Underpinning Quality Assurance: Identifying Core Testing Strategies for Multiple Layers of Internet-of-Things-Based Applications

The Internet of Things (IoT) constitutes a digitally integrated network of intelligent devices equipped with sensors, software, and communication capabilities, facilitating data exchange among a multitude of digital systems via the Internet. Despite its pivotal role in the software development life-cycle (SDLC) for ensuring software quality in terms of both functional and non-functional aspects, testing within this intricate software–hardware ecosystem has been somewhat overlooked. To address this, various testing techniques are applied for real-time minimization of failure rates in IoT applications. However, the execution of a comprehensive test suite for specific IoT software remains a complex undertaking. This paper proposes a holistic framework aimed at aiding quality assurance engineers in delineating essential testing methods across different testing levels within the IoT. This delineation is crucial for effective quality assurance, ultimately reducing failure rates in real-time scenarios. Furthermore, the paper offers a mapping of these identified tests to each layer within the layered framework of the IoT. This comprehensive approach seeks to enhance the reliability and performance of IoT-based applications

An Efficient Audio Encryption Scheme Based on Finite Fields

Finite fields are well-studied algebraic structures with enormous efficient properties which have applications in the fields of cryptology and coding theory. In this study, we proposed a lossless binary Galois field extension-based efficient algorithm for digital audio encryption. The proposed architecture hired a special type of curve in the diffusion module which depends on efficient elliptic curve arithmetic operations. So, it generates good quality pseudo-random numbers (PRN) and with slight computational efforts, it produces optimum diffusion in the encrypted audio files. For the confusion module, a novel construction mechanism of block cipher has been employed which includes prominent arithmetic operations of binary Galois field inversion and multiplication operations. The suggested scheme generates multiple substitution boxes (S-boxes) by using a higher-order Galois field. Thus, the replacement with multiple S-boxes generates effective perplexity in the data and provides additional security to the ciphered audio. The investigational outcomes through different analyses and time complexity demonstrated the ability of the technique to counter various attacks. Furthermore, as a consequence of a rapid and simple application of the binary finite field in hardware and software, the proposed scheme is more appropriate to be applied for data security.10.13039/501100007446-Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University through the Research Groups Program (Grant Number: RG.P. 2/150/42

Enhancing image security via chaotic maps, Fibonacci, Tribonacci transformations, and DWT difusion: a robust data encryption approach

In recent years, numerous image encryption schemes have been developed that demonstrate diferent levels of efectiveness in terms of robust security and real-time applications. While a few of them outperform in terms of robust security, others perform well for real-time applications where less processing time is required. Balancing these two aspects poses a challenge, aiming to achieve efcient encryption without compromising security. To address this challenge, the proposed research presents a robust data security approach for encrypting grayscale images, comprising fve key phases. The frst and second phases of the proposed encryption framework are dedicated to the generation of secret keys and the confusion stage, respectively. While the level-1, level-2, and level-2 difusions are performed in phases 3, 4, and 5, respectively, The proposed approach begins with secret key generation using chaotic maps for the initial pixel scrambling in the plaintext image, followed by employing the Fibonacci Transformation (FT) for an additional layer of pixel shufing. To enhance security, Tribonacci Transformation (TT) creates level-1 difusion in the permuted image. Level-2 difusion is introduced to further strengthen the difusion within the plaintext image, which is achieved by decomposing the difused image into eight-bit planes and implementing XOR operations with corresponding bit planes that are extracted from the key image. After that, the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is employed to develop secondary keys. The DWT frequency subband (high-frequency sub-band) is substituted using the substitution box process. This creates further difusion (level 3 difusion) to make it difcult for an attacker to recover the plaintext image from an encrypted image. Several statistical tests, including mean square error analysis, histogram variance analysis, entropy assessment, peak signal-to-noise ratio evaluation, correlation analysis, key space evaluation, and key sensitivity analysis, demonstrate the efectiveness of the proposed work. The proposed encryption framework achieves signifcant statistical values, with entropy, correlation, energy, and histogram variance values standing at 7.999, 0.0001, 0.0156, and 6458, respectively. These results contribute to its robustness against cyberattacks. Moreover, the processing time of the proposed encryption framework is less than one second, which makes it more suitable for realworld applications. A detailed comparative analysis with the existing methods based on chaos, DWT, Tribonacci transformation (TT), and Fibonacci transformation (FT) reveals that the proposed encryption scheme outperforms the existing ones

Predicting Rogue Content and Arabic Spammers on Twitter

Twitter is one of the most popular online social networks for spreading propaganda and words in the Arab region. Spammers are now creating rogue accounts to distribute adult content through Arabic tweets that Arabic norms and cultures prohibit. Arab governments are facing a huge challenge in the detection of these accounts. Researchers have extensively studied English spam on online social networks, while to date, social network spam in other languages has been completely ignored. In our previous study, we estimated that rogue and spam content accounted for approximately three quarters of all content with Arabic trending hashtags in Saudi Arabia. This alarming rate, supported by autonomous concurrent estimates, highlights the urgent need to develop adaptive spam detection methods. In this work, we collected a pure data set from spam accounts producing Arabic tweets. We applied lightweight feature engineering based on rogue content and user profiles. The 47 generated features were analyzed, and the best features were selected. Our performance results show that the random forest classification algorithm with 16 features performs best, with accuracy rates greater than 90%

Latency-Aware Accelerator of SIMECK Lightweight Block Cipher

This article presents a latency-optimized implementation of the SIMECK lightweight block cipher on a field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) platform with a block and key lengths of 32 and 64 bits. The critical features of our architecture include parallelism, pipelining, and a dedicated controller. Parallelism splits the digits of the key and data blocks into smaller segments. Then, we use each segmented key and data block in parallel for encryption and decryption computations. Splitting key and data blocks helps reduce the required clock cycles. A two-stage pipelining is used to shorten the critical path and to improve the clock frequency. A dedicated controller is implemented to provide control functionalities. For the performance evaluation of our design, we report implementation results for two different cases on Xilinx 7-series FPGA devices. For our case one, the proposed architecture can operate on 382, 379, and 388 MHz frequencies for Kintex-7, Virtex-7, and Artix-7 devices. On the same Kintex-7, Virtex-7, and Artix-7 devices, the utilized Slices are 49, 51, and 50. For one encryption and decryption computation, our design takes 16 clock cycles. The minimum power consumption is 172 mW on the Kintex-7 device. For the second case, we targeted the same circuit frequency of 50 MHz for synthesis on Kintex-7, Virtex-7, and Artix-7 devices. With minimum hardware resource utilization (51 Slices), the least consumed power of 13.203 mW is obtained for the Kintex-7 device. For proof-of-concept, the proposed SIMECK design is validated on the NEXYS 4 FPGA with the Artix-7 device. Consequently, the implementation results reveal that the proposed architecture is suitable for many resource-constrained cryptographic applications

The Application of Fault-Tolerant Partition Resolvability in Cycle-Related Graphs

The concept of metric-related parameters permeates all of graph theory and plays an important role in diverse networks, such as social networks, computer networks, biological networks and neural networks. The graph parameters include an incredible tool for analyzing the abstract structures of networks. An important metric-related parameter is the partition dimension of a graph holding auspicious applications in telecommunication, robot navigation and geographical routing protocols. A fault-tolerant resolving partition is a preference for the concept of a partition dimension. A system is fault-tolerant if failure of any single unit in the originally used chain is replaced by another chain of units not containing the faulty unit. Due to the optimal fault tolerance, cycle-related graphs have applications in network analysis, periodic scheduling and surface reconstruction. In this paper, it is shown that the partition dimension (PD) and fault-tolerant partition dimension (FTPD) of cycle-related graphs, including kayak paddle and flower graphs, are constant and free from the order of these graphs. More explicitly, the FTPD of kayak paddle and flower graphs is four, whereas the PD of flower graphs is three. Finally, an application of these parameters in a scenario of installing water reservoirs in a locality has also been furnished in order to verify our findings

An Innovative Feasible Approach for Multi-Media Security Using Both Chaotic and Elliptic Curve Structures

Researchers concentrate on data security using cryptography, using different approaches to protect confidential data, such as digital images holding private information. They use cryptography techniques, frequently using elliptic curves and chaotic structures for secure transmission. This paper introduces a novel technique for constructing S- boxes and their application in color image encryption. The utilization of discrete chaotic maps and elliptic curves results in low computational complexity, which is crucial for high-speed communication systems. The generation of S- boxes is based on elliptic curves over prime fields and discrete chaotic maps. The color image encryption scheme involves permutation, substitution, and bit-wise XOR operations of key with the color image’s corresponding substituted channels. The resistance of the newly constructed s-boxes against common attacks, such as linear, differential, and algebraic attacks, is analyzed by evaluating their non-linearity, linear approximation probability, differential approximation probability, bit avalanche criterion, and bit independence criterion. The encrypted images have strong resistance against statistical and differential attacks. Experimental results demonstrate that the newly constructed scheme can efficiently generate numerous distinct, uncorrelated, and secure S- boxes, outperforming some well-known existing techniques. The non-linearity of the proposed s-box is 107.5 and the entropy of the ciphered image of Baboon is 7.9989. The security analysis indicates that the color-encrypted image offers fast and higher protection against attacks, making it suitable for real-time applications with high security requirements

Fault Tolerant Addressing Scheme for Oxide Interconnection Networks

The symmetry of an interconnection network plays a key role in defining the functioning of a system involving multiprocessors where thousands of processor-memory pairs known as processing nodes are connected. Addressing the processing nodes helps to create efficient routing and broadcasting algorithms for the multiprocessor interconnection networks. Oxide interconnection networks are extracted from the silicate networks having applications in multiprocessor systems due to their symmetry, smaller diameter, connectivity and simplicity of structure, and a constant number of links per node with the increasing size of the network can avoid overloading of nodes. The fault tolerant partition basis assigns unique addresses to each processing node in terms of distances (hops) from the other subnets in the network which work in the presence of faults. In this manuscript, the partition and fault tolerant partition resolvability of oxide interconnection networks have been studied which include single oxide chain networks (SOXCN), rhombus oxide networks (RHOXN) and regular triangulene oxide networks (RTOXN). Further, an application of fault tolerant partition basis in case of region-based routing in the networks is included

Image Encryption Based on Elliptic Curve Points and Linear Fractional Transformation

The elliptic curve (EC) offers a well-organized and secure method for implementing cryptographic protocols in computer systems. Its broad utilization in various applications, such as ensuring secure communications, digital signatures, and key agreement protocols, underscores its significance in contemporary computing. In this article, we employed EC over a binary extension field (BEF), a choice that not only maintains security but also reduces computational overhead when compared to the use of large prime numbers. Our encryption scheme encompasses three primary phases. Firstly, we employ EC points over a BEF in conjunction with a piecewise function to hide the original image. Subsequently, to inject a high degree of confusion into the plaintext, we constructed a substitution box (S-box) grounded in EC principles and applied linear fractional transformation (LFT) to the generated EC points. This S-box is then used to rearrange the pixels of the previously masked image. Lastly, to introduce diffusion throughout the image and generate a ciphertext, we derive pseudo-random numbers (PRNs) using the coordinates of the EC and the characteristics of the BEF. Moreover, the proposed scheme has nonlinearity (NL) 112 for each S-box which is optimal value. Furthermore, we conducted computational experiments that substantiate the robust security of our proposed cryptosystem against linear, differential, and statistical attacks when compared to existing cryptographic systems

Website Defacement Detection and Monitoring Methods: A Review

Web attacks and web defacement attacks are issues in the web security world. Recently, website defacement attacks have become the main security threats for many organizations and governments that provide web-based services. Website defacement attacks can cause huge financial and data losses that badly affect the users and website owners and can lead to political and economic problems. Several detection techniques and tools are used to detect and monitor website defacement attacks. However, some of the techniques can work on static web pages, dynamic web pages, or both, but need to focus on false alarms. Many techniques can detect web defacement. Some are based on available online tools and some on comparing and classification techniques; the evaluation criteria are based on detection accuracies with 100% standards and false alarms that cannot reach 1.5% (and never 2%); this paper presents a literature review of the previous works related to website defacement, comparing the works based on the accuracy results, the techniques used, as well as the most efficient techniques