On Development of Platform for Organization Security Threat Analytics and Management (POSTAM) Using Rule-Based Approach

The integration of organisation’s information security policy into threat modeling enhances effectiveness of security strategies for information security management. These security policies are the ones which define the sets of security issues, controls and organisation’s commitment for seamless integration with knowledge based platforms in order to protect critical assets and data. Such platforms are needed to evaluate and share violations which can create security loop-hole. The lack of rules-based approaches for discovering potential threats at organisation’s context, poses a challenge for many organisations in safeguarding their critical assets. To address the challenge, this paper introduces a Platform for Organisation Security Threat Analytic and Management (POSTAM) using rule-based approach. The platform enhances strategies for combating information security threats and thus improves organisations’ commitment in protecting their critical assets. R scripting language for data visualization and java-based scripts were used to develop a prototype to run on web protocol. MySQL database management system was used as back-end for data storage during threat analytic processes.

Improved Feistel-based ciphers for wireless sensor network security

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are exposed to a variety of attacks. The quality and complexity of attacks are rising day by day. The proposed work aims at showing how the complexity of modern attacks is growing accordingly, leading to a similar rise in methods of resistance. Limitations in computational and battery power in sensor nodes are constraints on the diversity of security mechanisms. We must apply only suitable mechanisms to WSN where our approach was motivated by the application of an improved Feistel scheme. The modified accelerated-cipher design uses data-dependent permutations, and can be used for fast hardware, firmware, software and WSN encryption systems. The approach presented showed that ciphers using this approach are less likely to suffer intrusion of differential cryptanalysis than currently used popular WSN ciphers like DES, Camellia and so on.

Quality of Service in Wireless Sensor Networks

The growing demand of usage of wireless sensors applications in different aspects makes the quality-of-service (QoS) to be one of paramount issues in wireless sensors applications. Quality of service guarantee in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is difficult and more challenging due to the fact that the resources available of sensors and the various applications running over these networks have different constraints in their nature and requirements. Traditionally quality of service was focused on network level with concern in metrics such as delay, throughput, jitter e.c.t. In this paper we present appropriate metrics of QoS for WSN which involve service, reliability and availability which ultimately facilitating in archiving qualitable service. We discuss the reverse look of QoS and hence present mathematically the three significant quality factors that should currently be taken into account in developing WSNs application quality services namely, availability, reliability and serviceability. We run experiments incorporating these three phenomenons (reliability, availability and serviceability—RAS) to demonstrate how to attain QoS which effectively improve reliability of the overall WSNs.

A Conceptual Framework for Threat Assessment Based on Organization’s Information Security Policy

The security breaches of sensitive information have remained difficult to solve due to increased malware programs and unauthorized access to data stored in critical assets. As risk appetite differ from one organization to another, it prompts the threat analysis tools be integrated with organization’s information security policy so as to ensure security controls at local settings. However, it has been noted that the current tools for threat assessment processes have not encompassed information security policy for effective security management (i.e.?confidentiality, integrity and availability) based on organization’s risk appetite and culture. The information security policy serves as a tool to provide guidance on how to manage and secure all business operations including critical assets, infrastructure and people in the organization. This guidance (e.g. usage and controls) facilitates the provisions for threat assessment and compliance based on local context. The lack of effective threat assessment frameworks at local context have promoted the exposure of critical assets such as database servers, mails servers, web servers and user smart-devices at the hand of attackers and thus increase risks and probability to compromise the assets. In this paper we have proposed a conceptual framework for security threat assessment based on organization’s information security policy. Furthermore, the study proposed the policy automation canvas for provision of a methodology to alert the security managers what possible threats found in their organizations for quick security mitigation without depending on security expertise.