Taxonomy of P2P Applications

Peer-to-peer (p2p) networks have gained immense popularity in recent years and the number of services they provide continuously rises. Where p2p-networks were formerly known as file-sharing networks, p2p is now also used for services like VoIP and IPTV. With so many different p2p applications and services the need for a taxonomy framework rises. This paper describes the available p2p applications grouped by the services they provide. A taxonomy framework is proposed to classify old and recent p2p applications based on their characteristics

Near Field Communication Applications

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range, low power contactless communication between NFC-enabled devices that are held in the closed proximity to each other. NFC technology has been moving rapidly from its initial application areas of mobile payment services and contactless ticketing to the diversity of new areas. Three specific NFC tags highlighted in the thesis have different structures in terms of memory, security and usage in different applications. NFC information tags exploit the data exchange format NDEF standardized by NFC Forum. NFC applications are rapidly stepping into novel and diverse application areas. Often they are deployed in combination with different devices and systems through their integrability and adaptability features. The diverse application areas where NFC tags and cards are used cover smart posters, contactless ticketing, keys and access control, library services, entertainment services, social network services, education, location based services, work force and retail management and healthcare. In designing different NFC applications, it is necessary to take into consideration different design issues such as to choosing the NFC tools and devices according to the technical requirements of the application, considering especially the memory, security and price factors as well as their relation to the purpose and usage of the final product. The security aspect of the NFC tags is remarkably important in selecting the proper NFC device. The race between hackers attacking and breaking the security systems of programmable high level products and manufacturers to produce reliable secure systems and products seems to never end. This has proven to be case, for example, for trying MIFARE Ultralight and DESFire MF3ICD40 tags. An important consideration of studying the different applications of NFC tags and cards during the thesis work was to understand the ubiquitous character of NFC technology.Lähitunnistus yhteys tekniikka (NFC) on lyhyen tähtäimen, pienitehoinen, kontaktiton yhteydenpito NFC yhteensopivien laitteiden välillä, jossa laitteet pidetään toistensä välittömässä läheisyydessä tiedon siirtämiseksi niiden välillä. NFC-teknologia on siirtynyt nopeasti sen alkuperäisiltä toimialueilta eli mobiili maksupalvelujen ja kontaktittomien lippujen sovellusalueilta moninaisille uusille alueille. Kolmella NFC tagillä, joita on käsitelty tässä tutkielmassa, on muistin, turvallisuuden ja käytön kannalta erilaisiä rakenteita, joita käytetään eri sovelluksissa. NFC-tagit käyttävät tiedonvälityksessä NFC Forumin standardoimaa NDEF-tiedonvaihtoformaattia. NFC sovellukset esiintyvät yhä enenevässä määrin nopeasti kehyttyvillä, uudenlaisilla ja monipuolisilla sovellusalueilla, usein yhdessä eri laitteiden ja järjestelmien kanssa. NFC on käytettävissä erinäisten laitteiden kanssa erilaisissa järjestelmäympäristöissä. Monipuoliset sovellusalueet, joissa muun muassa NFC-tagejä ja -kortteja käytetään sisältävät seuraavanlaisia sovelluksia: älykkäät julisteet, kontaktittomat liput, avaimet ja pääsynvalvonta, kirjastopalvelut, viihdepalvelut, sosiaalisen verkoston palvelut, kasvatukseen ja koulutukseen liittyvät palvelut, sijaintiperustaiset palvelut, työvoiman ja vähittäiskaupan hallinto-palvelut ja terveyspalvelut. Erilaisten NFC-sovelluksien suunnittelussa on väistämätöntä ottaa erilaisia suunnitteluasioita huomioon kuten valita NFC-työkalut ja laitteet sovelluksen teknisten vaatimusten mukaan. Erilaiset tärkeät tekijät kuten muisti, tietoturvallisuusominaisuudet ja hinta ja niiden kaikkien toimivuus lopputuotteen kannalta on otettava huomioon. Tietoturvallisuusnäkökohta on erityisen tärkeä oikean NFC laitteen valitsemisessa, sillä käynnissä on loputon kilpajuoksu hakkerien, jotka yrittävät rikkoa ohjelmoitavien korkeatasoisten laitteiden ja tuotteiden tietoturvajärjestelmiä, ja valmistajien, jotka pyrkivät tuottamaan luotettavia varmoja järjestelmiä, välillä. Tietoturvariskiin liittyviä ongelmia on löydetty esimerkiksi MIFARE Ultralight ja DESFire MF3ICD40 tageista. Tärkeä havainto, joka saatiin erilaisten NFC sovelluksien tutkimisesta, oli oivaltaa NFCteknologian potentiaalinen kaikkialle ulottuva, yleiskäyttöinen luonne

Future Open Mobile Services

The major barriers for the success of mobile data services are the lack of comprehensible mobile service architectures, their confusing business models and the complexity combined with the inconsistency of the technology enablers. This paper attempts to present a more structured and comprehensive analysis of the current mobile service architectures and their technology enablers. The paper starts with a thorough study of the evolution of mobile services and their business models, and a collection of expectations of the different actors, including the end-user. Next, starting from the original mobile services architecture and environment, an attempt to place the different technology enablers in relation to each other and in relation to their position in the mobile system, will be carried out. Each technology enabler together with their contribution in the enhancement of mobile services are then summarised in a complete and comprehensive way. The paper concludes with a recapitulation of the achievement of the state-of-the-art technology enablers and an identification of future improvements

A Comprehensive Survey of Voice over IP Security Research

We present a comprehensive survey of Voice over IP security academic research, using a set of 245 publications forming a closed cross-citation set. We classify these papers according to an extended version of the VoIP Security Alliance (VoIPSA) Threat Taxonomy. Our goal is to provide a roadmap for researchers seeking to understand existing capabilities and to identify gaps in addressing the numerous threats and vulnerabilities present in VoIP systems. We discuss the implications of our findings with respect to vulnerabilities reported in a variety of VoIP products. We identify two specific problem areas (denial of service, and service abuse) as requiring significant more attention from the research community. We also find that the overwhelming majority of the surveyed work takes a black box view of VoIP systems that avoids examining their internal structure and implementation. Such an approach may miss the mark in terms of addressing the main sources of vulnerabilities, i.e., implementation bugs and misconfigurations. Finally, we argue for further work on understanding cross-protocol and cross-mechanism vulnerabilities (emergent properties), which are the byproduct of a highly complex system-of-systems and an indication of the issues in future large-scale systems

Open Access to Resource Management in Multimedia Networks

The paper is dedicated to mechanisms for open access to resource management in the Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia networks. First we present the concept of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and explain the IMS functional architecture, principles of quality of service management and service control in IMS. Then we describe the idea behind the opening of network interfaces for third parties so that others besides the network operator can create and deploy services. Open Service Access (OSA) and Parlay appear to be the technologies for value-added service delivery in multimedia networks. In the paper we take a closer look to the Parlay/OSA interfaces that allow third party applications to access the resource management functions in IMS. OSA "Connectivity Manager" interfaces and OSA "Policy Management" interfaces are considered. Parlay X Web Services interfaces provide a higher level of abstraction than Parlay/OSA interfaces and gain an amazing amount of support among service developers. We address "Applicationdriven Quality of Service" Parlay X Web Service and "Policy" Parlay X Web Service also

Towards a Framework for Modelling Multimedia Conferencing Calls in the Next Generation Network

This paper is concerned with the creation of a multiparty multimedia conferencing application which can be used in Next Generation Networks. It begins by suggesting ways in which conferencing can be modeled with a focus on separating signaling and media transfer functionality. Enabling technologies which could support the modeling framework derived and which are compatible with Next Generation Network (NGN) principles are reviewed. Finally, a design and implementation for a simple multimedia conferencing application are described

Security in peer-to-peer communication systems

P2PSIP (Peer-to-Peer Session Initiation Protocol) is a protocol developed by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) for the establishment, completion and modi¿cation of communication sessions that emerges as a complement to SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) in environments where the original SIP protocol may fail for technical, ¿nancial, security, or social reasons. In order to do so, P2PSIP systems replace all the architecture of servers of the original SIP systems used for the registration and location of users, by a structured P2P network that distributes these functions among all the user agents that are part of the system. This new architecture, as with any emerging system, presents a completely new security problematic which analysis, subject of this thesis, is of crucial importance for its secure development and future standardization. Starting with a study of the state of the art in network security and continuing with more speci¿c systems such as SIP and P2P, we identify the most important security services within the architecture of a P2PSIP communication system: access control, bootstrap, routing, storage and communication. Once the security services have been identi¿ed, we conduct an analysis of the attacks that can a¿ect each of them, as well as a study of the existing countermeasures that can be used to prevent or mitigate these attacks. Based on the presented attacks and the weaknesses found in the existing measures to prevent them, we design speci¿c solutions to improve the security of P2PSIP communication systems. To this end, we focus on the service that stands as the cornerstone of P2PSIP communication systems¿ security: access control. Among the new designed solutions stand out: a certi¿cation model based on the segregation of the identity of users and nodes, a model for secure access control for on-the-¿y P2PSIP systems and an authorization framework for P2PSIP systems built on the recently published Internet Attribute Certi¿cate Pro¿le for Authorization. Finally, based on the existing measures and the new solutions designed, we de¿ne a set of security recommendations that should be considered for the design, implementation and maintenance of P2PSIP communication systems.Postprint (published version