1,378 research outputs found

    Quantifiable integrity for Linked Data on the web

    Get PDF
    We present an approach to publish Linked Data on the Web with quantifiable integrity using Web technologies, and in which rational agents are incentivised to contribute to the integrity of the link network. To this end, we introduce self-verifying resource representations, that include Linked Data Signatures whose signature value is used as a suffix in the resource’s URI. Links among such representations, typically managed as web documents, contribute therefore to preserving the integrity of the resulting document graphs. To quantify how well a document’s integrity can be relied on, we introduce the notion of trust scores and present an interpretation based on hubs and authorities. In addition, we present how specific agent behaviour may be induced by the choice of trust score regarding their optimisation, e.g., in general but also using a heuristic strategy called Additional Reach Strategy (ARS). We discuss our approach in a three-fold evaluation: First, we evaluate the effect of different graph metrics as trust scores on induced agent behaviour and resulting evolution of the document graph. We show that trust scores based on hubs and authorities induce agent behaviour that contributes to integrity preservation in the document graph. Next, we evaluate different heuristics for agents to optimise trust scores when general optimisation strategies are not applicable. We show that ARS outperforms other potential optimisation strategies. Last, we evaluate the whole approach by examining the resilience of integrity preservation in a document graph when resources are deleted. To this end, we propose a simulation system based on the Watts–Strogatz model for simulating a social network. We show that our approach produces a document graph that can recover from such attacks or failures in the document graph

    Multidisciplinary perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and the law

    Get PDF
    This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics – and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the Católica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

    Get PDF
    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum

    UMSL Bulletin 2022-2023

    Get PDF
    The 2022-2023 Bulletin and Course Catalog for the University of Missouri St. Louis.https://irl.umsl.edu/bulletin/1087/thumbnail.jp

    Implementation of AES-256 Algorithm in Android-Based E-Voting Data Security

    Get PDF
    E-voting is a method of voting and vote counting in general elections using digital devices. There are still many errors and fraud that occur during village head elections in Indonesia. Then the idea was created to carry out village head elections by utilizing existing technological developments, especially Android-based smartphone technology. The data source used in this study is secondary data which uses population data of citizens who will exercise their right to vote, vote data for citizens' voting rights, and data from the results of vote acquisition during the village head election process. In this study, a number of important data were needed in the village head election process which was carried out using documentation techniques. This research produced an Android-based application system for securing e-voting data for village head elections using the AES-256 cryptographic algorithm called Vodes. The application produced in this study was built using the Kotlin programming language on the Android frontend side by utilizing the Android Studio IDE as a tool in the development process. While on the backend side it uses the Javascript programming language using the Node js framework. The database used in the Vodes application uses MySQL. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that an e-voting data security application for village head elections has been created using the AES-256 cryptographic algorithm. The application produced in this study has succeeded in properly securing all aspects of the data in the village head election processE-voting adalah metode pemungutan dan penghitungan suara dalam pemilihan umum dengan menggunakan perangkat digital. Masih banyak kesalahan dan kecurangan yang terjadi pada pemilihan kepala desa di Indonesia. Maka terciptalah ide untuk melaksanakan pemilihan kepala desa dengan memanfaatkan perkembangan teknologi yang ada khususnya teknologi smartphone berbasis android. Sumber data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah data sekunder yang menggunakan data kependudukan warga yang akan menggunakan hak pilihnya, data suara untuk hak pilih warga, dan data hasil perolehan suara selama proses pemilihan kepala desa. Dalam penelitian ini dibutuhkan beberapa data penting dalam proses pemilihan kepala desa yang dilakukan dengan menggunakan teknik dokumentasi. Penelitian ini menghasilkan sistem aplikasi berbasis Android untuk pengamanan data e-voting pemilihan kepala desa dengan menggunakan algoritma kriptografi AES-256 yang disebut Vodes. Aplikasi yang dihasilkan pada penelitian ini dibangun menggunakan bahasa pemrograman Kotlin pada sisi frontend Android dengan memanfaatkan IDE Android Studio sebagai alat bantu dalam proses pengembangan. Sedangkan pada sisi backend menggunakan bahasa pemrograman Javascript dengan menggunakan framework Node js. Database yang digunakan pada aplikasi Vodes menggunakan MySQL. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa telah dibuat sebuah aplikasi keamanan data e-voting pemilihan kepala desa dengan menggunakan algoritma kriptografi AES-256. Aplikasi yang dihasilkan dalam penelitian ini telah berhasi

    Cybersecurity applications of Blockchain technologies

    Get PDF
    With the increase in connectivity, the popularization of cloud services, and the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), decentralized approaches for trust management are gaining momentum. Since blockchain technologies provide a distributed ledger, they are receiving massive attention from the research community in different application fields. However, this technology does not provide cybersecurity by itself. Thus, this thesis first aims to provide a comprehensive review of techniques and elements that have been proposed to achieve cybersecurity in blockchain-based systems. The analysis is intended to target area researchers, cybersecurity specialists and blockchain developers. We present a series of lessons learned as well. One of them is the rise of Ethereum as one of the most used technologies. Furthermore, some intrinsic characteristics of the blockchain, like permanent availability and immutability made it interesting for other ends, namely as covert channels and malicious purposes. On the one hand, the use of blockchains by malwares has not been characterized yet. Therefore, this thesis also analyzes the current state of the art in this area. One of the lessons learned is that covert communications have received little attention. On the other hand, although previous works have analyzed the feasibility of covert channels in a particular blockchain technology called Bitcoin, no previous work has explored the use of Ethereum to establish a covert channel considering all transaction fields and smart contracts. To foster further defence-oriented research, two novel mechanisms are presented on this thesis. First, Zephyrus takes advantage of all Ethereum fields and smartcontract bytecode. Second, Smart-Zephyrus is built to complement Zephyrus by leveraging smart contracts written in Solidity. We also assess the mechanisms feasibility and cost. Our experiments show that Zephyrus, in the best case, can embed 40 Kbits in 0.57 s. for US1.64,andretrievethemin2.8s.Smart−Zephyrus,however,isabletohidea4Kbsecretin41s.Whilebeingexpensive(aroundUS 1.64, and retrieve them in 2.8 s. Smart-Zephyrus, however, is able to hide a 4 Kb secret in 41 s. While being expensive (around US 1.82 per bit), the provided stealthiness might be worth the price for attackers. Furthermore, these two mechanisms can be combined to increase capacity and reduce costs.Debido al aumento de la conectividad, la popularización de los servicios en la nube y el auge del Internet de las cosas (IoT), los enfoques descentralizados para la gestión de la confianza están cobrando impulso. Dado que las tecnologías de cadena de bloques (blockchain) proporcionan un archivo distribuido, están recibiendo una atención masiva por parte de la comunidad investigadora en diferentes campos de aplicación. Sin embargo, esta tecnología no proporciona ciberseguridad por sí misma. Por lo tanto, esta tesis tiene como primer objetivo proporcionar una revisión exhaustiva de las técnicas y elementos que se han propuesto para lograr la ciberseguridad en los sistemas basados en blockchain. Este análisis está dirigido a investigadores del área, especialistas en ciberseguridad y desarrolladores de blockchain. A su vez, se presentan una serie de lecciones aprendidas, siendo una de ellas el auge de Ethereum como una de las tecnologías más utilizadas. Asimismo, algunas características intrínsecas de la blockchain, como la disponibilidad permanente y la inmutabilidad, la hacen interesante para otros fines, concretamente como canal encubierto y con fines maliciosos. Por una parte, aún no se ha caracterizado el uso de la blockchain por parte de malwares. Por ello, esta tesis también analiza el actual estado del arte en este ámbito. Una de las lecciones aprendidas al analizar los datos es que las comunicaciones encubiertas han recibido poca atención. Por otro lado, aunque trabajos anteriores han analizado la viabilidad de los canales encubiertos en una tecnología blockchain concreta llamada Bitcoin, ningún trabajo anterior ha explorado el uso de Ethereum para establecer un canal encubierto considerando todos los campos de transacción y contratos inteligentes. Con el objetivo de fomentar una mayor investigación orientada a la defensa, en esta tesis se presentan dos mecanismos novedosos. En primer lugar, Zephyrus aprovecha todos los campos de Ethereum y el bytecode de los contratos inteligentes. En segundo lugar, Smart-Zephyrus complementa Zephyrus aprovechando los contratos inteligentes escritos en Solidity. Se evalúa, también, la viabilidad y el coste de ambos mecanismos. Los resultados muestran que Zephyrus, en el mejor de los casos, puede ocultar 40 Kbits en 0,57 s. por 1,64 US$, y recuperarlos en 2,8 s. Smart-Zephyrus, por su parte, es capaz de ocultar un secreto de 4 Kb en 41 s. Si bien es cierto que es caro (alrededor de 1,82 dólares por bit), el sigilo proporcionado podría valer la pena para los atacantes. Además, estos dos mecanismos pueden combinarse para aumentar la capacidad y reducir los costesPrograma de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología Informática por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: José Manuel Estévez Tapiador.- Secretario: Jorge Blasco Alís.- Vocal: Luis Hernández Encina

    Digital agriculture: research, development and innovation in production chains.

    Get PDF
    Digital transformation in the field towards sustainable and smart agriculture. Digital agriculture: definitions and technologies. Agroenvironmental modeling and the digital transformation of agriculture. Geotechnologies in digital agriculture. Scientific computing in agriculture. Computer vision applied to agriculture. Technologies developed in precision agriculture. Information engineering: contributions to digital agriculture. DIPN: a dictionary of the internal proteins nanoenvironments and their potential for transformation into agricultural assets. Applications of bioinformatics in agriculture. Genomics applied to climate change: biotechnology for digital agriculture. Innovation ecosystem in agriculture: Embrapa?s evolution and contributions. The law related to the digitization of agriculture. Innovating communication in the age of digital agriculture. Driving forces for Brazilian agriculture in the next decade: implications for digital agriculture. Challenges, trends and opportunities in digital agriculture in Brazil

    Measuring the impact of COVID-19 on hospital care pathways

    Get PDF
    Care pathways in hospitals around the world reported significant disruption during the recent COVID-19 pandemic but measuring the actual impact is more problematic. Process mining can be useful for hospital management to measure the conformance of real-life care to what might be considered normal operations. In this study, we aim to demonstrate that process mining can be used to investigate process changes associated with complex disruptive events. We studied perturbations to accident and emergency (A &E) and maternity pathways in a UK public hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-incidentally the hospital had implemented a Command Centre approach for patient-flow management affording an opportunity to study both the planned improvement and the disruption due to the pandemic. Our study proposes and demonstrates a method for measuring and investigating the impact of such planned and unplanned disruptions affecting hospital care pathways. We found that during the pandemic, both A &E and maternity pathways had measurable reductions in the mean length of stay and a measurable drop in the percentage of pathways conforming to normative models. There were no distinctive patterns of monthly mean values of length of stay nor conformance throughout the phases of the installation of the hospital’s new Command Centre approach. Due to a deficit in the available A &E data, the findings for A &E pathways could not be interpreted

    Esports events: classification and impact of business model of video games on size

    Get PDF
    Esports events are not commonly researched in academic literature. This research aims to provide a higher degree of understanding around esports, esports events and their size, and to develop a framework for future research. Video game business models are considered, as their link with esports is not often examined. Overwatch is also investigated as a case study of a single video game and its associated esport. The methodology employed is based on mixed methods. A pragmatic approach is utilised, adjusting the research philosophy based on the most suitable approach for each part of the study. The research design evolves based on the findings and the methods used in the previous chapters. Chapter 4 utilises a mixed methods approach, chapters 5 and 6 both use a quantitative method, before chapter 7 uses a qualitative, case study like technique. Chapter 4 explores the determination of a framework to measure size of events and such framework is created, with 1 event being classed as ''giga'', 16 as ''mega'', 15 as ''major'', and 11 as ''minor''. Chapter 5 undertakes a similar pursuit but utilising an index to rank sizes. There are no large differences in score or in class, and there is a high degree of correlation between the index and the classification from the previous chapter. Chapter 6 explores event size vs. video game business model, finding that events associated to buy-to-play and free-to-play games have a larger size than events associated to pay-to-pay games. Chapter 7 analyses Overwatch and concludes that a switch to a free-to-play model would be beneficial for Overwatch, and for its associated esport Overwatch League. A number of recommendations are made as a result of the research undertaken. Better collection and organisation of data on esports would be beneficial for future research. A centralised governing body would help with a number of aspects in esports. More research could be undertaken into business models, into the implication of choosing one over another and switching between them. A research centre at the European level would also be beneficial, as would the growth of formal structures around esports and esports research
    • …
    corecore