988 research outputs found
Modern computing: Vision and challenges
Over the past six decades, the computing systems field has experienced significant transformations, profoundly impacting society with transformational developments, such as the Internet and the commodification of computing. Underpinned by technological advancements, computer systems, far from being static, have been continuously evolving and adapting to cover multifaceted societal niches. This has led to new paradigms such as cloud, fog, edge computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), which offer fresh economic and creative opportunities. Nevertheless, this rapid change poses complex research challenges, especially in maximizing potential and enhancing functionality. As such, to maintain an economical level of performance that meets ever-tighter requirements, one must understand the drivers of new model emergence and expansion, and how contemporary challenges differ from past ones. To that end, this article investigates and assesses the factors influencing the evolution of computing systems, covering established systems and architectures as well as newer developments, such as serverless computing, quantum computing, and on-device AI on edge devices. Trends emerge when one traces technological trajectory, which includes the rapid obsolescence of frameworks due to business and technical constraints, a move towards specialized systems and models, and varying approaches to centralized and decentralized control. This comprehensive review of modern computing systems looks ahead to the future of research in the field, highlighting key challenges and emerging trends, and underscoring their importance in cost-effectively driving technological progress
Next-Generation Industrial Control System (ICS) Security:Towards ICS Honeypots for Defence-in-Depth Security
The advent of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing has led to an increased convergence of traditional manufacturing and production technologies with IP communications. Legacy Industrial Control System (ICS) devices are now exposed to a wide range of previously unconsidered threats, which must be considered to ensure the safe operation of industrial processes. Especially as cyberspace is presenting itself as a popular domain for nation-state operations, including against critical infrastructure. Honeypots are a well-known concept within traditional IT security, and they can enable a more proactive approach to security, unlike traditional systems. More work needs to be done to understand their usefulness within OT and critical infrastructure. This thesis advances beyond current honeypot implementations and furthers the current state-of-the-art by delivering novel ways of deploying ICS honeypots and delivering concrete answers to key research questions within the area. This is done by answering the question previously raised from a multitude of perspectives. We discuss relevant legislation, such as the UK Cyber Assessment Framework, the US NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, and associated industry-based standards and guidelines supporting operator compliance. Standards and guidance are used to frame a discussion on our survey of existing ICS honeypot implementations in the literature and their role in supporting regulatory objectives. However, these deployments are not always correctly configured and might differ from a real ICS. Based on these insights, we propose a novel framework towards the classification and implementation of ICS honeypots. This is underpinned by a study into the passive identification of ICS honeypots using Internet scanner data to identify honeypot characteristics. We also present how honeypots can be leveraged to identify when bespoke ICS vulnerabilities are exploited within the organisational network—further strengthening the case for honeypot usage within critical infrastructure environments. Additionally, we demonstrate a fundamentally different approach to the deployment of honeypots. By deploying it as a deterrent, to reduce the likelihood that an adversary interacts with a real system. This is important as skilled attackers are now adept at fingerprinting and avoiding honeypots. The results presented in this thesis demonstrate that honeypots can provide several benefits to the cyber security of and alignment to regulations within the critical infrastructure environment
Cybersecurity: Past, Present and Future
The digital transformation has created a new digital space known as
cyberspace. This new cyberspace has improved the workings of businesses,
organizations, governments, society as a whole, and day to day life of an
individual. With these improvements come new challenges, and one of the main
challenges is security. The security of the new cyberspace is called
cybersecurity. Cyberspace has created new technologies and environments such as
cloud computing, smart devices, IoTs, and several others. To keep pace with
these advancements in cyber technologies there is a need to expand research and
develop new cybersecurity methods and tools to secure these domains and
environments. This book is an effort to introduce the reader to the field of
cybersecurity, highlight current issues and challenges, and provide future
directions to mitigate or resolve them. The main specializations of
cybersecurity covered in this book are software security, hardware security,
the evolution of malware, biometrics, cyber intelligence, and cyber forensics.
We must learn from the past, evolve our present and improve the future. Based
on this objective, the book covers the past, present, and future of these main
specializations of cybersecurity. The book also examines the upcoming areas of
research in cyber intelligence, such as hybrid augmented and explainable
artificial intelligence (AI). Human and AI collaboration can significantly
increase the performance of a cybersecurity system. Interpreting and explaining
machine learning models, i.e., explainable AI is an emerging field of study and
has a lot of potentials to improve the role of AI in cybersecurity.Comment: Author's copy of the book published under ISBN: 978-620-4-74421-
3D Visualisation - An Application and Assessment for Computer Network Traffic Analysis
The intent of this research is to develop and assess the application of 3D data visualisation to the field of computer security. The growth of available data relating to computer networks necessitates a more efficient and effective way of presenting information to analysts in support of decision making and situational awareness. Advances in computer hardware and display software have made more complex and interactive presentation of data in 3D possible.
While many attempts at creation of data-rich 3D displays have been made in the field of computer security, they have not become the tool of choice in the industry. There is also a limited amount of published research in the assessment of these tools in comparison to 2D graphical and tabular approaches to displaying the same data.
This research was conducted through creation of a novel abstraction framework for visualisation of computer network data, the Visual Interactive Network Analysis Framework (VINAF). This framework was implemented in software and the software prototype was assessed using both a procedural approach applied to a published forensics challenge and also through a human participant based experiment.
The key contributions to the fields of computer security and data visualisation made by this research include the creation of a novel abstraction framework for computer network traffic which features several new visualisation approaches. An implementation of this software was developed for the specific cybersecurity related task of computer network traffic analysis and published under an open source license to the cybersecurity community. The research contributes a novel approach to human-based experimentation developed during the COVID-19 pandemic and also implemented a novel procedure-based testing approach to the assessment of the prototype data visualisation tool.
Results of the research showed, through procedural experimentation, that the abstraction framework is effective for network forensics tasks and exhibited several advantages when compared to alternate approaches. The user participation experiment indicated that most of the participants deemed the abstraction framework to be effective in several task related to computer network traffic analysis. There was not a strong indication that it would be preferred over existing approaches utilised by the participants, however, it would likely be used to augment existing methods
Intelligence Oversight In Times of Transnational Impunity: Who Will Watch the Watchers?
This book adopts a critical lens to look at the workings of Western intelligence and intelligence oversight over time and space. Largely confined to the sub-field of intelligence studies, scholarly engagements with intelligence oversight have typically downplayed the violence carried out by secretive agencies. These studies have often served to justify weak oversight structures and promoted only marginal adaptations of policy frameworks in the wake of intelligence scandals. The essays gathered in this volume challenge the prevailing doxa in the academic field, adopting a critical lens to look at the workings of intelligence oversight in Europe and North America. Through chapters spanning across multiple disciplines–political sociology, history, and law–the book aims to recast intelligence oversight as acting in symbiosis with the legitimisation of the state’s secret violence and the enactment of impunity, showing how intelligence actors practically navigate the legal and political constraints created by oversight frameworks and practices, for instance by developing transnational networks of interdependence. The book also explores inventive legal steps and human rights mechanisms aimed at bridging some of the most serious gaps in existing frameworks, drawing inspiration from recent policy developments in the international struggle against torture. This book will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, sociology, security studies, and international relations
Travels along the hype cycle: a set of blockchain applications and the economic processes they impact
Some commentators refer to blockchain as a potential General Purpose Technology. Yet despite a plethora of cryptoassets and projects, it has struggled to gain traction beyond payments and price discovery. This thesis explores how the technology is being applied to better understand the potential and risks of deploying blockchain. It examines four different use cases with econometric and case study methods: (1) Bitcoin mining as the token incentivized processing of records, (2) Initial Coin Offering tokens as a form of venture financing, (3) Uniswap the decentralized
exchange and (4) Kompany improving the data integrity of compliance records via notarization to a public blockchain. It finds that blockchain enables capabilities that did not exist before, but that these capabilities are bounded by trade offs and developer priorities. Ultimately this research expands the literature on blockchain applications and argues that blockchain does not build better systems, but different systems that can achieve different objectives. It provides evidence that firms and society are gradually traversing the hype cycle, deploying blockchain, solving real world economic problems and creating value
A Generic Approach for the Automated Notarization of Cloud Configurations Using Blockchain-Based Trust.
Debido a su escalabilidad, las aplicaciones en la nube tienen una importante ventaja de costes para las empresas. En consecuencia, las empresas quieren tanto externalizar sus datos como obtener servicios de la nube. Sin embargo, dado que la mayoría de las empresas tienen políticas internas y requisitos de cumplimiento para operar y utilizar aplicaciones de software, el uso de aplicaciones en la nube crea un nuevo desafío para las empresas. La inclusión de aplicaciones en la nube equivale a la subcontratación de servicios en el sentido de que las empresas deben confiar en que el proveedor de aplicaciones en la nube aplicará los requisitos de cumplimiento interno en las aplicaciones adoptadas. La investigación ha demostrado que la confianza y el riesgo están estrechamente relacionados y son factores clave que influyen en la utilización de aplicaciones en la nube. Esta tesis pretende desarrollar una arquitectura en la nube que aborde este reto, trasladando la confianza en las configuraciones de cumplimiento del proveedor de aplicaciones en la nube a la cadena de bloques. Así, este trabajo pretende reducir el riesgo de adopción de las aplicaciones en la nube debido a los requisitos de cumplimiento. En esta tesis, la investigación de la ciencia del diseño se utiliza para crear la arquitectura para trasladar la confianza mencionada a la cadena de bloques. Un grupo de discusión determinó el alcance del trabajo. La base de conocimientos de este trabajo se construyó utilizando inteligencia artificial y una revisión sistemática de la literatura, y la arquitectura presentada se desarrolló y prototipó utilizando el método de desarrollo rápido de aplicaciones. Se utilizaron entrevistas guiadas semiestructuradas de método mixto para evaluar el enfoque de la arquitectura presentada y valorar las cualidades de reducción del riesgo de adopción. La tesis demostró que la arquitectura de software desarrollada podía trasladar la confianza del proveedor de la nube a la cadena de bloques. La evaluación de la arquitectura de software propuesta demostró además que el riesgo de adopción debido a las configuraciones de la nube basadas en el cumplimiento podía reducirse de "alto" a "bajo" utilizando la tecnología blockchain. Esta tesis presenta una arquitectura que desplaza la confianza para la implementación de configuraciones basadas en el cumplimiento de la normativa desde el proveedor de la nube a la cadena de bloques. Además, muestra que el cambio de confianza puede reducir significativamente el riesgo de adopción de las aplicaciones en la nube.Administración y Dirección de Empresa
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