Search

The widespread use of computer hardware and software in society has led to the emergence of a type of criminal conduct known as cybercrime, which has become a major worldwide concern in the 21st century spanning multiple domains. As a result, in the present setting, academics and practitioners are showing a great deal of interest in conducting research on cybercrime. In this work, a fractional-order model was replaced by involving three sorts of human populations: online computer users, hackers, and cyber security professionals, in order to examine the online computer user-hacker system. The existence, uniqueness and boundedness were studied. To support our theoretical conclusions, a numerical analysis of the influence of the various logical parameters was conducted and we derived the necessary conditions for the different equilibrium points to be locally stable. We examined the effects of the fear level and refuge factor on the equilibrium densities of prey and predators in order to explore and understand the dynamics of the system in a better way. Using some special circumstances, the model was examined. Our theoretical findings and logical parameters were validated through a numerical analysis utilizing the generalized Adams-Bashforth-Moulton technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve an automatic monitoring system for the operation status of motor equipment, the author proposes a research and application based on the thermal energy recovery and automatic monitoring system of motor equipment. The author first analyzes the operating characteristics of the motor and collects four basic parameters of the motor, namely voltage, current, speed, and temperature, in order to determine whether the motor is in normal working condition. Secondly, the system combines electrical parameter detection and acquisition, wireless network technology, industrial field bus technology, and computer user software to achieve remote real-time monitoring, control, and management of the motor's remote travel status. This enables the entire system to achieve intelligent, networked, and systematic management, solving the technical problem of real-time control and system management that cannot be achieved in motor systems distributed in multiple locations. Finally, the monitoring results indicate that after installation and debugging, the data is displayed on the upper computer. This effect is the data collection of the motor during low speed operation, which is reflected in real-time on the control panel. The actual parameters of the motor were compared with the test parameters of this system, and the test basically achieved the desired effect, with accurate detection data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1980s, as the market for computing in the home was still emerging, a category of software arose that promised computer‐mediated experiences of romance and sex. These programs, which this essay is calling "romance software," drew on popular psychological and therapeutic discourses to offer couples advice for more satisfying relationships while also managing their interactions with the computer as an intimate or romantic activity. This essay argues that romance software employed the then novel home computer as a tool that could help mediate relational and communication ideals and bolster the heterosexual couple in the context of changing expectations for relationships in the 1980s. Romance software attempted to instantiate computing intimacy — referring not only to the application of computational methods to the management of relationships but also to the romantic or erotic experience of a couple using computers together. Although they amounted to a minor subset of the software introduced during the decade, these programs envisioned computing in the home as a technology to mediate companionate relationships. Romance software demonstrates that some software companies in the 1980s conceived of personal computer users not only as abstracted masculine individuals but rather addressed users within their roles in companionate relationships, in this case as part of a couple. These programs proposed methods through which computing could be used to assist in creating better relationships for couples that had adopted computers into their homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) has long been used to keep automated bots from misusing web services by leveraging human-artificial intelligence (HAI) interactions to distinguish whether the user is a human or a computer program. Various CAPTCHA schemes have been proposed over the years, principally to increase usability and security against emerging bots and hackers performing malicious operations. However, automated attacks have effectively cracked all common conventional schemes, and the majority of present CAPTCHA methods are also vulnerable to human-assisted relay attacks. Invisible reCAPTCHA and some approaches have not yet been cracked. However, with the introduction of fourth-generation bots accurately mimicking human behavior, a secure CAPTCHA would be hardly designed without additional special devices. Almost all cognitive-based CAPTCHAs with sensor support have not yet been compromised by automated attacks. However, they are still compromised to human-assisted relay attacks due to having a limited number of challenges and can be only solved using trusted devices. Obviously, cognitive-based CAPTCHA schemes have an advantage over other schemes in the race against security attacks. In this study, as a strong starting point for creating future secure and usable CAPTCHA schemes, we have offered an overview analysis of HAI between computer users and computers under the security aspects of open problems, difficulties, and opportunities of current CAPTCHA schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of SDU Journal of Engineering Sciences & Design / Mühendislik Bilimleri ve Tasarım Dergisi is the property of Journal of Engineering Sciences & Design and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A problem with 3D models is that devices used to display them are typically two-dimensional, i.e., computer monitors or printed maps. User interfaces of computer software are based on mouse, touchscreen, keyboards, etc. and are optimized for this dimensionality. However, this causes problems when working with 3D models and the user must adapt her actions by interpreting the missing third dimension. While this might not necessarily pose a problem for frequent users, infrequent users may find this quite challenging. Holographic models, on the other hand, float in front of the user, providing a 3D perspective. Interaction with this kind of models may thus be more intuitive than traditional interaction. In the paper we present the results from a first user test. 15 participants tested interaction with a holographic model visualized using Augmented Reality (AR) technology. The results were compared to those of 15 participants using a traditional 3D-CAD. It was found that the holographic approach is more intuitive leading to a lower frustration level although it is still restricted by technical limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of online learning has made web-based software training materials the primary learning resources adopted by computer users. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of various common representational formats of web-based instructions. The formats included static (textual manual with screenshots) and dynamic (animated demonstration, AD) instructions. The findings suggested that in learner-paced learning with sufficient learning time (a) both narrated and captioned AD formats tended to increase transfer performance; (b) the segmenting principle likely became less important for the static format; and (c) the modality principle likely became less important for the AD format. Implications for determining optimal AD segment length for student engagement and suggestions for possible factors to be included in future research are offered accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the voice recognition computer software which allows white collar workers using computers to bypass their keyboards and use their voices to enter text. The Voice Recognition Technology (VRT) was pioneered by James K. Baker, a researcher at International Business Machines Corp. The typing speed, which is already satisfactory, puts a question mark over the trouble of learning. This software requiring some additional hardware and software and some training time. The VTR technology has not advanced to the state of reliability as seen in popular science fiction. But still it can be useful in a large number of contexts. This system can help the disabled persons to overcome their disabilities. Persons having slow typing speed can perform their jobs much promptly than before. Even the fast typists may choose the VTR to send e-mail or while they are chatting with friends over the Internet or creating their blogs. The technology could help in minimizing the repetitive stress injuries as carpal tunnel syndrome caused by the increased typing on a computer.

The article presents information on Mac, the general nickname for Apples desktop computers. Unlike a typical PC, the iMac has an impressive group of programs already installed. These iLife programs are mostly entertainment oriented and include iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and iChat. Apple has recently announced that it will convert its less powerful computers to the Intel X86-style microprocessor in 2006 with more powerful machines making the switch by 2007. While the company insists that its proprietary operating system will not be allowed to work on PC-compatible machines, it likely means that third-party vendors will be creating ways to run existing PC programs directly on Macs and Powerbooks. It also suggests that virus-mongers may soon attempt to target Apple computers with their malicious contagions. While it remains to be seen whether the new microprocessor strategy will allow Apple to attain bigger market share and resist Internet transmitted diseases, the promised migration appears positive for computer users who take appropriate precautions to keep data secure and backed up. Although this can be accomplished just by using two PCs in the configuration suggested above, the combination of a PC and a Mac is an irresistible personal computing synergy.

People with spinal cord injuries (SCI), and particularly with high level lesions, can potentially lose the ability to effectively operate computers. The Multimedia Authoring and Management using your Eyes and Mind (MAMEM) project aims to design and produce a novel assistive device to support computer use by individuals with SCI and other disabilities. The solution harnesses eye tracking and brain waves, as measured by encephalography (EEG), to manipulate common computer functions. This paper describes the first step in the project, during which we defined clinically related requirements of the assistive device. These definitions were based on data from three sources: (1) a narrative review; (2) a focus group of SCI rehabilitation professionals; and (3) structured questionnaires administrated to potential computer users with SCI, addressing computer-use habits, barriers, and needs. We describe both the collection of data from each source and the clinically related requirements extracted. The novel three-source requirement assessment method is discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of each data source are reported. In conclusion, we suggest that this approach makes it possible to organize, discuss, and prioritize the requirements, and to create a work program while planning the device. This increases our level of certainty that the efficacy and adequacy of the assistive device will be maximized, in terms of the clinical needs of users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcomputer users are faced with an increasingly difficult choice problem in the evaluation and selection of software packages. For many reasons, users frequently must rely on expert evaluations of the technical functions and features of packages. This paper explores the extent to which multi-attribute choice models are capable of extracting the information content of performance ratings. Five choice models are applied to the expert ratings of software packages in the following areas: word processing, database management systems, and spreadsheet and financial planning. The evaluations and selections made under each model are compared for each software type, and guidelines are suggested for choosing between choice strategies for software evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the results of research on the use of a group decision support system (GDSS) for idea generation and analysis within a planning and decision laboratory environment. Our experience to date in the use of the idea generation models suggests that the technology does significantly influence the planning process. The automated version of the brainstorming model appears to neutralize many of the group effects that have been responsible for poor performance of group brainstorming in the past. Anonymity is maintained and group members appear to express their true feelings without fear of social disapproval. In addition, the automated idea generation models appear to neutralize the effects of an authority hierarchy in the group. The models allow parallel processing of ideas and prevent one group member from dominating the group discussion. All ideas are automatically recorded in the computer and are stored within the knowledge base for use throughout the planning process. Several factors that inhibit the idea generation process have also been identified. These include the limits imposed on the "world view" of the problem as a result of the size of the computer screen, the unfamiliarity of the keyboard interface as a creative tool for executives, and the limitations of the network for processing multiple, simultaneous file transfers. Data indicate that the benefits of the Electronic Brainstorming process definitely outweigh the problems in the view of the planners. They report high levels of satisfaction with the outcome of planning sessions using the models and the process used to achieve those outcomes. They rated the computer as an important tool for idea generation, and those planners who had used a manual brainstorming model in the past rated the computer brainstorming process as "much better" than manual brainstorming. The study reported in this paper was descriptive in nature and designed to generate hypotheses that will form the basis for... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's view on the usefulness of the computer program "Sketchpad" in business. The author states that Sketchpad can be used to explain mathematics to nonmathematical managers and help them understand how to communicate with computers. The author describes drawing a circle in the Sketchpad application, and the additions that can be made to the drawing using the program. The author uses mathematical equations to illustrate how the computer program works in hopes of making it more understandable for users.

Biometric recognition is currently implemented in several authentication contexts, most recently in mobile devices where it is expected to complement or even replace traditional authentication modalities such as PIN (Personal Identification Number) or passwords. The assumed convenience characteristics of biometrics are transparency, reliability and ease-of-use, however, the question of whether biometric recognition is as intuitive and straightforward to use is open to debate. Can biometric systems make some tasks easier for people with accessibility concerns? To investigate this question, an accessibility evaluation of a mobile app was conducted where test subjects withdraw money from a fictitious ATM (Automated Teller Machine) scenario. The biometric authentication mechanisms used include face, voice, and fingerprint. Furthermore, we employed traditional modalities of PIN and pattern in order to check if biometric recognition is indeed a real improvement. The trial test subjects within this work were people with real-life accessibility concerns. A group of people without accessibility concerns also participated, providing a baseline performance. Experimental results are presented concerning performance, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and accessibility, grouped according to category of accessibility concern. Our results reveal links between individual modalities and user category establishing guidelines for future accessible biometric products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet phishing has become a continual threat that keeps growing day by day. Phishing takes advantage of the user's trust and use social engineering techniques to deceive them. Despite having several anti-phishing strategies, the threat of phishing is not mitigated as modern types of attack keeps coming to the fore. Nowadays, phishers launch sophisticated phishing attacks which tricks users to submit their credentials by leveraging the facilities tabs offer to web browsers. Browser security is important in this perspective. This paper explains a heuristic method to defend phishing attacks by utilizing software agents for parallel attack recognition. The main focus is on a browser based attack called Tabnabbing which takes action in inactive browser tabs. The proposed method uses agents in three levels to continuously monitor the presence of attack in regular intervals at multiple tabs and warn the user at the earliest. This approach also protects the users against URL obfuscations and malicious links. Results show that the proposed method outperforms the state of the art phishing detection methods and achieves an accuracy of 97.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose a novel algorithm to detect anomalous user behaviour in computer sessions. We first identify the behavioural profile of each authorized user from the computational tasks they usually carry out on the files of the information system. A new session is then codified as 2-length sequences and an algorithm based on the probability of those sequences is applied. The activities classified as possible anomalies are double-checked by applying Markov chains. The procedure has been proved efficient in terms of high detection accuracy and low false positive rate. It has been validate on a real database provided by a governmental institution of Ecuador and also on a public dataset of Unix commands. Besides, the algorithm has been shown efficient regarding computational time and the overhead of this monitoring software is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landscape of modern enterprise IT environments is that a large number of distributed software systems interact and cooperate with each other to support daily business operations. With the prevalence of cloud computing, the level of system connectivity increases further. The large scale of such an environment makes it difficult to test a system's quality attributes such as performance and scalability before it is actually deployed in the production environment. Under the currently dominant iterative and incremental software development paradigm, this difficulty is even more pronounced when the quality attributes of an enterprise system need to be examined and evaluated at early stages but a large part of its operating environment is not available or accessible. In this paper, we present a Coloured Petri nets (CPN) based system behaviour emulation approach and a lightweight emulated testing framework for provisioning a virtual deployment testing environment for an enterprise software system, so that its quality attributes, especially scalability, can be evaluated without physically connecting to the real production environment. It is worth noting that the focus of this work is on the testing environment which enables virtual system deployment and testing, instead of being on the research topic of deployment test. CPN and its associated design and simulation tools have been used and integrated to model and execute the behaviour of those cooperating endpoint systems that an enterprise software system interacts with. We have successfully implemented an industry standard protocol Lightweight Directory Access Protocol in our approach and applied it in testing the scalability of a real-world enterprise application, CA Technologies' IdentityManager. A thorough in-lab performance study has also been conducted to examine the capacity and scalability of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constrained-random methodology is widely used during the pre-silicon verification of very-large scale integrated circuits. Recently, research efforts have been made to support the application of constrained-random patterns during the post-silicon validation stage. In this paper, we present a new method, including both software algorithms and on-chip hardware structures, for in-system constrained-random generation of stimuli sequences that are uniformly distributed. More specifically, we facilitate in-system application of constrained-random sequences that are cyclic-random, i.e., all the valid values from the user-constrained space are generated only once before the entire sample space is exhausted. While software simulation environments commonly support this feature, e.g., randc in SystemVerilog, to the best of our knowledge this is the first time it is shown how such feature can be ported to hardware environments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Empirical studies in the product development literature have shown that the users' self-reported importance of product attributes differs from the derived importance of product attributes obtained through the attributes' correlation with an external criterion such as user satisfaction. However, no study has examined this phenomenon in the context of software products. This investigation is important because the present-day software requirement-prioritization techniques are based on capturing users' self-reported importance of new software product features. As such, I develop a method in the study to capture the derived user importance of new features. The findings show that the implicitly derived importance of software attributes differs from the importance rankings assigned to them using requirement prioritization techniques. Further, I found that the implicitly derived user importance to identify the determinants of user satisfaction more accurately than the prioritization techniques based on self-stated user importance. I discuss the implications of this promising new approach for practice and future research in requirements prioritization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a mobile software library, HealthTracker, which aims to produce activity and energy expenditure estimations in real-time from accelerometer and gyroscope data provided by wearable sensors. Using feature extraction together with a classifier trained using machine learning, the system will automatically and periodically send all the produced estimations to a cloud-based platform that will allow later evaluation by both the user and a physician or caretaker. The system is presented within the DAPHNE platform, an ICT ecosystem designed to provide a means for remote health and lifestyle monitoring and guidance between physicians and their patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, different forms of ransomware are increasingly threatening Internet users. Modern ransomware encrypts important user data, and it is only possible to recover it once a ransom has been paid. In this article we show how software-defined networking can be utilized to improve ransomware mitigation. In more detail, we analyze the behavior of popular ransomware ? CryptoWall ? and, based on this knowledge, propose two real-time mitigation methods. Then we describe the design of an SDN-based system, implemented using OpenFlow, that facilitates a timely reaction to this threat, and is a crucial factor in the case of crypto ransomware. What is important is that such a design does not significantly affect overall network performance. Experimental results confirm that the proposed approach is feasible and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]