A log analysis based intrusion detection system for the creation of a specification based intrusion prevention system

We propose a novel Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) which would base its knowledge and operation on a higher level of abstraction than the processing of the contents of the network packets audit data themselves which is the source of data on which most current and proposed Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) base themselves on. We focus on what is actually being asked of the system, and use that understanding together with research on prediction based systems to build a specification based Intrusion Prevention System based on the patterns extracted from higher level application or operating system logs.peer-reviewe

Enhancing distributed systems through web services

The concept of Web Services has, throughout the last few years, become one of the most discussed in the academic, as well as the business world. Many hail it as a revolutionary concept, while others look at it in a sceptic manner. The fact remains that the developers of the most diffused programming languages are giving great importance to integrating and supporting the creation and utilisation of Web Services. The main advantage of Web Services is that they are based completely on XML, which gives them a very high degree of flexibility and, above all, platform independence. Systems written using one particular language, can transparently access exposed services on other systems written using different languages. This particular feature of Web Services puts them in an ideal position to be utilised as the driving force behind distributed systems. The Internet is a jungle of computers, each with their particular features, operating system and hardware platform. Such a scenario makes it very difficult to create a system, distributed over various machines, which easily adapts to such an environment and communicates with other machines in this environment. Using Web Services, this problem is naturally solved. This project aims at analysing the ways in which Web Services may be used to enhance distributed systems over the Internet framework. There are various issues which should be considered, including the software required and the security of data being transmitted.peer-reviewe

Support vector machines

In this report we present an introductory overview of Support Vector Machines (SVMs). SVMs are supervised learning machines that can be analysed theoretically using concepts from computational learning theory while being able to achieve good performance when applied to real-world problems.peer-reviewe

A summary of research in system software and concurrency at the University of Malta : multithreading

Multithreading has emerged as a leading paradigm for the development of applications with demanding performance requirements. This can be attributed to the benefits that are reaped through the overlapping of I/O with computation and the added bonus of speedup when multiprocessors are employed. However, the use of multithreading brings with it new challenges. Cache utilisation is often very poor in multithreaded applications, due to the loss of data access locality incurred by frequent context switching. This problem is compounded on shared memory multiprocessors when dynamic load balancing is introduced, as thread migration also disrupts cache content. Moreover, contention for shared data within a thread scheduler for shared memory multiprocessors has an adverse effect on efficiency when handling fine grained threads. Over the past few years, the System Software Research Group at the University of Malta has conducted research into the effective design of user-level thread schedulers, identifying several weaknesses in conventional designs and subsequently proposing a radical overhaul of the status quo to overcome these deficiencies. Various results have been published in academic conferences and journals [1–4]; this brief report highlights the principal findings. The related problem of communication and I/O bottlenecks in multithreaded systems and contemporary computer systems in general is discussed elsewhere in these proceedings [5].peer-reviewe

Mobile positioning for location dependent services in GSM networks

A feasible Mobile Positioning solution is often sought after by network operators and service providers alike. Location-dependent applications create a new domain of services which might not only be of interest to the next generation of mobile users but also create new potential revenue streams. Applications vary from emergency services and tracking to location-based information services, location-based billing and location-dependent advertising. Due to the shortcomings of location-related information present in GSM networks, and the lack of positioning functionality in most of the commonly sold mobile devices, a straightforward solution for mobile positioning does not currently exist. This research intends to propose cellular positioning methods which do not require any significant changes to the network or the mobile device itself, which are feasible and cost effective, and which provide sufficient accuracy for certain categories of location-based services. These techniques are based on the proper analysis of signal measurement data, probabilistic geometric computation of location areas likely to represent the user’s location, and the correlation of this data with information obtained from path loss models used in the design and planning of a mobile radio network.peer-reviewe

Finite state analysis of prepositional phrases in Maltese

We address the general problem faced by designers of computational lexica: that of relating surface forms to underlying lexical forms through the vehicle of a precise linguistic description expressed in a suitable formalism. For such a description to be useful, it must be possible for the relation to be computable: given a surface element, we need to compute the corresponding lexical element or elements, and vice cersa. Below we concentrate upon the description of a minimal example: prepositional phrases, a reasonably well-defined and compact subset of Maltese surface phenomena that exemplifies many of the difficulties that are typical of Semitic languages.peer-reviewe

Generic chromosome representation and evaluation for genetic algorithms

The past thirty years have seen a rapid growth in the popularity and use of Genetic Algorithms for searching for optimal or near-optimal solutions to optimisation problems. One of the reasons for their immense success is the fact that the principles governing the algorithm are simple enough to be appreciated and understood. The major differences between one Genetic Algorithm and another lie within the schemes used to represent chromosomes, the semantics of the genetic operators, and the measures used to evaluate their fitness. Yet, these very differences make Genetic Algorithms so complex to design and implement when opposed with most real-world optimisation problems. The truth is that the people faced with these types of optimisation problems are not necessarily computer sci- entists or machine learning experts. Indeed, these types of problems constantly appear in various non-computing disciplines ranging from biology to manufacturing and economics. In this report, we present a simple, yet powerful, high-level technique that can be used to describe the structure of chromosomes and how their fitness can be evaluated. The method is abstract enough to insulate the practitioner from all the implementation, design, and coding details usually associated with a Genetic Algorithm. Nonetheless, a wide array of optimisation problems ranging from the classical travelling salesman problem and the n-Queens problem to time-table scheduling and dynamic programs can be described.peer-reviewe

A metrication and comparison framework for e-commerce systems

“We live in an era of ’e-everything’ ” [1]. Everywhere we look, we see people trying to fuse technology with every imaginable business concept in the hope of making more money. We have seen e-commerce, e-procurement, e-logistic, e-government, and e-banking to name a few. The late 1990’s saw technology stocks on the market inflate to astronomical levels as would-be entrepreneurs wrongly reasoned that this wonderful new technology would automatically catapult them to unimaginable riches. Thousands of dot-com startups emerged in the in the early months of the new millennium, thousands of dot-com startups crashed. We know now that setting up an online venture is no guarantee of success. Business creativity and discipline also need to be applied. The business and technical aspects of an e-commerce venture will together contribute to its degree of success (or failure) and one cannot go without the other.peer-reviewe

Semantic web services composition

Web services are becoming the most predominant paradigm for distributed computing and electronic business. They are self-contained Internet accessible applications that are capable not only of performing business activities on their own, but they also possess the ability to engage with other Web services in order to build new value-added services. Both academic and industrial bodies have been investigating issues regarding service descriptions, discovery and invocation, but automated service composition was somewhat neglected. The latter involves automated methods for constructing a sequence of Web services to achieve a desired goal. In this work we present initial research that focuses on the issue of automated service composition in conjunction with the Semantic Web. In this report we propose a composition engine that will automatically handle the integration of Web services through the use of a Web service description language such as DAML-S, the planning of workflow definitions, scheduling of tasks, status monitoring of the execution process, handling of faults and communication with other entities such as user agents, service registries and other composition engines.peer-reviewe

Learning about the learner : deducing learner characteristics from their interaction with e-learning tools

The study seeks to explore how e-learning is tackled by learners and thus investigate how hypermedia tools help to identify specific learner characteristics. Such characteristics can be detected by means of assessing the manner in which adult learners perform in a number of given e-learning tools. The different navigating and learning strategies of individual learners will be observed. In this way a knowledge acquisition strategic pattern can be established. Unlike other traditional teaching and learning tools, where much of this information tends to be lost within the pedagogical process, e-learning can thus be seen under the light of its potential to acquire knowledge of every learner on an individual basis. Such an asset gives the possibility to collect information about the learner not only in the traditional manner of assessments, but also through: 1. through the way the users interacts with the e-learning tool facilities; 2. through the order in which the user navigated through the material presented by the tool. Hence, the uniqueness of hypermedia lies in the fact that it recognises that people learn in different but interwoven ways.peer-reviewe