An Overview of Economic Approaches to Information Security Management

The increasing concerns of clients, particularly in online commerce, plus the impact of legislations on information security have compelled companies to put more resources in information security. As a result, senior managers in many organizations are now expressing a much greater interest in information security. However, the largest body of research related to preventing breaches is technical, focusing on such issues as encryption and access control. In contrast, research related to the economic aspects of information security is small but rapidly growing. The goal of this technical note is twofold: i) to provide the reader with an structured overview of the economic approaches to information security and ii) to identify potential research directions

Network support for integrated design

A framework of network support for utilization of integrated design over the Internet has been developed. The techniques presented also applicable for Intranet/Extranet. The integrated design system was initially developed for local application in a single site. With the network support, geographically dispersed designers can collaborate a design task through out the total design process, quickly respond to clients’ requests and enhance the design argilty. In this paper, after a brief introduction of the integrated design system, the network support framework is presented, followed by description of two key techniques involved: Java Saverlet approach for remotely executing a large program and online CAD collaboration

An information retrieval approach to ontology mapping

In this paper, we present a heuristic mapping method and a prototype mapping system that support the process of semi-automatic ontology mapping for the purpose of improving semantic interoperability in heterogeneous systems. The approach is based on the idea of semantic enrichment, i.e., using instance information of the ontology to enrich the original ontology and calculate similarities between concepts in two ontologies. The functional settings for the mapping system are discussed and the evaluation of the prototype implementation of the approach is reported. \ud \u

Understanding and Specifying Information Security Needs to Support the Delivery of High Quality Security Services

In this paper we present an approach for specifying and prioritizing information security requirements in organizations. It is important to prioritize security requirements since hundred per cent security is\ud not achievable and the limited resources available should be directed to satisfy the most important ones. We propose to explicitly link security requirements with the organization’s business vision, i.e. to provide business\ud rationale for security requirements. The rationale is then used as a basis for comparing the importance of different security requirements.\ud Furthermore we discuss how to integrate the aforementioned solution concepts into a service level management process for security services, which is an important step in IT Governance. We validate our approach by way of a focus group session

A Business Goal Driven Approach for Understanding and Specifying Information Security Requirements

In this paper we present an approach for specifying and prioritizing\ud information security requirements in organizations. It is important\ud to prioritize security requirements since hundred per cent security is\ud not achievable and the limited resources available should be directed to\ud satisfy the most important ones. We propose to link explicitly security\ud requirements with the organization’s business vision, i.e. to provide business\ud rationale for security requirements. The rationale is then used as a\ud basis for comparing the importance of different security requirements.\ud A conceptual framework is presented, where the relationships between\ud business vision, critical impact factors and valuable assets (together with\ud their security requirements) are shown

A conditional quantum phase gate between two 3-state atoms

We propose a scheme for conditional quantum logic between two 3-state atoms that share a quantum data-bus such as a single mode optical field in cavity QED systems, or a collective vibrational state of trapped ions. Making use of quantum interference, our scheme achieves successful conditional phase evolution without any real transitions of atomic internal states or populating the quantum data-bus. In addition, it only requires common addressing of the two atoms by external laser fields.Comment: 8 fig

B-Physics Observables and Electroweak Precision Data in the CMSSM, mGMSB and mAMSB

We explore electroweak precision observables (EWPO) and $B$-physics observables (BPO) in the CMSSM, the mGMSB and the mAMSB. We perform a chi^2 analysis based on the combination of current EWPO and BPO data. For the first time this allows the comparison of the mGMSB and mAMSB in terms of EWPO and BPO with the CMSSM. We find that relatively low mass scales in all three scenarios are favored. However, the current data from EWPO and BPO can hardly exclude any parameters at the level of Delta chi^2 = 9. Remarkably the mAMSB scenario, despite having one free GUT scale parameter less than the other two scenarios, has a somewhat lower total minimum chi^2. We present predictions for the lightest Higgs boson mass, based on the chi^2 analysis of current data, where relatively good compatibility with the bounds from Higgs searches at LEP is found. We also present the predictions for other Higgs sector parameters and SUSY mass scales, allowing to compare the reach of the LHC and the ILC in the three scenarios. We furthermore explore the future sensitivities of the EWPO and BPO for the current best-fit results and for a hypothetical point with somewhat higher mass scales that results in a similar Higgs and SUSY spectrum in the three scenarios. We find that the future improvement of the accuracy of the EWPO and BPO will lead to a significant gain in the indirect parameter determination. The improvement is similar in the CMSSM, mGMSB and mAMSB and will yield constraints to the parameter space even for heavy Higgs and SUSY mass scales.Comment: 53 pages, 27 figures, discussion extended. Version to appear in JHE

Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling Effect of Z2 Topological Order

In this paper, macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) effect of Z2 topological order in the Wen-Plaquette model is studied. This kind of MQT is characterized by quantum tunneling processes of different virtual quasi-particles moving around a torus. By a high-order degenerate perturbation approach, the effective pseudo-spin models of the degenerate ground states are obtained. From these models, we get the energy splitting of the ground states, of which the results are consistent with those from exact diagonalization methodComment: 25 pages, 14 figures, 4 table

A new calibration method for time delay standard and its application

A method which is used to measure time delay accurately by using a Type 900-LB slotted line is described. The accuracy for calibrating time delay of a precision coaxial air line Type 900-L is about + or - (0.4 to 0.6)ps, and for coaxial cables with VSWR less than 1.5 and time delay t less than 50ns is about + or - (3 to 5)ps. Theoretical analysis and mathematical derivation of microwave networks in cascade are given. Methods to eliminate the errors which are caused by the discontinuities and the error analysis of the measuring system are presented. Skin effect analysis of the transient characteristic of coaxial transmission line are discussed in detail. Methods to eliminate the errors which result from using the calibrated time delay standard to calibrate time interval measurement instruments are presented. The estimation of errors and formulae for correction of those errors are described