Loading...
16 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 16
- Approaches for Optimizing Virtual Machine Placement and Migration in Cloud EnvironmentsPublication . Filho, Manoel C. Silva; Monteiro, Cláudio C.; Inácio, Pedro R. M.; Freire, MárioCloud computing is a model for providing computing resources as a utility which faces several challenges on management of virtualized resources. Accordingly, virtual machine placement and migration are crucial to achieve multiple and conflicting goals. Regarding the complexity of these tasks and plethora of existing proposals, this work surveys the state-of-the-art in the area. It presents a cloud computing background, a review of several proposals, a discussion of problem formulations, advantages and shortcomings of reviewed works. Furthermore, it highlights the challenges for new solutions and provides several open issues, showing the relevancy of the topic in an increasing and demanding market.
- Applications of Trusted Computing in Cloud ContextPublication . Memarian, Mohammad Reza; Fernandes, Diogo A. B.; Inácio, Pedro R. M.; Leppänen, Ville; Conti, MauroTrusted computing is a technology that enables computer systems to behave in a given expected way. Achieving that goal happens by arming an isolated piece of hardware with embedded processing, cryptographic ca- pabilities such as encryption key that is kept safe from software layer attacks. The mentioned module is accessible to the rest of the computer system via a well de ned and tested application programming interface. Trusted com- puting protects the system against external attackers and even against the owner of the system. Cloud computing enables users to have access to vast amounts of computational resources remotely, in a seamless and ubiquitous manner. However, in some cloud deployment models, such as public cloud computing, users do not have much control over how their data is remotely handled and are not able to assure that their data is securely processed and stored. Cloud administrators and other parties can be considered threats in such cases. Given the ground that cloud has been gaining and the rate at which data is generated, transmitted, processed and stored remotely, it is vital to protect it using means that address the ubiquitous nature of the cloud, including trusted computing. This chapter investigates applications of trusted computing in cloud computing areas where security threats exist, namely in live virtual machine migration.
- Societal risks of the end of physical cashPublication . Almeida, Pedro De; Fazendeiro, Paulo; Inácio, Pedro R. M.Cash, standardized physical tokens that represent economic value, has been a key instrument in the evolution of human civilizations for around 3000 years. However in the last few decades cash has been progressively losing its preeminence in favour of electronic handling of money transactions. The shift to a cashless society, in which physical money is completely or almost completely replaced by electronic records is on the horizon. Regardless of its advantages and disadvantages, electronic handling of money needs the support of a complex technological infrastructure which operation depends on many factors. This paper discusses this subject in detail, identifies the main threats linked to electronic money handling and evaluates their possible impacts on societies that no longer rely on cash.
- Applications of artificial immune systems to computer security: A surveyPublication . Fernandes, Diogo A. B.; Freire, Mario; Fazendeiro, Paulo; Inácio, Pedro R. M.For the last two decades, artificial immune systems have been studied in various fields of knowledge. They were shown to be particularly effective tools at detecting anomalous behavior in the security domain of computer systems. This article introduces the principles of artificial immune systems and surveys several works applying such systems to computer security problems. The works herein discussed are summarized and open issues are pointed out afterwards, elaborating on a novel applicability of these systems to cloud computing environments.
- Blockchain-based Decentralized Application for Electronic Voting Using an Electronic IDPublication . Monteiro, José Diogo Soares Albergaria Serejo; Sequeiros, João B. F.; Freire, Mario; Inácio, Pedro R. M.In this work, we present a decentralized and self-tallying electronic voting protocol that substantially enhances the privacy of voters and diminishes centralization. ese properties are accomplished through a symbiotic relationship between the Ethereum Blockchain and the Portuguese electronic ID. Unlike previously proposed Blockchain e-voting protocols, this is the rst implementation that more closely ful lls most of the security requirements of a real-world voting scheme. Furthermore, our system improves currently in-use e-Voting systems by using a self-tallying protocol. us, each voting citizen is able to compute the election tally and has complete control over their own vote. e execution of this protocol is enforced using the consensus mechanism that safeguards the Ethereum Blockchain. To prove its feasibility, we tested the implementation on the o cial PoW (Proof of Work) test network of Ethereum (Ropsten). e - nancial and computational breakdowns are on par with the leading Blockchain e-voting protocol.
- Security Challenges of the Internet of ThingsPublication . Samaila, Musa Gwani; Neto, Miguel; Fernandes, Diogo A. B.; Freire, Mario; Inácio, Pedro R. M.The Internet of Things (IoT) is an environment in which ordinary and complex consumer products, buildings, bridges, animals or even people, etc. are embedded with sensors, equipped with a variety of communication technologies and given unique identifiers that can enable them connect to the Internet. This allows them to talk to each other, collect data and transfer data over the Internet. IoT has the potential to enhance the way we do things by increasing productivity and efficiency. It also has the prospects of delivering significant business benefits. Nonetheless, implementing secure communication in the IoT and integrating security mechanisms into some of its devices have been a major impediment to its progress, resulting in many privacy concerns. Although IoT is a hybrid network of the Internet, many security solutions for the Internet cannot be directly used on the resource-constrained devices of the IoT, hence the need for new security solutions. In this chapter, we discuss the security challenges of the IoT. First, we discuss some basic concepts of security and security requirements in the context of IoT. We then consider fundamental security issues in the IoT and thereafter highlight the security issues that need immediate attention.
- Security Threats and Possible Countermeasures in Applications Covering Different Industry DomainsPublication . Samaila, Musa Gwani; Sequeiros, João B. F.; Freire, Mario; Inácio, Pedro R. M.The world is witnessing the emerging role of Internet of Things (IoT) as a technology that is transforming different industries, global community and its economy. Currently, a plethora of interconnected smart devices have been deployed for diverse pervasive applications and services, and billions more are expected to be connected to the Internet in the near future. The potential benefits of IoT include improved quality of life, convenience, enhanced energy efficiency, and more productivity. Alongside these potential benefits, however, come increased security risks and potential for abuse. Arguably, this is partly because many IoT start-ups and electronics hobbyists lack security expertise, and some established companies do not make security a priority in their designs, and hence they produce IoT devices that are often ill-equipped in terms of security. In this paper, we discuss different IoT application areas, and identify security threats in IoT architecture. We consider security requirements and present typical security threats for each of the application domains. Finally, we present several possible security countermeasures, and introduce the IoT Hardware Platform Security Advisor (IoT-HarPSecA) framework, which is still under development. IoT-HarPSecA is aimed at facilitating the design and prototyping of secure IoT devices.
- CloudSim Plus: a Cloud Computing Simulation Framework Pursuing Software Engineering Principles for Improved Modularity, Extensibility and CorrectnessPublication . Filho, Manoel C. Silva; Oliveira, Raysa L.; Monteiro, Cláudio C.; Inácio, Pedro R. M.; Freire, MarioCloud computing is an established technology to provide computing resources on demand that currently faces several challenges. Main challenges include management of shared resources, energy consumption, load balancing, resource provisioning and allocation, and fulfilment of service level agreements (SLAs). Due to its inherent complexity, cloud simulation is largely used to experiment new models and algorithms. This work presents CloudSim Plus, an open source simulation framework that pursues conformance to software engineering principles and object-oriented design in order to provide an extensible, modular and accurate tool. Based on the CloudSim framework, it aims to improve several engineering aspects, such as maintainability, reusability and extensibility. This work shows the benefits of CloudSim Plus, its particular features, how it ensures more accuracy, extension facility and usage simplicity.
- Cyber-Detective: a game for cyber crime preventionPublication . Lopes, Inês G. F.; Morenets, Yuliya; Inácio, Pedro R. M.; Silva, FrutuosoTechnologies are increasingly becoming a part of the daily lives of younger generations and with no supervised usage of these technologies, teenagers are exposed to various threats. To raise the awareness of teenagers in ages between 14 and 17 years old, and to provide a methodological tool for educational professionals working with the young and even for enforcement professionals investigating the cyber cases, an educational game about cyber security was designed and prototyped. A detective game was devised, where the player takes the role of a detective to investigate a cyber crime. To solve the case, the player must play several mini-games, where each one explores a specific thematic about cyber security. For example, in the prototype, the situation that the detective needs to solve is a ransomware case. The situations are introduced by a tridimensional animation, which appears as a cutscene introducing the game scene. It is an animation where one can see a teen trying to buy a pair of sneakers online and after downloading an application suggested in the website, his mobile phone is locked. Thus, he decides to search help from the police, where the detective will try to solve the problem. For that, the player has to solve several mini-games about sharing information in social networks, phishing and the importance of creating strong passwords. In these mini-games the player makes decisions and learns based on that, i.e., at the end of each mini-game each decision is explained to the player regardless of the choice being correct or incorrect. This way, the player is always informed of the various situations that can occur based on their behavior/decisions online. The prototype was developed for mobile devices and some preliminary tests were performed with teenagers. The tests showed that the teenagers improved their cyber security knowledge after playing the game. A cyber security educational game can be used as a tool for younger generations because it uses the technologies that are part of their daily lives and can contribute to the growing of their cyber security awareness. In the future, we hope to develop the full game, where other thematic will be included, namely, talking with strangers in social networks, dangers related with the webcam and microphone, online piracy and cyber bullying.
- Challenges of Securing Internet of Things DevicesPublication . Samaila, Musa Gwani; Neto, Miguel; Fernandes, Diogo A. B.; Freire, Mario; Inácio, Pedro R. M.The current vision of the Internet of Things (IoT) is to ensure that everything from everywhere is connected to the Internet at all times using Internet Protocol (IP). This idea has the potential of making homes, cities, electric grids, among others, safer, more efficient, and easier to manage. Nevertheless, a number of obstacles still remain to fully realize the IoT vision, with security and privacy among the most critical. Ensuring security and privacy in the IoT is particularly complicated, especially for the resource-constrained devices due to finite energy supply and low computing power. These factors are typically at odds with most of the existing security protocols and schemes proposed for the IoT because of the intensive computational nature of the cryptographic algorithms involved. This paper performs an extensive comparison of previous surveys on the subject, and shows its novelty with respect to the previous work. It describes 9 application domains and presents, in detail, security requirements, system models, threat models along with protocols and technologies for those 9 application areas. The survey also performs an exhaustive examination of some existing mechanisms and approaches proposed in the literature for ensuring security and privacy of IoT devices. Finally, it outlines some open research issues associated with IoT security.