Model Based Optimization and Design of Secure Systems

ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: MODEL BASED OPTIMIZATION AND DESIGN OF SECURE SYSTEMS Waseem Ansar Malik, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation directed by: Prof. Nuno C. Martins Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Maryland, College Park Dr. Ananthram Swami Computational and Information Sciences Directorate Army Research Laboratory Control systems are widely used in modern industry and find wide applications in power systems, nuclear and chemical plants, the aerospace industry, robotics, communication devices, and embedded systems. All these systems typically rely on an underlying computing and networking infrastructure which has considerable security vulnerabilities. The biggest threat, in this age and time, to modern systems are cyber attacks from adversaries. Recent cyber attacks have practically shut down government websites affecting government operation, undermined financial institutions, and have even infringed on public privacy. Thus it is extremely important to conduct studies on the design and analysis of secure systems. This work is an effort in this research direction and is mainly focused on incorporating security in the design of modern control systems. In the first part of this dissertation, we present a linear quadratic optimal control problem subjected to security constraints. We consider an adversary which can make partial noisy measurements of the state. The task of the controller is to generate control sequences such that the adversary is unable to estimate the terminal state. This is done by minimizing a quadratic cost while satisfying security constraints. The resulting optimization problems are shown to be convex and the optimal solution is computed using Lagrangian based techniques. For the case when the terminal state has a discrete distribution the optimal solution is shown to be nonlinear in the terminal state. This is followed by considering the case when the terminal state has a continuous distribution. The resulting infinite dimensional optimization problems are shown to be convex and the optimal solution is proven to be affine in the terminal state. In the next part of this dissertation, we analyze several team decision problems subjected to security constraints. Specifically, we consider problem formulations where there are two decision makers each controlling a different dynamical system. Each decision maker receives information regarding the respective terminal states that it is required to reach and applies a control sequence accordingly. An adversary makes partial noisy measurements of the states and tries to estimate the respective terminal states. It is shown that the optimal solution is affine in the terminal state when it is identical for both systems. We also consider the general case where the terminal states are correlated. The resulting infinite dimensional optimization problems are shown to convex programs and we prove that the optimal solution is affine in the information available to the decision makers. Next, a stochastic receding horizon control problem is considered and analyzed. Specifically, we consider a system with bounded disturbances and hard bounds on the control inputs. Utilizing a suboptimal disturbance feedback scheme, the optimization problem is shown to be convex. The problem of minimizing the empirical mean of the cost function is analyzed. We provide bounds on the disturbance sample size to compute the empirical minimum of the problem. Further, we consider the problem where there are hard computational constraints and complex on-line optimization is not feasible. This is addressed by randomly generating both the control inputs and the additive disturbances. Bounds on sample sizes are provided which guarantee a notion of a probable near minimum. Model uncertainty is also incorporated into the framework and relevant bounds are provided which guarantee a probable near minimax value. This work finds many applications in miniature devices and miniature robotics. In the final part of this dissertation, we consider a centralized intrusion detection problem with jointly optimal sensor placement. A team of sensors make measurements regarding the presence of an intruder and report their observations to a decision maker. The decision maker solves a jointly optimal detection and sensor placement problem. For the case when the number of sensors is equal to the number of placement points, we prove that uniform placement of sensors is not strictly optimal. We introduce and utilize a majorization based partial order for the placement of sensors. For the case when the number of sensors is less than or equal to six, we show that for a fixed local probability of detection (probability of false alarm) increasing the probability of false alarm (probability of detection) results in optimal placements that are higher on a majorization based partial order

Government’s Brand Image Destroyer: Examining the Driving Factors behind Global Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is fundamentally a human rights issue. Authors have looked at this menace from the perspectives of sociology, economics, education, globalization, criminology, governance, legislation, and racial discrimination. However, most of these models are limited to a conceptual level and little empirical work is done to test the claims made by various theorists. In order to fill the said gap, data of most cited variables in the literature of trafficking are obtained. Results indicate that social progress and response of government against enslavement are negatively related to vulnerability to enslavement, while corruption and population growth rates are positively associated with the outcome

Did We find Alternate to GDP to measure National Progress? Analysis of Harvard University’s Social Progress Index

For major part of the preceding century, Economic Measures such as GDP, GNI etc were considered to measure economic as well as social and human progress of a country. However, scholars have raised concerns over the sufficiency of these economic measures. This propelled scholars to develop alternate measures for social improvement and human capability development. Consequently, indices such as Social Progress Imperative (SPI) and Human Development Index (HDI) were developed by renowned authors. However, little work is done to check effect of social progress on susceptibility against human trafficking and modern slavery, and business opportunities in the nation. Further, there is almost no empirical evidence which suggest that SPI is better scale than GDP or HDI in predicating different social measure. Therefore, data of 124 countries regarding SPI, HDI, GDP, Vulnerability to Enslavement, and Distance to Frontier score was collected for Year 2014. Secondary data analysis was performed and Simple Regression analysis was carried out on data for hypothesis testing. As proposed, a positive relationship of SPI and Ease of Doing Business was observed whereas negative relation was found between SPI and Vulnerability of Enslavement. In addition, SPI explain variation in both Vulnerability of Enslavement and Ease of Doing Business better than GDP and HDI, thereby providing evidence of its superior representation of social measures

Did We find Alternate to GDP to measure National Progress? Analysis of Harvard University’s Social Progress Index

For major part of the preceding century, Economic Measures such as GDP, GNI etc were considered to measure economic as well as social and human progress of a country. However, scholars have raised concerns over the sufficiency of these economic measures. This propelled scholars to develop alternate measures for social improvement and human capability development. Consequently, indices such as Social Progress Imperative (SPI) and Human Development Index (HDI) were developed by renowned authors. However, little work is done to check effect of social progress on susceptibility against human trafficking and modern slavery, and business opportunities in the nation. Further, there is almost no empirical evidence which suggest that SPI is better scale than GDP or HDI in predicating different social measure. Therefore, data of 124 countries regarding SPI, HDI, GDP, Vulnerability to Enslavement, and Distance to Frontier score was collected for Year 2014. Secondary data analysis was performed and Simple Regression analysis was carried out on data for hypothesis testing. As proposed, a positive relationship of SPI and Ease of Doing Business was observed whereas negative relation was found between SPI and Vulnerability of Enslavement. In addition, SPI explain variation in both Vulnerability of Enslavement and Ease of Doing Business better than GDP and HDI, thereby providing evidence of its superior representation of social measures

Did we find alternate to GDP to measure national progress? Analysis of Harvard University’s social progress index

Abstract. For major part of the preceding century, Economic Measures such as GDP, GNI etc were considered to measure economic as well as social and human progress of a country. However, scholars have raised concerns over the sufficiency of these economic measures. This propelled scholars to develop alternate measures for social improvement and human capability development. Consequently, indices such as Social Progress Imperative (SPI) and Human Development Index (HDI) were developed by renowned authors. However, little work is done to check effect of social progress on susceptibility against human trafficking and modern slavery, and business opportunities in the nation. Further, there is almost no empirical evidence which suggest that SPI is better scale than GDP or HDI in predicating different social measure. Therefore, data of 124 countries regarding SPI, HDI, GDP, Vulnerability to Enslavement, and Distance to Frontier score was collected for Year 2014. Secondary data analysis was performed and Simple Regression analysis was carried out on data for hypothesis testing. As proposed, a positive relationship of SPI and Ease of Doing Business was observed whereas negative relation was found between SPI and Vulnerability of Enslavement. In addition, SPI explain variation in both Vulnerability of Enslavement and Ease of Doing Business better than GDP and HDI, thereby providing evidence of its superior representation of social measures. Keywords. Social progress, Human development, Ease of doing business, Vulnerability to slavery, SPI, HDI.JEL. O15

Functional Foods and Human Health: An Overview

Functional food is a whole ingredient or a part of food that used as food for specific therapeutic purposes. It is divided into two wide categories: Conventional and modified functional foods. Conventional functional Foods are composed of natural or whole-food ingredients that provide functional substances while modified functional is food or food products in which add additional ingredients for specific health purposes. Plant-based food such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, cereals, nuts and beans contain vitamins, minerals, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play a functional role in the human body against chronic diseases including cancer, cardiovascular and GIT-related disease. Some other foods or food products like juices, dairy products, fortified eggs and seafood are composed of functional components. Fish contain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) that are played a functional role in heart health and brain development

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe

Measurement of b jet shapes in proton-proton collisions at root s=5.02 TeV

We present the first study of charged-hadron production associated with jets originating from b quarks in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The data sample used in this study was collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 27.4 pb(-1). To characterize the jet substructure, the differential jet shapes, defined as the normalized transverse momentum distribution of charged hadrons as a function of angular distance from the jet axis, are measured for b jets. In addition to the jet shapes, the per-jet yields of charged particles associated with b jets are also quantified, again as a function of the angular distance with respect to the jet axis. Extracted jet shape and particle yield distributions for b jets are compared with results for inclusive jets, as well as with the predictions from the pythia and herwig++ event generators.Peer reviewe

Measurement of B-c(2S)(+) and B-c*(2S)(+) cross section ratios in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe