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An online social network is a platform that is continuously expanding, which enables groups of people to share their views and communicate with one another using the Internet. The social relations among members of the public are significantly improved because of this gesture. Despite these advantages and opportunities, criminals are continuing to broaden their attempts to exploit people by making use of techniques and approaches designed to undermine and exploit their victims for criminal activities. The field of digital forensics, on the other hand, has made significant progress in reducing the impact of this risk. Even though most of these digital forensic investigation techniques are carried out manually, most of these methods are not usually appropriate for use with online social networks due to their complexity, growth in data volumes, and technical issues that are present in these environments. In both civil and criminal cases, including sexual harassment, intellectual property theft, cyberstalking, online terrorism, and cyberbullying, forensic investigations on social media platforms have become more crucial. This study explores the use of machine learning techniques for addressing criminal incidents on social media platforms, particularly during forensic investigations. In addition, it outlines some of the difficulties encountered by forensic investigators while investigating crimes on social networking sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cybercrime is a significant threat to Internet users, involving crimes committed using computers or computer networks. The landscape of cyberspace presents a complex terrain, making the task of tracing the origins of sensitive data a formidable and often elusive endeavor. However, tracing the source of sensitive data in online cyberspace is critically challenging, and detecting cyber-criminals on the other hand remains a time-consuming process, especially in social networks. Cyber-criminals target individuals for financial gain or to cause harm to their assets, resulting in the loss or theft of millions of user data over the past few decades. Forensic professionals play a vital role in conducting successful investigations and acquiring legally acceptable evidence admissible in court proceedings using modern techniques. This study aims to provide an overview of forensic investigation methods for extracting digital evidence from computer systems and mobile devices to combat persistent cybercrime. It also discusses current cybercrime issues and mitigation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport Layer Security (TLS) based malware is one of the most hazardous malware types, as it relies on encryption to conceal connections. Due to the complexity of TLS traffic decryption, several anomaly-based detection studies have been conducted to detect TLS-based malware using different features and machine learning (ML) algorithms. However, most of these studies utilized flow features with no feature transformation or relied on inefficient flow feature transformations like frequency-based periodicity analysis and outlier percentage. This paper introduces TLSMalDetect, a TLS-based malware detection approach that integrates periodicity-independent entropy-based flow set (EFS) features generated by a flow feature transformation technique to solve flow feature utilization issues in related research. The effectiveness of EFS features was evaluated in two ways: (1) by comparing them to the corresponding outlier percentage and flow features using four feature importance methods, and (2) by analyzing classification performance with and without EFS features. Moreover, new Transmission Control Protocol features not explored in the literature were incorporated into TLSMalDetect, and their contribution was assessed. This study's results proved that EFS features of the number of packets sent and received were superior to the related outlier percentage and flow features and could remarkably increase the performance up to ~42 percent in the case of Support Vector Machine accuracy. Furthermore, using the basic features, TLSMalDetect achieved the highest accuracy of 93.69 percent by Naïve Bayes (NB) among the ML algorithms applied. From a comparison view, TLSMalDetect's Random Forest precision of 98.99 percent and NB recall of 92.91 percent exceeded the best relevant findings of previous studies. These comparative results demonstrated TLSMalDetect's ability to detect more malware flows out of total malicious flows than existing works. It could also generate more actual alerts from overall alerts than earlier research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in electronic health record system allow patients to store and selectively share their medical records as needed with doctors. However, privacy concerns represent one of the major threats facing the electronic health record system. For instance, a cybercriminal may use a brute-force attack to authenticate into a patient's account to steal the patient's personal, medical or genetic details. This threat is amplified given that an individual's genetic content is connected to their family, thus leading to security risks for their family members as well. Several cases of patient's data theft have been reported where cybercriminals authenticated into the patient's account, stole the patient's medical data and assumed the identity of the patients. In some cases, the stolen data were used to access the patient's accounts on other platforms and in other cases, to make fraudulent health insurance claims. Several measures have been suggested to address the security issues in electronic health record systems. Nevertheless, we emphasize that current measures proffer security in the short-term. This work studies the feasibility of using a decoy-based system named HoneyDetails in the security of the electronic health record system. HoneyDetails will serve fictitious medical data to the adversary during his hacking attempt to steal the patient's data. However, the adversary will remain oblivious to the deceit due to the realistic structure of the data. Our findings indicate that the proposed system may serve as a potential measure for safeguarding against patient's information theft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital forensics is a vital part of almost every criminal investigation given the amount of information available and the opportunities offered by electronic data to investigate and evidence a crime. However, in criminal justice proceedings, these electronic pieces of evidence are often considered with the utmost suspicion and uncertainty, although, on occasions are justifiable. Presently, the use of scientifically unproven forensic techniques are highly criticized in legal proceedings. Nevertheless, the exceedingly distinct and dynamic characteristics of electronic data, in addition to the current legislation and privacy laws remain as challenging aspects for systematically attesting evidence in a court of law. This article presents a comprehensive study to examine the issues that are considered essential to discuss and resolve, for the proper acceptance of evidence based on scientific grounds. Moreover, the article explains the state of forensics in emerging sub-fields of digital technology such as, cloud computing, social media, and the Internet of Things (IoT), and reviewing the challenges which may complicate the process of systematic validation of electronic evidence. The study further explores various solutions previously proposed, by researchers and academics, regarding their appropriateness based on their experimental evaluation. Additionally, this article suggests open research areas, highlighting many of the issues and problems associated with the empirical evaluation of these solutions for immediate attention by researchers and practitioners. Notably, academics must react to these challenges with appropriate emphasis on methodical verification. Therefore, for this purpose, the issues in the experiential validation of practices currently available are reviewed in this study. The review also discusses the struggle involved in demonstrating the reliability and validity of these approaches with contemporary evaluation methods. Furthermore, the development of best practices, reliable tools and the formulation of formal testing methods for digital forensic techniques are highlighted which could be extremely useful and of immense value to improve the trustworthiness of electronic evidence in legal proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tumultuous increase in ATM attacks using eavesdropping, shoulder-surfing, has risen great concerns. Attackers often target the authentication stage where a customer may be entering his login information on the ATM and thus use direct observation techniques by looking over the customer's shoulder to steal his passwords. Existing authentication mechanism employs the traditional password-based authentication system which fails to curb these attacks. This paper addresses this problem using the FingerEye. The FingerEye is a robust system integrated with iris-scan authentication. A customer’s profile is created at registration where the pattern in his iris is analyzed and converted into binary codes. The binary codes are then stored in the bank database and are required for verification prior to any transaction. We leverage on the iris because every user has unique eyes which do not change until death and even a blind person with iris can be authenticated too. We implemented and tested the proposed system using CIMB bank, Malaysia as case study. The FingerEye is integrated with the current infrastructure employed by the bank and as such, no extra cost was incurred. Our result demonstrates that ATM attacks become impractical. Moreover, transactions were executed faster from 6.5 seconds to 1.4 seconds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional encryption schemes are susceptible to brute-force attacks. This is because bytes encode utf8 (or ASCII) characters. Consequently, an adversary that intercepts a ciphertext and tries to decrypt the message by brute-forcing with an incorrect key can filter out some of the combinations of the decrypted message by observing that some of the sequences are a combination of characters which are distributed non-uniformly and form no plausible meaning. Honey encryption (HE) scheme was proposed to curtail this vulnerability of conventional encryption by producing ciphertexts yielding valid-looking, uniformly distributed but fake plaintexts upon decryption with incorrect keys. However, the scheme works for only passwords and PINS. Its adaptation to support encoding natural language messages (e-mails, human-generated documents) has remained an open problem. Existing proposals to extend the scheme to support encoding natural language messages reveals fragments of the plaintext in the ciphertext, hence, its susceptibility to chosen ciphertext attacks (CCA). In this paper, we modify the HE schemes to support the encoding of natural language messages using Natural Language Processing techniques. Our main contribution was creating a structure that allowed a message to be encoded entirely in binary. As a result of this strategy, most binary string produces syntactically correct messages which will be generated to deceive an attacker who attempts to decrypt a ciphertext using incorrect keys. We evaluate the security of our proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intrusion detection is one of the most significant concerns in network safety. Improvements have been proposed from various perspectives. One such proposal is improving the classification of packets in a network to determine whether the classified packets contain harmful packages. In this study, we present a new approach for intrusion detection using a hybrid of the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm and particle swarm optimization (PSO) to develop an artificial neural network with increased precision in classifying malicious from harmless traffic in a network. Our proposed algorithm is compared with four other algorithms employed in WEKA tool, namely, radial basis function, voted perceptron, logistic regression, and multilayer perceptron. The system is first prepared, and then suitable biases and weights, for the feed-forward neural network are selected using the hybrid ABC-PSO algorithm. Then, the network is retrained using the prepared information, which has been generated from the ideal weights and biases, to establish the intrusion-detection model. The KDD Cup 1999 data set is used as the information set in comparing our proposed algorithm with the other algorithms. The experiment shows that the proposed method outperforms the four classification algorithms and is suitable for network intrusion detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a novel approach based on multi-objective artificial bee colony (ABC) for feature selection, particularly for intrusion-detection systems. The approach is divided into two stages: generating the feature subsets of the Pareto front of non-dominated solutions in the first stage and using the hybrid ABC and particle swarm optimization (PSO) with a feed-forward neural network (FFNN) as a classifier to evaluate feature subsets in the second stage. Thus, the proposed approach consists of two stages: (1) using a new feature selection technique called multi-objective ABC feature selection to reduce the number of features of network traffic data and (2) using a new classification technique called hybrid ABC-PSO optimized FFNN to classify the output data from the previous stage, determine an intruder packet, and detect known and unknown intruders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A capable, scalable, and reliable model detects intrusive traffic by investigating the impact of user behavior on quality-of-service regulations in real time. The model also proposes reliable coordination for investigating user traffic, including traffic injected through several gateways. Traffic investigation is triggered only when the network is congested; at that moment, burst gateways generate an echo of explicit congestion notification to misbehaving users. The model investigates these users by measuring their bandwidth consumption ratios. User traffic that exceeds the service-level agreement bandwidth ratio is filtered as intrusive. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed model efficiently monitors user behavior and detects intrusive traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although Hopfield neural network is one of the most commonly used neural network models for auto-association and optimization tasks, it has several limitations. For example, it is well known that Hopfield neural networks has limited stored patterns, local minimum problems, limited noise ratio, retrieve reverse value of pattern, and shifting and scaling problems. This research will propose multi-connect architecture (MCA) associative memory to improve the Hopfield neural network by modifying the net architecture, learning and convergence processes. This modification is to increase the performance of associative memory neural network by avoiding most of the Hopfield neural network limitations. In general, MCA is a single layer neural network uses auto-association tasks and working in two phases, that is learning and convergence phases. MCA was developed based on two principles. First, the smallest net size will be used rather than depending on the pattern size. Second, the learning process will be performed to the limited parts of the pattern only to avoid learning similar parts several times. The experiments performed show promising results when MCA shows high efficiency associative memory by avoiding most of the Hopfield net limitations. The results proved that the MCA net can learn and recognize unlimited patterns in varying size with acceptable percentage noise rate in comparison to the traditional Hopfield neural network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encryption is used to securely transmit data in open networks. Each type of data has its own features, therefore different techniques should be used to protect confidential image data from unauthorized access. Most of the available encryption algorithms are mainly used for textual data and may not be suitable for multimedia data such as images. In this paper, we introduce a block-based transformation algorithm based on the combination of image transformation and a well known encryption and decryption algorithm called Blowfish. The original image was divided into blocks, which were rearranged into a transformed image using a transformation algorithm presented here, and then the transformed image was encrypted using the Blowfish algorithm. The results showed that the correlation between image elements was significantly decreased by using the proposed technique. The results also show that increasing the number of blocks by using smaller block sizes resulted in a lower correlation and higher entropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the dynamism caused by constant changes to strategic decisions in markets poses an additional difficulty in an organization's management. The strategic decisions made by managers can easily become obsolete. One of the major difficulties in managing a commercial organization is predicting, with some precision, the impact some strategic decisions have on the financial results. Business intelligence (BI) is widely used to help managers make strategic decisions. However, the methods used to achieve the conclusions are kept secret by BI company-based services. Modeling the environment may help predict the impact of an action in a real environment. A good model should provide the most accurate result of an applied action in a given environment. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are proven to be excellent in modeling environments with very high data noise. The same strategic action can have different results when applied to different organizations. A tool that allows the evaluation of an applied strategic action in an environment will be of great importance in the field of management. Modeling the environment will save time and money for the organization, allowing the performance of the strategic plan to be improved. If one evaluates the state of the environment after a certain strategic action is applied, it can be possible to mitigate its risk of failure. As we will verify, it is possible to use ANNs to model strategic environments, allowing precision in the prediction of sales and operating results using particular strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An organization's human resource management practices are essential for its competitive advantage. This study specifically examined human resource (HR) practices that predict corporate performance (employee turnover and firm sales) based on a backpropagation neural network (BPN)-based causality analysis. This study aims to test how to optimize human resource practices to improve organizational performance. This study elucidated the effect of HR practices and organizational-level factors on predicting employee turnover and firm sales. The BPN-based causality analysis revealed the relative importance of explanatory variables on firm performance. To test the model, it employed the Human Capital Corporate Panel open data on Korean companies' HR practices and other characteristics. The analysis identifies causal relationships between specific HR practices and firm performance. The results show that compensation-related HR practices are most influential in predicting firm sales and employee turnover. Moreover, training-related HR practices were modest, and talent acquisition and performance management practices had relatively weak effects on the two outcomes. The study provides insights into how human resource practices can be optimized to improve firm performance and enhance organizational effectiveness. The findings of this study contribute to the growing body of research on the use of machine learning in HR management and suggest practical implications for managers' insights to optimize HR practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crude oil is one of the world's most important commodities. Its price can affect the global economy, as well as the economies of importing and exporting countries. As a result, forecasting the price of crude oil is essential for investors. However, crude oil price tends to fluctuate considerably during significant world events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts. In this paper, we propose a deep learning model for forecasting the crude oil price of one-step and multi-step ahead. The model extracts important features that impact crude oil prices and uses them to predict future prices. The prediction model combines convolutional neural networks (CNN) with long short-term memory networks (LSTM). We compared our one-step CNN–LSTM model with other LSTM models, the CNN model, support vector machine (SVM), and the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. Also, we compared our multi-step CNN–LSTM model with LSTM, CNN, and the time series encoder–decoder model. Extensive experiments were conducted using short-, medium-, and long-term price data of one, five, and ten years, respectively. In terms of accuracy, the proposed model outperformed existing models in both one-step and multi-step predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image analysis is a branch of signal analysis that focuses on the extraction of meaningful information from images through digital image processing techniques. Convolution is a technique used to enhance specific characteristics of an image, while deconvolution is its inverse process. In this work, we focus on the deconvolution process, defining a new approach to retrieve filters applied in the convolution phase. Given an image I and a filtered image I ′ = f (I) , we propose three mathematical formulations that, starting from I and I ′ , are able to identify the filter f ′ that minimizes the mean absolute error between I ′ and f ′ (I) . Several tests were performed to investigate the applicability of our approaches in different scenarios. The results highlight that the proposed algorithms are able to identify the filter used in the convolution phase in several cases. Alternatively, the developed approaches can be used to verify whether a specific input image I can be transformed into a sample image I ′ through a convolution filter while returning the desired filter as output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lane–Emden differential equations describe different physical and astrophysical phenomena that include forms of stellar structure, isothermal gas spheres, gas spherical cloud thermal history, and thermionic currents. This paper presents a computational approach to solve the problems related to fractional Lane–Emden differential equations based on neural networks. Such a solution will help solve the fractional polytropic gas spheres problems which have different applications in physics, astrophysics, engineering, and several real-life issues. We used artificial neural network (ANN) framework in its feed-forward back-propagation learning scheme. The efficiency and accuracy of the presented algorithm are checked by testing it on four fractional Lane–Emden equations and compared with the exact solutions for the polytropic indices n = 0,1,5 and those of the series expansions for the polytropic index n = 3. The results we obtained prove that using the ANN method is feasible and accurate and may outperform other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an expanded classical 0-1 knapsack problem (0-1 KP), the discounted {0-1} knapsack problem (DKP) is proposed based on the concept of discount in the commercial world. The DKP contains a set of item groups where each group includes three items, whereas no more than one item in each group can be packed in the knapsack, which makes it more complex and challenging than 0-1 KP. At present, the main two algorithms for solving the DKP include exact algorithms and approximate algorithms. However, there are some topics which need to be further discussed, i.e., the improvement of the solution quality. In this paper, a novel multi-strategy monarch butterfly optimization (MMBO) algorithm for DKP is proposed. In MMBO, two effective strategies, neighborhood mutation with crowding and Gaussian perturbation, are introduced into MMBO. Experimental analyses show that the first strategy can enhance the global search ability, while the second strategy can strengthen local search ability and prevent premature convergence during the evolution process. Based on this, MBO is combined with each strategy, denoted as NCMBO and GMMBO, respectively. We compared MMBO with other six methods, including NCMBO, GMMBO, MBO, FirEGA, SecEGA and elephant herding optimization. The experimental results on three types of large-scale DKP instances show that NCMBO, GMMBO and MMBO are all suitable for solving DKP. In addition, MMBO outperforms other six methods and can achieve a good approximate solution with its approximation ratio close to 1 on almost all the DKP instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]