bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
adapt@Agent.Hospital
Authors: Heine Christian , Herrler Rainer , Kirn Stefan
Published: February 2011

There are several continuing challenges within the health care domain. On the one hand, there is a greater need for individualized, patient-oriented processes in diagnostics, therapy, nursing, and administration, and on the other hand, hospitals have extremely distributed decision processes and strong local (individual) autonomy with a high degree of situational dynamics. This research focuses on developing an information system that can substantially increase the efficiency of hospital process management. We present a system for agent-based simulation and support for clinical processes. In particular, we describe the architecture of the system and its functionalities and the integration of existing Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA), DICOM, and HL7 standards. We discuss an example scenario for clinical trials to illustrate how the system supports distributed clinical process management. This system interacts with other multiagent systems within the Agent.Hospital framework and hospital information systems (HISs) in the eHealth Lab. This research is part of the German Priority Research Program (SPP) 1083, Intelligent Agents and Their Application in Business Scenarios.
Application of Multi-Agent Technology to Fault Diagnosis of Power Distribution Systems
Authors: Yang Jusong , Montakhab Mohammad , Pipe Anthony G. , Carse Brian , Davies Terence S.
Published: February 2011

When a fault occurs in a power system, the protective relays detect the fault and trip appropriate circuit breakers, which isolate the affected equipment from the rest of the power system. Fault diagnosis of power systems is the process of identifying faulty components and/or sections by analysing observable symptoms (telemetry messages). As the domain is characterised by dynamic situations, extensive telemetering, complex operations, and distribution of lines and substations over a large geographical area, it is difficult to tackle fault diagnosis problems through the strength and capability of a single intelligent system. This paper describes an experimental multi-agent system developed for and aimed at a computer-supported fault diagnosis in electricity distribution networks. The system is based on a hierarchy of five agents that cooperate with each other to diagnose a fault. A set of detailed case studies is presented, and the results obtained suggest that an agent-based approach is very efficient and has a good potential for real-time application.
Modeling Malaria with Multi-Agent Systems
Authors: Rateb Fatima , Pavard Bernard , Bellamine-BenSaoud Narjes , Merelo J.J. , Arenas M.G.
Published: February 2011

Malaria is a vector-borne disease that greatly affects social and economic development. We adopt the complex system paradigm in our analysis of the problem. Our aim is to assess the impact of education on malaria healthcare. Multi-agent systems are employed to model the spread of malaria in Haiti, where we introduce malaria education as a possible way of regulating deaths due to the parasite. We launch three experiments, each with environment modifications: three hospitals; three hospitals and 20 schools; and five hospitals and 20 schools. The results of running 10 simulations for each experiment show that there is a reduction in malaria deaths not only when including schools, but in combination with increasing the number of hospitals.
Semantic Web Services for Smart Devices Based on Mobile Agents
Authors: Terziyan Vagan
Published: February 2011

Among traditional users of Web resources, industry has a growing set of smart industrial devices with embedded intelligence. Just like humans, they need online services (i.e., for condition monitoring, remote diagnostics, maintenance, etc.). In this paper, we present one possible implementation framework for such Web services. Such services should be Semantic Web enabled and form a Service Network based on internal and external agents’ platforms, which can host heterogeneous mobile agents and coordinate them to perform needed tasks. The concept of a “mobile service component” assumes not only exchanging queries and service responses, but also delivering and composition of a service provider. Mobile service component carrier (agent) can move to a field device’s local environment (embedded agent platform) and perform its activities locally. Service components improve their performance through online learning and communication with other components. Heterogeneous service components’ discovery is based on semantic P2P search.
ADAM
Authors: Ramanujam Sunitha , Capretz Miriam A.M.
Published: February 2011

In today’s world, databases and database systems have become an essential component of everyday life, so much so that a life without DBMSs has become inconceivable. This article focuses on relational database management systems in particular, and proposes a novel and innovative multi-agent system that would autonomously and rationally administer and maintain databases. The proposed multi-agent system tool, ADAM, is in the form of a self-administering wrapper around database systems, and it addresses and offers a solution to the problem of overburdened and expensive DBAs with the objective of making databases a cost-effective option for small/medium-sized organizations. An implementation of the agent-based system to proactively or reactively identify and resolve a small subset of DBA tasks is discussed, and the GAIA methodology is used to outline the detailed analysis and design of the same. Role models describing the responsibilities, permissions, activities, and protocols of the candidate agents, and interaction models representing the links between the roles, are explained. The Coordinated Intelligent Rational agent model is used to describe the agent architecture, and a brief description of the functionalities, responsibilities, and components of each agent in the ADAM multi-agent system is presented. Finally, a prototype system implementation using JADE 2.5 and Oracle 8.1.7 is presented as evidence of the feasibility of the proposed agent-based solution for the autonomous administration and maintenance of relational databases.
An Internet Trading Platform for Testing Auction and Exchange Mechanisms
Authors: Qiao Haiying , Jie Hui , Yao Dong-Qing
Published: February 2011

In this paper, we present a generic electronic market platform that is designed to run different kinds of auctions and exchanges. Researchers can use the platform to implement different electronic market mechanisms, simulate the market behavior of their interests, and experiment with it. A generic OR/XOR bidding language that can express different OR/XOR combinations is implemented for Web interfaces. Different auctions, including combinatorial auctions, multiple-round reverse auctions, and multiple homogeneous good auctions, have been built and run successfully on the platform.
MASACAD
Authors: Hamdi Mohamed Salah
Published: February 2011

The evolution of the Internet into the Global Information Infrastructure has led to an explosion in the amount of available information. Realizing the vision of distributed knowledge access in this scenario and its future evolution will need tools to customize the information space. In this article we present MASACAD, a multi-agent system that learns to advise students and discuss important problems in relationship to information customization systems and smooth the way for possible solutions. The main idea is to approach information customization using a multi-agent paradigm.
Modeling Fault Tolerant and Secure Mobile Agent Execution in Distributed Systems
Authors: Hamidi H. , Mohammadi K.
Published: February 2011

The reliable execution of mobile agents is a very important design issue in building mobile agent systems and many fault-tolerant schemes have been proposed so far. Security is a major problem of mobile agent systems, especially when monetary transactions are concerned. Security for the partners involved is handled by encryption methods based on a public key authentication mechanism and by secret key encryption of the communication. To achieve fault tolerance for the agent system, especially for the agent transfer to a new host, we use distributed transaction processing. We propose a fault-tolerant approach for mobile agents design which offers a user transparent fault tolerance that can be activated on request, according to the needs of the task. We also discuss how transactional agents with different types of commitment constraints can commit transactions. Furthermore, we present a solution for effective agent deployment using dynamic agent domains
Rapid Privacy Preserving Algorithm for Large Databases
Authors: Anbumani K. , Nedunchezhian R.
Published: February 2011

Data mining techniques have been widely used for extracting non-trivial information from massive amounts of data. They help in strategic decision-making as well as many more applications. However, data mining also has a few demerits apart from its usefulness. Sensitive information contained in the database may be brought out by the data mining tools. Different approaches are being utilized to hide the sensitive information. The proposed work in this article applies a novel method to access the generating transactions with minimum effort from the transactional database. It helps in reducing the time complexity of any hiding algorithm. The theoretical and empirical analysis of the algorithm shows that hiding of data using this proposed work performs association rule hiding quicker than other algorithms.
Assisting Learners to Dynamically Adjust Learning Processes through Software Agents
Authors: Pan Weidong , Hawrysiewycz Igor
Published: February 2011

To make online learning more productive, software agent technology has been applied to provide services for learners in order to assist them to construct knowledge in constructivist ways. This paper is focused on the application of software agents in assisting learners to dynamically adjust learning processes. Unlike pedagogical agents, the agents in this application do not hold domain knowledge but simply assist learners to get through learning processes by a variety of supportive services. They assist learners to develop personalized preferred learning plans and to guide them to dynamically adjust learning toward their goals. In this article, the online learning process is first investigated, and an approach to assisting learners to dynamically adjust learning is outlined. Then, the structure of the UOL (unit of learning) database that provides links between a practical learning scenario and the required services is explored. A multi-agent architecture for realizing the services is configured, and the roles of the involved agents are described. After that, the related agent algorithms for guiding learners to dynamically adjust learning are described.
Boosting Item Findability
Authors: Nguyen Hung V. , Davulcu H. , Ramchandran V.
Published: February 2011

Most search engines do their text query and retrieval using keywords. However, vendors cannot anticipate all possible ways in which shoppers search for their products. In fact, many times, there may be no direct keyword match between a search phrase and descriptions of products that are perfect hits for the search. A highly automated solution to the problem of bridging the semantic gap between product descriptions and search phrases used by Web shoppers is developed. By using scalable information extraction techniques from Web sources and a frequent itemset mining algorithm, our system can learn how meanings can be ascribed to popular search phrases with dynamic connotations. By annotating the product databases based on the meanings of search phrases mined by our system, catalog owners can boost the findability of their products.
Applying Advisory Agents on the Semantic Web for E-Learning
Authors: Bruns Ralf , Dunkel Jürgen , Ossowski Sascha
Published: February 2011

In this article, we present the software architecture of a new generation of advisory systems using Intelligent Agent and Semantic Web technologies. Multi-agent systems provide a well-suited paradigm to implement negotiation processes in a consultancy situation. Software agents act as clients and advisors, using their knowledge to assist human users. In the presented architecture, the domain knowledge is modeled semantically by means of XML-based ontology languages such as OWL. Using an inference engine, the agents reason, based on their knowledge to make decisions or proposals. The agent knowledge consists of different types of data: on the one hand, private data, which has to be protected against unauthorized access; and on the other hand, publicly accessible knowledge spread over different Web sites. As in a real consultancy, an agent only reveals sensitive private data, if they are indispensable for finding a solution. In addition, depending on the actual consultancy situation, each agent dynamically expands its knowledge base by accessing OWL knowledge sources from the Internet. Due to the standardization of OWL, knowledge models easily can be shared and accessed via the Internet. The usefulness of our approach is proved by the implementation of an advisory system in the Semantic E-learning Agent (SEA) project, whose objective is to develop virtual student advisers that render support to university students in order to successfully organize and perform their studies.
Retrieving Specific Domain Information from the Web Through Ontologies
Authors: Cunha Cardoso Rafael , da Fonseca Fernando , Salgado Ana Carolina
Published: February 2011

At the present time, systems dedicated to information retrieval/extraction perform an important role fetching relevant and qualified information from the World Wide Web (WWW). The Semantic Web can be described as the Web’s future, once it introduces a set of new concepts and tools. For instance, ontologies are being used to insert knowledge into contents of the current WWW, giving meaning to such contents. This allows software agents to better understand the Web’s content so that such agents execute more complex and useful tasks for users. This work introduces an architecture that uses some Semantic Web concepts allied to Regular Expressions (REGEX) in order to develop a system that retrieves/extracts specific domain information from the Web. A prototype based on such an architecture was developed in order to find information about offers announced on supermarket Web sites.
Multi-Agent Systems Integration in Enterprise Environments Using Web Services
Authors: Ramirez Eduardo H. , Brena Ramón F.
Published: February 2011

In this article, we present a decoupled architectural approach that allows Software Agents to interoperate with enterprise systems using Web Services. The solution leverages existing technologies and standards in order to reduce the time-to-market and increase the adoption of agent-based applications. We present case studies of applications that have been enhanced by our proposal.
Strategy for Seller Agent in Multiple Online Auctions
Authors: Anthony Patricia
Published: February 2011

Online auctions are becoming extremely popular because of the convenience that it offers to the consumers. Much work has been done in designing bidding strategy that can be utilized by bidders who want to participate in online auctions. However, very little work has been done on the seller’s strategy for online auctions. In any online auction, the final selling price of the item is unknown until the auction closes. This price is dependent on several factors such as the number of bidders participating in the auction, how much each bidder is willing to pay for the product, how many online auctions are selling the same item as well as the duration of each auction. Each item to be auctioned off has a reserved price set by the seller. Setting the reserved price too high for the item will result in the item not being sold and setting the price too low may result in profit reduction or even loss. Deciding on the reserved price of an item to be auctioned off is not a straightforward decision. This paper reports on a design of a seller agent that recommends a reserved price of a given item to be auctioned off by the seller. The seller agent will endeavor to suggest a reservation price that guarantees the sale of the item within a given period (as required by the seller) with a profit.
Ontological Foundations for Active Information Systems
Authors: March Salvatore T. , Allen Gove N.
Published: February 2011

While passive information systems simply record and report on the observed states of things in the world, active information systems participate in the determination and ascription of state to things. They infer conclusions based on the application of rules that govern how things in the real world are affected when defined and identified events occur. The ontological foundations for active information systems must include constructs to represent such causal rules. Conceptualizing things and events as distinct ontological categories with existence and properties and representing them as entities at the conceptual level is sufficient for this purpose. The properties of an event include data values inherent in the event and rules that define how the states of affected things are changed when the event occurs. In this manner the state-history of a thing is represented by the sequence of events that have affected it. Future states of a thing can be predicted based on proposed or conjectured events. Such a conceptualization enables a parsimonious mapping between an active information system and the real world system it is intended to model.
Modeling Agent Auctions in a Supply Chain Environment
Authors: Hong Sungchul , Nag Barin N. , Yao Dong-qing
Published: February 2011

Agent-based auction technology has revolutionized auction trading in the Supply Chain environment by reducing the cost of transactions, and by increasing the satisfaction factor in matching requirements of seller and buyer agents. In this article, we have considered methods of matching quantities of buyer and seller agents by cooperation, with a priority on the buyer’s requirements. The article discusses the architecture of the agent and the agent community when there is cooperative matching of volume. We present a Dynamic Programming algorithm to describe the agent’s decision process, and heuristic algorithms as the practical solution methodology. The results of a simple experiment show the improvement achieved by cooperation.
Clustering Web Pages into Hierarchical Categories
Authors: Yao Zhongmei , Choi Ben
Published: February 2011

Clustering is well suited for Web mining by automatically organizing Web pages into categories each of which contains Web pages having similar contents. However, one problem in clustering is the lack of general methods to automatically determine the number of categories or clusters. For the Web domain, until now there is no such a method suitable for Web page clustering. To address this problem, we discovered a constant factor that characterizes the Web domain, based on which we propose a new method for automatically determining the number of clusters in Web page datasets. We also propose a new Bidirectional Hierarchical Clustering algorithm, which arranges individual Web pages into clusters and then arranges the clusters into larger clusters and so on until the average inter-cluster similarity approaches the constant factor. Having the new constant factor together with the new algorithm, we have developed a clustering system suitable for mining the Web.
An Empirical Performance Measurement of Microsoft's Search Engine and its Comparison with Other Major Search Engines
Authors: Meng Xiannong , Xing Song , Clark Ty
Published: February 2011

This article reports the results of a project attempting to assess the performance of the new Microsoft search engine (MSE) from various perspectives. Specifically, the study collects statistics, such as the average user response time, average process time for a query reported by MSE itself, the number of pages relevant to a query, and comparisons with its competitors. The project also studies the quality of search results generated by MSE and other search engines using RankPower as the metric. We found MSE per-forms well in speed and diversity of the query results, while weaker in other statistics, compared to some other leading search engines. The contribution of this article is to use different measures to assess and compare the quality of different search engines, especially MSE.
Semantic Supplier Contract Monitoring and Execution DSS Architecture
Authors: Salam A.F.
Published: February 2011

This research is motivated by the critical problem of stark incompatibility between the contractual clauses (typically buried in legal documents) and the myriad of performance measures used to evaluate and reward (or penalize) supply participants in the extended enterprise. This difference between what is contractually expected and what is actually performed in addition to the lack of transparency of what is measured and how those measures relate to the contractual obligations make it difficult, error prone and confusing for different partner organizations. To address this critical issue, in this article, we present a supplier performance contract monitoring and execution decision support architecture and its prototype implementation using a business case study. We use the SWRL extension of OWL-DL to represent contract conditions and rules as part of the ontology and then use the Jess Rule Reasoner to execute the contract rules integrating with Service Oriented Computing to provide decision support to managers in the extended enterprise.
A Modern Epistemological Reading of Agent Orientation
Authors: Wautelet Yves , Schinckus Christophe , Kolp Manuel
Published: February 2011

This article presents a modern epistemological validation of the process of agent oriented software development. Agent orientation has been widely presented in recent years as a novel modeling, design and programming paradigm for building systems using features such as openness, dynamics, sociality and intentionality. These will be put into perspective through a Lakatosian epistemological approach. The contribution of this article is to get researchers acquainted with the epistemological basis of the agent research domain and the context of the emergence of object and agent-orientation. This article advocates the use of the Lakatosian research programme concept as an epistemological basis for object and agent orientation. This is done on the basis of how these frameworks operationalize relevant theoretical concepts of the Kuhnian and Lakatosian theories.
Negotiation Behaviors in Agent-Based Negotiation Support Systems
Authors: Agrawal Manish , Chari Kaushal
Published: February 2011

Prior research on negotiation support systems (NSS) has paid limited attention to the information content in the observed bid sequences of negotiators as well as on the cognitive limitations of individual negotiators and their impacts on negotiation performance. In this paper, we assess the performance of human subjects in the context of agent-based NSS, and the accuracy of an exponential functional form in representing observed human bid sequences. We then predict the reservation values of negotiators based on their observed bids. Finally, we study the impact of negotiation support systems in helping users realize superior negotiation outcomes. Results indicate that an exponential function is a good model for observed bids.
A Transactions Pattern for Structuring Unstructured Corporate Information in Enterprise Applications
Authors: Polovina Simon , Hill Richard
Published: February 2011

It is known that 80-85% of all corporate information remains unstructured. As such, many enterprises rely on information systems that cause them to risk transactions that are based on lack of information (errors of omission) or misleading information (errors of commission). To address this concern, the fundamental business concept of monetary transactions is extended to include qualitative business concepts. A Transaction Model (TM) is accordingly identified that provides a structure for these unstructured but vital aspects of business transactions. By highlighting how unstructured information can be integrated into transactions, the TM provides businesses with a much more balanced view of the transactions they engage in or to discover novel transactions that they might have otherwise missed. A simple example is provided that illustrates this integration and reveals a key missing element. This discovery points to a transactions pattern that can be used to ensure that all the parties (or agents) in a transaction are identified, as well as capturing unstructured and structured information into a coherent framework. In support of the TM as a pattern, more examples of its use in a variety of domains are given. A number of enterprise applications are suggested such as in multi-agent systems, document text capture, and knowledge management.
User Perceptions and Employment of Interface Agents for Email Notification
Authors: Serenko Alexander
Published: February 2011

This study investigates user perceptions and employment of interface agents for email notification to answer three research questions pertaining to user demographics, typical usage, and perceptions of this technology. A survey instrument was administered to 75 email interface agent users. Current email interface agent users are predominantly male, well-educated and well-off innovative individuals who are occupied in the IS/IT sector, utilize email heavily and reside in an English-speaking country. They use agents to announce incoming messages and calendar reminders. The key factors why they like to use agents are perceived usefulness, enjoyment, ease of use, attractiveness, social image, an agent’s reliability and personalization. The major factors why they dislike doing so are perceived intrusiveness of an agent, agent-system interference and incompatibility. Users envision ‘ideal email notification agents’ as highly intelligent applications delivering messages in a non-intrusive yet persistent manner. A model of agent acceptance and use is suggested.
Collusion-Free Privacy Preserving Data Mining
Authors: Rajalakshmi M. , Purusothaman T. , Pratheeba S.
Published: February 2011

Distributed association rule mining is an integral part of data mining that extracts useful information hidden in distributed data sources. As local frequent itemsets are globalized from data sources, sensitive information about individual data sources needs high protection. Different privacy preserving data mining approaches for distributed environment have been proposed but in the existing approaches, collusion among the participating sites reveal sensitive information about the other sites. In this paper, the authors propose a collusion-free algorithm for mining global frequent itemsets in a distributed environment with minimal communication among sites. This algorithm uses the techniques of splitting and sanitizing the itemsets and communicates to random sites in two different phases, thus making it difficult for the colluders to retrieve sensitive information. Results show that the consequence of collusion is reduced to a greater extent without affecting mining performance and confirms optimal communication among sites.
Multi-Agent Negotiation in B2C E-Commerce Based on Data Mining Methods
Authors: Mazumdar Bireshwar Dass , Mishra R. B.
Published: February 2011

The Multi agent system (MAS) model has been extensively used in the different tasks of e-commerce like customer relation management (CRM), negotiation and brokering. For the success of CRM, it is important to target the most profitable customers of a company. This paper presents a multi-attribute negotiation approach for negotiation between buyer and seller agents. The communication model and the algorithms for various actions involved in the negotiation process is described. The paper also proposes a multi-attribute based utility model, based on price, response-time, and quality. In support of this approach, a prototype system providing negotiation between buyer agents and seller agents is presented.
When and How (Not) to Trust It? Supporting Virtual Emergency Teamwork
Authors: Büscher Monika , Holst Mogensen Preben , Kristensen Margit
Published: February 2011

In this article we use the formative evaluation of a prototype ‘assembly’ of pervasive computing technologies to specify design implications for emergency virtual teamwork tools. The prototype assembly, called “Overview”, was implemented in collaboration with police, fire and medical emergency services as part of the real life event management during the Tall Ships’ Races 2007 in Denmark. We describe how the emergency teams used the technologies for collaboration between distributed colleagues, to produce shared situation awareness, to manage efforts and resources and respond to minor emergencies. Trust in technology is a key need virtual teams identify in their endeavours to dovetail innovative technologies into emergency work. We show how practices of working up trust are supported by the PalCom open architecture (which was used to build Overview), and delineate design guidelines to enable the productive integration of pervasive computing.
Event Report
Authors: Westfall Andrew , Jennex Murray E. , Dickinson Sondra , Frost Eric
Published: February 2011

The International Journal of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, IJISCRAM, has a goal of promoting quality research into information systems, IS, for crisis response and management. Unfortunately, this research doesn’t lend itself well to the traditional positivist quantitative research methodologies considered quality research by main stream IS researchers. Instead, our methodologies focus on qualitative and action research methods. This event report, on the Golden Phoenix exercise, is action and experimental research. Action research as all the authors were participants in the exercise. Experimental research as the exercise itself was a live world laboratory for testing various IS, sensor, and other technologies supporting crisis response.
Role-Based Situation-Aware Information Seeking and Retrieval Service Design Approach for Crisis Response
Authors: Chen Nong , Dahanayake Ajantha
Published: February 2011

Crisis response involves handling information intensive processes, and coordination of large quantities of information from and for different relief-response organizations. The information needs and responses of such organizations are closely related to the situations and roles these organizations are involved during a crisis relief-response process. The information seeking and retrieval processes associated with crisis situations influence the affectivity of response vigor and the coordination of relief-response activities. To provide an effective solution for a European Main Port’s crisis response needs, a role-based situation-aware information seeking and retrieval conceptual framework is formulated. The Conceptual framework, the design approach, and the implementation in a prototype are presented as an approach to design future crisis response information seeking and retrieval services.
Management of Correctness Problems in UML Class Diagrams Towards a Pattern-Based Approach
Authors: Balaban Mira , Maraee Azzam , Sturm Arnon
Published: February 2011

UML is now widely accepted as the standard modeling language for software construction. The Class Diagram is its core view, having well formed semantics and providing the backbone for any modeling effort. Class diagrams are widely used for purposes such as software specification, database and ontology engineering, meta-modeling, and model transformation. The central role played by class diagrams emphasizes the need for strengthening UML modeling tools with features such as recognition of erroneous models and the detection of errors’ sources. Correctness of UML class diagrams refers to the capability of a diagram to denote a finite but not empty reality. This is a natural, unquestionable requirement. Nevertheless, incorrect diagrams are often designed, due to the interaction of contradicting constraints and the limitations of current tools. In this paper, the authors clarify the notion of class diagram correctness, discuss various approaches for detecting correctness problems, and propose a pattern-based approach for identifying situations in which correctness problems occur, and for providing explanations and repair advices.
Ontological Rules for UML-Based Conceptual Modeling
Authors: Lu Shan , Parsons Jeffrey
Published: February 2011

UML is used as a language for object-oriented software design, and as a language for conceptual modeling of applications domains. Given the differences between these purposes, UML’s origins in software engineering might limit its appropriateness for conceptual modeling. In this context, Evermann and Wand have proposed a set of well-defined ontological rules to constrain the construction of UML diagrams to reflect underlying ontological assumptions about the real world. The authors extend their work using a design research approach that examines these rules by studying the consequences of integrating them into a UML CASE tool. The paper demonstrates how design insights from incorporating theory-based modeling rules in a software artifact can be used to shed light on the rules themselves. In particular, the authors distinguish four categories of rules for implementation purposes, reflecting the relative importance of different rules and the degree of flexibility available in enforcing them. They propose distinct implementation strategies that correspond to these four rule categories and identify some redundant rules as well as some rules that cannot be implemented without changing the UML specification. The rules are implemented in an open-source UML CASE tool.
Trustworthy Web Services
Authors: Yang Stephen J.H. , Lan Blue C.W. , Hsieh James S.F. , Chung Jen-Yao
Published: February 2011

Web service technology enables seamless integration of different software to fulfill dynamic business demands in a platform-neutral fashion. However, the adoption of loosely-coupled and distributed services will cause trustworthiness problems. In this article, we present an experience-based evaluation of service’s trustworthiness based on trust experience (understanding) and trust requirements (policy). We utilize ontology to specify past experiences of services and trustworthy requirements of the requester. Before invoking found services, the addressed method can help the requester evaluate the trustworthiness of the services based on his or her trustworthy requirements and past experiences of the services. Furthermore, we also present an evaluation method for composite services by taking the structure of the composite services into account. The main contribution of the paper is providing evaluation methods for Web services such that the service requester can make better decisions in selecting found services in terms of service’s trustworthiness.
Privacy-Preserving Data Mining and the Need for Confluence of Research and Practice
Authors: Fu Lixin , Nemati Hamid , Sadri Fereidoon
Published: February 2011

Privacy-preserving data mining (PPDM) refers to data mining techniques developed to protect sensitive data while allowing useful information to be discovered from the data. In this article, we review PPDM and present a broad survey of related issues, techniques, measures, applications, and regulation guidelines. We observe that the rapid pace of change in information technologies available to sustain PPDM has created a gap between theory and practice. We posit that without a clear understanding of the practice, this gap will be widening which, ultimately, will be detrimental to the field. We conclude by proposing a comprehensive research agenda intended to bridge the gap relevant to practice and as a reference basis for the future related legislation activities.
Defeating Active Phishing Attacks for Web-Based Transactions
Authors: Luo Xin , Guan Tan Teik
Published: February 2011

Till now, the best defense against phishing is the use of two-factor authentication systems. Yet this protection is short-lived and comparatively weak. The absence of a fool-proof solution against man-in-the-middle, or active phishing, attacks have resulted in an avalanche of security practitioners painting bleak scenarios where active phishing attacks cripple the growth of Web-based transactional systems. Even with vigilant users and prudent applications, no solutions seem to have addressed the attacks comprehensively. In this article, we propose the new two-factor interlock authentication protocol (TIAP), adapted from the interlock protocol with two-factor authentication, which is able to defend successfully against active phishing attacks. We further scrutinize the TIAP by simulating a series of attacks against the protocol and demonstrate how each attack is defeated.
A Semi-fragile Image Watermarking using Wavelet Inter Coefficient Relations
Authors: Parameswaran Latha , Anbumani K.
Published: February 2011

Proliferation of multimedia on the Internet has led to the need for developing authentication mechanisms. This article proposes a new blind watermarking scheme based on the contents of the image in the discrete wavelet transform domain for image authentication. The host image is discrete wavelet transformed up to second level. The relationship between neighboring wavelet coefficients in each band of the second level decomposition is considered to construct the content-based watermark. The watermark is embedded in the first level mid frequency band, of the discrete wavelet transformed image. The received image is authenticated by extracting the watermark and determining the level of authenticity. This scheme is capable of tolerating content-preserving modifications and detecting content-changing modifications. Experimental results prove the efficiency of the scheme.
Rootkits and What we Know
Authors: Arnett Kirk P. , Schmidt Mark B. , Johnston Allen C. , Kim Jongki , Hwang Hajin
Published: February 2011

Respondents from eight Korean and US higher education institutions were surveyed as to their knowledge and experience with various forms of computer malware. The surveys provide insight into knowledge of rootkits that have become coffee lounge discussion following the once secretive Sony rootkit news break in late 2005 and then the rash of accusations and acknowledgments of other rootkits that followed. The surveys provide an empirical assessment of perceptions between students in the two countries with regard to various forms of malware. The two groups are similar in many respects, but they exhibit significant differences in self-reported perceptions of rootkit familiarity. US respondents report higher levels of familiarity for all assessed malware types, including the fictional “Trilobyte” virus. A timeline-based comparison between virus and rootkit knowledge reveals that relatively little is known about rootkits today. This highlights dangers related to existing knowledge levels but presents hope for solutions and an accelerated rootkit awareness curve to improve worldwide malware protection.
An Empirical Investigation of an Individual's Perceived Need for Privacy and Security
Authors: Pirim Taner , James Tabitha , Boswell Katherine , Reithel Brian , Barkhi Reza
Published: February 2011

Security and privacy issues have risen in importance as the use of technology increases. Newly developed technological devices for asset security can only be successful if people are willing to use them. Gaining an understanding of individuals’ acceptance and possible use of new security technologies would be beneficial to entities that are developing, marketing, and implementing new security technologies. This study develops an instrument to determine an individual’s need for security and privacy and investigates the relationship between these two constructs. The results show that the instrument developed is reliable and that a significant relationship exists between the two constructs.
VIPSEC
Authors: Naqvi Syed
Published: February 2011

Security of today’s large scale, open, distributed heterogeneous systems (such as computational grids, peer-to-peer systems, pervasive/ubiquitous computing, etc.) has become a mainstream operational concern. Establishment of in-depth security services and trust relationships are the most desirable features for such systems. I have proposed a security architecture to address the comprehensive security needs of these systems (Naqvi & Riguidel, 2004a). Extensive groundwork was carried out to determine the limitations and shortcomings of the existing security solutions for these systems and to establish the real needs of the security architecture in order to reduce performance overheads and to provide robust security (Naqvi & Riguidel, 2004b). These include requirements analysis (Naqvi & Riguidel, 2005a), risk analysis (Naqvi & Riguidel, 2003), threat modeling (Naqvi & Riguidel, 2005b), and implementation feasibility (Naqvi, Riguidel, & Demeure, 2005).
Memory-Based Antiforensic Tools and Techniques
Authors: Jahankhani Hamid , Beqiri Elidon
Published: February 2011

Computer forensics is the discipline that deals with the acquisition, investigation, preservation, and presentation of digital evidence in the court of law. Whereas antiforensics is the terminology used to describe malicious activities deployed to delete, alter, or hide digital evidence with the main objective of manipulating, destroying, and preventing the creation of evidence. Various antiforensic methodologies and tools can be used to interfere with digital evidence and computer forensic tools. However, memory-based antiforensic techniques are of particular interest because of their effectiveness, advanced manipulation of digital evidence, and attack on computer forensic tools. These techniques are mainly performed in volatile memory using advanced data alteration and hiding techniques. For these reasons memory-based antiforensic techniques are considered to be unbeatable. This article aims to present some of the current antiforensic approaches and in particular reports on memory-based antiforensic tools and techniques.
Protecting Patient Information in Outsourced Telehealth Services
Authors: Logan Patricia Y. , Noles Debra
Published: February 2011

Hospitals have increasingly employed outsourcing to lower the cost of healthcare delivery and improve efficiency and quality, thereby, enabling more focus on core competencies of patient care, teaching, and research. Outsourcing presents a challenge for protecting patient information when new services are implemented or integrated into an existing healthcare information system. Enabling new outsourced telehealth services often requires “bolting on” security to legacy systems rather than “baking” it into the system. This article addresses security practices necessary for healthcare organizations implementing new telehealth services as part of an outsourced relationship. While a number of recommendations are available for security readiness assessments pursuant to HIPAA compliance, none directly addresses the challenge of implementing security for outsourced clinical services. A case study is presented for a recent implementation of teleradiology services within a large regional hospital. Using the case, system vulnerabilities are demonstrated and relevant best practices to mitigate exposing patient information are discussed.
On Access-Unrestricted Data Anonymity and Privacy Inference Disclosure Control
Authors: Li Zude , Ye Xiaojun
Published: February 2011

This article introduces a formal study on access-unrestricted data anonymity. It includes four aspects: (1) analyzes the impacts of anonymity on data usability; (2) quantitatively measures privacy disclosure risks in practical environment; (3) discusses the factors resulting in privacy disclosure; and (4) proposes the improved anonymity solutions within typical k-anonymity model, which can effectively prevent privacy disclosure that is related with the published data properties, anonymity principles, and anonymization rules. With the experiments, the authors have proven the existence of these potential privacy inference violations as well as the enhanced privacy effect by the new anti-inference policies for access-unrestricted data publication.
Design and Implementation of a Framework for Assured Information Sharing Across Organizational Boundaries
Authors: Thuraisingham Bhavani , Kumar Yashaswini Harsha , Khan Latifur
Published: February 2011

In this article we have designed and developed a framework for sharing data in an assured manner in case of emergencies. We focus especially on a need to share environment. It is often required to divulge information when an emergency is flagged and then take necessary steps to handle the consequences of divulging information. This procedure involves the application of a wide range of policies to determine how much information can be divulges in case of an emergency depending on how trustworthy the requester of the information is.
Re-Evaluation of On-Line Hot Topic Discovery Model
Authors: Ye Hui-min , Sharma Sushil K. , Xu Huinan
Published: February 2011

As a major medium for information transmission, Internet plays an important role in diffusing and spreading news on web. Some governments attach great importance and pay lot of effort trying to detect, track the development of events and forecast emergency on internet. On the basis of the researches in the field of topic detection and tracking, we proposed a model for hot topic discovery that would pick out hot topics by automatically detecting, clustering and weighting topics on the websites within a time period. We also introduced a topic index approach in following the growth of topics, which is useful to analyze and forecast the development of topics on web.
Understanding User Behavior towards Passwords through Acceptance and Use Modelling
Authors: Novakovic Lee , McGill Tanya , Dixon Michael
Published: February 2011

The security of computer systems that store our data is a major issue facing the world. This research project investigated the roles of ease of use, facilitating conditions, intention to use passwords securely, experience and age on usage of passwords, using a model based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of technology. Data was collected via an online survey of computer users, and analyzed using PLS. The results show there is a significant relationship between ease of use of passwords, intention to use them securely and the secure usage of passwords. Despite expectations, facilitating conditions only had a weak impact on intention to use passwords securely and did not influence actual secure usage. Computing experience was found to have an effect on intention to use passwords securely, but age did not. The results of this research lend themselves to assisting in policy design and better understanding user behavior.
Do Privacy Statements Really Work? The Effect of Privacy Statements and Fair Information Practices on Trust and Perceived Risk in E-Commerce
Authors: Nemati Hamid R. , Van Dyke Thomas
Published: February 2011

Companies today collect, store and process enormous amounts of information in order to identify, gain, and maintain customers. Electronic commerce and advances in database and communication technology allow business to collect and analyze more personal information with greater ease and efficiency than ever before. This has resulted in increased privacy concerns and a lack of trust among consumers. These concerns have prompted the FCC to call for the use of Fair Information Practices in electronic commerce. Many firms have added privacy statements, formal declarations of privacy and security policy, to their e-commerce web sites in an attempt to reduce privacy concerns by increasing consumer trust in the firm and reducing the perceived risk associated with e-commerce transactions. This article describes an experiment designed to determine the efficacy of that strategy.