Malware variant detection using similarity search over sets of control flow graphs

Static detection of polymorphic malware variants plays an important role to improve system security. Control flow has shown to be an effective characteristic that represents polymorphic malware instances. In our research, we propose a similarity search of malware using novel distance metrics of malware signatures. We describe a malware signature by the set of control flow graphs the malware contains. We propose two approaches and use the first to perform pre-filtering. Firstly, we use a distance metric based on the distance between feature vectors. The feature vector is a decomposition of the set of graphs into either fixed size k-sub graphs, or q-gram strings of the high-level source after decompilation. We also propose a more effective but less computationally efficient distance metric based on the minimum matching distance. The minimum matching distance uses the string edit distances between programs' decompiled flow graphs, and the linear sum assignment problem to construct a minimum sum weight matching between two sets of graphs. We implement the distance metrics in a complete malware variant detection system. The evaluation shows that our approach is highly effective in terms of a limited false positive rate and our system detects more malware variants when compared to the detection rates of other algorithms.

The cost-effectiveness of universal newborn screening for bilateral permanent congenital hearing impairment : systematic review

Objective - Universal newborn hearing screening for bilateral permanent congenital hearing impairment is standard practice in many developed economies, but until there is clear evidence of cost-effectiveness, it remains a controversial use of limited health care resources. We conducted a formal systematic review of studies of newborn hearing screening that considered both costs and outcomes to produce a summary of the available evidence and to determine whether there was a need for further research.

Methods - A search was conducted of medical and nursing databases and gray literature websites by the use of multiple keywords. The titles and abstracts of studies were examined for preliminary inclusion if reference was made to newborn hearing screening, and to both costs and outcomes. Studies of potential relevance were independently assessed by 2 health economists for final inclusion in the review. Studies that met inclusion criteria were appraised by the use of existing guidelines for observational studies, economic evaluations and decision analytic models, and reported in a narrative literature review.

Results - There were 22 distinct observational or modeled evaluations of which only 2 clearly compared universal newborn hearing screening to risk factor screening for bilateral permanent congenital hearing impairment. Of these, the single evaluation that examined long-term costs and outcomes found that universal newborn hearing screening could be cost-saving if early intervention led to a substantial reduction in future treatment costs and productivity losses.

Conclusions - There are only a small number of economic evaluations that have examined the long-term cost-effectiveness of universal newborn hearing screening. This is partly attributable to ongoing uncertainty about the benefits gained from the early detection and treatment of bilateral permanent congenital hearing impairment. There is a clear need for further research on long-term costs and outcomes to establish the cost-effectiveness of universal newborn hearing screening in relation to other approaches to screening, and to establish whether it is a good long term investment.

The L(2,1)-labelling problem for cubic Cayley graphs on dihedral groups

A k-L(2,1)-labelling of a graph G is a mapping f:V(G)→{0,1,2,…,k} such that |f(u)−f(v)|≥2 if uv∈E(G) and f(u)≠f(v) if u,v are distance two apart. The smallest positive integer k such that G admits a k-L(2,1)-labelling is called the λ-number of G. In this paper we study this quantity for cubic Cayley graphs (other than the prism graphs) on dihedral groups, which are called brick product graphs or honeycomb toroidal graphs. We prove that the λ-number of such a graph is between 5 and 7, and moreover we give a characterisation of such graphs with λ-number 5.

Universal housing : Malaysian architect's perception on its implementation

Implementation of Universal Design (UD) in Malaysian built and natural environments is facing some barriers especially in housing. Irrespective of any age and ability, UD is a concept that seeks to positively respond to the needs of access to the physical environment which includes the right to live contentedly in one's house. The aim of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of Malaysian architects toward UD with an emphasis upon housing as a means in identifying the barriers of its implementation. The interview questions focus on perceptions, knowledge and understanding of architects in terms of terminology, legislation and standards, government and professional institute's initiatives and policies on UD. Findings show that among the barriers are confusion in terminology, biased knowledge, and misconceptions of the concept. The ongoing results of the study are presented in the paper together with suggestions for improvements and other implications.

The application of universal design legislation and standards in Malaysia and Australia

Legislation and standards are alleged to be one of the key solutions for improving accessibility and Universal Design implementation in Malaysia including its implementation in housing design. In response to this concern, the government of Malaysia has taken considerable steps in articulating professional practice obligations as demonstrated in continual improvements in relevant new laws and standards (Malaysian Standard (MS)). The findings from a preliminary study have however evidenced a clear gap between having laws and standards and ensuring their implementation in the construction industry. This paper reviews the issues faced by the existing Malaysian enforcement and practices to Universal Design. The findings emphasise awareness, understanding and practice implications for the legislation and its standards in Malaysia, and problems and assumptions perceived. Findings indicate that there is lack of understanding and awareness of the current legislation and standards in the construction industry, in addition to the insufficiency of comprehensive guidelines to regulate Universal Design in Malaysia.

Power graphs : a survey

This article gives a survey of all results on the power graphs of groups and semigroups obtained in the literature. Various conjectures due to other authors, questions and open problems are also included.