A systematic review of crime facilitated by the consumer Internet of Things

The nature of crime is changing — estimates suggest that at least half of all crime is now committed online. Once everyday objects (e.g. televisions, baby monitors, door locks) that are now internet connected, collectively referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT), have the potential to transform society, but this increase in connectivity may generate new crime opportunities. Here, we conducted a systematic review to inform understanding of these risks. We identify a number of high-level mechanisms through which offenders may exploit the consumer IoT including profiling, physical access control and the control of device audio/visual outputs. The types of crimes identified that could be facilitated by the IoT were wide ranging and included burglary, stalking, and sex crimes through to state level crimes including political subjugation. Our review suggests that the IoT presents substantial new opportunities for offending and intervention is needed now to prevent an IoT crime harvest

Maintenance of a high-voltage overhead transmission line: Sustainability and noise impact assessment

Overhead high-voltage lines are a common choice for power transmission, but their planning, installation and management are often challenging tasks because of the surrounding public interest and of their importance as critical infrastructures. This is particularly true in the case of industrial installations requiring a high continuity of service. The working group formed by the University of Brescia (UniBS), the University of Padova (UniPD), and Torino Transmission Operating Area (AOT) of Terna Rete Italia S.p.A. (Terna) has studied an innovative solution featuring a remotely-operated switchgear mounted directly on the trellis holding the conductors. This strategy reduces visual impact, land use and vulnerability of the system to weather adversity, but noise exposure of the population requires appropriate study. This work introduces a new technical solution, discusses its benefits, and assesses the audible noise impact of the improved transmission line, considering the combined effect of switchgear action and corona discharge around the conductors. The sound emission data are fed as input into a sound propagation software enabling evaluating the noise perceived by people living in the neighborhoods. A mitigation solution is proposed and analyzed

Smart Borders or a Humane World?

On January 20, 2021, his first day in office, President Biden issued an executive order pausing the remaining construction of the southern border wall initiated during the Trump administration. Soon after, the White House sent a bill to Congress, the US Citizenship Act of 2021, calling for the deployment of "smart technology" to "manage and secure the southern border."This report delves into the rhetoric of "smart borders" to explore their ties to a broad regime of border policing and exclusion that greatly harms migrants and refugees who either seek or already make their home in the United States. Investment in an approach centered on border and immigrant policing, it argues, is incompatible with the realization of a just and humane world.The report concludes by arguing that we must move beyond a narrow debate limited to "hard" versus "smart" borders toward a discussion of how we can move toward a world where all people have the support needed to lead healthy, secure, and vibrant lives. A just border policy would ask questions such as: How do we help create conditions that allow people to stay in the places they call home, and to thrive wherever they reside? When people do have to move, how can we ensure they are able to do so safely? When we take these questions as our starting point, we realize that it is not enough to fix a "broken" system. Rather, we need to reimagine the system entirely

Comprehensive Survey: Biometric User Authentication Application, Evaluation, and Discussion

This paper conducts an extensive review of biometric user authentication literature, addressing three primary research questions: (1) commonly used biometric traits and their suitability for specific applications, (2) performance factors such as security, convenience, and robustness, and potential countermeasures against cyberattacks, and (3) factors affecting biometric system accuracy and po-tential improvements. Our analysis delves into physiological and behavioral traits, exploring their pros and cons. We discuss factors influencing biometric system effectiveness and highlight areas for enhancement. Our study differs from previous surveys by extensively examining biometric traits, exploring various application domains, and analyzing measures to mitigate cyberattacks. This paper aims to inform researchers and practitioners about the biometric authentication landscape and guide future advancements

SPARC 2018 Internationalisation and collaboration : Salford postgraduate annual research conference book of abstracts

Welcome to the Book of Abstracts for the 2018 SPARC conference. This year we not only celebrate the work of our PGRs but also the launch of our Doctoral School, which makes this year’s conference extra special. Once again we have received a tremendous contribution from our postgraduate research community; with over 100 presenters, the conference truly showcases a vibrant PGR community at Salford. These abstracts provide a taster of the research strengths of their works, and provide delegates with a reference point for networking and initiating critical debate. With such wide-ranging topics being showcased, we encourage you to take up this great opportunity to engage with researchers working in different subject areas from your own. To meet global challenges, high impact research inevitably requires interdisciplinary collaboration. This is recognised by all major research funders. Therefore engaging with the work of others and forging collaborations across subject areas is an essential skill for the next generation of researchers

Hope College Abstracts: 18th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

The 18th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity was held on April 12, 2019 in the Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse at Hope College and featured student-faculty collaborative research projects. This program is a record reflective of those projects between the 2018-2019 academic year