1,452 research outputs found
Spoiled Onions: Exposing Malicious Tor Exit Relays
Several hundred Tor exit relays together push more than 1 GiB/s of network
traffic. However, it is easy for exit relays to snoop and tamper with
anonymised network traffic and as all relays are run by independent volunteers,
not all of them are innocuous.
In this paper, we seek to expose malicious exit relays and document their
actions. First, we monitored the Tor network after developing a fast and
modular exit relay scanner. We implemented several scanning modules for
detecting common attacks and used them to probe all exit relays over a period
of four months. We discovered numerous malicious exit relays engaging in
different attacks. To reduce the attack surface users are exposed to, we
further discuss the design and implementation of a browser extension patch
which fetches and compares suspicious X.509 certificates over independent Tor
circuits.
Our work makes it possible to continuously monitor Tor exit relays. We are
able to detect and thwart many man-in-the-middle attacks which makes the
network safer for its users. All our code is available under a free license
Structural Measurement Errors in Nonseparable Models
This paper considers measurement error from a new perspective. In surveys, response
errors are often caused by the fact that respondents recall past events and quantities
imperfectly. We explore the consequences of recall errors for such key econometric is-
sues as the identification of marginal effects or economic restrictions in structural models.
Our identification approach is entirely nonparametric, using Matzkin-type nonseparable
models that nest a large class of potential structural models. We establish that measurement errors due to poor recall are generally likely to exhibit nonstandard behavior, in
particular be nonclassical and differential, and we provide means to deal with this situation. Moreover, our findings suggest that conventional wisdom about measurement errors
may be misleading in many economic applications. For instance, under certain conditions
left-hand side recall errors will be problematic even in the linear model, and quantiles
will be less robust than means. Finally, we apply the main concepts put forward in this
paper to real world data, and find evidence that underscores the importance of focusing
on individual response behavior
Structural Measurement Errors in Nonseparable Models
This paper considers measurement error from a new perspective. In surveys, response errors are often caused by the fact that respondents recall past events and quantities imperfectly. We explore the consequences of recall errors for such key econometric is- sues as the identification of marginal effects or economic restrictions in structural models. Our identification approach is entirely nonparametric, using Matzkin-type nonseparable models that nest a large class of potential structural models. We establish that measurement errors due to poor recall are generally likely to exhibit nonstandard behavior, in particular be nonclassical and differential, and we provide means to deal with this situation. Moreover, our findings suggest that conventional wisdom about measurement errors may be misleading in many economic applications. For instance, under certain conditions left-hand side recall errors will be problematic even in the linear model, and quantiles will be less robust than means. Finally, we apply the main concepts put forward in this paper to real world data, and find evidence that underscores the importance of focusing on individual response behavior.Measurement Error; Nonparametric; Survey Design; Nonseparable Model; Identification; Zero Homogeneity; Demand
Fairness and Cheating
We present evidence from a laboratory experiment showing that individuals who believe they were treated unfairly in an interaction with another person are more likely to cheat in a subsequent unrelated game. Specifically, subjects first participated in a dictator game. They then flipped a coin in private and reported the outcome. Subjects could increase their total payoff by cheating, i.e., lying about the outcome of the coin toss. We found that subjects were more likely to cheat in reporting the outcome of the coin flip when: 1) they received either nothing or a very small transfer from the dictator; and 2) they claimed to have been treated unfairly. This is consistent with the view that experiencing a norm violation is sufficient to justify the violation of another norm at the expense of a third party. This result extends the growing literature on social norms
Fairness and Cheating
We present evidence from a laboratory experiment showing that individuals who believe they were treated unfairly in an interaction with another person are more likely to cheat in a subsequent unrelated game. Specifically, subjects first participated in a dictator game. They then flipped a coin in private and reported the outcome. Subjects could increase their total payoff by cheating, i.e., lying about the outcome of the coin toss. We found that subjects were more likely to cheat in reporting the outcome of the coin flip when: 1) they received either nothing or a very small transfer from the dictator; and 2) they claimed to have been treated unfairly. This is consistent with the view that experiencing a norm violation is sufficient to justify the violation of another norm at the expense of a third party. This result extends the growing literature on social norms.cheating; social norms; experimental design
Limitations on Quantum Key Repeaters
A major application of quantum communication is the distribution of entangled
particles for use in quantum key distribution (QKD). Due to noise in the
communication line, QKD is in practice limited to a distance of a few hundred
kilometres, and can only be extended to longer distances by use of a quantum
repeater, a device which performs entanglement distillation and quantum
teleportation. The existence of noisy entangled states that are undistillable
but nevertheless useful for QKD raises the question of the feasibility of a
quantum key repeater, which would work beyond the limits of entanglement
distillation, hence possibly tolerating higher noise levels than existing
protocols. Here we exhibit fundamental limits on such a device in the form of
bounds on the rate at which it may extract secure key. As a consequence, we
give examples of states suitable for QKD but unsuitable for the most general
quantum key repeater protocol.Comment: 11+38 pages, 4 figures, Statements for exact p-bits weakened as
non-locking bound on measured relative entropy distance contained an erro
Risk attitudes and Medicare Part D enrollment decisions
The new Medicare Part D program provides prescription drug coverage for older Americans through highly subsidized and tightly regulated plans offered by private insurance firms. For most eligible individuals without coverage from other sources, obtaining Part D coverage would be rational, but it requires active enrollment and plan choice decisions. We investigate if non-enrollment in Medicare Part D can partly be explained by risk aversion. Data are taken from a national online survey conducted just after the introduction Part D. The survey included a context-free and a context-related hypothetical lottery to measure an individual’s attitude towards risk. Respondents who are risk tolerant according to these measures were significantly less likely to enroll in Part D. We also illustrate that hypothetical choice questions designed to elicit risk attitudes are subject to reference-point effects. Even minor differences in the priming of respondents can result in potentially misleading conclusions about the role of risk aversion in the insurance decisions
Generating Compact Geometric Track-Maps for Train Positioning Applications
In this paper, we present a method to generate compact geometric track-maps
for train-borne localization applications. Therefore, we first give a brief
overview on the purpose of track maps in train-positioning applications. It
becomes apparent that there are hardly any adequate methods to generate
suitable geometric track-maps. This is why we present a novel map generation
procedure. It uses an optimization formulation to find the continuous sequence
of track geometries that fits the available measurement data best. The
optimization is initialized with the results from a localization filter
developed in our previous work. The localization filter also provides the
required information for shape identification and measurement association. The
presented approach will be evaluated on simulated data as well as on real
measurements
Risk attitudes and Medicare Part D enrollment decisions
The new Medicare Part D program provides prescription drug coverage for older Americans through highly subsidized and tightly regulated plans offered by private insurance firms. For most eligible individuals without coverage from other sources, obtaining Part D coverage would be rational, but it requires active enrollment and plan choice decisions. We investigate if non-enrollment in Medicare Part D can partly be explained by risk aversion. Data are taken from a national online survey conducted just after the introduction Part D. The survey included a context-free and a context-related hypothetical lottery to measure an individual’s attitude towards risk. Respondents who are risk tolerant according to these measures were significantly less likely to enroll in Part D. We also illustrate that hypothetical choice questions designed to elicit risk attitudes are subject to reference-point effects. Even minor differences in the priming of respondents can result in potentially misleading conclusions about the role of risk aversion in the insurance decisions.Risk aversion; Medicare Part D; heterogeneous preferences; insurance demand; survey design
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