title: Measured impact of crooked traceroute

authors: Luckie, Matthew John

subjects: computer science

abstract: Data collected using traceroute-based algorithms underpins research into the Internet’s router-level topology, though it is possible to infer false links from this data. One source of false inference is the combination of per-flow load-balancing, in which more than one path is active from a given source to destination, and classic traceroute, which varies the UDP destination port number or ICMP checksum of successive probe packets, which can cause per-flow load-balancers to treat successive packets as distinct flows and forward them along different paths. Consequently, successive probe packets can solicit responses from unconnected routers, leading to the inference of false links. This paper examines the inaccuracies induced from such false inferences, both on macroscopic and ISP topology mapping. We collected macroscopic topology data to 365k destinations, with techniques that both do and do not try to capture load balancing phenomena.We then use alias resolution techniques to infer if a measurement artifact of classic traceroute induces a false router-level link. This technique detected that 2.71% and 0.76% of the links in our UDP and ICMP graphs were falsely inferred due to the presence of load-balancing. We conclude that most per-flow load-balancing does not induce false links when macroscopic topology is inferred using classic traceroute. The effect of false links on ISP topology mapping is possibly much worse, because the degrees of a tier-1 ISP’s routers derived from classic traceroute were inflated by a median factor of 2.9 as compared to those inferred with Paris traceroute.

text: Measured impact of crooked traceroute Data collected using traceroute-based algorithms underpins research into the Internet’s router-level topology, though it is possible to infer false links from this data. One source of false inference is the combination of per-flow load-balancing, in which more than one path is active from a given source to destination, and classic traceroute, which varies the UDP destination port number or ICMP checksum of successive probe packets, which can cause per-flow load-balancers to treat successive packets as distinct flows and forward them along different paths. Consequently, successive probe packets can solicit responses from unconnected routers, leading to the inference of false links. This paper examines the inaccuracies induced from such false inferences, both on macroscopic and ISP topology mapping. We collected macroscopic topology data to 365k destinations, with techniques that both do and do not try to capture load balancing phenomena.We then use alias resolution techniques to infer if a measurement artifact of classic traceroute induces a false router-level link. This technique detected that 2.71% and 0.76% of the links in our UDP and ICMP graphs were falsely inferred due to the presence of load-balancing. We conclude that most per-flow load-balancing does not induce false links when macroscopic topology is inferred using classic traceroute. The effect of false links on ISP topology mapping is possibly much worse, because the degrees of a tier-1 ISP’s routers derived from classic traceroute were inflated by a median factor of 2.9 as compared to those inferred with Paris traceroute.

year: 2011-01

title: Inferring User Actions from Provenance Logs

authors: Li, Xin

abstract: Progger, a kernel-spaced cloud data provenance logger which provides fine-grained data activity records, was recently developed to empower cloud stakeholders to trace data life cycles within and across clouds. Progger logs have the potential to allow analysts to infer user actions and create a data-centric behaviour history in a cloud computing environment. However, the Progger logs are complex and noisy and therefore, currently this potential can not be met. This paper proposes a statistical approach to efficiently infer the user actions from the Progger logs. Inferring logs which capture activities at kernel-level granularity is not a straightforward endeavour. This paper overcomes this challenge through an approach which shows a high level of accuracy. The key aspects of this approach are identifying the data preprocessing steps and attribute selection. We then use four standard classification models and identify the model which provides the most accurate inference on user actions. To our best knowledge, this is the first work of its kind. We also discuss a number of possible extensions to this work. Possible future applications include the ability to predict an anomalous security activity before it occurs.

text: Inferring User Actions from Provenance Logs Progger, a kernel-spaced cloud data provenance logger which provides fine-grained data activity records, was recently developed to empower cloud stakeholders to trace data life cycles within and across clouds. Progger logs have the potential to allow analysts to infer user actions and create a data-centric behaviour history in a cloud computing environment. However, the Progger logs are complex and noisy and therefore, currently this potential can not be met. This paper proposes a statistical approach to efficiently infer the user actions from the Progger logs. Inferring logs which capture activities at kernel-level granularity is not a straightforward endeavour. This paper overcomes this challenge through an approach which shows a high level of accuracy. The key aspects of this approach are identifying the data preprocessing steps and attribute selection. We then use four standard classification models and identify the model which provides the most accurate inference on user actions. To our best knowledge, this is the first work of its kind. We also discuss a number of possible extensions to this work. Possible future applications include the ability to predict an anomalous security activity before it occurs.

year: 2015

title: Indigenous languages shaping multi-lingual interfaces

authors: Keegan, Te Taka Adrian Gregory

subjects: computer science

abstract: This paper reports on an investigation into the indigenous language usage of two bilingual/multilingual digital libraries. Results show that the indigenous language was significantly used by clients and indicate why clients chose to use the indigenous language. Feedback from clients has suggested how the interface should be improved to assist both indigenous and non-indigenous language usage. These results serve as an example of how indigenous languages are shaping multilingual interfaces.

text: Indigenous languages shaping multi-lingual interfaces This paper reports on an investigation into the indigenous language usage of two bilingual/multilingual digital libraries. Results show that the indigenous language was significantly used by clients and indicate why clients chose to use the indigenous language. Feedback from clients has suggested how the interface should be improved to assist both indigenous and non-indigenous language usage. These results serve as an example of how indigenous languages are shaping multilingual interfaces.

year: 2008