages the storage and access of streams of sensors generated health data, into a customized Blockchain and other less secure repositories. As IoT devices cannot host Blockchain technology due to their limited memory, power, and computational resources, the Patient Centric Agent coordinates and communicates with a private customized Blockchain on behalf of the wearable devices. While the adoption of a Patient Centric Agent offers solutions for addressing continuous monitoring of patients’ health, dealing with storage, data privacy and network security issues, the architecture is vulnerable to Denial of Services(DoS) and single point of failure attacks. To address this issue, we advance a second contribution; a decentralised eHealth system in which the Patient Centric Agent is replicated at three levels: Sensing Layer, NEAR Processing Layer and FAR Processing Layer. The functionalities of the Patient Centric Agent are customized to manage the tasks of the three levels. Simulations confirm protection of the architecture against DoS attacks. Few patients require all their health data to be stored in Blockchain repositories but instead need to select an appropriate storage medium for each chunk of data by matching their personal needs and preferences with features of candidate storage mediums. Motivated by this context, we advance third contribution; a recommendation model for health data storage that can accommodate patient preferences and make storage decisions rapidly, in real-time, even with streamed data. The mapping between health data features and characteristics of each repository is learned using machine learning. The Blockchain’s capacity to make transactions and store records without central oversight enables its application for IoT networks outside health such as underwater IoT networks where the unattended nature of the nodes threatens their security and privacy. However, underwater IoT differs from ground IoT as acoustics signals are the communication media leading to high propagation delays, high error rates exacerbated by turbulent water currents. Our fourth contribution is a customized Blockchain leveraged framework with the model of Patient-Centric Agent renamed as Smart Agent for securely monitoring underwater IoT. Finally, the smart Agent has been investigated in developing an IoT smart home or cities monitoring framework. The key algorithms underpinning to each contribution have been implemented and analysed using simulators.Doctor of Philosoph

Power and trust : analysis of the effects of deglobalisation and financial technology in the United Kingdom, United States and European Union

This thesis researched the effects deglobalisation and financial technology are having on the United Kingdom, United States and European Union since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Particular attention is paid to financial services, as it is the industry most closely related to the GFC and is central to the concept of financial technology.It begins by examining the development and dynamics of the globalised economy, defines what deglobalisation is, reviews financial crises predating the GFC and introduces the concept and history of financial technology. Analysis then focuses on the current financial regulatory landscape of the EU, UK and US. It then reviews technological developments that have occurred in the aftermath of the GFC to determine which have the greatest likelihood for adoption by the financial services industry within the next five to ten years and how they are most likely to be implemented. Particular attention is given to blockchain and smart contracts and their potential for business integration.It then assesses financial legislation passed during Trump’s tenure to determine its ramifications. The thesis concludes with analysis of the state of deglobalisation and socioeconomic conditions, especially within the UK as of 2021, the outcome of the finalised Brexit agreement for financial services and how they have affected the UK economy. This is to determine what the consequences of the period of deglobalisation from 2016 to early 2021 have ultimately meant for the US, UK and EU

OTS 2019 Advanced Information Technology and Services

Prispevki, zbrani v zborniku že 24. strokovne konference Sodobne informacijske tehnologije in storitve, naslavljajo izjemno aktualne izzive, s katerimi se informatiki, programski inženirji, računalničarji, podatkovni znanstveniki, arhitekti, razvijalci ter upravljalci informacijskih rešitev in storitev srečujemo pri svojem vsakdanjem delu. Avtorji predstavljajo inovativne rešitve in skozi konkretne projekte pridobljene izkušnje s/z: vpeljavo tehnologij strojnega učenja in obogatene inteligence, uporabo tehnologij in platform veriženja blokov, razvojem šibko sklopljenih mikrostoritev, popolno virtualizacijo in izkoriščanjem porazdeljenih infrastruktur, zagotavljanjem kibernetske varnosti, zaupnosti in zasebnosti, skaliranjem agilnih metod v porazdeljenih projektnih skupinah, vpeljavo agilnih pristopov v sklopu avtomatiziranih in neprekinjenih procesov razvoja, testiranja, integracije in dostave, posodobitvijo in nadgradnjo obstoječih informacijskih sistemov, razvojem uporabniško prijaznih spletnih in mobilnih rešitev in uvajanjem sodobnih programskih jezikov in razvojnih okolij.The papers in the proceedings of the 24th Professional Conference on Advanced Information Technology and Services address the extremely topical challenges that we (IS/IT experts, Software Engineers, Computer Scientists, Data Scientists, software and solution architects, developers, IT managers, etc.) encounter in our daily work. The authors present the innovative solutions and rich experience gained by conducting real-life projects: Applying Augmented Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies, Using Blockchain technologies and platforms, Developing loosely coupled micro-services, Providing full virtualization and exploitation of distributed infrastructures, Ensuring cybersecurity, confidentiality and privacy, Applying large-scale agile methods in distributed teams, Introducing agile approaches that enable the rapid and efficient software development via automated processes, and continuous testing, integration, delivery & deployment Updating and upgrading existing Information Systems, Incorporating advanced programming languages and development environments, Developing user-friendly web and mobile solutions & services

Internet of Things From Hype to Reality

The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained significant mindshare, let alone attention, in academia and the industry especially over the past few years. The reasons behind this interest are the potential capabilities that IoT promises to offer. On the personal level, it paints a picture of a future world where all the things in our ambient environment are connected to the Internet and seamlessly communicate with each other to operate intelligently. The ultimate goal is to enable objects around us to efficiently sense our surroundings, inexpensively communicate, and ultimately create a better environment for us: one where everyday objects act based on what we need and like without explicit instructions

The Authority of Distributed Consensus Systems Trust, Governance, and Normative Perspectives on Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers

The subjects of this dissertation are distributed consensus systems (DCS). These systems gained prominence with the implementation of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. This work aims at understanding the drivers and motives behind the adoption of this class of technologies, and to – consequently – evaluate the social and normative implications of blockchains and distributed ledgers. To do so, a phenomenological account of the field of distributed consensus systems is offered, then the core claims for the adoption of systems are taken into consideration. Accordingly, the relevance of these technologies on trust and governance is examined. It will be argued that the effects on these two elements do not justify the adoption of distributed consensus systems satisfactorily. Against this backdrop, it will be held that blockchains and similar technologies are being adopted because they are regarded as having a valid claim to authority as specified by Max Weber, i.e., herrschaft. Consequently, it will be discussed whether current implementations fall – and to what extent – within the legitimate types of traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal authority. The conclusion is that the conceptualization developed by Weber does not capture the core ideas that appear to establish the belief in the legitimacy of distributed consensus systems. Therefore, this dissertation describes the herrschaft of systems such as blockchains by conceptualizing a computational extension of the pure type of rational-legal authority, qualified as algorithmic authority. The foundational elements of algorithmic authority are then discussed. Particular attention is focused on the idea of normativity cultivated in systems of algorithmic rules as well as the concept of decentralization. Practical suggestions conclude the following dissertation

High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications

This open access book was prepared as a Final Publication of the COST Action IC1406 “High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications (cHiPSet)“ project. Long considered important pillars of the scientific method, Modelling and Simulation have evolved from traditional discrete numerical methods to complex data-intensive continuous analytical optimisations. Resolution, scale, and accuracy have become essential to predict and analyse natural and complex systems in science and engineering. When their level of abstraction raises to have a better discernment of the domain at hand, their representation gets increasingly demanding for computational and data resources. On the other hand, High Performance Computing typically entails the effective use of parallel and distributed processing units coupled with efficient storage, communication and visualisation systems to underpin complex data-intensive applications in distinct scientific and technical domains. It is then arguably required to have a seamless interaction of High Performance Computing with Modelling and Simulation in order to store, compute, analyse, and visualise large data sets in science and engineering. Funded by the European Commission, cHiPSet has provided a dynamic trans-European forum for their members and distinguished guests to openly discuss novel perspectives and topics of interests for these two communities. This cHiPSet compendium presents a set of selected case studies related to healthcare, biological data, computational advertising, multimedia, finance, bioinformatics, and telecommunications

Computational Resource Abuse in Web Applications

Internet browsers include Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to support Web applications that require complex functionality, e.g., to let end users watch videos, make phone calls, and play video games. Meanwhile, many Web applications employ the browser APIs to rely on the user's hardware to execute intensive computation, access the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), use persistent storage, and establish network connections. However, providing access to the system's computational resources, i.e., processing, storage, and networking, through the browser creates an opportunity for attackers to abuse resources. Principally, the problem occurs when an attacker compromises a Web site and includes malicious code to abuse its visitor's computational resources. For example, an attacker can abuse the user's system networking capabilities to perform a Denial of Service (DoS) attack against third parties. What is more, computational resource abuse has not received widespread attention from the Web security community because most of the current specifications are focused on content and session properties such as isolation, confidentiality, and integrity. Our primary goal is to study computational resource abuse and to advance the state of the art by providing a general attacker model, multiple case studies, a thorough analysis of available security mechanisms, and a new detection mechanism. To this end, we implemented and evaluated three scenarios where attackers use multiple browser APIs to abuse networking, local storage, and computation. Further, depending on the scenario, an attacker can use browsers to perform Denial of Service against third-party Web sites, create a network of browsers to store and distribute arbitrary data, or use browsers to establish anonymous connections similarly to The Onion Router (Tor). Our analysis also includes a real-life resource abuse case found in the wild, i.e., CryptoJacking, where thousands of Web sites forced their visitors to perform crypto-currency mining without their consent. In the general case, attacks presented in this thesis share the attacker model and two key characteristics: 1) the browser's end user remains oblivious to the attack, and 2) an attacker has to invest little resources in comparison to the resources he obtains. In addition to the attack's analysis, we present how existing, and upcoming, security enforcement mechanisms from Web security can hinder an attacker and their drawbacks. Moreover, we propose a novel detection approach based on browser API usage patterns. Finally, we evaluate the accuracy of our detection model, after training it with the real-life crypto-mining scenario, through a large scale analysis of the most popular Web sites

Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Managing Digital Industry, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CoMDITE 2021)

This conference proceeding provides the compilation of all papers presented during the 2nd Conference on Managing Digital Industry, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CoMDITE 2021) on 7th and 8th April 2021. This year, CoMDITE is held virtually with participations from local and international participants. The theme is Business Sustainability Through Digital Transformation. CoMDITE 2021 is mainly aimed to serve as a sharing platform that enables researchers, academics and practitioners to share the best practices, which have been produced through research, as well as to potentially propose the best strategy in utilizing digital transformation for business sustainability. All papers are presented according to the following seven tracks - (i) Big Data Analytics for Business, (ii) Digital Innovative and Education, (iii) Digital Marketing, (iv) Digital Talent for Management, (v) Digital Technology for Business, (vi) Entrepreneurship and (vii) Strategic Management and Ecosystem Business