Exploring a resource allocation security protocol for secure service migration in commercial cloud environments

Recently, there has been a significant increase in the popularity of cloud computing systems that offer Cloud services such as Networks, Servers, Storage, Applications, and other available on-demand re-sources or pay-as-you-go systems with different speeds and Qualities of Service. These cloud computing environments share resources by providing virtualization techniques that enable a single user to ac-cess various Cloud Services Thus, cloud users have access to an infi-nite computing resource, allowing them to increase or decrease their resource consumption capacity as needed. However, an increasing number of Commercial Cloud Services are available in the market-place from a wide range of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). As a result, most CSPs must deal with dynamic resource allocation, in which mobile services migrate from one cloud environment to another to provide heterogeneous resources based on user requirements. A new service framework has been proposed by Sardis about how ser-vices can be migrated in Cloud Infrastructure. However, it does not address security and privacy issues in the migration process. Fur-thermore, there is still a lack of heuristic algorithms that can check requested and available resources to allocate and deallocate before the secure migration begins. The advent of Virtual machine technol-ogy, for example, VMware, and container technology, such as Docker, LXD, and Unikernels has made the migration of services possible. As Cloud services, such as Vehicular Cloud, are now being increasingly offered in highly mobile environments, Y-Comm, a new framework for building future mobile systems, has developed proactive handover to support the mobile user. Though there are many mechanisms in place to provide support for mobile services, one way of addressing the challenges arising because of this emerging application is to move the computing resources closer to the end-users and find how much computing resources should be allocated to meet the performance re-quirements/demands. This work addresses the above challenges by proposing the development of resource allocation security protocols for secure service migration that allow the safe transfer of servers and monitoring of the capacity of requested resources to different Cloud environments. In this thesis, we propose a Resource Allocation Secu-rity Protocol for secure service migration that allows resources to be allocated efficiently is analyzed. In our research, we use two differ-ent formal modelling and verification techniques to verify an abstract protocol and validate the security properties such as secrecy, authen-tication, and key exchange for secure service migration. The new protocol has been verified in AVISPA and ProVerif formal verifier and is being implemented in a new Service Management Framework Prototype to securely manage and allocate resources in Commercial Cloud Environments. And then, a Capability-Based Secure Service Protocol (SSP) was developed to ensure that capability-based service protocol proves secrecy, authentication, and authorization, and that it can be applied to any service. A basic prototype was then devel-oped to test these ideas using a block storage system known as the Network Memory Service. This service was used as the backend of a FUSE filesystem. The results show that this approach can be safely implemented and should perform well in real environments

Building an intelligent edge environment to provide essential services in smart cities

Smart Cities will cause major societal change because they will provide a comprehensive set of key services including seamless communication, intelligent transport systems, advanced healthcare platforms, urban and infrastructure management, and digital services for local and regional government. Thus, a new service and networking environment which will provide low latency and sustainable high bandwidth is needed to build new applications and services for smart cities. In this system services will be managed from the edge of the Internet and not from the centre as they currently are. This represents a new computing paradigm which is called the Intelligent Edge Environment. This paper looks at how to build this new ecosystem. Firstly, a new framework which comprises seven layers is unveiled, showing the functions that must be supported to realise this brave new world. New mechanisms are then introduced and a small prototype is developed to support storage in highly mobile environments. The results show that this approach could be used to build smart city digital platforms. The paper ends by discussing the development of a Distributed Operating System for smart cities

Effects of Gas Metal Arc Welding Variants on the Mechanical and Microstructural Characteristics of AISI 304 Stainless Steel

The impact of variants of gas metal arc welding on the tensile properties of AISI-304 stainless steel is presented in this article. A single V-butt joint with a groove angle of 60° and thickness of 12 mm is fabricated by four gas metal arc welding variants, such as constant current, pulsed current, double pulsed current, and cold metal transfer, under optimized conditions. The tensile properties are analysed on the cross-sectional specimen of the welded joint. The highest tensile strength of 657 MPa is recorded on the specimen welded by the cold metal transfer. The highest elongation of 19% is observed on the specimen welded by cold metal transfer, while the elongation of base metal is 45%. The results show that the joints fabricated using the cold metal transfer have superior tensile properties to those fabricated by the other three variants of the gas metal arc welding process; this is due to the electromagnetic force exerted by this welding process. The joint fabricated using the cold metal transfer process has received a low heat input, resulting in high joint efficiency and notch strength ratio

Exploring a new security framework for future healthcare systems

The Internet of Things is driving impactful and significant changes in healthcare systems across the globe. The use of mobile and wireless technologies to support healthcare environments has enormous potential to transform healthcare. For example, healthcare data, which is considered to be very sensitive, must be securely accessed, processed and stored. However, digital healthcare IT platforms are increasingly coming under attack by malware such as Ransomware. In addition, there is now a need to integrate eHealth and mHealth mechanisms into national healthcare systems. New technologies, such as blockchain, are being used to address these issues. What is needed is a new framework which can use these technologies to secure healthcare. This paper proposes a new security framework that responds to these security concerns. The framework is then used to design an implementation framework with new mechanisms including Capabilities, Secure Remote Procedure Calls and a Service Management Framework

Formalization and analysis of a resource allocation security protocol for secure service migration

The advent of virtual machine technology for example, VMware, and container technology, such as Docker, have made the migration of services between different Cloud Systems possible. This enables the development of mobile services that can ensure low latencies between servers and their mobile clients resulting in better QOS. Though there are many mechanisms in place to support for mobile services, a key component that is missing is the development of security protocols that allow the safe transfer of servers to different Cloud environments. In this paper, we propose a Resource Allocation Security Protocol for secure service migration. We explore two approaches; In the first approach, the protocol is developed and formally verified by Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications tool. The protocol satisfies the security properties of secrecy and authentication. In addition, nonces are used for replay protection and to ensure freshness. In the second approach, a secure symmetrical session key is used to do the safe transfer and an automatic cryptographic protocol verifier ProVerif is employed to verify secrecy, authentication and key exchange

Securing future healthcare environments in a post-COVID-19 world: moving from frameworks to prototypes

The deployment of Internet of Things platforms as well as the use of mobile and wireless technologies to support healthcare environments have enormous potential to transform healthcare. This has also led to a desire to make eHealth and mHealth part of national healthcare systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the requirement to do this in order to reduce the number of patients needing to attend hospitals and General Practitioner surgeries. This direction however has resulted in a renewed need to look at security of future healthcare platforms including information and data security as well as network and cyber-physical security. There have been security frameworks that were developed to address such issues. However, it is necessary to develop a security framework with a combination of security mechanisms that can be used to provide all the essential security requirements for healthcare systems. In addition, there is now a need to move from frameworks to prototypes which is the focus of this paper. Several security frameworks for eHealth and mHealth are first examined. This leads to a new reference model from which an implementation framework is developed using new mechanisms such as Capabilities, Secure Remote Procedure Calls and a Service Management Framework. The prototype is then evaluated against practical security requirements

Exploring the provision of reliable network storage in highly mobile environments

Computing is fundamentally about processing data which must be readily accessible to processing elements. Hence, the use of storage hierarchies plays an important role in the overall performance of computer systems. Recently, due to the deployment of fast networks, network storage has emerged as a viable alternative to large local storage systems. However, trying to provide reliable network storage in highly mobile environments, such as vehicular networks, results in the need to address several issues. This paper explores these challenges by first looking at the communication dynamics required for seamless connectivity in these networks. It then looks at how services can be migrated as users move around. The results of this analysis are applied to the migration of a simple Network Memory Server using different migration techniques such as Docker, KVM, LXD and Unikernels in an edge environment, represented by a real Vehicle Ad-Hoc Network. The results show that a proactive approach to service migration is needed to support such services in highly mobile environments

EVALUATION OF PHYTASE PRODUCTION BY HYPOCREA LIXII SURT01 IN SUBMERGED AND SOLID-STATE FERMENTATIONS

Objective: Phytases have important applications in human and animal nutrition because they hydrolyze the phytate present in legumes, cereal grains and oil seeds to release inorganic phosphate. Supplementation of phosphate to the poultry causes a serious problem of eutrophication. This can be reduced by incorporating phytase in poultry feed. Present study explains extracellular phytase production by SmF and SSF from a fungal strain Hypocrea lixii SURT01. Methods: Extracellular phytase production by Hypocrea lixii SURT01 was evaluated in media containing various refined carbon sources (Fructose, Sucrose, Maltose and lactose in concentration ranging from 1.5% to 7.5%) along with standard medium under submerged fermentation (SmF). At the same time, phytase production was studied under Solid State Fermentation (SSF) with four different substrate such as barley, green gram, bengal gram and black gram. Results: In SmF out of different carbon sources in various concentrations, 6% sucrose showed maximum enzyme production (245U/ml). In SSF, barley showed highest phytase yield (1638 Units/ml) on 5th day of incubation. Conclusion: Evaluation of Solid state fermentation showed enhanced phytase production when compared to Submerged Fermentation

Tuberculosis Medication Nonadherence—A Qualitative Case Study

India is grappling with the problem of controlling tuberculosis nearly for the past 50 years. The problem of nonadherence to treatment regimen has also worsened the situation of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in India. This article explores the factors behind nonadherence among erstwhile TB defaulters in a rural district in India. In-depth interviews with seven chronic defaulters and with healthcare professionals were conducted at a government-run Chest Clinic. In addition to in-depth interviews with defaulters and healthcare professionals, medical records and government orders related to TB control were examined extensively. Participants were also observed to understand their interaction with healthcare professionals and fellow patients, especially during drug delivery time. Qualitative content analysis is the most appropriate method to analyze the transcribed text and archival records. Qualitative content analysis brought out five major themes responsible for their past nonadherence behavior, namely, (a) Awareness about tuberculosis and treatment, (b) Symptom recognition and self-medication, (c) Family support, (d) Accessibility, and (e) Stigma. Findings are documented according to the major themes and documenting direct quotes from participants and with healthcare professionals wherever appropriate. This case study also provided context-specific recommendations to the healthcare professionals as regards the nonadherence behavior among TB patients. It is hoped these focused recommendations, albeit known to the healthcare professionals, would be extremely useful in making modifications to the existing program to tackle the nonadherence behavior