Creation and detection of hardware trojans using non-invasive off-the-shelf technologies

As a result of the globalisation of the semiconductor design and fabrication processes, integrated circuits are becoming increasingly vulnerable to malicious attacks. The most concerning threats are hardware trojans. A hardware trojan is a malicious inclusion or alteration to the existing design of an integrated circuit, with the possible effects ranging from leakage of sensitive information to the complete destruction of the integrated circuit itself. While the majority of existing detection schemes focus on test-time, they all require expensive methodologies to detect hardware trojans. Off-the-shelf approaches have often been overlooked due to limited hardware resources and detection accuracy. With the advances in technologies and the democratisation of open-source hardware, however, these tools enable the detection of hardware trojans at reduced costs during or after production. In this manuscript, a hardware trojan is created and emulated on a consumer FPGA board. The experiments to detect the trojan in a dormant and active state are made using off-the-shelf technologies taking advantage of different techniques such as Power Analysis Reports, Side Channel Analysis and Thermal Measurements. Furthermore, multiple attempts to detect the trojan are demonstrated and benchmarked. Our simulations result in a state-of-the-art methodology to accurately detect the trojan in both dormant and active states using off-the-shelf hardware

Platycorypha nigrivirga Burckhardt (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Psylloidea), tipu psyllid, new to North America

The tipu psyllid, Platycorypha nigrivirga Burckhardt (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Psylloidea), is reported for the first time in North America (USA: California). Diagnostic characters for identification of adults and nymphs, host and damage data, and known distribution are given

Planning for Complementarity: An Examination of the Roll and Opportunities of First-Tier and Second-Tier Cities Along the High-Speed Rail Network in California, Research Report 11-17

The coming of California High-Speed Rail (HSR) offers opportunities for positive urban transformations in both first-tier and second-tier cities. The research in this report explores the different but complementary roles that first-tier and second-tier cities along the HSR network can play in making California more sustainable and less dependent on fossil fuels while reducing mobile sources of greenhouse gas emissions and congestion at airports and on the state’s roadways. Drawing from case studies of cities in Northern and Southern California, the study develops recommendations for the planning, design, and programming of areas around California stations for the formation of transit-supportive density nodes

Smart cards: State-of-the-art to future directions

The evolution of smart card technology provides an interesting case study of the relationship and interactions between security and business requirements. This paper maps out the milestones for smart card technology, discussing at each step the opportunities and challenges. The paper reviews recently proposed innovative ownership/management models and the security challenges associated with them. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible future directions for the technology, and the challenges these present

Center of Excellence in Livestock Diseases and Human Health Annual Report

The center was created in 1984 to promote interdisciplinary activities designed to improve the quality of human life through better animal health; expand livestock disease research capabilities in the College of Veterinary Medicine (UTCVM) and the Institute of Agriculture; identify and characterize animal diseases that are similar to human disease; and develop new strategies for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Since 1984, the center has developed successful programs that affect the understanding, treatment, and prevention of livestock and human diseases. These programs predominately focus on molecular and cellular approaches to research in infectious diseases, toxicology, host defense, molecular genetics, and carcinogenesis

Establishment Failure in Biological Invasions: A Case History of Littorina littorea in California, USA

The early stages of biological invasions are rarely observed, but can provide significant insight into the invasion process as well as the influence vectors have on invasion success or failure.We characterized three newly discovered populations of an introduced gastropod, Littorina littorea (Linné, 1758), in California, USA, comparing them to potential source populations in native Europe and the North American East Coast, where the snail is also introduced. Demographic surveys were used to assess spatial distribution and sizes of the snail in San Francisco and Anaheim Bays, California. Mitochondrial DNA was sequenced and compared among these nascent populations, and various populations from the North American East Coast and Europe, to characterize the California populations and ascertain their likely source. Demographic and genetic data were considered together to deduce likely vectors for the California populations. We found that the three large California L. littorea populations contained only adult snails and had unexpectedly high genetic diversity rather than showing an extreme bottleneck as typically expected in recent introductions. Haplotype diversity in Californian populations was significantly reduced compared to European populations, but not compared to East Coast populations. Genetic analyses clearly suggested the East Coast as the source region for the California introductions.The California L. littorea populations were at an early, non-established phase of invasion with no evidence of recruitment. The live seafood trade is the most likely invasion vector for these populations, as it preferentially transports large numbers of adult L. littorea, matching the demographic structure of the introduced California L. littorea populations. Our results highlight continued operation of live seafood trade vectors and the influence of vectors on the demographic and genetic structure of the resulting populations, especially early stages of the invasion process

Spatiotemporal Patterns and Predictability of Cyberattacks

Y.C.L. was supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) under grant no. FA9550-10-1-0083 and Army Research Office (ARO) under grant no. W911NF-14-1-0504. S.X. was supported by Army Research Office (ARO) under grant no. W911NF-13-1-0141. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Improving I/O performance through an in-kernel disk simulator

This paper presents two mechanisms that can significantly improve the I/O performance of both hard and solid-state drives for read operations: KDSim and REDCAP. KDSim is an in-kernel disk simulator that provides a framework for simultaneously simulating the performance obtained by different I/O system mechanisms and algorithms, and for dynamically turning them on and off, or selecting between different options or policies, to improve the overall system performance. REDCAP is a RAM-based disk cache that effectively enlarges the built-in cache present in disk drives. By using KDSim, this cache is dynamically activated/deactivated according to the throughput achieved. Results show that, by using KDSim and REDCAP together, a system can improve its I/O performance up to 88% for workloads with some spatial locality on both hard and solid-state drives, while it achieves the same performance as a ‘regular system’ for workloads with random or sequential access patterns.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Otolith microchemistry reveals low habitat connectivity of California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) across a range of spatial scales

As wetlands face continued fragmentation worldwide, an understanding of habitat connectivity and how fishes that rely on these environments is imperative to conduct effective marine management. Site fidelity and habitat connectivity are vital measures of the interdependence of fish populations living in neighboring marshes (or in regions of a single marsh). Here, we examine the habitat connectivity, site fidelity, and movement of California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) within and among three estuaries in Southern California through otolith microelemental analysis. Assessing the site fidelity of estuarine fishes is important to determine the level of connectivity between spatially distinct populations within a bay and between adjacent bays. Otolith microchemical analysis of F. parvipinnis successfully distinguished capture locations from as close as 2.89 km apart to as far as 184 km apart in San Diego Bay, Mission Bay, and Anaheim Bay. We found no relationship between distance among sites and our ability to distinguish them. Our results suggest populations of F. parvipinnis in Southern California have high site fidelity with low levels of population connectivity on both small and large spatial scales. Specifically, Pairwise Permutational MANOVA (PERMANOVA) found 43/45 pairwise comparisons were statistically significant. Discriminant function analysis of otolith trace metal concentrations correctly classified, on average, 63.5% of F. parvipinnis to their collection site (DFA range: 20−100%). When comparing intra−bay sites separately, the DFA classification success rate improved to an average of 79.9%. DFA classification success rates were 77.9%, 85%, and 76.7% in Mission Bay, San Diego Bay and Anaheim Bay, respectively. As such, F. parvipinnis do not appear to move between marshes, even those that are only 5 km apart. This study is the first to analyze the site fidelity of F. parvipinnis within and among these three estuaries, the first to study the otolith microchemistry of F. parvipinnis in Southern California, and one of the few to investigate the power of otolith microchemistry on such a small spatial scale (less than tens of kilometers) in Southern California. Fundulus parvipinnis are an ecologically important species in Southern California wetlands, thus quantifying their habitat connectivity has implications for interactions with predators and prey, and expands the knowledge base for mitigation and restoration projects of marshes worldwide. Low habitat connectivity on both small and large spatial scales makes F. parvipinnis a potentially sensitive indicator species to elucidate the impacts of wetland fragmentation on species conservation