Microsoft Windows vs. Apple Mac OS X: Resilience against ARP cache poisoning attack in a local area network

ABSTRACT

Robust security measures are integrated into new release versions of operating systems (OSs) to ensure that users have a more secure and reliable environment in which to run their daily tasks. In this article, through extensive practical experiments, we evaluate and compare the resilience of popular versions of Microsoft Windows OSs and Apple Mac OS X against Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache poisoning attack in a local area network (LAN). The experimental results demonstrate clearly that all tested versions of Windows OSs and Apple Mac OS X are vulnerable to the ARP cache poisoning attack, and do not deploy built-in efficient security features to prevent success of this attack. In addition, the experimental results directly contradict the common belief that Windows OSs are always less secure than Apple OSs. On the other hand, the article analyzes the efforts that have been made and the different methods that have been applied to detect and prevent ARP cache poisoning attacks. The article shows that none of these efforts and methods has been able to give satisfactory results.     

System Project Failure: The Heuristics of Risk

Abstract

System project failures are a well-known part of systems development; however, all the potential risks of planning and executing a project effort are not This article offers heuristic guidelines to help IS managers assess these inherent risk factors before initiating and while executing a project. Case examples illustrate how a particular risk factor can result in a failed systems development effort.     

FOCUS ON ACCESS TO INSTITUTIONAL RESOURCES: A SYNTHESIS OF THE JISC FAIR PROGRAMME

The JISC-funded Focus of Access to Institutional Resources (FAIR) Programme ran from 2002-2005. The 14 projects within this programme investigated the cultural, organisational, legal and technical factors involved in providing places where institutional digital content, of which there is an increasing amount, could be stored and subsequently shared with others in the Higher and Further Education communities where appropriate. The primary technology to enable such sharing is the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), a lightweight protocol based on sharing metadata about the digital content available. The technical issues were at times overshadowed by the cultural, organisational and legal issues that had to be addressed. The experience of the Programme as a whole provides a valuable insight to the issues at hand in sharing content and a good starting point for other institutions wishing to investigate this capability. A Synthesis of the Programme was commissioned in late 2004 to capture this experience, and all tangible outputs where produced. A website was produced providing a comprehensive listing of all project outputs and a printed brochure was published in late 2005 as an introduction to the Programme and its findings. This article summarises the findings of the FAIR Synthesis and provides a range of pointers to further information for subsequent investigation.     

Virtual life: self and identity redefined in the new media age

In this article, the author discusses her virtual reality installation The Parallel Dimension and goes on to explore the conflicts of identity experienced when a person is confronted with VR as a total immersion. She suggests that the various questions arising through this experience may lead us to a more ambivalent concept of the self.     

Mechanical resistance properties of gravel used in subsurface flow constructed wetlands: implications for clogging

Gravel constitutes the filter medium in subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SSF CWs) and its porosity and hydraulic conductivity decrease over time (clogging), limiting the lifespan of the systems. Using gravel of poor quality accelerates clogging in wetlands. In this study, gravel samples from six different wetland systems were compared with regards to their mineral composition and mechanical resistance properties. Results showed that both mineralogy and texture are related to mechanical resistance. Accordingly, gravel with high content of quartz (> 80%) showed a lower percentage of broken particles (0.18-1.03%) than those with lower content of quartz (2.42-4.56% media broken). Although granite is formed by high durability minerals, its non-uniform texture results in a lower resistance to abrasion (ca. 10% less resistance than calcareous gravel). Therefore, it is recommended to use gravels composed mainly of quartz or, when it is not available, limestone gravels (rounded and uniform) are recommended instead. The resistance to abrasion (LAA test) seems to be a good indicator to determine the mechanical properties of gravels used in CWs. It is recommended to use gravels with LAA below 30% in order to avoid a rapid clogging due to gravel crumbling and subsequent mineral solids accumulation.     

环境因子对鱼饵中磷释放影响的实验研究

通过室内模拟实验,分析了环境因子(上覆水、微生物活动、温度、pH、水动力条件)对鱼饵磷释放特征的影响及原因。结果表明:鱼饵在去离子水中总磷和正磷酸盐的平衡释放量约是潘家口水库水中的1.58倍和1.76倍;微生物作用有利于鱼饵中磷向水体释放,前者总磷和正磷酸盐的释放量约为后者的1.55倍和1.28倍;温度升高和水体扰动促进了鱼饵中磷的释放;酸性和碱性条件下鱼饵中磷的释放量高于中性条件下鱼饵中磷的释放量。各环境因子作用下,鱼饵中磷在前3h内的释放速率最大。     

迭代重加权最小二乘支持向量机快速算法研究

迭代重加权(Iteratively Reweighted)方法是提高最小二乘支持向量机(LS-SVM)稳健性的重要手段,但由于涉及到多次加权和重复训练,该方法需要大量运算,无法广泛应用.通过数值推导,获得了求解迭代重加权最小二乘支持向量机(IRLS-SVM)的快速算法,大幅度减少了其运算复杂度.引入了3种经典的加权函数,并在多个仿真数据集和实际数据集上进行实验,证实了IRLS-SVM能获得相当稳健的学习结果,所提出的快速算法也确实能够大幅度减少训练时间.实验结果同时表明,在快速训练算法的框架下,3种不同的权重函数可能要求不同的训练时间.     

Learning to learn: From smart machines to intelligent machines

Since its birth, more than five decades ago, one of the biggest challenges of artificial intelligence remained the building of intelligent machines. Despite amazing advancements, we are still far from having machines that reach human intelligence level. The current paper tries to offer a possible explanation of this situation. For this purpose, we make a review of different learning strategies and context types that are involved in the learning process. We also present the results of a study on cognitive development applied to the problem of face recognition for social robotics.     

Boosting text segmentation via progressive classification

A novel approach for reconciling tuples stored as free text into an existing attribute schema is proposed. The basic idea is to subject the available text to progressive classification, i.e., a multi-stage classification scheme where, at each intermediate stage, a classifier is learnt that analyzes the textual fragments not reconciled at the end of the previous steps. Classification is accomplished by an ad hoc exploitation of traditional association mining algorithms, and is supported by a data transformation scheme which takes advantage of domain-specific dictionaries/ontologies. A key feature is the capability of progressively enriching the available ontology with the results of the previous stages of classification, thus significantly improving the overall classification accuracy. An extensive experimental evaluation shows the effectiveness of our approach.