Orga drives ahead

The UK’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has placed an order for some two million high-end smart cards that will be issued to truck drivers in order to comply with European Union safety directives. The EU directive requires that all new trucks and buses be equipped with a digital tachograph by August 2004. The UK is one of the first countries that will implement the technology.This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security industry news.     

The Spanish DELPH-IN grammar

In this article we present a Spanish grammar implemented in the Linguistic Knowledge Builder system and grounded in the theoretical framework of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar. The grammar is being developed in an international multilingual context, the DELPH-IN Initiative, contributing to an open-source repository of software and linguistic resources for various Natural Language Processing applications. We will show how we have refined and extended a core grammar, derived from the LinGO Grammar Matrix, to achieve a broad-coverage grammar. The Spanish DELPH-IN grammar is the most comprehensive grammar for Spanish deep processing, and it is being deployed in the construction of a treebank for Spanish of 60,000 sentences based in a technical corpus in the framework of the European project METANET4U (Enhancing the European Linguistic Infrastructure, GA 270893GA; http://www.meta-net.eu/projects/METANET4U/.) and a smaller treebank of about 15,000 sentences based in a corpus from the press.     

Benchmarking SQL on MapReduce systems using large astronomy databases

In the era of bigdata, with a massive set of digital information of unprecedented volumes being collected and/or produced in several application domains, it becomes more and more difficult to manage and query large data repositories. In the framework of the PetaSky project (http://com.isima.fr/Petasky), we focus on the problem of managing scientific data in the field of cosmology. The data we consider are those of the LSST project (http://www.lsst.org/). The overall size of the database that will be produced is expected to exceed 60 PB (Lsst data challenge handbook, 2012). In order to evaluate the performances of existing SQL On MapReduce data management systems, we conducted extensive experiments by using data and queries from the area of cosmology. The goal of this work is to report on the ability of such systems to support large scale declarative queries. We mainly investigated the impact of data partitioning, indexing and compression on query execution performances.     

Contribution of EARLINET/ACTRIS to the summer 2013 Special Observing Period of the ChArMEx project: monitoring of a Saharan dust event over the western and central Mediterranean

In the framework of the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment (ChArMEx; http://charmex.lsce.ipsl.fr/) initiative, a field campaign took place in the western Mediterranean Basin between 10 June and 5 July 2013 within the ADRIMED (Aerosol Direct Radiative Impact on the regional climate in the MEDiterranean region) project. The scientific objectives of ADRIMED are the characterization of the most common ‘Mediterranean aerosols’ and their direct radiative forcing (column closure and regional scale). During 15–24 June a multi-intrusion dust event took place over the western and central Mediterranean Basin. Extra measurements were carried out by some EARLINET/ACTRIS (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network /Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network, http://www.actris.net/) lidar stations in Spain and Italy, in particular on 22 June in support to the flight over southern Italy of the Falcon 20 aircraft involved in the campaign. This article describes the physical and optical properties of dust observed at the different lidar stations in terms of dust plume centre of mass, optical depth, lidar ratio, and particle depolarization ratio. To link the differences found in the origin of dust plumes, the results are discussed on the basis of back-trajectories and air- and space-borne lidars. This work puts forward the collaboration between a European research infrastructure (ACTRIS) and an international project (ChArMEx) on topics of interest for both parties, and more generally for the atmospheric community.     

Using the building energy rating software for mathematically modelling operation costs in a simulated home

The building industry is becoming very important in sustainable development. The recently developed policies in European Union directives on energy and their transposition to Spanish regulations make the Energy Performance Certification process for buildings mandatory. Two software tools have been developed in Spain to carry out this process: Lider and Calener. These software tools have been used in this paper to simulate energy performance in new semidetached houses after taking into account the thermal envelope of the building and facilities. This has been done in different climatic zones in Spain and for all the possible energy ratings.

Based on the energy rating and construction cost variables, it has been possible to obtain mathematical models that explain the behaviour of global costs of buildings based on energy ratings and climatic zones. Depreciation costs, maintenance costs, energy consumption and CO₂ emissions during the service life of a house have also been modelled.     

On the Easy Use of Scientific Computing Services for Large Scale Linear Algebra and Parallel Decision Making with the P-Grade Portal

Scientific research is becoming increasingly dependent on the large-scale analysis of data using distributed computing infrastructures (Grid, cloud, GPU, etc.). Scientific computing (Petitet et al. 1999) aims at constructing mathematical models and numerical solution techniques for solving problems arising in science and engineering. In this paper, we describe the services of an integrated portal based on the P-Grade (Parallel Grid Run-time and Application Development Environment) portal (http://www.p-grade.hu) that enables the solution of large-scale linear systems of equations using direct solvers, makes easier the use of parallel block iterative algorithm and provides an interface for parallel decision making algorithms. The ultimate goal is to develop a single sign on integrated multi-service environment providing an easy access to different kind of mathematical calculations and algorithms to be performed on hybrid distributed computing infrastructures combining the benefits of large clusters, Grid or cloud, when needed.     

A PROBABILISTIC-PROPOSITIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE O-THEORY INTERSECTION RULE

In a previous paper, O-theory (OT), a hybrid uncertainly theory was proposed for dealing with problems of uncertainty in logical inference. The foundations of one of the concepts introduced, the OT intersection operator, are explored in this paper. The developments rely solely on set-theoretic and probability notions which are the distinguishing features of this operator's role in the theory.

The OT intersection rule has as its basis Dempster's rule of combination which ties it closely to Dempster-Shafer theory. In this paper the OT rule will be shown to be based more fundamentally on classical probability theory. To demonstrate this, possibility sets are interpreted in a propositional framework and mass assignments are converted to the probabilistic form originally proposed by Dempster. These changes are used to show that the OT intersection rule can be derived from first principles in a probability theory of propositions. Since this derivation does not require conditional probabilities, it can be used as alternative to Bayes' theorem for combining conjunctive information consistently. Dempster's rule will be shown to be a special case of the OT intersection rule. It too will be derived using probability theory.

The formal connection between mass and probability presented originally by Dempster and used here in a propositional framework, makes distinctions between DST and probability theory less consequential. DST is still seen to be a generalization of the concept of probability, but it is also seen to fit within a probabilistic-propositiona) framework.     

Calls made for European transport card

Calls for Europe and national governments to provide greater support for the deployment of European smart cards for transport have been made by e-Europe Smart Cards (eESC), the European Union initiative set up to accelerate and harmonise the development and usage of smart cards across Europe. According to the group, Europe now needs actively to support passenger transport e-ticketing systems based on smart cards, rather than just funding research and investigation.This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security industry news     

Level estimation, classification and probability distribution architectures for trading the EUR/USD exchange rate

Dunis and Williams (Derivatives: use, trading and regulation 8(3):211–239, 2002; Applied quantitative methods for trading and investment. Wiley, Chichester, 2003) have shown the superiority of a Multi-layer perceptron network (MLP), outperforming its benchmark models such as a moving average convergence divergence technical model (MACD), an autoregressive moving average model (ARMA) and a logistic regression model (LOGIT) on a Euro/Dollar (EUR/USD) time series. The motivation for this paper is to investigate the use of different neural network architectures. This is done by benchmarking three different neural network designs representing a level estimator, a classification model and a probability distribution predictor. More specifically, we present the Mulit-layer perceptron network, the Softmax cross entropy model and the Gaussian mixture model and benchmark their respective performance on the Euro/Dollar (EUR/USD) time series as reported by Dunis and Williams. As it turns out, the Multi-layer perceptron does best when used without confirmation filters and leverage, while the Softmax cross entropy model and the Gaussian mixture model outperforms the Multi-layer perceptron when using more sophisticated trading strategies and leverage. This might be due to the ability of both models using probability distributions to identify successfully trades with a high Sharpe ratio.

Dutch Parliament gets smart

The Dutch Houses of Parliament has begun the implementation of a multi-application smart card solution for its staff and visitors. In the first phase of the project the cards will be used for access control and visual identification, but in the latter stages, the Dutch Parliament will activate additional functionality, such as electronic payment, PC log-on and public key infrastructure (PKI).This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security news.     

Geological classification of Volcano Teide by hyperspectral and multispectral satellite data

Tenerife is the central island of the Canary Archipelago (Spain), which consists of seven islands that represent different stages of geological evolution. The Teide-Pico Viejo (28° 16′ 30′′ N, 16° 38′ 42′′ W) stratocones formed during the last eruptive phase of the isle of Tenerife. It is an active, though currently quiescent, shield volcano that last erupted in 1909 and is located on the Tenerife Island. In the framework of the European Project FP6 Prevention, Information and Early Warning (PREVIEW)-EURORISK (http://www.preview-risk.com/), a field campaign was performed on Tenerife Island on September 2007. This campaign focused on the acquisition of in situ reflectance and emissivity spectra relative to Pico de Teide and Las Cañadas Caldera. The collected spectra represented the ‘ground truth’ and have been used for the supervised classification on multispectral (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER)) and hyperspectral (Earth Observing 1 (EO1)-Hyperion) data. The first ever classification mapping carried out on the Teide Volcano by utilizing the remote-sensing method is reported in this article. The methods used to process and to classify the data are discussed, and a comparison with the existing geological maps is presented.     

Advanced Analysis of Intrusion Detection Logs

Johan Beckers & Jean Paul Ballerini, Technology Consultants, Internet Security Systems EMEA (www.iss.net)It is important to know that there are various sources of IDS data, i.e. network, server and desktop, and to have a common understanding of what they detect, and how they can be configured. In this article we will look at ways of analysing this data, focusing on the area of the Security Information Management (SIM) systems where consolidation, aggregation and correlation play a key role.     

Cybersecurity: Exploring core concepts through six scenarios

The authors introduce and explain core concepts of cybersecurity through six engaging practical scenarios. Presented as case studies, the scenarios illustrate how experts may reason through security challenges managing trust and information in the adversarial cyber world. The concepts revolve around adversarial thinking, including understanding the adversary; defining security goals; identifying targets, vulnerabilities, threats, and risks; and devising defenses. They also include dealing with confidentiality, integrity, availability (known as the “CIA triad”), authentication, key management, physical security, and social engineering. The authors hope that these scenarios will inspire students to explore this vital area more deeply.

The target audience is anyone who is interested in learningabout cybersecurity, including those with little to no background in cybersecurity. This article will also interest those who teach cybersecurity and are seeking examples and structures for explaining its concepts. For students and educators, the authors include selected misconceptions they observed in student responses to scenarios. The contributions are novel educational case studies, not original technical research.

The scenarios comprise responding to an e-mail about lost luggage containing specifications of a new product, delivering packages by drones, explaining a suspicious database input error, designing a corporate network that separates public and private segments, verifying compliance with the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and exfiltrating a USB stick from a top-secret government facility.     

Microsoft RMS to protect “Digital Rights”

Dario ForteIn the second half of this year, Microsoft will release the beta code of a new technology called RMS (Rights Management Services). According to Microsoft technicians this technology should be able to allow application of policies to safeguard individual freedom. Documents, databases and email messages will all be protected by this technology. The objective is to allow permission-based or time-limited access to sensitive files or information.This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security industry news     

考虑仿冒商威胁的正品制造商销售模式选择策略

针对仿冒商进入市场引起的消费者权益难以保证,正品市场份额被抢占,正常的市场秩序受到破坏等问题,在考虑同时受欺骗型和非欺骗型仿冒商威胁的情形下,正品制造商通过零售商进行转售或自有渠道直销的两种销售模式,建立Stackelberg博弈对比研究正品制造商的两种销售模式的均衡结果,分析正品制造商的销售模式选择策略,探讨其销售模式选择策略对两类仿冒商的打击效果以及对消费者剩余和社会福利的影响.研究结果表明:正品制造商可能不会为了维护消费者利益而选择直销模式;正品制造商选择直销模式的意愿随消费者在转售模式下对正品和欺骗型仿冒品的感知质量及欺骗型仿冒品质量的提高而减小,随非欺骗型仿冒品质量的提高而增大;正品制造商选择直销模式总能有效打击非欺骗型仿冒商,然而,对欺骗型仿冒商而言,在一定条件下,正品制造商会选择转售模式并容忍欺骗型仿冒商的存在;正品制造商选择直销模式能够提高消费者剩余和社会福利.     

Roll up your sleeves and get checking!

DosHelp.com (www.doshelp.com), a site dedicated to intrusion detection and prevention, is a site well worth becoming familiar with for lots of very tangible and useful reasons. Firstly, it will keep you bang up to date with all the emerging threats and, secondly, it will provide you with the tools and knowledge to counteract them. Aimed at the more experienced, as well as the average online computer user, it was created in recognition of the fact that many users have no idea of the ever-increasing number of methods used to hack into computers, along with the fact that these same users do not see themselves as important enough targets for hackers, not realizing that despite the benign contents of their hard disk, a hacker/cracker could make them a scapegoat for their illegal activity. DosHelp.com does a lot of the work that the novice user or busy professional just does not have the time to do. The result is a consolidated bank of resources that is an invaluable tool.     

“Honeynets: High Value Security Data”: Analysis of real attacks launched at a honeypot

This article will cover some of the discoveries that can be made using honeypot systems, exposed to the Internet. The material is based on the author’s experience running such a decoy network of UNIX machines for over a year. We will go through several examples of captured hacker tools and cover common attack examples. The subject of building a honeypot will be left outside the scope of the paper. As a staring point, the author’s presentation “Implementing the Honeypot” (http://www.tracking-hackers.com/conf/slides/implementing.pdf) from ITRA Honeypots Conference (Las Vegas, NV, November 2002) is recommended.     

THEORY OF CYBERNETIC AND INTELLIGENT MACHINE BASED ON LIE COMMUTATORS

Many attempts^{1, 7, 8, 35} have been made to overcome the limit imposed by the Turing Machine³⁴ to realise general mathematical functions and models of (physical) phenomena.

They center around the notion of computability.

In this paper we propose a new definition of computability which lays the foundations for a theory of cybernetic and intelligent machines in which the classical limits imposed by discrete algorithmic procedures are offset by the use of continuous operators on unlimited data. This data is supplied to the machine in a totally parallel mode, as a field or wave.

This theory of machines draws its concepts from category theory, Lie algebras, and general systems theory. It permits the incorporation of intelligent control into the design of the machine as a virtual element. The incorporated control can be realized in many (machine) configurations of which we give three:

a) a quantum mechanical realization appropriate to a possible understanding of the quantum computer and other models of the physical microworld,

b) a stochastic realization based on Kolmogorov-Gabor theory leading to a possible understanding of generalised models of the physical or thermodynamic macroworld, and lastly

c) a classical mechanical realization appropriate lo the study of a new class of robots.

Particular applications at a fundamental level are cited in geometry, mathematics, biology, acoustics, aeronautics, quantum mechanics, general relativity and. Markov chains. The proposed theory therefore opens a new way towards understanding the processes that underlie intelligence.