An Empirical Assessment of the Effectiveness of Deception for Cyber Defense

The threat of cyber attacks is a growing concern across the world, leading to an increasing need for sophisticated cyber defense techniques. The Tularosa Study, was designed and conducted to understand how defensive deception, both cyber and psychological, affects cyber attackers Ferguson-Walter et al. [2019c]. More specifically, for this empirical study, cyber deception refers to a decoy system and psychological deception refers to false information of the presence of defensive deception techniques on the network. Over 130 red teamers participated in a network penetration test over two days in which we controlled both the presence of and explicit mention of deceptive defensive techniques. To our knowledge, this represents the largest study of its kind ever conducted on a skilled red team population. In addition to the abundant host and network data collected, we conducted a battery of questionnaires, e.g., experience, personality; and cognitive tasks, e.g., fluid intelligence, working memory; as well as physiological measures, e.g., galvanic skin response (GSR), heart rate, to be correlated with the cyber events at a later date. The design and execution of this study and the lessons learned are a major contribution of this thesis. I investigate the effectiveness of decoy systems for cyber defense by comparing performance across all experimental conditions. Results support a new finding that the combination of the presence of deception and the true information that deception is present has the greatest effect on cyber attackers, when compared to a control condition in which no deception was used. Evidence of cognitive biases in the red teamers’ behavior is then detailed and explained, to further support our theory of oppositional human factors (OHF). The final chapter discusses how elements of the experimental design contribute to the validity of assessing the effectiveness of cyber deception and reviews trade-offs and lessons learned

Design of a Process to Implement an Annual Community Fundraiser for Sprout Up

Sprout Up—in San Luis Obispo—is currently a non-profit organization that teaches free environmental science education to first and second graders around the San Luis Obispo area. Due to recent circumstances, Sprout Up will soon be losing its non-profit status, and therefore they will be losing their funding as well. Their problem is that they need a stable annual fundraiser that will help the organization continue to provide free services to local elementary schools as a Cal Poly club rather than a non-profit. Multi-criteria analysis techniques were used to determine what would be the best solution to their problem and found that hosting an annual Gala would be the most beneficial. Using Industrial Engineering tools, a design was created for a process to implement the annual community fundraising event for Sprout Up. The Gala prototype event was held at Santa Rosa Park on May 13th from 3pm to 7pm, and raised roughly $1,200 for the organization. The recommendation is to continue to perform the event annually with changes to the facility layout and starting the project earlier to give more time for fundraising

Uncommon Hepatic Sequelae from an Acute Sickle Cell Crisis

Background Sickle cell crises are commonly treated at our institution given its large sickle cell patient population and well-established hematology department. While pain management is a crucial aspect to these patients\u27 care, it is important to remember that a vasa-occlusive crisis can be life threatening. Many organs can be at risk, including the lungs (acute chest syndrome), brain (stroke), eyes (retinopathy) and as in our case, the liver. We hope this case report can become incorporated in future differential diagnoses pertaining to sickle cell crises. Case Presentation A 48-year-old black female with a past medical history of sickle cell anemia, HIV on antiretroviral therapy, pulmonary hypertension on 4L of home oxygen, lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, remote history of deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism, presented to the emergency department with complaints of shortness of breath, increased abdominal girth and lower extremity swelling for four days. She also complained of lower back and leg pain typical of her sickle cell crises. Her prescribed medications included tenofovir/emtricitabine, atazanavir, ritonavir, folic acid, oxycodone/acetaminophen, oral hydromorphone, and furosemide. Her social history was significant for smoking one fourth of a pack of cigarettes daily

Responsible Integration of Behavioral Science in Computer Science Research and Development

Cross disciplinary research is essential for technological innovation. For decades, computer science (Comp Sci) has leveraged behavior science (Behav Sci) research to create innovative products and improve end user experience. Despite the natural challenges that come with cross disciplinary work, there are no published manuscripts outlining how to responsibly integrate Behav Sci into Comp Sci research and development. This publication fills this critical gap by discussing important differences between Behav Sci and Comp Sci, particularly with regard to how each field fits under the umbrella of science and how each field conceptualizes data. We then discuss the consequences of misusing Behav Sci and provide examples of technology efforts that drew inappropriate or unethical conclusions about their behavioral data. We discuss in detail common errors to avoid at each stage of the research process, which we condensed into a useful checklist to use as a tool for teams integrating Behav Sci in their work. Finally, we include examples of good applications of Behav Sci into Comp Sci research, the design of which can inform and strengthen digital government, e-commerce, defense, and many other areas of information technology

A Red Teaming Framework for Securing AI in Maritime Autonomous Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being ubiquitously adopted to automate processes in science and industry. However, due to its often intricate and opaque nature, AI has been shown to possess inherent vulnerabilities which can be maliciously exploited with adversarial AI, potentially putting AI users and developers at both cyber and physical risk. In addition, there is insufficient comprehension of the real-world effects of adversarial AI and an inadequacy of AI security examinations; therefore, the growing threat landscape is unknown for many AI solutions. To mitigate this issue, we propose one of the first red team frameworks for evaluating the AI security of maritime autonomous systems. The framework provides operators with a proactive (secure by design) and reactive (post-deployment evaluation) response to securing AI technology today and in the future. This framework is a multi-part checklist, which can be tailored to different systems and requirements. We demonstrate this framework to be highly effective for a red team to use to uncover numerous vulnerabilities within a real-world maritime autonomous systems AI, ranging from poisoning to adversarial patch attacks. The lessons learned from systematic AI red teaming can help prevent MAS-related catastrophic events in a world with increasing uptake and reliance on mission-critical AI

The Grizzly, March 22, 1985

WVOU to Broadcast to Wismer • U.C. Receives $32,000 in Grants • Letter: Thoughtless Student Hurts Feelings • New Faces, New Places • Woman\u27s Club Events • Independent Eye Stages Macbeth • Meistersingers to Present Spring Program • Stevenson Resigns as Golf Coachhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1136/thumbnail.jp

Cognitive Assessment During Long-Duration Space Flight

The Space Flight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) is a computer-based, self-administered battery of five cognitive assessment tests developed for medical operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. WinSCAT is a medical requirement for U.S. long-duration astronauts and has been implemented with U.S. astronauts from one NASA/Mir mission (NASA-7 mission) and all expeditions to date on the International Space Station (ISS). Its purpose is to provide ISS crew surgeons with an objective clinical tool after an unexpected traumatic event, a medical condition, or the cumulative effects of space flight that could negatively affect an astronaut's cognitive status and threaten mission success. WinSCAT was recently updated to add network capability to support a 6-person crew on the station support computers. Additionally, WinSCAT Version 2.0.28 has increased difficulty of items in Mathematics, increased number of items in Match-to-Sample, incorporates a moving rather than a fixed baseline, and implements stricter interpretation rules. ISS performance data were assessed to compare initial to modified interpretation rules for detecting potential changes in cognitive functioning during space flight. WinSCAT tests are routinely taken monthly during an ISS mission. Performance data from these ISS missions do not indicate significant cognitive decrements due to microgravity/space flight alone but have shown decrements. Applying the newly derived rules to ISS data results in a number of off-nominal performances at various times during and after flight.. Correlation to actual events is needed, but possible explanations for off-nominal performances could include actual physical factors such as toxic exposure, medication effects, or fatigue; emotional factors including stress from the mission or life events; or failure to exert adequate effort on the tests

Students Perspective On The Impact Of The Title III Program On Doctoral And Professional Programs At Minority Serving Institutions: An Analysis Using A Multilevel Rasch Rating Scale Model

We assessed the impact of Part B, section 326 of the Title III program using data from three historically Black Universities.The Title III program aims at strengthening the resource capacity of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with eligible doctoral and professional programs. The lack of documented quantitative impact contributes to skepticism regarding program efficacy. A web-based survey instrument was used to collect data from students across five domains: research and instruction; technology development; facilities improvement; student financial assistance; and student services. A multilevel Rasch Rating Scale Model (ARSM) was utilized for data analysis. The students indicated that the program has intermediate to high impact on research and instruction and low impact on tutorial and counseling services and outreach programs