Domain Name Service Trust Delegation in Cloud Computing: Exploitation, Risks, and Defense

The Domain Name Service (DNS) infrastructure is a global distributed database that links human readable domain names with the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the resources that power the internet. With the explosion of cloud computing over the past decade, increasing proportions of organizations' computing services have moved from on-premise solutions to cloud providers. These services range from complete DNS management to singular services such as E-mail or a payroll application. Each of these outsourced services requires a trust delegation, that is, the owning organization needs to advertise to the world, often by DNS records, that another organization can act authoritatively on its behalf. What occurs when these trust delegations are misused? In this work, I explore the methods that can be used to exploit DNS trust delegation and then examine the top 1% of the most popular domains in the world for the presence of these exploitable vulnerabilities. Finally, I conclude with methods of defense against such attacks and the publishing of a novel tool to detect these vulnerabilities

Disaster Decision Making: Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav in New Orleans

The goal of this project was to set standard criteria for evaluating the execution of a disaster response at the local, State, and Federal Government levels. This evaluation, which was based on the disaster responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav, focused on improvements in decision making. This project's procedure consisted of developing a model of decisions made and analyzing them. It was determined that there is a need for competent leadership, conducting rehearsals, and more initiative at all government levels

Learning Skills Academy Automated Math Testing Project

The Goal of this project was to create a program capable of effectively and efficiently measure a student's math and number skills at the Learning Skills Academy. The development of the software started by developing proofs of concepts in areas of perceived complexity, progressed to UI and background development, and concluded with UI testing and modification. The result was a program that met all client needs as well as established a readily accessible framework for extension

Quantitative mapping of acute and chronic PCL pathology with 3 T MRI: a prospectively enrolled patient cohort

Background: The diagnosis of incomplete acute and chronic posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tears can be challenging with conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, particularly for injuries in which the ligament appears continuous as occurs with chronic PCL tears that have scarred in continuity. Quantitative mapping from MR imaging may provide additional useful diagnostic information in these cases. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of quantifying transverse relaxation time (T2) mapping values at 3 Tesla (T) in a prospectively enrolled patient cohort with chronic PCL tears. Methods: Twelve subjects with acute or chronic functionally torn PCL, confirmed on clinical exam and posterior knee stress radiographs (with 8 mm or more of increased posterior tibial translation), were enrolled prospectively over a span of 4 years (age: 28–52 years, injury occurred 2 weeks to 15 years prior). Unilateral knee MR images were acquired at 3 T, including a multi-echo spin-echo T2 mapping scan in the sagittal plane. For the six subjects with a continuous PCL on MR imaging the PCL was manually segmented and divided into proximal, mid and distal thirds. Summary statistics for T2 values in each third of the ligament were compiled. Results: Across the six patient subjects with a continuous ligament, the mean T2 for the entire PCL was 36 ± 9 ms, with the highest T2 values found in the proximal third (proximal: 41 ms, mid 30 ms, distal 37 ms). The T2 values for the entire PCL and for the proximal third subregion were higher than those recently published for asymptomatic volunteers (entire posterior cruciate ligament: 31 ± 5 ms, proximal: 30 ms, mid: 29 ms, distal: 37 ms) with similar methodology. Conclusion: Mean T2 values were quantified for acute and chronic PCL tears in this prospectively enrolled patient cohort and were higher than those reported for asymptomatic volunteers. This novel approach of using quantitative mapping to highlight injured areas of the posterior cruciate ligament has potential to provide additional diagnostic information in the challenging case of a suspected posterior cruciate ligament tear which appears continuous, including chronic tears that have scarred in continuity and may appear intact on conventional magnetic resonance imaging

Double-bundle PCL and Posterolateral Corner Reconstruction Components are Codominant

A more complete biomechanical understanding of a combined posterior cruciate ligament and posterolateral corner knee reconstruction may help surgeons develop uniformly accepted clinical surgical techniques that restore normal anatomy and protect the knee from premature arthritic changes. We identified the in situ force patterns of the individual components of a combined double-bundle posterior cruciate ligament and posterolateral corner knee reconstruction. We tested 10 human cadaveric knees using a robotic testing system by sequentially cutting and reconstructing the posterior cruciate ligament and posterolateral corner. The knees were subjected to a 134-N posterior tibial load and 5-Nm external tibial torque. The posterior cruciate ligament was reconstructed with a double-bundle technique. The posterolateral corner reconstruction included reattaching the popliteus tendon to its femoral origin and reconstructing the popliteofibular ligament. The in situ forces in the anterolateral bundle were greater in the posterolateral corner-deficient state than in the posterolateral corner-reconstructed state at 30° under the posterior tibial load and at 90° under the external tibial torque. We observed no differences in the in situ forces between the anterolateral and posteromedial bundles under any loading condition. The popliteus tendon and popliteofibular ligament had similar in situ forces at all flexion angles. The data suggest the two bundles protect each other by functioning in a load-sharing, codominant fashion, with no component dominating at any flexion angle. We believe the findings support reconstructing both posterior cruciate ligament bundles and both posterolateral corner components