Extending cloud-based applications in challenged environments with mobile opportunistic networks

With the tremendous growth of mobile devices, e.g, smartphones, tablets and PDAs in recent years, users are looking for more advanced platforms in order to use their computational applications (e.g., processing and storage) in a faster and more convenient way. In addition, mobile devices are capable of using cloud-based applications and the use of such technology is growing in popularity. However, one major concern is how to efficiently access these cloud-based applications when using a resource-constraint mobile device. Essentially applications require a continuous Internet connection which is difficult to obtain in challenged environments that lack an infrastructure for communication (e.g., in sparse or rural areas) or areas with infrastructure (e.g., urban or high density areas) with restricted/full of interference access networks and even areas with high costs of Internet roaming. In these situations the use of mobile opportunistic networks may be extended to avail cloud-based applications to the user. In this thesis we explore the emergence of extending cloud-based applications with mobile opportunistic networks in challenged environments and observe how local user’s social interactions and collaborations help to improve the overall message delivery performance in the network. With real-world trace-driven simulations, we compare and contrast the different user’s behaviours in message forwarding, the impact of the various network loads (e.g., number of messages) along with the long-sized messages and the impact of different wireless networking technologies, in various opportunistic routing protocols in a challenged environment

Blockchain for IoT Access Control: Recent Trends and Future Research Directions

With the rapid development of wireless sensor networks, smart devices, and traditional information and communication technologies, there is tremendous growth in the use of Internet of Things (IoT) applications and services in our everyday life. IoT systems deal with high volumes of data. This data can be particularly sensitive, as it may include health, financial, location, and other highly personal information. Fine-grained security management in IoT demands effective access control. Several proposals discuss access control for the IoT, however, a limited focus is given to the emerging blockchain-based solutions for IoT access control. In this paper, we review the recent trends and critical needs for blockchain-based solutions for IoT access control. We identify several important aspects of blockchain, including decentralised control, secure storage and sharing information in a trustless manner, for IoT access control including their benefits and limitations. Finally, we note some future research directions on how to converge blockchain in IoT access control efficiently and effectively

A Blockchain-Based Trust Management Framework with Verifiable Interactions

There has been tremendous interest in the development of formal trust models and metrics through the use of analytics (e.g., Belief Theory and Bayesian models), logics (e.g., Epistemic and Subjective Logic) and other mathematical models. The choice of trust metric will depend on context, circumstance and user requirements and there is no single best metric for use in all circumstances. Where different users require different trust metrics to be employed the trust score calculations should still be based on all available trust evidence. Trust is normally computed using past experiences but, in practice (especially in centralised systems), the validity and accuracy of these experiences are taken for granted. In this paper, we provide a formal framework and practical blockchain-based implementation that allows independent trust providers to implement different trust metrics in a distributed manner while still allowing all trust providers to base their calculations on a common set of trust evidence. Further, our design allows experiences to be provably linked to interactions without the need for a central authority. This leads to the notion of evidence-based trust with provable interactions. Leveraging blockchain allows the trust providers to offer their services in a competitive manner, charging fees while users are provided with payments for recording experiences. Performance details of the blockchain implementation are provided

Blockchain-Based and Fuzzy Logic-Enabled False Data Discovery for the Intelligent Autonomous Vehicular System

Since the beginning of this decade, several incidents report that false data injection attacks targeting intelligent connected vehicles cause huge industrial damage and loss of lives. Data Theft, Flooding, Fuzzing, Hijacking, Malware Spoofing and Advanced Persistent Threats have been immensely growing attack that leads to end-user conflict by abolishing trust on autonomous vehicle. Looking after those sensitive data that contributes to measure the localisation factors of the vehicle, conventional centralised techniques can be misused to update the legitimate vehicular status maliciously. As investigated, the existing centralized false data detection approach based on state and likelihood estimation has a reprehensible trade-off in terms of accuracy, trust, cost, and efficiency. Blockchain with Fuzzy-logic Intelligence has shown its potential to solve localisation issues, trust and false data detection challenges encountered by today's autonomous vehicular system. The proposed Blockchain-based fuzzy solution demonstrates a novel false data detection and reputation preservation technique. The illustrated proposed model filters false and anomalous data based on the vehicles' rules and behaviours. Besides improving the detection accuracy and eliminating the single point of failure, the contributions include appropriating fuzzy AI functions within the Road-side Unit node before authorizing status data by a Blockchain network. Finally, thorough experimental evaluation validates the effectiveness of the proposed model.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables AsiaCCS conference 202

Phishing Detection using Base Classifier and Ensemble Technique

Phishing attacks continue to pose a significant threat in today's digital landscape, with both individuals and organizations falling victim to these attacks on a regular basis. One of the primary methods used to carry out phishing attacks is through the use of phishing websites, which are designed to look like legitimate sites in order to trick users into giving away their personal information, including sensitive data such as credit card details and passwords. This research paper proposes a model that utilizes several benchmark classifiers, including LR, Bagging, RF, K-NN, DT, SVM, and Adaboost, to accurately identify and classify phishing websites based on accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score, and confusion matrix. Additionally, a meta-learner and stacking model were combined to identify phishing websites in existing systems. The proposed ensemble learning approach using stack-based meta-learners proved to be highly effective in identifying both legitimate and phishing websites, achieving an accuracy rate of up to 97.19%, with precision, recall, and f1 scores of 97%, 98%, and 98%, respectively. Thus, it is recommended that ensemble learning, particularly with stacking and its meta-learner variations, be implemented to detect and prevent phishing attacks and other digital cyber threats

Integrated PhotonPair Sources, Quantum Memories, and Lasers in Lithium Niobate

International audienceRecent advances of type II quasi phase matched (entangled) photon pair sources with Ti:PPLN waveguide, of quantum memories with Ti:Tm:LiNbO3 waveguide, and of Ti:Tm:LiNbO3 in-band pumped optical amplifiers (1700 nm < λ < 1900 nm) and lasers are reported

Biotechnology-based pharmaceutical products

Biotechnology-based pharmaceutical products as an essential portion of the marketed therapeutic agents are continuously evolving due to the increased number of approved products as well as products entering clinical trials. Biotechnology involves the use of a living organism or their products for human use including medical purposes. Production of therapeutic agents through biotechnology is a complex multistep process that requires careful considerations in various aspects. Therefore it is essential to understand the differences between biotechnology-based drugs and conventional drugs. Currently, different classes of therapeutic agents are produced via biotechnology, such as antibiotics, enzymes, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies. In this chapter, the general production process of biotechnology-based pharmaceutical products is discussed along with their pharmacokinetic properties with particular emphasis on the common problems associated with these products. Finally, biotechnology-based therapeutic approaches such as gene therapy and pharmacogenomics are also briefly discussed

Storage Security and Technical Challenges of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has leaped ahead as one of the biggest technological advances of the present time. In cloud, users can upload or retrieve their desired data from anywhere in the world at anytime, making this the most important and primary function in cloud computing technology. While this technology reduces the geographical barriers and improves the scalability in the way we compute, keeping data in a Cloud Data Center (CDC) faces numerous challenges from unauthorized users and hackers within the system. Creating proper Service Level Agreements (SLA) and providing high-end storage security is the biggest barrier being developed for better Quality of Service (QoS) and implementation of a safer cloud computing environment for the Cloud Service Users (CSU) as well as for the Cloud Service Providers (CSP). Therefore, cloud applications need to have increased QoS and effective security measures and policies set in place to provide better services and to decline unauthorized access. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the cloud computing technology behind innovative business approaches and establishing SLA in cloud computing applications. This chapter provides a clear understanding of different cloud computing security challenges, risks, attacks, and solutions that exist in the present heterogeneous cloud computing environment. Storage security, different cloud infrastructures, the many advantages, and limitations are also discussed

Limitations and Approaches in Access Control and Identity Management for Constrained IoT Resources

The Internet of Things (IoT), smart sensors and mobile wearable devices are helping to provide services that are more ubiquitous, smarter, faster and easily accessible to users. However, security is a significant concern for the IoT, with access control and identity management are being two major issues. With the growing size and presence of these systems and the resource constrained nature of the IoT devices, an important question is how to manage policies in a manner that is both scalable and flexible. In this research, we aim at proposing a fine-grained and flexible access control architecture, and to examine an identity model for constrained IoT resources. To achieve this, first, we outline some key limitations in the state of the art access control and identity management for IoT. Then we devise our approach to address those limitations in a systematic way.</p