Hardware Implementations of Video Watermarking

Various digital watermarking (WM) techniques for still imaging have been studied in the last several years. Recently, many new WM schemes have been proposed for other types of digital multimedia data, such as text, audio and video. This paper presents a brief overview of existing digital video WM. We classify WM techniques and discuss the properties of video WM. Since each WM application has its own specific requirements, WM design must take the intended application into consideration. Video WM applications are also discussed in the paper. The features of video WM implementations in software and hardware and their differences are presented through the description of four examples of existing work.

Progettazione e sviluppo di un sistema per la verifica dell'integrità hardware e firmware di un sistema

Questa tesi tratta un argomento che si è fatto sempre più interessante, soprattutto in questi ultimi anni, l'integrità firmware e hardware di un sistema. Oggigiorno milioni di persone fanno completamente affidamento al proprio sistema lasciando nelle loro mani moli di dati personali e non, molte delle quali si affidano ai moderni antivirus i quali, però, non sono in grado di rilevare e gestire attacchi che implicano l'alterazione dei firmware. Verranno mostrati diversi attacchi di questo tipo cercando di fare capire come la relativa sicurezza sia importante, inoltre saranno discussi diversi progetti reputati interessanti. Sulla base delle ricerche effettuate, poi, sarà mostrata la progettazione e l'implementazione di un software in grado di rilevare alterazioni hardware e firmware in un sistema.

Trace Oblivious Program Execution

The big data era has dramatically transformed our lives; however, security incidents such as data breaches can put sensitive data (e.g. photos, identities, genomes) at risk. To protect users' data privacy, there is a growing interest in building secure cloud computing systems, which keep sensitive data inputs hidden, even from computation providers. Conceptually, secure cloud computing systems leverage cryptographic techniques (e.g., secure multiparty computation) and trusted hardware (e.g. secure processors) to instantiate a “secure” abstract machine consisting of a CPU and encrypted memory, so that an adversary cannot learn information through either the computation within the CPU or the data in the memory. Unfortunately, evidence has shown that side channels (e.g. memory accesses, timing, and termination) in such a “secure” abstract machine may potentially leak highly sensitive information, including cryptographic keys that form the root of trust for the secure systems. This thesis broadly expands the investigation of a research direction called trace oblivious computation, where programming language techniques are employed to prevent side channel information leakage. We demonstrate the feasibility of trace oblivious computation, by formalizing and building several systems, including GhostRider, which is a hardware-software co-design to provide a hardware-based trace oblivious computing solution, SCVM, which is an automatic RAM-model secure computation system, and ObliVM, which is a programming framework to facilitate programmers to develop applications. All of these systems enjoy formal security guarantees while demonstrating a better performance than prior systems, by one to several orders of magnitude.

Local colours for Indonesian National police

As a result of the local autonomy program that commenced in Indonesia in Jan 2001, there is a concern regarding the applicability of the formalized model of security & the possibility of that being replaced by a local community-based security model. This rather informal security model is then promoted to be the only form of security used between societies & the nation. However, this model does not solve the problem because of widespread corruption, collusion, & nepotism, & the many limitations of the Indonesian National Police (Polri), a police department that has a mediocre & generalized level of service. In relation to autonomy, the effort of empowering the police units from the regional police down will bridge the gap between the people's ability to protect themselves & the limitations of those that are sworn to uphold the law. 17 References. Adapted from the source document.

A type system for value-dependent information flow analysis

Information systems are widespread and used by anyone with computing devices as well as corporations and governments. It is often the case that security leaks are introduced during the development of an application. Reasons for these security bugs are multiple but among them one can easily identify that it is very hard to define and enforce relevant security policies in modern software. This is because modern applications often rely on container sharing and multi-tenancy where, for instance, data can be stored in the same physical space but is logically mapped into different security compartments or data structures. In turn, these security compartments, to which data is classified into in security policies, can also be dynamic and depend on runtime data. In this thesis we introduce and develop the novel notion of dependent information flow types, and focus on the problem of ensuring data confidentiality in data-centric software. Dependent information flow types fit within the standard framework of dependent type theory, but, unlike usual dependent types, crucially allow the security level of a type, rather than just the structural data type itself, to depend on runtime values. Our dependent function and dependent sum information flow types provide a direct, natural and elegant way to express and enforce fine grained security policies on programs. Namely programs that manipulate structured data types in which the security level of a structure field may depend on values dynamically stored in other fields The main contribution of this work is an efficient analysis that allows programmers to verify, during the development phase, whether programs have information leaks, that is, it verifies whether programs protect the confidentiality of the information they manipulate. As such, we also implemented a prototype typechecker that can be found at http://ctp.di.fct.unl.pt/DIFTprototype/.

Point sampling with uniformly distributed lines

In this paper we address the problem of extracting representative point samples from polygonal models. The goal of such a sampling algorithm is to find points that are evenly distributed. We propose star-discrepancy as a measure for sampling quality and propose new sampling methods based on global line distributions. We investigate several line generation algorithms including an efficient hardware-based sampling method. Our method contributes to the area of point-based graphics by extracting points that are more evenly distributed than by sampling with current algorithms

Point sampling with uniformly distributed lines

In this paper we address the problem of extracting representative point samples from polygonal models. The goal of such a sampling algorithm is to find points that are evenly distributed. We propose star-discrepancy as a measure for sampling quality and propose new sampling methods based on global line distributions. We investigate several line generation algorithms including an efficient hardware-based sampling method. Our method contributes to the area of point-based graphics by extracting points that are more evenly distributed than by sampling with current algorithms

CAFS in action

For those few readers who do not know, CAFS is a system developed by ICL to search through data at speeds of several million characters per second. Its full name is Content Addressable File Store Information Search Processor, CAFS-ISP or CAFS for short. It is an intelligent hardware-based searching engine, currently available with both ICL's 2966 family of computers and the recently announced Series 39, operating within the VME environment. It uses content addressing techniques to perform fast searches of data or text stored on discs: almost all fields are equally accessible as search keys. Software in the mainframe generates a search task; the CAFS hardware performs the search, and returns the hit records to the mainframe. Because special hardware is used, the searching process is very much more efficient than searching performed by any software method. Various software interfaces are available which allow CAFS to be used in many different situations. CAFS can be used with existing systems without significant change. It can be used to make online enquiries of mainframe files or databases or directly from user written high level language programs. These interfaces are outlined in the body of the report.

Proposing a hybrid-intelligent framework to secure e-government web applications

One of the essential needs to implement a successful e-Government web application is security. Web application firewalls (WAF) are the most important tool to secure web applications against the increasing number of web application attacks nowadays. WAFs work in different modes depending on the web traffic filtering approach used, such as positive security mode, negative security mode, session-based mode, or mixed modes. The proposed WAF, which is called (HiWAF), is a web application firewall that works in three modes: positive, negative and session based security modes. The new approach that distinguishes this WAF among other WAFs is that it utilizes the concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) instead of regular expressions or other traditional pattern matching techniques as its filtering engine. Both artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic concepts will be used to implement a hybrid intelligent web application firewall that works in three security modes.

Virtualization for cost-effective teaching of assembly language programming

A virtual system that emulates an ARM-based processor machine has been created to replace a traditional hardware-based system for teaching assembly language. The proposed virtual system integrates, in a single environment, all the development tools necessary to deliver introductory or advanced courses on modern assembly language programming. The virtual system runs a Linux operating system in either a graphical or console mode on a Windows or Linux host machine. No software licenses or extra hardware are required to use the virtual system, thus students are free to carry their own ARM emulator with them on a USB memory stick. Institutions adopting this, or a similar virtual system, can also benefit by reducing capital investment in hardware-based development kits and enable distance learning courses.

Load balancing solution and evaluation of F5 content switch equipment

The Thesis focused on hardware based Load balancing solution of web traffic through a load balancer F5 content switch. In this project, the implemented scenario for distributing HTTPtraffic load is based on different CPU usages (processing speed) of multiple member servers.Two widely used load balancing algorithms Round Robin (RR) and Ratio model (weighted Round Robin) are implemented through F5 load balancer. For evaluating the performance of F5 content switch, some experimental tests has been taken on implemented scenarios using RR and Ratio model load balancing algorithms. The performance is examined in terms of throughput (bits/sec) and Response time of member servers in a load balancing pool. From these experiments we have observed that Ratio Model load balancing algorithm is most suitable in the environment of load balancing servers with different CPU usages as it allows assigning the weight according to CPU usage both in static and dynamic load balancing of servers.

DC MICROGRID STABILIZATION THROUGH FUZZY CONTROL OF INTERLEAVED, HETEROGENEOUS STORAGE ELEMENTS

As microgrid power systems gain prevalence and renewable energy comprises greater and greater portions of distributed generation, energy storage becomes important to offset the higher variance of renewable energy sources and maximize their usefulness. One of the emerging techniques is to utilize a combination of lead-acid batteries and ultracapacitors to provide both short and long-term stabilization to microgrid systems. The different energy and power characteristics of batteries and ultracapacitors imply that they ought to be utilized in different ways. Traditional linear controls can use these energy storage systems to stabilize a power grid, but cannot effect more complex interactions. This research explores a fuzzy logic approach to microgrid stabilization. The ability of a fuzzy logic controller to regulate a dc bus in the presence of source and load fluctuations, in a manner comparable to traditional linear control systems, is explored and demonstrated. Furthermore, the expanded capabilities (such as storage balancing, self-protection, and battery optimization) of a fuzzy logic system over a traditional linear control system are shown. System simulation results are presented and validated through hardware-based experiments. These experiments confirm the capabilities of the fuzzy logic control system to regulate bus voltage, balance storage elements, optimize battery usage, and effect self-protection.

Análisis estático de sistemas de membranas para la determinación de reglas activas

Esta tesis doctoral se enmarca dentro de la computación con membranas. Se trata de un tipo de computación bio-inspirado, concretamente basado en las células de los organismos vivos, en las que se producen múltiples reacciones de forma simultánea. A partir de la estructura y funcionamiento de las células se han definido diferentes modelos formales, denominados P sistemas. Estos modelos no tratan de modelar el comportamiento biológico de una célula, sino que abstraen sus principios básicos con objeto de encontrar nuevos paradigmas computacionales. Los P sistemas son modelos de computación no deterministas y masivamente paralelos. De ahí el interés que en los últimos años estos modelos han suscitado para la resolución de problemas complejos. En muchos casos, consiguen resolver de forma teórica problemas NP-completos en tiempo polinómico o lineal. Por otra parte, cabe destacar también la aplicación que la computación con membranas ha tenido en la investigación de otros muchos campos, sobre todo relacionados con la biología. Actualmente, una gran cantidad de estos modelos de computación han sido estudiados desde el punto de vista teórico. Sin embargo, el modo en que pueden ser implementados es un reto de investigación todavía abierto. Existen varias líneas en este sentido, basadas en arquitecturas distribuidas o en hardware dedicado, que pretenden acercarse en lo posible a su carácter no determinista y masivamente paralelo, dentro de un contexto de viabilidad y eficiencia. En esta tesis doctoral se propone la realización de un análisis estático del P sistema, como vía para optimizar la ejecución del mismo en estas plataformas. Se pretende que la información recogida en tiempo de análisis sirva para configurar adecuadamente la plataforma donde se vaya a ejecutar posteriormente el P sistema, obteniendo como consecuencia una mejora en el rendimiento. Concretamente, en esta tesis se han tomado como referencia los P sistemas de transiciones para llevar a cabo el estudio de dicho análisis estático. De manera un poco más específica, el análisis estático propuesto en esta tesis persigue que cada membrana sea capaz de determinar sus reglas activas de forma eficiente en cada paso de evolución, es decir, aquellas reglas que reúnen las condiciones adecuadas para poder ser aplicadas. En esta línea, se afronta el problema de los estados de utilidad de una membrana dada, que en tiempo de ejecución permitirán a la misma conocer en todo momento las membranas con las que puede comunicarse, cuestión que determina las reglas que pueden aplicarse en cada momento. Además, el análisis estático propuesto en esta tesis se basa en otra serie de características del P sistema como la estructura de membranas, antecedentes de las reglas, consecuentes de las reglas o prioridades. Una vez obtenida toda esta información en tiempo de análisis, se estructura en forma de árbol de decisión, con objeto de que en tiempo de ejecución la membrana obtenga las reglas activas de la forma más eficiente posible. Por otra parte, en esta tesis se lleva a cabo un recorrido por un número importante de arquitecturas hardware y software que diferentes autores han propuesto para implementar P sistemas. Fundamentalmente, arquitecturas distribuidas, hardware dedicado basado en tarjetas FPGA y plataformas basadas en microcontroladores PIC. El objetivo es proponer soluciones que permitan implantar en dichas arquitecturas los resultados obtenidos del análisis estático (estados de utilidad y árboles de decisión para reglas activas). En líneas generales, se obtienen conclusiones positivas, en el sentido de que dichas optimizaciones se integran adecuadamente en las arquitecturas sin penalizaciones significativas. Summary Membrane computing is the focus of this doctoral thesis. It can be considered a bio-inspired computing type. Specifically, it is based on living cells, in which many reactions take place simultaneously. From cell structure and operation, many different formal models have been defined, named P systems. These models do not try to model the biological behavior of the cell, but they abstract the basic principles of the cell in order to find out new computational paradigms. P systems are non-deterministic and massively parallel computational models. This is why, they have aroused interest when dealing with complex problems nowadays. In many cases, they manage to solve in theory NP problems in polynomial or lineal time. On the other hand, it is important to note that membrane computing has been successfully applied in many researching areas, specially related to biology. Nowadays, lots of these computing models have been sufficiently characterized from a theoretical point of view. However, the way in which they can be implemented is a research challenge, that it is still open nowadays. There are some lines in this way, based on distributed architectures or dedicated hardware. All of them are trying to approach to its non-deterministic and parallel character as much as possible, taking into account viability and efficiency. In this doctoral thesis it is proposed carrying out a static analysis of the P system in order to optimize its performance in a computing platform. The general idea is that after data are collected in analysis time, they are used for getting a suitable configuration of the computing platform in which P system is going to be performed. As a consequence, the system throughput will improve. Specifically, this thesis has made use of Transition P systems for carrying out the study in static analysis. In particular, the static analysis proposed in this doctoral thesis tries to achieve that every membrane can efficiently determine its active rules in every evolution step. These rules are the ones that can be applied depending on the system configuration at each computational step. In this line, we are going to tackle the problem of the usefulness states for a membrane. This state will allow this membrane to know the set of membranes with which communication is possible at any time. This is a very important issue in determining the set of rules that can be applied. Moreover, static analysis in this thesis is carried out taking into account other properties such as membrane structure, rule antecedents, rule consequents and priorities among rules. After collecting all data in analysis time, they are arranged in a decision tree structure, enabling membranes to obtain the set of active rules as efficiently as possible in run-time system. On the other hand, in this doctoral thesis is going to carry out an overview of hardware and software architectures, proposed by different authors in order to implement P systems, such as distributed architectures, dedicated hardware based on PFGA, and computing platforms based on PIC microcontrollers. The aim of this overview is to propose solutions for implementing the results of the static analysis, that is, usefulness states and decision trees for active rules. In general, conclusions are satisfactory, because these optimizations can be properly integrated in most of the architectures without significant penalties.

Integration of embedded data processing algorithms inside PAMELA devices

PAMELA (Phased Array Monitoring for Enhanced Life Assessment) SHMTM System is an integrated embedded ultrasonic guided waves based system consisting of several electronic devices and one system manager controller. The data collected by all PAMELA devices in the system must be transmitted to the controller, who will be responsible for carrying out the advanced signal processing to obtain SHM maps. PAMELA devices consist of hardware based on a Virtex 5 FPGA with a PowerPC 440 running an embedded Linux distribution. Therefore, PAMELA devices, in addition to the capability of performing tests and transmitting the collected data to the controller, have the capability of perform local data processing or pre-processing (reduction, normalization, pattern recognition, feature extraction, etc.). Local data processing decreases the data traffic over the network and allows CPU load of the external computer to be reduced. Even it is possible that PAMELA devices are running autonomously performing scheduled tests, and only communicates with the controller in case of detection of structural damages or when programmed. Each PAMELA device integrates a software management application (SMA) that allows to the developer downloading his own algorithm code and adding the new data processing algorithm to the device. The development of the SMA is done in a virtual machine with an Ubuntu Linux distribution including all necessary software tools to perform the entire cycle of development. Eclipse IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is used to develop the SMA project and to write the code of each data processing algorithm. This paper presents the developed software architecture and describes the necessary steps to add new data processing algorithms to SMA in order to increase the processing capabilities of PAMELA devices.An example of basic damage index estimation using delay and sum algorithm is provided.

Propuesta de Mecanismos de Verificación de Integridad de Plataformas Móviles de Computación basados en Entornos Seguros de Ejecución

Las prestaciones y características de los dispositivos móviles actuales los sitúa a un nivel similar a los ordenadores de escritorio tradicionales en cuanto a funcionalidad y posibilidades de uso, añadiendo además la movilidad y la sensación de pertenencia al usuario que se deriva de ésta. Estas cualidades convierten a las plataformas móviles de computación en verdaderos ordenadores personales, y cada día es más popular su utilización en ámbitos distintos del ocio y las comunicaciones propiamente dichas, pasando a convertirse en herramientas de apoyo a la productividad también en el entorno profesional y corporativo. La utilización del dispositivo móvil como parte de una infraestructura de telecomunicaciones da lugar a nuevas expresiones de problemas clásicos de gestión y seguridad. Para tratar de abordarlos con la flexibilidad y la escalabilidad necesarias se plantean alternativas novedosas que parten de enfoques originales a estos problemas, como las ideas y conceptos que se engloban en la filosofía del Control de Acceso a la Red (Network Access Control, o NAC). La mayoría de los planteamientos de NAC se basan, en el ámbito de la seguridad, en comprobar ciertas características del dispositivo móvil para tratar de determinar hasta qué punto puede éste suponer una amenaza para los recursos de la red u otros usuarios de la misma. Obtener esta información de forma fiable resulta extremadamente difícil si se caracteriza el dispositivo mediante un modelo de caja blanca, muy adecuado dada la apertura propia de los sistemas operativos móviles actuales, muy diferentes de los de antaño, y la ausencia de un marco de seguridad efectivo en ellos. Este trabajo explora el Estado de la Técnica en este ámbito de investigación y plantea diferentes propuestas orientadas a cubrir las deficiencias de las soluciones propuestas hasta el momento y a satisfacer los estrictos requisitos de seguridad que se derivan de la aplicación del modelo de caja blanca, materializándose en última instancia en la definición de un mecanismo de evaluación de características arbitrarias de un cierto dispositivo móvil basado en Entornos Seguros de Ejecución (Trusted Execution Environments, o TEEs) con elevadas garantías de seguridad compatible con los planteamientos actuales de NAC. ABSTRACT The performance and features of today’s mobile devices make them able to compete with traditional desktop computers in terms of functionality and possible usages. In addition to this, they sport mobility and the stronger sense of ownership that derives from it. These attributes change mobile computation platforms into truly personal computers, allowing them to be used not only for leisure or as mere communications devices, but also as supports of productivity in professional and corporative environments. The utilization of mobile devices as part of a telecommunications infrastructure brings new expressions of classic management and security problems with it. In order to tackle them with appropriate flexibility and scalability, new alternatives are proposed based on original approaches to these problems, such as the concepts and ideas behind the philosophy of Network Access Control (NAC). The vast majority of NAC proposals are based, security-wise, on checking certain mobile device’s properties in order to evaluate how probable it is for it to become a threat for network resources or even other users of the infrastructure. Obtaining this information in a reliable and trustworthy way is extremely difficult if the device is characterized using a white-box model, which is the most appropriate if the openness of today’s mobile operating systems, very different from former ones, and the absence of an effective security framework are taken into account. This work explores the State of the Art related with the aforementioned field of research and presents different proposals targeted to overcome the deficiencies of current solutions and satisfy the strict security requirements derived from the application of the white box model. These proposals are ultimately materialized in the definition of a high-security evaluation procedure of arbitrary properties of a given mobile device based on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) which is compatible with modern NAC approaches.