Researchers at the Warsaw University of Technology in Poland have studied the characteristics of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls in an attempt to gain a better understanding of ordinary traffic. Security remains an issue for VoIP calls, which can be hijacked and used to send confidential information over the Internet. Wojciech Mazurczyk and colleagues decided to study ordinary VoIP calls so experts would have a way to compare and contrast regular calls with those that have been embedded with stolen data. VoIP calls can be compromised by changing the order in which the digital packets are sent, or by deliberately delaying certain packets that have embedded data, a technique known as Lost Audio Packet Steganography (LACK). The team’s research shows that packets are not normally re-ordered in a way for hiding data, so attacks that re-order data are not a real threat. However, LACK attacks would be difficult to spot because of the routine loss of data packets.
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European researchers working on the Remote EnTrusting by RUn-time Software authentication (RE-TRUST) project have proposed a solution to trusted computing that they say offers better security and authentication. RE-TRUST uses logic components on an untrusted machine to allow for remote entrusting authentication. “RE-TRUST will have a major impact on all commercial applications and solutions where security or trust is a concern, independently of whether they are based on a client-server or a peer-to-peer paradigm,” says RE-TRUST coordinator Yoram Ofek. RE-TRUST solutions could work with peer-to-peer networks to enable them to become a new trusted distribution channel. The RE-TRUST team also developed trust solutions for code mobility, reconfigurable computing for software protection, and orthogonal replacement. “All applications and solutions running over a network, such as the Internet, can benefit from the RE-TRUST approach,” Ofek says.
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The flagging attraction of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions to young women is partly attributed to the geek factor, or the perception of such careers as uncool, socially isolating, and primarily geared toward males. The National Center for Women & Information Technology estimates that about 17 percent of high school girls take advanced computer science placement exams, which represents the lowest percentage of females among all such tests. Meanwhile, the number of women earning computer science degrees fell from 37 percent in 1985 to 18 percent in 2008. AT&T Labs researcher Amanda Stent says that “a movement to reclaim the notion of ‘geek’ ” is underway to reverse this trend, and she is a member of a group dedicated to encourage more young women to become passionate about science and technology. Stent stresses that engineers, technologists, and scientists often work in groups and invent community-building, societally beneficial products.
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Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Ph.D. researcher Suriadi is investigating using an anonymous credential system, an Internet authentication system from the 1980s, to enable Web users to securely log in only once per Internet session. Suriadi says future single sign-on systems could give users access to multiple accounts–including email, bank, and shopping–but would need to provide extreme privacy to avoid hackers. He says the anonymous credential system could enhance the security and privacy of a single sign-on system. “The system works by revealing as little information about who you are as necessary for logging into an account, therefore allowing you to remain anonymous,” Suriadi says. A single sign-on system backed by the anonymous credential system requires the cooperation of business and organizations to enable it, Suriadi notes.
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Researchers remain optimistic about the prospect of keeping track of the exaflood of data, from gene sequences and distant pulsar signals to YouTube videos and email. During the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one session gave scientists and other academics an opportunity to learn more about some current strategies for storing data and using it productively. University of California at San Diego professor Larry Smarr demonstrated how genetic sequences from ocean bacteria can be coupled with environmental information about the organisms. Smarr said researchers were able to target specific gene sequences, annotated with helpful information. Meanwhile, Google researcher Hal Varian said the company’s Google Insights for Search analytical tools used information on individual searches for Toyota automobiles to accurately predict its sales volume.
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University of the Basque Country (UBC) researcher Markel Vigo recently published his Ph.D. thesis on the Web Accessibility Quantitative Metric (WAQM), a system that automatically measures the accessibility level of a Web page. WAQM can measure the level of accessibility according to the type of disability of each person and automatically create an accessibility report for each Web page. This allows users to conduct an Internet search and have criteria related to their specific disability taken into consideration. The system uses the Unified Guidelines Language to give each Web page a score, which is shown next to the Web page’s link, based on its level of accessibility. Vigo says his system gives people with disabilities more control when carrying out a search on the Internet. WAQM also can create different accessibility grades based on the type of device that is being used. Each user gets a profile based on information about the type of disability, the Internet device of choice, and other factors, and this profile is used to personalize the accessibility report for each Web page.
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Oxford University researchers have developed the Parallel Tracking and Mapping (PTAM) program, a camera-tracking system for fusing real and three-dimensional (3D) computer-generated visuals. PTAM enables users to project virtual objects or characters into a video stream that appears on real world surfaces. “The blending of real and virtual worlds is common enough in films and television, but is usually achieved by extensive processing of the recorded images or by filming in studios with known objects at fixed locations,” says Oxford professor David Murray. “The PTAM software allows developers to augment a camera’s video stream in real time and in everyday locations.” PTAM builds a map of thousands of features from objects and scenes, tracks accurately and at a standard frame rate, and calculates the camera viewpoint and angle. The technology also could improve global positioning systems and digital compasses, and provide support for satellite, 3G, and Wi-Fi signals.
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Xerox PARC scientist Markus Jakobsson has developed a way to detect malware on mobile devices that can catch unknown viruses and protect a device without draining its battery or straining its processor. The approach relies on having a central server monitor a device’s memory for signs that it has been infected. The system checks a device by shutting down nonvital applications to make sure nothing is running except the detection software and the operating system. If malware is present and active, it will need to use some random access memory (RAM) to execute instructions on the device. The central server contacts the detection software to see if malware is using RAM by measuring how much memory is available. Once a device passes this check, the system can be certain that no malware programs are actively running, at which point it can scan secondary storage for dormant malware. Jakobsson notes the system is designed to find existing malware, and is not a prevention program.
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Researchers at Harvard University and Australia’s University of Queensland have designed and constructed a quantum computer capable of simulating and calculating the behavior of a molecular quantum system. The two photons that function as qubits in a quantum device are entangled, meaning that their states are linked and consistent over distance, thus augmenting the quantum computer’s ability to explore all possible solutions to a complex problem at once. The researchers tasked the computer with calculating the energy levels of the hydrogen molecule. Through simulation of the quantum forces inherent in the electrons of atomic bonds themselves, the computer’s photons accurately nailed the energy levels to within 6 parts per million. This milestone is “great, a proof of principle, more evidence that [a quantum computer] is not pie in the sky or cannot be built,” says University of California, Berkeley professor Birgitta Whaley.
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