Volume 16, Issue 4

Volume 16, Issue 4 Editorial

Fall 2017

Information has always been a weapon; and, throughout most of human civilisation, it has been hoarded and kept limited to those groups that had control over it. Early on, the Internet was seen as democratic and liberating. As recent events have demonstrated, however, the Internet has become another domain in which information can be weaponised and used to the advantage of a person, an organisation, or a nation-state.

Understanding Cyber Terrorism from Motivational Perspectives

Abstract:

There is no universally accepted definition of cyber terrorism, the lack of which is both an issue and a challenge in countering cyber-terrorism threats. To better understand why cyber- terrorism acts are committed, this study examines cyber terrorism from motivational perspectives. Motivational forces behind cyber terrorism can be social, political, ideological, and economic.

Published In

Volume 16, Issue 4

Written By

Zahri Yunos

Sharifuddin Sulaman

Keywords

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Password Recovery and Data Retrieval in the Android Operating System

Abstract:

This paper considers how data and passwords are recovered across different versions of the Android Operating System (OS). This solution has been achieved by forensically retrieving passwords that were set up in Android 4.4 to 5.0.2. XRY Extraction Wizard and XRY Reader were used as tools to conduct this investigation.

Published In

Volume 16, Issue 4

Written By

Diana Hintea

Robert Bird

James Moss

Keywords

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Preparation, Modelling, and Visualisation of Cyber Common Operating Pictures for National Cyber Security Centres

Abstract:

Common Operating Pictures (COPs) have long been a common denominator of effective cyber defence operations (for example, in law enforcement and the military). COPs are widely used to represent, visualise, and assess situations. In recent years, Cyber COPs (CCOPs) have become important in establishing cyber situational awareness.

Published In

Volume 16, Issue 4

Written By

Timea Pahi

Maria Leitner

Florian Skopik

Keywords

Cyber Common Operating Picture (CCOP)

Information Management (IM)

Cyber Security

Cyber Situational Awareness (CSA)

Decision-Making Processes

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Creation of Flow-Based Data Sets for Intrusion Detection

Abstract:

Publicly available labelled data sets are necessary for evaluating anomaly-based Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs). However, existing data sets are often not up-to-date or not yet published because of privacy concerns. This paper identifies requirements for good data sets and proposes an approach for their generation.

Published In

Volume 16, Issue 4

Written By

Keywords

Data-Set Generation

NetFlow

OpenStack

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs)

Coburg Intrusion Detection Data Sets (CIDDS)

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Energy-Conscious Adaptive-Security Scheme: A Reliability-Based Stochastic Approach

Abstract:

The increasing importance of information and communication, which plays a big role in a number of different fields in the modern era, brings with it the need for security. At the same time, encryption, which is an indispensable part of security architecture, is computationally intensive and may require a significant amount of energy consumption. Thus, it is of great importance to provide a sufficient level of security while properly utilising the available resources. This research suggests a security framework based on the Reliability Function, along with the added ability to dynamically adjust the security level with respect to energy consumption, either according to the severity of the requested service or according to a specified energy threshold.

Published In

Volume 16, Issue 4

Written By

Chrysanthi Taramonli

Mark S. Leeson

Roger Green

Keywords

Adaptive Security

Low-Energy Encryption

Global Performance Metric

Applied Probability

Reliability

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Ant Tree Miner Amyntas: Automatic, Cost-Based Feature Selection for Intrusion Detection

Abstract:

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) analyse network traffic to identify suspicious patterns which indicate the intention to compromise the system. Traditional detection methods are still the norm for commercial products promoting a rigid, manual, and static detection platform. This paper focuses on recent advances in machine learning by implementing the Ant Tree Miner Amyntas (ATMa) classifier within intrusion detection. The proposed ATMa use Ant Colony Optimisation and a cost-based evaluation function to automatically select features from a data set before inducing Decision Trees (DTs) that classify network data.

Published In

Volume 16, Issue 4

Written By

Frans Hendrik Botes

Louise Leenen

Retha De La Harpe

Keywords

Ant Tree Miner (ATM)

Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO)

Decision Trees (DTs)

Intrusion Detection (ID)

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Phobic Cartography: A Human-Centred, Communicative Analysis of the Cyber-Threat Landscape

Abstract:

As with all domains, cyber security runs the risk of adopting a reactive and defensive stance, which can lead to policy based on what has happened, rather than on what could happen. Expert knowledge can lead to silo thinking and ‘groupthink’, and a lack of communication between public and private, civilian and military sectors. This study offers a synoptic examination of the field by pooling the knowledge of practitioners from across the discipline. Drawing on a blended methodology, combining automated quantitative analysis with qualitative study, this project examines the challenges faced by considering the nature of perceived (rather than actual) risks.

Published In

Volume 16, Issue 4

Written By

Scott Knight

Keywords

Risk Perception

Threat Perception

Corpus Linguistics

Critical Discourse Analysis

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Should ‘RuNet 2020’ Be Taken Seriously? Contradictory Views about Cyber Security Between Russia and the West

Abstract:

Russia aims to create an independent state information system that ensures the network’s overall stability by controlling the Internet routing architecture inside Russia. A tightly regulated and secure ‘information space’ will not only ensure stronger defence against external attacks, but also increase offensive capabilities.