Modelling Causal Factors of Unintentional Electromagnetic Emanations Compromising Information Technology Equipment Security †

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Information technology equipment (ITE) processing sensitive information can have its security compromised by unintentional electromagnetic radiation. Appropriately assessing likelihood of a potential compromise relies on radio frequency (RF) engineering expertise—specifically, requiring knowledge of the associated causal factors and their interrelationships. Several factors that can cause unintentional electromagnetic emanations that can lead to the compromise of ITE have been found in the literature. This paper confirms the list of causal factors reported in previous work, categorizes the factors as belonging to threat, vulnerability, or impact, and develops an interpretive structural model of the vulnerability factors. A participatory modelling approach was used consisting of focus groups of RF engineers. The resulting hierarchical structural model shows the relationships between factors and illustrates their relative significance. The paper concludes that the resulting model can motivate a deeper understanding of the structural relationship of the factors that can be incorporated in the RF engineers’ assessment process. Areas of future work are suggested.Peer reviewe

Portable Computer Technology (PCT) Research and Development Program Phase 2

The subject of this project report, focused on: (1) Design and development of two Advanced Portable Workstation 2 (APW 2) units. These units incorporate advanced technology features such as a low power Pentium processor, a high resolution color display, National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) video handling capabilities, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) interface, and Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) and ethernet interfaces. (2) Use these units to integrate and demonstrate advanced wireless network and portable video capabilities. (3) Qualification of the APW 2 systems for use in specific experiments aboard the Mir Space Station. A major objective of the PCT Phase 2 program was to help guide future choices in computing platforms and techniques for meeting National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mission objectives. The focus being on the development of optimal configurations of computing hardware, software applications, and network technologies for use on NASA missions

Corrosion Study of Silver Nanowires

Indium tin oxide is a transparent conductive material that is widely used in electronic consumer products such as LCDs, LEDs, OLEDs, touch-screen devices, and diagnostic sensors. However, indium tin oxide is costly to produce and is very brittle, limiting its potential for the next generation of flexible and wearable devices and diagnostic tools. Silver nanowires are cylindrically shaped nanostructures that have been touted as the replacement to indium tin oxide. Their electronic performance and transparency outperforms the incumbent technology, and their mechanical flexibility and low implementation costs provide a significant advantage over indium tin oxide for use in electronic applications. However, silver nanowires are unstable and the electrodes can become non-conductive under ambient conditions in less than sixty days. Although silver nanowire degradation is a major problem, few studies exist revealing the challenges with appropriate solutions for enhancing the silver nanowire lifetimes. Through this present work, we found that variables such as nanowire diameter, nanowire density, and pre- and post-deposition processing parameters have a significant impact on the lifetime of nanowire electrodes. These results will be presented and guidelines for improving nanowire stability and lifetime will be outlined. Furthermore, investigations into an effective conductive organic passivation layer were systematically performed to determine the material’s viability as a method of passivating corrosion in the silver nanowire electrodes. It was observed that the organic passivation material was ineffective as a method of preventing corrosion in silver nanowires. In fact, the use of this organic material appears to have caused corrosion to occur at a faster rate than a bare silver nanowire transparent electrode would undergo when exposed to ambient conditions

Calm Displays and Their Applications : Making Emissive Displays Mimic Reflective Surfaces Using Visual Psychophysics, Light Sensing and Colour Science

Ph. D. Thesis.Our environment is increasingly full of obtrusive display panels, which become illuminating surfaces when on, and void black rectangles when off. Some researchers argue that emissive displays are incompatible with Weiser and Seely Brown's vision of "calm technology", due to their inability to seamlessly blend into the background. Indeed, Mankoff has shown that for any ambient technology, the ability to move into the periphery is the most relevant factor in their usability. In this thesis, a background mode for displays is proposed based on the idea that displays can look like an ordinary piece of reflective paper showing the same content. The thesis consists of three main parts. In the first part (Chapter 4), human colour matching performance between an emissive display and reflective paper under chromatic lighting conditions is measured in a psychophysical experiment. We find that threshold discrimination ellipses vary with condition (16.0×6.0 ΔEab on average), with lower sensitivity to chroma than hue changes. Match distributions are bimodal for some conditions. In the second part (Chapter 5), an algorithm enabling emissive displays to look like reflective paper is described and evaluated, giving an average error of ΔEab = 10.2 between display and paper. A field study showed that paper-like displays are more acceptable in bedrooms and that people are more likely to keep them always on than normal displays. Finally, the third part (Chapter 6) concerns the development and four-week trial of a paper-like display application. Using the autobiographical design method, a system for sharing bedtime with a remote partner was developed. We see that once unobtrusive, display systems are desired for use even in spaces like bedrooms. Paper-like displays enable both emerging and existing devices to move into the periphery and become “invisible”, and therefore provide a new building block of calm technology that is not achievable using simple emissive displays

NASA Tech Briefs, April 1997

Topics covered include: Video and Imaging; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery/Automation; Manufacturing/Fabrication; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences; Books and Reports

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2001

Topics covered include: Sensors; Electronic Components and Systems; Software Engineering; Materials; Manufacturing/Fabrication; physical Sciences; Information Sciences

ATMO 612: Atmospheric Physics II -Physics Volume 3 (OpenStax Textbook)

University Physics Volume 3 covers optics and modern physics. This textbook emphasizes connections between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result

NASA Tech Briefs, February 1992

Topics covered include: New Product Development; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences

Ionic Liquid Crystal Polymers for Display Devices: A Study of Mesogenic Diallylamine-Terminated Polymers

Exploration into the development and synthesis of ionic polymeric liquid crystal devices for potential use in touch screens and smart windows considered the potential of amine-based functional groups for tunable polymerisations and bulk compound properties. Through consideration of the nature of the functional group as well as the motif, it would be possible to control the polymerisation rate, as well as thermal and potentially conductive properties of the compounds used in the ultimate device. In this study, three different functional groups, as well as three different motifs were considered across a small range of spacer chain lengths, which also allowed an investigation into a possible odd/even effect on liquid crystal properties

NASA Tech Briefs, December 1992

Topics include: Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences