Towards continuous surveillance of fruit flies using sensor networks and machine vision

In Australia, the Queensland fruit fly (B. tryoni), is the most destructive insect pest of horticulture, attacking nearly all fruit and vegetable crops. This project has researched and prototyped a system for monitoring fruit flies so that authorities can be alerted when a fly enters a crop in a more efficient manner than is currently used. This paper presents the idea of our sensor platform design as well as the fruit fly detection and recognition algorithm by using machine vision techniques. Our experiments showed that the designed trap and sensor platform is capable to capture quality fly images, the invasive flies can be successfully detected and the average precision of the Queensland fruit fly recognition is 80% from our experiment.

Experimenting with an intrusion detection system for encrypted networks

Network-based Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDSs) analyse network traffic to detect instances of malicious activity. Typically, this is only possible when the network traffic is accessible for analysis. With the growing use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that encrypt network traffic, the NIDS can no longer access this crucial audit data. In this paper, we present an implementation and evaluation of our approach proposed in Goh et al. (2009). It is based on Shamir's secret-sharing scheme and allows a NIDS to function normally in a VPN without any modifications and without compromising the confidentiality afforded by the VPN.

Optimal allocation and sizing of DGs in distribution networks

In this paper, the placement and sizing of Distributed Generators (DG) in distribution networks are determined optimally. The objective is to minimize the loss and to improve the reliability. The constraints are the bus voltage, feeder current and the reactive power flowing back to the source side. The placement and size of DGs are optimized using a combination of Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization (DPSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA). This increases the diversity of the optimizing variables in DPSO not to be stuck in the local minima. To evaluate the proposed algorithm, the semi-urban 37-bus distribution system connected at bus 2 of the Roy Billinton Test System (RBTS), which is located at the secondary side of a 33/11 kV distribution substation, is used. The results finally illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method.

User-Created Content and Online Social Networks

Traditional media are under assault from digital technologies. Online advertising is eroding the financial basis of newspapers and television, demarcations between different forms of media are fading, and audiences are fragmenting. We can podcast our favourite radio show, data accompanies television programs, and we catch up with newspaper stories on our laptops. Yet mainstream media remain enormously powerful. The Media and Communications in Australia offers a systematic introduction to this dynamic field. Fully updated and revised to take account of recent developments, this third edition outlines the key media industries and explains how communications technologies are impacting on them. It provides a thorough overview of the main approaches taken in studying the media, and includes new chapters on social media, gaming, telecommunications, sport and cultural diversity. With contributions from some of Australia's best researchers and teachers in the field, The Media and Communications in Australia is the most comprehensive and reliable introduction to media and communications available. It is an ideal student text, and a reference for teachers of media and anyone interested in this influential industry.

Mitigating sandwich attacks against a secure key management scheme in wireless sensor networks for PCS/SCADA

Alzaid et al. proposed a forward & backward secure key management scheme in wireless sensor networks for Process Control Systems (PCSs) or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. The scheme, however, is still vulnerable to an attack called the sandwich attack that can be launched when the adversary captures two sensor nodes at times t1 and t2, and then reveals all the group keys used between times t1 and t2. In this paper, a fix to the scheme is proposed in order to limit the vulnerable time duration to an arbitrarily chosen time span while keeping the forward and backward secrecy of the scheme untouched. Then, the performance analysis for our proposal, Alzaid et al.’s scheme, and Nilsson et al.’s scheme is given.

Intrusion detection system for encrypted networks using secret-sharing schemes

Secret-sharing schemes describe methods to securely share a secret among a group of participants. A properly constructed secret-sharing scheme guarantees that the share belonging to one participant does not reveal anything about the shares of others or even the secret itself. Besides the obvious feature which is to distribute a secret, secret-sharing schemes have also been used in secure multi-party computations and redundant residue number systems for error correction codes. In this paper, we propose that the secret-sharing scheme be used as a primitive in a Network-based Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) to detect attacks in encrypted networks. Encrypted networks such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) fully encrypt network traffic which can include both malicious and non-malicious traffic. Traditional NIDS cannot monitor encrypted traffic. Our work uses a combination of Shamir's secret-sharing scheme and randomised network proxies to enable a traditional NIDS to function normally in a VPN environment. In this paper, we introduce a novel protocol that utilises a secret-sharing scheme to detect attacks in encrypted networks.

Cluster-based Intrusion Detection (CBID) architecture for mobile ad hoc networks

The ad hoc networks are vulnerable to attacks due to distributed nature and lack of infrastructure. Intrusion detection systems (IDS) provide audit and monitoring capabilities that offer the local security to a node and help to perceive the specific trust level of other nodes. The clustering protocols can be taken as an additional advantage in these processing constrained networks to collaboratively detect intrusions with less power usage and minimal overhead. Existing clustering protocols are not suitable for intrusion detection purposes, because they are linked with the routes. The route establishment and route renewal affects the clusters and as a consequence, the processing and traffic overhead increases due to instability of clusters. The ad hoc networks are battery and power constraint, and therefore a trusted monitoring node should be available to detect and respond against intrusions in time. This can be achieved only if the clusters are stable for a long period of time. If the clusters are regularly changed due to routes, the intrusion detection will not prove to be effective. Therefore, a generalized clustering algorithm has been proposed that can run on top of any routing protocol and can monitor the intrusions constantly irrespective of the routes. The proposed simplified clustering scheme has been used to detect intrusions, resulting in high detection rates and low processing and memory overhead irrespective of the routes, connections, traffic types and mobility of nodes in the network. Clustering is also useful to detect intrusions collaboratively since an individual node can neither detect the malicious node alone nor it can take action against that node on its own.

Efficient clustering approach for intrusion detection in adhoc networks

Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) are temporary wireless networks useful in emergency rescue services, battlefields operations, mobile conferencing and a variety of other useful applications. Due to dynamic nature and lack of centralized monitoring points, these networks are highly vulnerable to attacks. Intrusion detection systems (IDS) provide audit and monitoring capabilities that offer the local security to a node and help to perceive the specific trust level of other nodes. We take benefit of the clustering concept in MANETs for the effective communication between nodes, where each cluster involves a number of member nodes and is managed by a cluster-head. It can be taken as an advantage in these battery and memory constrained networks for the purpose of intrusion detection, by separating tasks for the head and member nodes, at the same time providing opportunity for launching collaborative detection approach. The clustering schemes are generally used for the routing purposes to enhance the route efficiency. However, the effect of change of a cluster tends to change the route; thus degrades the performance. This paper presents a low overhead clustering algorithm for the benefit of detecting intrusion rather than efficient routing. It also discusses the intrusion detection techniques with the help of this simplified clustering scheme.

secFleck: A Public Key Technology Platform for Wireless Sensor Networks

We describe the design and implementation of a public-key platform, secFleck, based on a commodity Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip that extends the capability of a standard node. Unlike previous software public-key implementations this approach provides E- Commerce grade security; is computationally fast, energy efficient; and has low financial cost — all essential attributes for secure large-scale sen- sor networks. We describe the secFleck message security services such as confidentiality, authenticity and integrity, and present performance re- sults including computation time, energy consumption and cost. This is followed by examples, built on secFleck, of symmetric key management, secure RPC and secure software update.

ERTP : Energy-efficient and reliable transport protocol for data streaming in wireless sensor networks

Emerging data streaming applications in Wireless Sensor Networks require reliable and energy-efficient Transport Protocols. Our recent Wireless Sensor Network deployment in the Burdekin delta, Australia, for water monitoring [T. Le Dinh, W. Hu, P. Sikka, P. Corke, L. Overs, S. Brosnan, Design and deployment of a remote robust sensor network: experiences from an outdoor water quality monitoring network, in: Second IEEE Workshop on Practical Issues in Building Sensor Network Applications (SenseApp 2007), Dublin, Ireland, 2007] is one such example. This application involves streaming sensed data such as pressure, water flow rate, and salinity periodically from many scattered sensors to the sink node which in turn relays them via an IP network to a remote site for archiving, processing, and presentation. While latency is not a primary concern in this class of application (the sampling rate is usually in terms of minutes or hours), energy-efficiency is. Continuous long-term operation and reliable delivery of the sensed data to the sink are also desirable. This paper proposes ERTP, an Energy-efficient and Reliable Transport Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks. ERTP is designed for data streaming applications, in which sensor readings are transmitted from one or more sensor sources to a base station (or sink). ERTP uses a statistical reliability metric which ensures the number of data packets delivered to the sink exceeds the defined threshold. Our extensive discrete event simulations and experimental evaluations show that ERTP is significantly more energyefficient than current approaches and can reduce energy consumption by more than 45% when compared to current approaches. Consequently, sensor nodes are more energy-efficient and the lifespan of the unattended WSN is increased.

Design and deployment of a remote robust sensor network : experiences from an outdoor water quality monitoring network

This paper investigates a wireless sensor network deployment - monitoring water quality, e.g. salinity and the level of the underground water table - in a remote tropical area of northern Australia. Our goal is to collect real time water quality measurements together with the amount of water being pumped out in the area, and investigate the impacts of current irrigation practice on the environments, in particular underground water salination. This is a challenging task featuring wide geographic area coverage (mean transmission range between nodes is more than 800 meters), highly variable radio propagations, high end-to-end packet delivery rate requirements, and hostile deployment environments. We have designed, implemented and deployed a sensor network system, which has been collecting water quality and flow measurements, e.g., water flow rate and water flow ticks for over one month. The preliminary results show that sensor networks are a promising solution to deploying a sustainable irrigation system, e.g., maximizing the amount of water pumped out from an area with minimum impact on water quality.

Coordinating aerial robots and sensor networks for localization and navigation

We consider multi-robot systems that include sensor nodes and aerial or ground robots networked together. We describe two cooperative algorithms that allow robots and sensors to enhance each other's performance. In the first algorithm, an aerial robot assists the localization of the sensors. In the second algorithm, a localized sensor network controls the navigation of an aerial robot. We present physical experiments with an flying robot and a large Mica Mote sensor network.