SIDVI: a model for secure distributed data integration

The new millennium has brought about an increase in the use of business intelligence and knowledge management systems. The very foundations of these systems are the multitude of source databases that store the data. The ability to derive information from these databases is brought about by means of data integration. With the current emphasis on security in all walks of information and communication technology, a renewed interest must be placed in the systems that provide us with information; data integration systems. This dissertation investigates security issues at specific stages in the data integration cycle, with special reference to problems when performing data integration in a peer-topeer environment, as in distributed data integration. In the database environment we are concerned with the database itself and the media used to connect to and from the database. In distributed data integration, the concept of the database is redefined to the source database, from which we extract data and the storage database in which the integrated data is stored. This postulates three distinct areas in which to apply security, the data source, the network medium and the data store. All of these areas encompass data integration and must be considered holistically when implementing security. Data integration is never only one server or one database; it is various geographically dispersed components working together towards a common goal. It is important then that we consider all aspects involved when attempting to provide security for data integration. This dissertation will focus on the areas of security threats and investigates a model to ensure the integrity and security of data during the entire integration process. In order to ensure effective security in a data integration environment, that security, should be present at all stages, it should provide for end-to-end protection

Towards assessing information privacy in microblogging online social networks. The IPAM framework

Les xarxes socials en línia incorporen diferents formes de comunicació interactiva com serveis de microblogs, compartició de fitxers multimèdia o xarxes de contactes professionals. En els últims anys han augmentat els escàndols públics en relació amb pràctiques qüestionables de la indústria de les xarxes socials pel que fa a la privacitat. Així, doncs, cal una avaluació efectiva i eficient del nivell de privacitat en les xarxes socials en línia. El focus de la present tesi és la construcció d'un esquema (IPAM) per a identificar i avaluar el nivell de privacitat proporcionat per les xarxes socials en línia, en particular per als serveis de microblogs. L'objectiu d'IPAM és ajudar els usuaris a identificar els riscos relacionats amb les seves dades. L'esquema també permet comparar el nivell de protecció de la privacitat entre diferents sistemes analitzats, de manera que pugui ser també utilitzat per proveïdors de servei i desenvolupadors per a provar i avaluar els seus sistemes i si les tècniques de privacitat usades són eficaces i suficients.Las redes sociales en línea incorporan diferentes formas de comunicación interactiva como servicios de microblogueo, compartición de ficheros multimedia o redes de contactos profesionales. En los últimos años han aumentado los escándalos públicos relacionados con prácticas cuestionables de la industria de las redes sociales en relación con la privacidad. Así pues, es necesaria una evaluación efectiva y eficiente del nivel de privacidad en las redes sociales en línea. El foco de la presente tesis es la construcción de un esquema (IPAM) para identificar y evaluar el nivel de privacidad proporcionado por las redes sociales en línea, en particular para los servicios de microblogueo. El objetivo de IPAM es ayudar a los usuarios a identificar los riesgos relacionados con sus datos. El esquema también permite comparar el nivel de protección de la privacidad entre diferentes sistemas analizados, de modo que pueda ser también utilizado por proveedores de servicio y desarrolladores para probar y evaluar sus sistemas y si las técnicas de privacidad usadas son eficaces y suficientes.Online social networks (OSNs) incorporate different forms of interactive communication, including microblogging services, multimedia sharing and business networking, among others. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of privacy-related public scandals involving questionable data handling practices in OSNs. This situation calls for an effective and efficient evaluation of the privacy level provided by such services. In this thesis, we take initial steps towards developing an information privacy assessment framework (IPAM framework) to compute privacy scores for online social networks in general, and microblogging OSNs in particular. The aim of the proposed framework is to help users identify personal data-related risks and how their privacy is protected when using one OSN or another. The IPAM framework also allows for a comparison between different systems' privacy protection level. This gives system providers, not only an idea of how they are positioned in the market vis-à-vis their competitors, but also recommendations on how to enhance their services

Context Sensitive Access Control Model TI for Business Processes

Kontrola pristupa odnosno autorizacija, u širem smislu, razmatra na koji način korisnici mogu pristupiti resursima računarskog sistema i na koji način ih koristiti. Ova disertacija se bavi problemima kontrole pristupa u poslovnim sistemima. Tema disertacije je formalna specifkacija modela kontekstno zavisne kontrole pristupa u poslovnim sistemima koji je baziran na RBAC modelu kontrole pristupa. Uvođenjem kontekstno zavisne kontrole pristupa omogućeno je defnisanje složenijih prava pristupa koje u postojećim modelima kontrole pristupa za poslovne sisteme nije bilo moguće realizovati ili bi njihova realizacija bila komplikovana. Dati model primenljiv je u različitim poslovnim sistemima, a podržava defnisanje prava pristupa kako za jednostavne tako i za slo·zene poslovne tokove. Sistem je verifkovan na dva realna poslovna procesa pomoću razvijenog prototipa. Prikazana prototipska implementacija koja ispunjava ciljeve u pogledu funkcionalnosti postavljene pred sistem predstavlja potvrdu praktične vrednosti predloženog modela.Access control is concerned with the way in which users can access to resources in the computer system. This dissertation focuses on problems of access control for business processes. The subject of the dissertation is a formal specification of the RBAC-based context sensitive access control model for business processes. By using a context-sensitive access control it is possible to define more complex access control policies whose implementation in existing access control models for business processes is not possible or is very complicated. The given model is applicable in diferent business systems, and supports the definition of access control policies for both simple and complex business processes. The model's prototype is verified by two case studies on real business processes. The presented prototype implementation represents a proof of the proposed model's practical value

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 20.2 (2016)

Mobile Technologies in CWD South and Central Asia Field Notes Research and Developmen

Water Stress : Emerging Challenges of Global Water Scarcity

Edited by: Péter Kacziba; Viktor Glied | Title: WATER STRESS : Emerging Challenges of Global Water Scarcity | Authors: Péter Kacziba; Viktor Glied; Melinda Szappanyos; Zoltán Vörös; Péter Reményi; Norbert Pap; László Kákai | Published by University of Pécs / Faculty of Humanities Department of Political Science and International Studies, Pécs, 2020 | ISBN 978-963-429-523-5 | „The volume was financed by the Higher Education Institutional Excellence Programme of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology in Hungary, within the framework of the 3. thematic programme of the University of Pécs. --- A little bit more than ten years ago a book on water conflicts was published. We authors thought, we felt that the upcoming decade brings more serious ecological problems and various global challenges than ever before. And unfortunately we were not mistaken. This book was finalised during a rather difficult period. The sudden onset of the COVID-19 crisis has not only made the work of authors and editors more challenging but also transformed our living and working environment, changed the way of casual and academic interactions, and generally, altered the way we think about certainty and reality. The pandemic highlighted the fragility of our academic, social and global system and brought back the uncertainty of previous centuries. The crisis is a forecast and a sign of warning at the same time: our current course of growth and the relative prosperity can only be sustained if we change our habits and finally began to confront the challenges of the 21st century

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 20.2 (2016)

Mobile Technologies in CWD South and Central Asia Field Notes Research and Developmen

Anti-Corruption Regulation of Political Finance and Conflict of Interest. A Conceptual Framework and Analysis of its Development

In recent decades self-regulation of politicians and political parties has become less acceptable and public control over the design of such rules and their evolutionary mechanisms gains paramount importance. In line with this statement my cumulative dissertation presents four papers on transparency regulation of political finance and conflict of interest. It not only conceptually defines and embeds these types of regulation into the overall anti-corruption regulatory framework but also provides interested readers with a theoretical framework on why countries change these sensitive rules and hereby often go for various designs. This thesis develops further already classical theoretical approaches of neo-institutionalism used to study party finance reforms by discussing the importance of international factors and existing regulatory traditions. To test the theoretical propositions, I construct original data sets inter alia from the evaluation and compliance reports provided by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) as well as from personally conducted in-depth interviews. Although political finance regimes, at least in Europe, in general tend to converge, we lack empirical evidence that countries adopt similar transparency regulation on political finance and conflict of interest. A detailed discussion of findings concludes that domestic political competition to a large extent determines the launch of reforms, apart from scandals. Also, international organisations, like GRECO, contribute to the reforms´ initiation by drawing public attention to political corruption upon examining loopholes in existing practices, and to some extent empowering civil society in combating corruption. Political parties which favour transparency reforms and control the veto points as well as successful regulatory experience in similar contexts significantly affect the positive outcome of reforms. Overall, the outcome of transparency reforms is a product of domestic competition between political parties, costs of domestic implementation of these reforms as well as reputational benefits and loses for the country in the international arena. Thereby, democratic dissent seems to be the central mechanism for diminishing corruption and establishment of an effective anti-corruption regulatory framework. Suggestions for future research round up each of the chapters