Security Challenges for Swarm Robotics

Swarm robotics is a relatively new technology that is being explored for its potential use in a variety of dierent applications and environments. Previous emerging technologies have often overlooked security until later developmen- tal stages, when it has had to be undesirably (and sometimes expensively) retrotted. We identify a number of security challenges for swarm robotics and argue that now is the right time to address these issues and seek solu- tions. We also identify several idiosyncrasies of swarm robotics that present some unique security challenges. In particular, swarms of robots potentially employ dierent types of communication channels; have special concepts of identity; and exhibit adaptive emergent behaviour which could be modied by an intruder. Addressing these issues now will prevent undesirable conse- quences for many applications of this type of technology

Regional blackouts: protection of broadcast content on 3G networks

One of the driving forces behind the development of 3G systems is the potential to deliver complex content to consumers. This is evident from the growing collaboration between broadcast and mobile network operators, and the expectation that future broadcast receivers will be able to forward content to mobile devices. One challenge in providing such a service is the requirement for content protection. An aspect of this that is particularly relevant to mobile systems is the ability to control where content is viewed. Although 3G networks can provide location of a user’s receiver, this device may be in a different location from the device that renders the content. Thus the provider cannot be certain where the content will be viewed. This paper proposes two protocols that will provide the location of the end device in a secure manner that can be trusted by the content provider

Analysis Of Electronic Voting Schemes In The Real World

Voting is at the heart of a country’s democracy. Assurance in the integrity of the electoral process is pivotal for voters to have any trust in the system. Often, electronic voting schemes proposed in the literature, or even implemented in real world elections do not always consider all issues that may exist in the environment in which they might be deployed. In this paper, we identify some real - world issues and threats to electronic voting schemes. We then use the threats we have identified to present an analysis of schemes recently used in Australia and Estonia and present recommendations to mitigate threats to such schemes when deployed in an untrustworthy environment

Application of trusted computing to secure video broadcasts to mobile receivers

This paper addresses the problem of configuring mobile devices to receive broadcast services protected by legacy conditional access systems. The protocols apply the concepts of trusted computing to allow a mobile host to demonstrate that it is secure, before any application or associated keys are securely downloaded. Thus the protocols are applicable anywhere a secure download is required. A general analysis of the security of the protocols is presented, followed by the results of formal verification.

Editorial : The Challenges of Interdisciplinary Publishing

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Elite science and the BBC: a 1950s contest of ownership

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the elite world of institutional British science attempted to take control of the BBC’s management of science broadcasting. Delegations of scientists met BBC managers to propose an increased role for scientists in planning science broadcasts to a degree that threatened to compromise the BBC’s authority and autonomy. The culmination was a set of proposals to the Pilkington Committee in 1960, principally from the Royal Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, under which a scientist-manager was to be appointed head of a unified science division in the BBC. BBC managers resisted these proposals. The outcome, in 1964, was a compromise giving the scientists little of what they wanted, and proving practically and strategically useful for the BBC. The article frames the story as a contest of jurisdiction between elite science and the BBC, and draws on scholarship relating to the social nature of authority and professions, and to the popularization of science. It shows the fundamentally different beliefs held by the scientists and the BBC about the purpose of science broadcasts and about the nature of the audience. The historical narrative is based on unpublished archive documents, and it contributes to the small but growing body of work on the historical background to the presentation of science in the broadcast media