USBcat - Towards an Intrusion Surveillance Toolset

This paper identifies an intrusion surveillance framework which provides an analyst with the ability to investigate and monitor cyber-attacks in a covert manner. Where cyber-attacks are perpetrated for the purposes of espionage the ability to understand an adversary's techniques and objectives are an important element in network and computer security. With the appropriate toolset, security investigators would be permitted to perform both live and stealthy counter-intelligence operations by observing the behaviour and communications of the intruder. Subsequently a more complete picture of the attacker's identity, objectives, capabilities, and infiltration could be formulated than is possible with present technologies. This research focused on developing an extensible framework to permit the covert investigation of malware. Additionally, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Mass Storage Device (MSD) based covert channel was designed to enable remote command and control of the framework. The work was validated through the design, implementation and testing of a toolset.Comment: In Proceedings AIDP 2014, arXiv:1410.322

The assignment and distribution of the dyslexia label: Using the UK Millennium Cohort Study to investigate the socio-demographic predictors of the dyslexia label in England and Wales

The prevalence of dyslexia identification has increased significantly over the last two decades. Yet there is debate over whether there are distinct biological and cognitive differences between those with literacy difficulties and the subgroup of people identified as dyslexic. This is the first paper that provides evidence for this ongoing debate by investigating the socio-demographic factors, outside biology and cognition, that predict whether a child is identified as dyslexic in the UK. Using secondary data from the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study, this paper examines the socio-demographic factors that predict whether a child’s teacher identifies them as dyslexic at age 11. Gender, season of birth, socio-economic class and parental income are found to be significant predictors of the dyslexia label. Therefore, factors seemingly unrelated to the clinical aspects of dyslexia influence whether a child is identified as dyslexic in England and Wales. This suggests that label may not be evenly distributed across a population; furthermore, it may also indicate that resources for support may not be fairly allocated. The findings further support the argument that a 'dyslexic sub-group' within poor readers is created due to the impact of environmental factors. The results from this national-scale study thus questions the reliability, validity and moral integrity of the allocation of the dyslexia label across current education systems in the UK

Inclusive Education in Wales: Interpreting Discourses of Values and Practice Using Critical Policy Analysis

Purpose: This paper provides a detailed analysis of inclusive education policies in the context of major system reform in Wales, UK. Wales is currently undergoing the most significant changes to its education system since political devolution from the UK Government in 1999. Key to these changes is the new Curriculum for Wales and the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) regulations; alongside these and wider system-level reforms there is ambition to create an inclusive education system in Wales. This paper explores how inclusion is articulated and communicated within the key policy and guidance documents, using two continuums — ‘practice’ and ‘values’ — to map and interpret these documents.Methods: This paper uses critical policy analysis to make sense of these various inclusive education policy reforms in Wales.Findings: The analysis reveals that despite a foregrounded commitment to inclusion there is disparity both within and between the policy and guidance documents.Originality/Value: The paper highlights the lack of coherence of key messages articulated through education policy documentation in Wales, providing insight into the emerging national education system reforms, as well as developing an approach for evaluating inclusive education systems in other jurisdictions

Creating optimally safe and enjoyable youth sporting experiences within the United Kingdom

Considering recent research and reports, much attention has been given to understanding and addressing issues of abuse in sport. Similarly, attention has been given to enhancing children’s psychosocial experiences within sport. However, to-date, consideration of these two elements together, that is minimising abuse and enhancing enjoyment, has been minimal. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to explore perceptions of the process through which an optimally safe and enjoyable sporting experience can be created for young people. A Straussian grounded theory methodology was used to develop a substantive theory detailing the process through which an optimally safe and enjoyable sporting experience is created for young people in sport. Interviews were conducted with 19 young people, six parents, nine coaches, and five individuals in safeguarding roles. The interviews were analysed through open and axial coding, followed by theoretical integration. The resultant theory highlighted that establishing positive relationships between all young people and key individuals in a physically and developmentally safe environment was a fundamental requirement for fostering an optimally safe and enjoyable sporting experience. Achieving this required consideration of factors both in the immediate and broad sporting context. Specifically, support from sports organizations, access to continuing professional development opportunities, and a network of safeguarding experts are required in the broader environment. While within the immediate sporting environment, visibly displayed and appropriately implemented safeguarding policies and procedures; open, honest, and respectful interactions; shared goals and expectations between parents, coaches, and young people, and; trusting and supportive friendships with shared experiences are required

Stepping Stones to the Sky: Archaeological Perspectives on the Cultural Significance of the W eddin Mountains in Recent Prehistory

Hierophanous landscape features are perceived to be points of connection with other worlds, such as the sky or underworld and/or earthly embodiments of supernatural beings. They may include springs, caves, notable rock formations, trees and most notably, mountains. In Aboriginal Australia, hierophanies and the narratives that bound them together across space were treated with reverence and respect. Sacred information was closely guarded and a host of 'dangerous places' was either avoided at all costs or demanded special codes of behaviour. Ritual conducted at these places brought into alignment spatial and temporal gateways to other worlds and served to reanimate places with ancestral power and/or provide the opportunity for communion with great beings. Numerous malignant spirits were also recognised, all having their place in the landscape, such as in holes in the ground, caves, springs, cliffs and thickets, were, in tum, feared and avoided. This is not to imply that Aboriginal people lived their lives in constant superstitious dread or were obsessed with arcane secrets (Creamer 1984: 6.6), rather it is an acknowledgment of the importance of cosmology as an influential factor in everyday life (Strehlow 1971: 594) and its expression through the landscape. Bradley (2000) has argued that it is possible to analyse such prehistoric landscape perception through an 'archaeology of natural places'. He suggests that votive deposits, rock art, production sites and monuments all provide potential information on natural features of cultural importance (Bradley 2000: 36-43). As a result, it is possible to incorporate non-humanly marked natural places into systematic archaeological analysis through interpretation of the deposits and sites found in close proximity to and in the topography surrounding them. In this manner, an attempt has been made to recreate a prehistoric Aboriginal landscape in central western New South Wales, using as its focus the culturally significant Weddin Mountains. Archaeological analysis of stone artefact scatters in the study area suggests an inherent landscape ( cf van Dommelen 1999), where hunter-gatherers made use of the great majority of environmental zones available to them, including areas around significant natural features. Artefact assemblages indicate that people were utilising a considerable variety of raw materials to produce flakes and a range of stone implements, such as backed blades, adzes, scrapers and eloueras. The stone types utilised in this fashion include varieties of chert, volcanics, silcrete, quartzite, quartz and indurated mudstone. Distribution of raw material types throughout the study area was not uniform and considerable variation was noted between different parts of the Plains and Slopes and sections ofWeddin itself

High quality InSAR data linked to seasonal change in hydraulic head for an agricultural area in the San Luis Valley, Colorado

In the San Luis Valley (SLV), Colorado legislation passed in 2004 requires that hydraulic head levels in the confined aquifer system stay within the range experienced in the years 1978–2000. While some measurements of hydraulic head exist, greater spatial and temporal sampling would be very valuable in understanding the behavior of the system. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data provide fine spatial resolution measurements of Earth surface deformation, which can be related to hydraulic head change in the confined aquifer system. However, change in cm-scale crop structure with time leads to signal decorrelation, resulting in low quality data. Here we apply small baseline subset (SBAS) analysis to InSAR data collected from 1992 to 2001. We are able to show high levels of correlation, denoting high quality data, in areas between the center pivot irrigation circles, where the lack of water results in little surface vegetation. At three well locations we see a seasonal variation in the InSAR data that mimics the hydraulic head data. We use measured values of the elastic skeletal storage coefficient to estimate hydraulic head from the InSAR data. In general the magnitude of estimated and measured head agree to within the calculated error. However, the errors are unacceptably large due to both errors in the InSAR data and uncertainty in the measured value of the elastic skeletal storage coefficient. We conclude that InSAR is capturing the seasonal head variation, but that further research is required to obtain accurate hydraulic head estimates from the InSAR deformation measurements

Measuring the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Education and Care in the UK: Perspectives of Teachers and Practitioners

COVID-19 has impacted all aspects of society, and especially education. However, families and children are often hardest hit "Lockdown has been a seismic shock for every family" (Saunders and Hogg, 2020), particularly for vulnerable families (Conti, 2020). Related research suggests that childcare providers will have been financially impacted during the lockdown period (Blanden et al., 2020). There is thus much to be concerned in terms of the access and quality of young children’s education and care; however, little evidence is available to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on early years settings, practitioners and children. Much of the media focus has been on school-age learners or higher education (Watermeyer et al., 2020); measuring this impact on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is vital to better understand this essential societal provision for supporting the education of our youngest learners. This paper reports on a project which explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK ECEC provision.Policy and guidance documents abound across the four UK nations, providing ECEC settings with detailed information about current regulations. The voluntary sector has also been key to providing operational advice (NDNA, 2020). However, little empirical research exists to date that captures and analyses the experiences of ECEC settings in their efforts to translate this emerging policy into practice, as well as the impact this is having on practitioners’ workplace, themselves and the children in their care.This research aims to explore the perspectives of the UK’s ECEC workforce using a realistic epistemological position to gather quantitative and qualitative data from an anonymous online survey. The online survey has been completed by over 400 practitioners, childcare workers, setting managers, and teachers working with children aged 0-8 years old across the UK. The survey explored the impact of any changes that had been made within settings as a result of the pandemic, especially new ways of working. The survey also examined practitioner perceptions of these changes; focusing on the impact of coronavirus on early years pedagogy, practitioners and children. Initial analysis suggestions some of the following findings; the impact of COVID-19 has negatively impacted on the health and wellbeing of ECEC staff and children, with management facing challenges in adhering to the evolving regulations. Parents have expressed their concerns about the changes in available childcare hours, and to not being able to enter premises and meaningfully engage with staff and children. A number of respondents were concerned about the financial sustainability of the sector, potentially requiring government support to ensure that services remain available and accessible to all.The findings from this research provide vital insight into UK ECEC settings, acknowledging the crisis response to the pandemic and the short, medium and longer-term impact of COVID-19 on learners and practitioners, as well as the potential for reimagining learning if/when we revert to a post-COVID normal. We aim to inform emerging policy and practice across the four nations of the UK, to better support settings in dealing with current and future scenarios of this kind