Matching Items (27)
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- All Subjects: engineering
- All Subjects: Security
- Creators: Computer Science and Engineering Program
- Creators: Schoepf, Jared
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Description
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology allows objects to be identified electronically by way of a small electronic tag. RFID is quickly becoming quite popular, and there are many security hurdles for this technology to overcome. The iCLASS line of RFID, produced by HID Global, is one such technology that is widely used for secure access control and applications where a contactless authentication element is desirable. Unfortunately, iCLASS has been shown to have security issues. Nevertheless customers continue to use it because of the great cost that would be required to completely replace it. This Honors Thesis will address attacks against iCLASS and means for countering them that do not require such an overhaul.
ContributorsMellott, Matthew John (Author) / Ahn, Gail-Joon (Thesis director) / Thorstenson, Tina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Modern computer processors contain an embedded firmware known as microcode that controls decode and execution of x86 instructions. Although proprietary and relatively obscure, this microcode can be modified using updates released by hardware manufacturers to correct processor logic flaws (errata). At the same time, a malicious microcode update could compromise a processor by implementing new malicious instructions or altering the functionality of existing instructions, including processor-accelerated virtualization or cryptographic primitives. Not only is this attack vector capable of subverting all software-enforced security policies and access controls, but it also leaves behind no postmortem forensic evidence since the write-only patch memory is cleared upon system reset. Although supervisor privileges (ring zero) are required to update processor microcode, this attack cannot be easily mitigated due to the implementation of microcode update functionality within processor silicon. In this paper, we reveal the microarchitecture and mechanism of microcode updates, present a security analysis of this attack vector, and provide some mitigation suggestions.
ContributorsChen, Daming Dominic (Author) / Ahn, Gail-Joon (Thesis director) / Lee, Joohyung (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
We discuss processes involved in user-centric security design, including the synthesis of goals based on security and usability tasks. We suggest the usage of implicit security and the facilitation of secureuser actions. We propose a process for evaluating usability flaws by treating them as security threats and adapting traditional HCI methods. We discuss how to correct these flaws once they are discovered. Finally, we discuss the Usable Security Development Model for developing usable secure systems.
ContributorsJorgensen, Jan Drake (Author) / Ahn, Gail-Joon (Thesis director) / VanLehn, Kurt (Committee member) / Wilkerson, Kelly (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Apple’s HomeKit framework centralizes control of smart home devices and allows users to create home automations based on predefined rules. For example, a user can add a rule to turn off all the lights in their house whenever they leave. Currently, these rules must be added through a graphical user interface provided by Apple or a third-party app on iOS. This thesis describes how a text-based language provides users with a more expressive means of creating complex home automations and successfully implements such a language. Rules created using this text-based format are parsed and interpreted into rules that can be added directly into HomeKit. This thesis also explores how security features should be implemented with this text-based approach. Since automations are run by the system without user interaction, it is important to consider how the system itself can provide functionality to address the unintended consequences that may result from running an automation. This is especially important for the text-based approach since its increase in expressiveness makes it easier for a user to make a mistake in programming that leads to a security concern. The proposed method for preventing unintended side effects is using a simulation to run every automation prior to actually running the automation on real-world devices. This approach allows users to code some conditions that must be satisfied in order for the automation to run on devices in the home. This thesis describes the creation of such a program that successfully simulates every device in the home. There were limitations, however, with Apple's HomeKit framework, which made it impractical to match the state of simulated devices to real devices in the home. Without being able to match the current state of the home to the current state of the simulation, this method cannot satisfy the goal of ensuring that certain adverse effects will not occur as a result of automations. Other smart home control platforms that provide more extensibility could be used to create this simulation-based security approach. Perhaps as Apple continues to open up their HomeKit platform to developers, this approach may be feasible within Apple's ecosystem at some point in the future.
ContributorsSharp, Trevor Ryan (Co-author) / Sharp, Trevor (Co-author) / Bazzi, Rida (Thesis director) / Doupe, Adam (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Despite efforts to recruit and retain female engineering students, only about 21.3% of bachelor’s degrees each year in engineering and computer science are awarded to women. The purpose of this synthesis is to understand the ways in which current research has explored how self-identity, engineering identity, and sense of belonging influence undergraduate women’s persistence. Analysis is focused around 4 themes that emerged: (1) Sense of Self: Self-Efficacy, Expectancy Value Theory; (2) Culture of Engineering: Engineering Identity; (3) Stereotype Threat; (4) Interdisciplinary Studies to Expand the Culture of Engineering. Conclusions of this synthesis may be used as opportunities for future engagement with these topics.
ContributorsTapia, Kayla (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Velez, Jennifer (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Engineering has historically been dominated by White men. However, in modern history, engineering is becoming more diverse as the opportunity to pursue engineering has become accessible to people of all races and genders. Yet, college ready high school students from nontraditional backgrounds—women, ethnic minorities, first-generation-to-college students, and those with financial need—often lack exposure to engineering, thus reducing their likelihood to pursue a career in this field. To create engineering learning experiences that can be expanded to a traditional high school science classroom, the Young Engineers Shape the World program at Arizona State University was consulted. The Young Engineers Shape the World program encourages women, notably the most underrepresented group in the engineering field, as well as other students of diverse backgrounds, to pursue engineering. The goal of this effort was to create a 3-contact hour chemical engineering based learning experience to help students in grades 10-11 learn about an application of chemical engineering. Using knowledge of chemical engineering, a soil pH testing activity was created, simulating a typical high school chemistry science experiment. In addition to measuring pH, students were asked to build a modern garden that contained a physical barrier that could protect the garden from acid rain while still allowing sunlight to reach the plant. Student feedback was collected in the form of an experience evaluation survey after each experience. Students found that the soil-moisture quality testing and design of a protective barrier was engaging. However, an iterative curriculum redesign-implement-evaluate effort is needed to arrive at a robust chemical engineering based design learning experience.
ContributorsOtis, Timothy Kevin (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Schoepf, Jared (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
A common design of multi-agent robotic systems requires a centralized master node, which coordinates the actions of all the agents. The multi-agent system designed in this project enables coordination between the robots and reduces the dependence on a single node in the system. This design change reduces the complexity of the central node, and makes the system more adaptable to changes in its topology. The final goal of this project was to have a group of robots collaboratively claim positions in pre-defined formations, and navigate to the position using pose data transmitted by a localization server.
Planning coordination between robots in a multi-agent system requires each robot to know the position of the other robots. To address this, the localization server tracked visual fiducial markers attached to the robots and relayed their pose to every robot at a rate of 20Hz using the MQTT communication protocol. The robots used this data to inform a potential fields path planning algorithm and navigate to their target position.
This project was unable to address all of the challenges facing true distributed multi-agent coordination and needed to make concessions in order to meet deadlines. Further research would focus on shoring up these deficiencies and developing a more robust system.
Planning coordination between robots in a multi-agent system requires each robot to know the position of the other robots. To address this, the localization server tracked visual fiducial markers attached to the robots and relayed their pose to every robot at a rate of 20Hz using the MQTT communication protocol. The robots used this data to inform a potential fields path planning algorithm and navigate to their target position.
This project was unable to address all of the challenges facing true distributed multi-agent coordination and needed to make concessions in order to meet deadlines. Further research would focus on shoring up these deficiencies and developing a more robust system.
ContributorsThibeault, Quinn (Author) / Meuth, Ryan (Thesis director) / Chen, Yinong (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
One of the major sources of authentication is through the use of username and password systems. Ideally, each password is a unique identifier known by a single individual. In reality however, exposed passwords from past data breaches reveal vulnerabilities that are traceable to passwords created today. Vulnerabilities include repetitions of characters, words, character sequences, and phrases that are used in a password. This project was observed in English to highlight the vulnerabilities that can come from utilizing the English language. However, the vulnerabilities highlighted in this project can also be applicable in languages across the world. It was observed that through the common types of digital attacks, brute force attack and dictionary attack work effectively against weak passwords. Brute force attack revealed that a user could expose an alphanumeric password of length eight in as little as one and a half days. In addition, dictionary attacks revealed that an alphanumeric password of length eight can be exposed in a shorter amount of time if the password contains a single long word or phrase thought to be secure. During this attack analysis, it found that passwords become significantly more secure in the utilization of alphanumeric passwords of minimal length of eight. In addition, the password must also not be a particular phrase or word with simplistic characteristics for adequate strength against dictionary attack. The solution to using username and password systems is to create a password utilizing as many characters as possible while still retaining memorability. If creating a password of this type is not feasible, there is a need to use technological solutions to keep the current system of username and passwords as secure as possible under daily life. Otherwise, there will be a need to replace the username and password system altogether before it becomes insecure by technology.
ContributorsTipton, Tony T (Co-author) / Tipton, Tony (Co-author) / Meuth, Ryan (Thesis director) / Tirupalavanam, Ganesh (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Despite the more tightly controlled permissions and Java framework used by most programs in the Android operating system, an attacker can use the same classic vulnerabilities that exist for traditional Linux binaries on the programs in the Android operating system. Some classic vulnerabilities include stack overows, string formats, and heap meta-information corruption. Through the exploitation of these vulnerabilities an attacker can hijack the execution ow of an application. After hijacking the execution ow, an attacker can then violate the con_dentiality, integrity, or availability of the operating system. Over the years, the operating systems and compliers have implemented a number of protections to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable programs. The most widely implemented protections include Non-eXecutable stack (NX Stack), Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), and Stack Canaries (Canaries). NX Stack protections prevent the injection and execution of arbitrary code through the use of a permissions framework within a program. Whereas, ASLR and Canaries rely on obfuscation techniques to protect control ow, which requires su_cient entropy between each execution. Early in the implementation of these protections in Linux, researchers discovered that without su_cient entropy between executions, ASLR and Canaries were easily bypassed. For example, the obfuscation techniques were useless in programs that ran continuously because the programs did not change the canaries or re-randomize the address space. Similarly, aws in the implementation of ASLR and Canaries in Android only re-randomizes the values after rebooting, which means the address space locations and canary values remain constant across the executions of an Android program. As a result, an attacker can hijack the control ow Android binaries that contain control ow vulnerabilities. The purpose of this paper is to expose these aws and the methodology used to verify their existence in Android versions 4.1 (Jelly Bean) through 8.0 (Oreo).
ContributorsGibbs, Wil (Author) / Doupe, Adam (Thesis director) / Shoshitaishvili, Yan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Third-party mixers are used to heighten the anonymity of Bitcoin users. The mixing techniques implemented by these tools are often untraceable on the blockchain, making them appealing to money launderers. This research aims to analyze mixers currently available on the deep web. In addition, an in-depth case study is done on an open-source bitcoin mixer known as Penguin Mixer. A local version of Penguin Mixer was used to visualize mixer behavior under specific scenarios. This study could lead to the identification of vulnerabilities in mixing tools and detection of these tools on the blockchain.
ContributorsPakki, Jaswant (Author) / Doupe, Adam (Thesis director) / Shoshitaishvili, Yan (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12