11,611 research outputs found
The Viability and Potential Consequences of IoT-Based Ransomware
With the increased threat of ransomware and the substantial growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) market, there is significant motivation for attackers to carry out IoT-based ransomware campaigns. In this thesis, the viability of such malware is tested.
As part of this work, various techniques that could be used by ransomware developers to attack commercial IoT devices were explored. First, methods that attackers could use to communicate with the victim were examined, such that a ransom note was able to be reliably sent to a victim. Next, the viability of using "bricking" as a method of ransom was evaluated, such that devices could be remotely disabled unless the victim makes a payment to the attacker. Research was then performed to ascertain whether it was possible to remotely gain persistence on IoT devices, which would improve the efficacy of existing ransomware methods, and provide opportunities for more advanced ransomware to be created. Finally, after successfully identifying a number of persistence techniques, the viability of privacy-invasion based ransomware was analysed.
For each assessed technique, proofs of concept were developed. A range of devices -- with various intended purposes, such as routers, cameras and phones -- were used to test the viability of these proofs of concept. To test communication hijacking, devices' "channels of communication" -- such as web services and embedded screens -- were identified, then hijacked to display custom ransom notes. During the analysis of bricking-based ransomware, a working proof of concept was created, which was then able to remotely brick five IoT devices. After analysing the storage design of an assortment of IoT devices, six different persistence techniques were identified, which were then successfully tested on four devices, such that malicious filesystem modifications would be retained after the device was rebooted. When researching privacy-invasion based ransomware, several methods were created to extract information from data sources that can be commonly found on IoT devices, such as nearby WiFi signals, images from cameras, or audio from microphones. These were successfully implemented in a test environment such that ransomable data could be extracted, processed, and stored for later use to blackmail the victim.
Overall, IoT-based ransomware has not only been shown to be viable but also highly damaging to both IoT devices and their users. While the use of IoT-ransomware is still very uncommon "in the wild", the techniques demonstrated within this work highlight an urgent need to improve the security of IoT devices to avoid the risk of IoT-based ransomware causing havoc in our society. Finally, during the development of these proofs of concept, a number of potential countermeasures were identified, which can be used to limit the effectiveness of the attacking techniques discovered in this PhD research
Annual SHOT Report 2018
SHOT is affiliated to the Royal College of PathologistsAll NHS organisations must move away from a blame culture towards a just and learning culture. All clinical and laboratory staff should be encouraged to become familiar with human factors and ergonomics concepts. All transfusion decisions must be made after carefully assessing the risks and benefits of transfusion therapy. Collaboration and co-ordination among staff is vital
Strategies for Early Learners
Welcome to learning about how to effectively plan curriculum for young children. This textbook will address: ā¢ Developing curriculum through the planning cycle ā¢ Theories that inform what we know about how children learn and the best ways for teachers to support learning ā¢ The three components of developmentally appropriate practice ā¢ Importance and value of play and intentional teaching ā¢ Different models of curriculum ā¢ Process of lesson planning (documenting planned experiences for children) ā¢ Physical, temporal, and social environments that set the stage for childrenās learning ā¢ Appropriate guidance techniques to support childrenās behaviors as the self-regulation abilities mature. ā¢ Planning for preschool-aged children in specific domains including o Physical development o Language and literacy o Math o Science o Creative (the visual and performing arts) o Diversity (social science and history) o Health and safety ā¢ Making childrenās learning visible through documentation and assessmenthttps://scholar.utc.edu/open-textbooks/1001/thumbnail.jp
Increased lifetime of Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs) and the impact of degradation, efficiency and costs in the LCOE of Emerging PVs
Emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and perovskites (PVKs) have the potential to disrupt the PV market due to their ease of fabrication (compatible with cheap roll-to-roll processing) and installation, as well as their significant efficiency improvements in recent years. However, rapid degradation is still an issue present in many emerging PVs, which must be addressed to enable their commercialisation. This thesis shows an OPV lifetime enhancing technique by adding the insulating polymer PMMA to the active layer, and a novel model for quantifying the impact of degradation (alongside efficiency and cost) upon levelized cost of energy (LCOE) in real world emerging PV installations.
The effect of PMMA morphology on the success of a ternary strategy was investigated, leading to device design guidelines. It was found that either increasing the weight percent (wt%) or molecular weight (MW) of PMMA resulted in an increase in the volume of PMMA-rich islands, which provided the OPV protection against water and oxygen ingress. It was also found that adding PMMA can be effective in enhancing the lifetime of different active material combinations, although not to the same extent, and that processing additives can have a negative impact in the devices lifetime.
A novel model was developed taking into account realistic degradation profile sourced from a literature review of state-of-the-art OPV and PVK devices. It was found that optimal strategies to improve LCOE depend on the present characteristics of a device, and that panels with a good balance of efficiency and degradation were better than panels with higher efficiency but higher degradation as well. Further, it was found that low-cost locations were more favoured from reductions in the degradation rate and module cost, whilst high-cost locations were more benefited from improvements in initial efficiency, lower discount rates and reductions in install costs
Innate immunity and metabolism in the bovine ovarian follicle
Postpartum uterine disease in dairy cows is associated with reduced fertility. One of the first and most prevalent bacteria associated with uterine disease is Escherichia coli. The bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), accumulates in the ovarian follicular fluid of animals with uterine disease. The granulosa cells of the ovarian follicle respond to LPS by secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1a, IL-1b and IL-8, and oocyte health is perturbed. Dairy cows also experience metabolic energy stress in the postpartum period, which is associated with an increased risk of developing uterine disease and ovarian dysfunction. This thesis explored the crosstalk between innate immunity and metabolic energy stress in bovine granulosa cells and cumulus-oocyte complex. Firstly, we found that glycolysis, AMP-activated protein kinase and the mechanistic target of rapamycin, regulate the innate immune responses to LPS in granulosa cells isolated from bovine ovarian follicles. Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase decreased the LPS-induced secretion of IL-1a, IL-1b, and IL8, and was associated with shortened duration of ERK1/2 and JNK phosphorylation. Next, we found that decreasing the availability of cholesterol or inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis using short-interfering RNA impaired the LPS-induced secretion of IL-1a and IL-1b by granulosa cells. Furthermore, metabolic energy stress or inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis in the bovine cumulus-oocyte complex modulated the innate immune responses to LPS, and perturbed meiotic progression during in vitro maturation. Finally, we explored an in vivo model of uterine disease in heifers, using RNAseq to investigate alterations to the transcriptome of the reproductive tract. We found that uterine disease altered the transcriptome of the endometrium, oviduct, granulosa cells and oocyte, several months after bacterial infusion; these changes were most evident in the granulosa cells and oocyte of the ovarian follicle. The findings from this thesis imply that there is crosstalk between innate immunity and metabolism in the bovine ovarian follicle
Optimising acoustic cavitation for industrial application
The ultrasonic horn is one of the most commonly used acoustic devices in laboratories and industry. For its efficient application to cavitation mediated process, the cavitation generated at its tip as a function of its tip-vibration amplitudes still needed to be studied in detail. High-speed imaging and acoustic detection are used to investigate the cavitation generated at the tip of an ultrasonic horn, operating at a fundamental frequency, f0, of 20 kHz. Tip-vibration amplitudes are sampled at fine increments across the range of input powers available. The primary bubble cluster under the tip is found to undergo subharmonic periodic collapse, with concurrent shock wave emission, at frequencies of f0/m, with m increasing through integer values with increasing tip-vibration amplitude. The contribution of periodic shock waves to the noise spectra of the acoustic emissions is confirmed. Transitional input powers for which the value of m is indistinct, and shock wave emission irregular and inconsistent, are identified through Vrms of the acoustic detector output. For cavitation applications mediated by bubble collapse, sonications at transitional powers may lead to inefficient processing. The ultrasonic horn is also deployed to investigate the role of shock waves in the fragmentation of intermetallic crystals, nominally for ultrasonic treatment of Aluminium melt, and in a novel two-horn configuration for potential cavitation enhancement effects. An experiment investigating nitrogen fixation via cavitation generated by focused ultrasound exposures is also described. Vrms from the acoustic detector is again used to quantify the acoustic emissions for comparison to the sonochemical nitrite yield and for optimisation of sonication protocols at constant input energy. The findings revealed that the acoustic cavitation could be enhanced at constant input energy through optimisation of the pulse duration and pulse interval. Anomalous results may be due to inadequate assessment for the nitrate generated. The studies presented in this thesis have illustrated means of improving the cavitation efficiency of the used acoustic devices, which may be important to some selected industrial processes
REDESIGNING THE COUNTER UNMANNED SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE
Includes supplementary material. Please contact [email protected] for access.When the Islamic State used Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to target coalition forces in 2014, the use of UAVs rapidly expanded, giving weak states and non-state actors an asymmetric advantage over their technologically superior foes. This asymmetry led the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to spend vast sums of money on counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS). Despite the market density, many C-UAS technologies use expensive, bulky, and high-power-consuming electronic attack methods for ground-to-air interdiction. This thesis outlines the current technology used for C-UAS and proposes a defense-in-depth framework using airborne C-UAS patrols outfitted with cyber-attack capabilities. Using aerial interdiction, this thesis develops a novel C-UAS device called the Detachable Drone Hijackerāa low-size, weight, and power C-UAS device designed to deliver cyber-attacks against commercial UAVs using the IEEE 802.11 wireless communication specification. The experimentation results show that the Detachable Drone Hijacker, which weighs 400 grams, consumes one Watt of power, and costs $250, can interdict adversarial UAVs with no unintended collateral damage. This thesis recommends that the DOD and DHS incorporates aerial interdiction to support its C-UAS defense-in-depth, using technologies similar to the Detachable Drone Hijacker.DASN-OE, Washington DC, 20310Captain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited
Industry 4.0: product digital twins for remanufacturing decision-making
Currently there is a desire to reduce natural resource consumption and expand circular business principles whilst Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is regarded as the evolutionary and potentially disruptive movement of technology, automation, digitalisation, and data manipulation into the industrial sector. The remanufacturing industry is recognised as being vital to the circular economy (CE) as it extends the in-use life of products, but its synergy with I4.0 has had little attention thus far. This thesis documents the first investigating into I4.0 in remanufacturing for a CE contributing a design and demonstration of a model that optimises remanufacturing planning using data from different instances in a productās life cycle.
The initial aim of this work was to identify the I4.0 technology that would enhance the stability in remanufacturing with a view to reducing resource consumption. As the project progressed it narrowed to focus on the development of a product digital twin (DT) model to support data-driven decision making for operations planning. The modelās architecture was derived using a bottom-up approach where requirements were extracted from the identified complications in production planning and control that differentiate remanufacturing from manufacturing. Simultaneously, the benefits of enabling visibility of an assetās through-life health were obtained using a DT as the modus operandi. A product simulator and DT prototype was designed to use Internet of Things (IoT) components, a neural network for remaining life estimations and a search algorithm for operational planning optimisation. The DT was iteratively developed using case studies to validate and examine the real opportunities that exist in deploying a business model that harnesses, and commodifies, early life product data for end-of-life processing optimisation. Findings suggest that using intelligent programming networks and algorithms, a DT can enhance decision-making if it has visibility of the product and access to reliable remanufacturing process information, whilst existing IoT components provide rudimentary āsmartā capabilities, but their integration is complex, and the durability of the systems over extended product life cycles needs to be further explored
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING IN INDONESIA
This research aims to understand the ways the preparers of sustainability reports in Indonesia embed stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting. This research seeks to understand the perceived role of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting and examines whether the report preparers decouple their stakeholder engagement disclosures from the actual practices. The neo-institutional theory is used to illuminate the companiesā non-conformity responses to institutional influences.
This research utilises mixed methods by deploying questionnaires, sustainability reports and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire survey was analysed using descriptive statistics. The interviews were conducted face-to-face and analysed using thematic analysis. Content analysis of stakeholder engagement disclosures was also undertaken on the 2007 to 2018 sustainability reports issued by the companies participating in the interviews.
The findings of this research reveal that the report preparers attempt to embed stakeholder engagement in the companiesā sustainability reporting in response to coercive, normative and mimetic influences. However, stakeholder engagement is loosely embedded as a result of contextualising the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)ās conception of stakeholder engagement into Indonesiaās local contexts. Stakeholder engagement is perceived as having important roles in mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and materiality assessment to define the report content. External stakeholders are engaged more inclusively in the former whereas internal stakeholders take control of the latter.
It is not evident that the report preparers in Indonesia decouple stakeholder engagement disclosures from practices. However, the ways in which the companies practise their stakeholder engagement (means) deviate from the goals of stakeholder engagement suggested by the GRIās principles for defining the report content (ends), known as the means-ends decoupling. The report preparers in Indonesia accept the GRIās concept by meeting the suggested indicators, but unintentionally overlook the GRIās principles that are required to be implemented as a new institution, rather than intentionally avoiding them.
The main contribution of this research to the literature is that it provides insights into the need to embed stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting in an integral way, including by translating the GRIās global conception into local context. This research also provides insights into the presumption that ācompanies report the practiceā of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reportingāas suggested by the GRI and the extant literature. Just because the companies report the practice (means) by making reference to the GRI, it does not necessarily follow that the companies have conformed to the goals of stakeholder engagement suggested by the GRIās principles for defining the report content (ends). Taking into full consideration Indonesiaās politicoeconomic, sociocultural and legal contexts, which can be dissimilar to other local contexts, this research contributes to an understanding of decoupling, especially the means-ends decoupling, which tends to be unintentional in the companiesā non-acquiescent response to institutional influences. The decoupling indicates that the report preparers consider the GRIās stakeholder engagement indicators as technical prescriptions leading to box-ticking activities, rather than being thoroughly understood and implemented as a new institution. Besides, this research offers a practical contribution in that the companiesā sustainability reporting consultants could shepherd their clientsā stakeholder engagement, guided by the GRI standards (previously called guidelines), to go beyond merely meeting the GRI indicators and producing ānice to readā sustainability reports
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