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Computing on Masked Data to improve the security of big data

Published in:
HST 2015, IEEE Int. Conf. on Technologies for Homeland Security, 14-16 April 2015.

Summary

Organizations that make use of large quantities of information require the ability to store and process data from central locations so that the product can be shared or distributed across a heterogeneous group of users. However, recent events underscore the need for improving the security of data stored in such untrusted servers or databases. Advances in cryptographic techniques and database technologies provide the necessary security functionality but rely on a computational model in which the cloud is used solely for storage and retrieval. Much of big data computation and analytics make use of signal processing fundamentals for computation. As the trend of moving data storage and computation to the cloud increases, homeland security missions should understand the impact of security on key signal processing kernels such as correlation or thresholding. In this article, we propose a tool called Computing on Masked Data (CMD), which combines advances in database technologies and cryptographic tools to provide a low overhead mechanism to offload certain mathematical operations securely to the cloud. This article describes the design and development of the CMD tool.
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Summary

Organizations that make use of large quantities of information require the ability to store and process data from central locations so that the product can be shared or distributed across a heterogeneous group of users. However, recent events underscore the need for improving the security of data stored in such...

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Global pattern search at scale

Summary

In recent years, data collection has far outpaced the tools for data analysis in the area of non-traditional GEOINT analysis. Traditional tools are designed to analyze small-scale numerical data, but there are few good interactive tools for processing large amounts of unstructured data such as raw text. In addition to the complexities of data processing, presenting the data in a way that is meaningful to the end user poses another challenge. In our work, we focused on analyzing a corpus of 35,000 news articles and creating an interactive geovisualization tool to reveal patterns to human analysts. Our comprehensive tool, Global Pattern Search at Scale (GPSS), addresses three major problems in data analysis: free text analysis, high volumes of data, and interactive visualization. GPSS uses an Accumulo database for high-volume data storage, and a matrix of word counts and event detection algorithms to process the free text. For visualization, the tool displays an interactive web application to the user, featuring a map overlaid with document clusters and events, search and filtering options, a timeline, and a word cloud. In addition, the GPSS tool can be easily adapted to process and understand other large free-text datasets.
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Summary

In recent years, data collection has far outpaced the tools for data analysis in the area of non-traditional GEOINT analysis. Traditional tools are designed to analyze small-scale numerical data, but there are few good interactive tools for processing large amounts of unstructured data such as raw text. In addition to...

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Robust face recognition-based search and retrieval across image stills and video

Author:
Published in:
HST 2015, IEEE Int. Symp. on Technologies for Homeland Security, 14-16 April 2015.

Summary

Significant progress has been made in addressing face recognition channel, sensor, and session effects in both still images and video. These effects include the classic PIE (pose, illumination, expression) variation, as well as variations in other characteristics such as age and facial hair. While much progress has been made, there has been little formal work in characterizing and compensating for the intrinsic differences between faces in still images and video frames. These differences include that faces in still images tend to have neutral expressions and frontal poses, while faces in videos tend to have more natural expressions and poses. Typically faces in videos are also blurrier, have lower resolution, and are framed differently than faces in still images. Addressing these issues is important when comparing face images between still images and video frames. Also, face recognition systems for video applications often rely on legacy face corpora of still images and associated meta data (e.g. identifying information, landmarks) for development, which are not formally compensated for when applied to the video domain. In this paper we will evaluate the impact of channel effects on face recognition across still images and video frames for the search and retrieval task. We will also introduce a novel face recognition approach for addressing the performance gap across these two respective channels. The datasets and evaluation protocols from the Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW) still image and YouTube Faces (YTF) video corpora will be used for the comparative characterization and evaluation. Since the identities of subjects in the YTF corpora are a subset of those in the LFW corpora, this enables an apples-to-apples comparison of in-corpus and cross-corpora face comparisons.
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Summary

Significant progress has been made in addressing face recognition channel, sensor, and session effects in both still images and video. These effects include the classic PIE (pose, illumination, expression) variation, as well as variations in other characteristics such as age and facial hair. While much progress has been made, there...

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Quantitative evaluation of moving target technology

Published in:
HST 2015, IEEE Int. Symp. on Technologies for Homeland Security, 14-16 April 2015.

Summary

Robust, quantitative measurement of cyber technology is critically needed to measure the utility, impact and cost of cyber technologies. Our work addresses this need by developing metrics and experimental methodology for a particular type of technology, moving target technology. In this paper, we present an approach to quantitative evaluation, including methodology and metrics, results of analysis, simulation and experiments, and a series of lessons learned.
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Summary

Robust, quantitative measurement of cyber technology is critically needed to measure the utility, impact and cost of cyber technologies. Our work addresses this need by developing metrics and experimental methodology for a particular type of technology, moving target technology. In this paper, we present an approach to quantitative evaluation, including...

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Rapid sequence identification of potential pathogens using techniques from sparse linear algebra

Summary

The decreasing costs and increasing speed and accuracy of DNA sample collection, preparation, and sequencing has rapidly produced an enormous volume of genetic data. However, fast and accurate analysis of the samples remains a bottleneck. Here we present D4RAGenS, a genetic sequence identification algorithm that exhibits the Big Data handling and computational power of the Dynamic Distributed Dimensional Data Model (D4M). The method leverages linear algebra and statistical properties to increase computational performance while retaining accuracy by subsampling the data. Two run modes, Fast and Wise, yield speed and precision tradeoffs, with applications in biodefense and medical diagnostics. The D4RAGenS analysis algorithm is tested over several datasets, including three utilized for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) metagenomic algorithm contest.
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Summary

The decreasing costs and increasing speed and accuracy of DNA sample collection, preparation, and sequencing has rapidly produced an enormous volume of genetic data. However, fast and accurate analysis of the samples remains a bottleneck. Here we present D4RAGenS, a genetic sequence identification algorithm that exhibits the Big Data handling...

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Agent-based simulation for assessing network security risk due to unauthorized hardware

Published in:
SpringSim 2015: Spring Simulation Multiconference, 12-15 April 2015.

Summary

Computer networks are present throughout all sectors of our critical infrastructure and these networks are under a constant threat of cyber attack. One prevalent computer network threat takes advantage of unauthorized, and thus insecure, hardware on a network. This paper presents a prototype simulation system for network risk assessment that is intended for use by administrators to simulate and evaluate varying network environments and attacker/defender scenarios with respect to authorized and unauthorized hardware. The system is built on the agent-based modeling paradigm and captures emergent system dynamics that result from the interactions of multiple network agents including regular and administrator users, attackers, and defenders in a network environment. The agent-based system produces both metrics and visualizations that provide insights into network security risk and serve to guide the search for efficient policies and controls to protect a network from attacks related to unauthorized hardware. The simulation model is unique in the current literature both for its network threat model and its visualized agent-based approach. We demonstrate the model via a case study that evaluates risk for several candidate security policies on a representative computer network.
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Summary

Computer networks are present throughout all sectors of our critical infrastructure and these networks are under a constant threat of cyber attack. One prevalent computer network threat takes advantage of unauthorized, and thus insecure, hardware on a network. This paper presents a prototype simulation system for network risk assessment that...

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Broadband magnetometry and temperature sensing with a light-trapping diamond waveguide

Published in:
Nature Phys. Lett., Vol. 11, May 2015, pp. 393-7.

Summary

Solid-state quantum sensors are attracting wide interest because of their sensitivity at room temperature. In particular, the spin properties of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) colour centres in diamond make them outstanding nanoscale sensors of magnetic fields, electric fields and temperature under ambient conditions. Recent work on NV ensemble-based magnetometers, inertial sensors, and clocks has employed unentangled colour centres to realize significant improvements in sensitivity. However, to achieve this potential sensitivity enhancement in practice, new techniques are required to excite efficiently and to collect the optical signal from large NV ensembles. Here, we introduce a light-trapping diamond waveguide geometry with an excitation efficiency and signal collection that enables in excess of 5% conversion efficiency of pump photons into optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) fluorescence--an improvement over previous single-pass geometries of more than three orders of magnitude. This marked enhancement of the ODMR signal enables precision broadband measurements of magnetic field and temperature in the low-frequency range, otherwise inaccessible by dynamical decoupling techniques.
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Summary

Solid-state quantum sensors are attracting wide interest because of their sensitivity at room temperature. In particular, the spin properties of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) colour centres in diamond make them outstanding nanoscale sensors of magnetic fields, electric fields and temperature under ambient conditions. Recent work on NV ensemble-based magnetometers, inertial sensors...

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Cryptographically secure computation

Published in:
Computer, Vol. 48, No. 4, April 2015, pp. 78-81.

Summary

Researchers are making secure multiparty computation--a cryptographic technique that enables information sharing and analysis while keeping sensitive inputs secret--faster and easier to use for application software developers.
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Summary

Researchers are making secure multiparty computation--a cryptographic technique that enables information sharing and analysis while keeping sensitive inputs secret--faster and easier to use for application software developers.

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Measurement of ion motional heating rates over a range of trap frequencies and temperatures

Published in:
Phys. Rev. A, At. Mol. Opt. Phys., Vol. 91, No. 4, April 2015, 041402.

Summary

We present measurements of the motional heating rate of a trapped ion at different trap frequencies and temperatures between ~0.6 and 1.5 MHz and ~4 and 295 K. Additionally, we examine the possible effect of adsorbed surface contaminants with boiling points below ~105 degrees C by measuring the ion heating rate before and after locally baking our ion trap chip under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. We compare the heating rates presented here to those calculated from available electric-field noise models. We can tightly constrain a subset of these models based on their expected frequency and temperature scaling interdependence. Discrepancies between the measured results and predicted values point to the need for refinement of theoretical noise models in order to more fully understand the mechanisms behind motional trapped-ion heating.
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Summary

We present measurements of the motional heating rate of a trapped ion at different trap frequencies and temperatures between ~0.6 and 1.5 MHz and ~4 and 295 K. Additionally, we examine the possible effect of adsorbed surface contaminants with boiling points below ~105 degrees C by measuring the ion heating...

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Development and application of spherically curved charge-coupled device imagers

Summary

Operation of a CCD imager on a curved focal surface offers advantages to flat focal planes, especially for lightweight, relatively simple optical systems. The first advantage is that the modulation transfer function can approach diffraction-limited performance for a spherical focal surface employed in large field-of-view or large-format imagers. The second advantage is that a curved focal surface maintains more uniform illumination as a function of radius from the field center. Examples of applications of curved imagers, described here, include a small compact imager and the large curved array used in the Space Surveillance Telescope. The operational characteristics and mechanical limits of an imager deformed to a 15 mm radius are also described.
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Summary

Operation of a CCD imager on a curved focal surface offers advantages to flat focal planes, especially for lightweight, relatively simple optical systems. The first advantage is that the modulation transfer function can approach diffraction-limited performance for a spherical focal surface employed in large field-of-view or large-format imagers. The second...

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