A Game Theoretical Analysis of Localization Security in Wireless Sensor Networks with Adversaries

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) support data collection and distributed data processing by means of very small sensing devices that are easy to tamper and cloning: therefore classical security solutions based on access control and strong authentication are difficult to deploy. In this paper we look at the problem of assessing security of node localization. In particular, we analyze the scenario in which Verifiable Multilateration (VM) is used to localize nodes and a malicious node (i.e., the adversary) try to masquerade as non-malicious. We resort to non-cooperative game theory and we model this scenario as a two-player game. We analyze the optimal players' strategy and we show that the VM is indeed a proper mechanism to reduce fake positions.Comment: International Congress on Ultra Modern Telecommunications and Control Systems 2010. (ICUMT'10

Dynamic and Transparent Analysis of Commodity Production Systems

We propose a framework that provides a programming interface to perform complex dynamic system-level analyses of deployed production systems. By leveraging hardware support for virtualization available nowadays on all commodity machines, our framework is completely transparent to the system under analysis and it guarantees isolation of the analysis tools running on its top. Thus, the internals of the kernel of the running system needs not to be modified and the whole platform runs unaware of the framework. Moreover, errors in the analysis tools do not affect the running system and the framework. This is accomplished by installing a minimalistic virtual machine monitor and migrating the system, as it runs, into a virtual machine. In order to demonstrate the potentials of our framework we developed an interactive kernel debugger, nicknamed HyperDbg. HyperDbg can be used to debug any critical kernel component, and even to single step the execution of exception and interrupt handlers.Comment: 10 pages, To appear in the 25th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering, Antwerp, Belgium, 20-24 September 201

Using Graph Transformation Systems to Specify and Verify Data Abstractions

This paper proposes an approach for the specification of the behavior of software components that implement data abstractions. By generalizing the approach of behavior models using graph transformation, we provide a concise specification for data abstractions that describes the relationship between the internal state, represented in a canonical form, and the observers of the component. Graph transformation also supports the generation of behavior models that are amenable to verification. To this end, we provide a translation approach into an LTL model on which we can express useful properties that can be model-checked with a SAT solver

Davinci Goes to Bebras: A Study on the Problem Solving Ability of GPT-3

In this paper we study the problem-solving ability of the Large Language Model known as GPT-3 (codename DaVinci), by considering its performance in solving tasks proposed in the “Bebras International Challenge on Informatics and Computational Thinking”. In our experiment, GPT-3 was able to answer with a majority of correct answers about one third of the Bebras tasks we submitted to it. The linguistic fluency of GPT-3 is impressive and, at a first reading, its explanations sound coherent, on-topic and authoritative; however the answers it produced are in fact erratic and the explanations often questionable or plainly wrong. The tasks in which the system performs better are those that describe a procedure, asking to execute it on a specific instance of the problem. Tasks solvable with simple, one-step deductive reasoning are more likely to obtain better answers and explanations. Synthesis tasks, or tasks that require a more complex logical consistency get the most incorrect answers

From Bazaar to Kibbutz: How Freedom Deals with Coherence in The Debian Project

packages where all programs interact smoothly increases its complexity with the number of applications, the number of architectures involved, and the number of system configurations supported. The Debian project aims at producing a software system with thousands of components running on eleven different hardware architectures, with three different operating system kernels. This paper describes the project and how the work of hundreds of people that never meet one with another can be coordinated to produce reasonably robust and integrated systems

Supporting Nomadic Co-Workers: An Experience With a Peer-to-Peer Configuration Management Tool

Nowadays the Internet infrastructure is so pervasive that it is common that people connect their laptop computer from a range of different locations: office, home, the hotel hosting them for a conference, or the meeting room where they are working. This is sometimes called mobile computing and it forces the designers of applications to cope with two new requirements: (1) users may connect to the network from arbitrary locations (usually with different network addresses) , and (2) they are not permanently connected. Thus, connectivity is intrinsically transient, and machine disconnection is not an exceptional case, but the normal way of operating. We investigated how collaborative work can be supported in a mobile computing setting, where the notion of permanent central server cannot be used. Support tools for CSCW are normally based on a client-server architecture, which appears to be unsuitable in a such a dynamic environment. For this reason we experimented peer-to-peer solutions, which do not rely on services provided by a centralized server. In particular, we have implemented a configuration management tool -- called PeerVerSy -- which provide collaborative actions even when some of the collaborating nodes are off-line

ABSTRACT A Generic Serializer for Mobile Devices

In this paper we describe a serializer component completely realized in.NET managed code, able to run on a stripped versions of the.NET platform (e.g., Compact Framework) and still generic enough to be used on.NET or other CLI compatible frameworks. Such a component is not normally provided with stock libraries in their compact version, since its implementation is quite tricky when relying on reduced reflection services. However, this component makes easier the development of distributed applications involving mobile devices and desktop computers or mainframes. Our implementation faced several problems ranging from lack of features in the base classes to the interframework portability problem, since the same object could have different implementation. The resulting product shows satisfactory performance figures and has a modular and flexible architecture