Secure End-to-End Communications in Mobile Networks

2009 - 2010Cellular communication has become an important part of our daily life. Besides using cell phones for voice communication, we are now able to access the Internet, conduct monetary transactions, send voice, video and text messages and new services continue to be added. The frequencies over which voice is transmitted are public, so voice encryption is necessary to avoid interception of the signal over the air. But once the signal reaches the operators Base Station (BS), it will be transmitted to the receiver over a wired or wireless mean. In either case, no protection is de ned. This does not seem a problem, but this is not true. Along the path across operator network, voice is at risk. It will only be encrypted again, with a di erent key, from the BS to the receiver if the receiver is herself a mobile user. Moreover, voice encryption is not mandatory. The choice whether or not to accept an unprotected communication is up to the network. When adopted, the same encryption algorithm is used for sending SMS messages between mobile telephones and base stations and for encrypting of calls. Unfortunately, vulnerabilities in this encryption systems were already revealed more than 10 years ago and more continue to be discovered. Currently the most popular communication technologies are the GSM and the UMTS. The UMTS is in use as a successor to GSM. Along with mobile phone services, It provides rapid data communication. The security algo- rithms in UMTS di ers from GSM in two important ways: encryption and mutual authentication. Although security standards have been improved, the end- to-end security is not provided... [edited by Author]IX n.s

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

Evolving trends in the management of acute appendicitis during COVID-19 waves. The ACIE appy II study

Background: In 2020, ACIE Appy study showed that COVID-19 pandemic heavily affected the management of patients with acute appendicitis (AA) worldwide, with an increased rate of non-operative management (NOM) strategies and a trend toward open surgery due to concern of virus transmission by laparoscopy and controversial recommendations on this issue. The aim of this study was to survey again the same group of surgeons to assess if any difference in management attitudes of AA had occurred in the later stages of the outbreak. Methods: From August 15 to September 30, 2021, an online questionnaire was sent to all 709 participants of the ACIE Appy study. The questionnaire included questions on personal protective equipment (PPE), local policies and screening for SARS-CoV-2 infection, NOM, surgical approach and disease presentations in 2021. The results were compared with the results from the previous study. Results: A total of 476 answers were collected (response rate 67.1%). Screening policies were significatively improved with most patients screened regardless of symptoms (89.5% vs. 37.4%) with PCR and antigenic test as the preferred test (74.1% vs. 26.3%). More patients tested positive before surgery and commercial systems were the preferred ones to filter smoke plumes during laparoscopy. Laparoscopic appendicectomy was the first option in the treatment of AA, with a declined use of NOM. Conclusion: Management of AA has improved in the last waves of pandemic. Increased evidence regarding SARS-COV-2 infection along with a timely healthcare systems response has been translated into tailored attitudes and a better care for patients with AA worldwide

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

H-264/RTSP Multicast Stream Integrity

In this paper we discuss about stream integrity problem and specifically we propose a method to protect a live video stream against forgery. In particular we propose to use cryptographic techniques to provide integrity and source identity embedding in the source stream a hash chain built on the top of each frame as produced by the source. We first present a real life scenario in which stream integrity could be considered an enabler, then we describe our method to perform real time integrity check. In last section an implementation is sketched to show main implementation parameter

Ensuring non-repudiation in human conversations over VoIP communications

Nowadays, plenty of sensitive transactions such as home banking and goods and services purchase are provided through call centres. This scenario raises two major issues: 1) both peers should be ensured of each other's identity; 2) each peer should be guaranteed that the other could not cheat about the communication contents. Off-the-shelf solutions addressing communication reliability are mainly based on proprietary technologies which often suffer from scarce interoperability. This paper addresses the achievement of strong peers authentication and non-repudiation of human conversations over VoIP communications. Our solution achieves low costs and high interoperability as it is built on top of open and standard technologies. As proof of concept, prototype implementation is presented and discussed

Reliable Voice-Based Transactions over VoIP Communications

Nowadays, plenty of sensitive transactions are provided through call centers such as bank operations, goods purchase and contracts signing. Beside communication confidentiality, two major issues are raised within this scenario: (1) each peer should be ensured about the identity of the other, (2) each peer should be guaranteed that the other could not cheat about the communication contents. Current telecommunication (TLC) networks offer (built-in) or allow several mechanisms to enhance security and reliability of human conversations, leveraging strong authentication mechanisms and cryptography. However, in most cases these solutions require complex deployments, mainly based on proprietary technologies which are often characterized by high costs and low flexibility. In this paper we present a solution for strong peers authentication and non-repudiability of human conversations through Voice over IP (VoIP) networks. Our solution achieves low costs and high interoperability as it is built on top of open standard technologies. Authentication and key-agreement mechanism are based on X.509 digital certificates and full PKCS#11 compliant cryptographic tokens. As proof of concept, we present and discuss a prototype implementation

iToken: a Wireless Smart Card Reader which Provides Handhelds with Desk Top Equivalent Security

The evolution of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the growth of the Internet have led to the proliferation of digital services. A new generation of networked devices has appeared, which take advantage of the enhanced technology and improved performance of connection media and protocols. Among these, it is worth mentioning Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and latest generation Cellular Phones, which provide a whole variety of improved computation features. In this new scenario, the design and implementation of effective security features has become key. In this paper, we present a research project conducted cooperatively by a University Department - namely the Dipartimento di Informatica ed Applicazioni "Renato M. Capocelli" of the University of Salerno - and a company - namely "FutureHouse s.r.l". The objective of the project was the design and the implementation of a portable smart card reader, named iToken, that communicates with the host computer by means of a wireless channel. Preliminary experimental results provide evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed solution