Cybersecurity Capabilities in Developing Nations and Its Impact on Global Security, 2022
ICT has become an essential factor in Ethiopia and other East African countries to transform thei... more ICT has become an essential factor in Ethiopia and other East African countries to transform their economies. Meanwhile, the agriculture sector is still the primary driver of economic development. The difference between the past and present years is the injection of technology to further drive this business. For Ethiopia, this means using a database to support countrywide micro-financing to farmers in seeking capital for leasing land, purchasing needed materials, and hiring workers. The objectives of this chapter were to redesign and harden the database architecture of the researched micro-financing organization. The researchers performed an assessment of the organization's information systems. After identifying weaknesses, they followed controls identified in the NIST SP 800-53. This chapter describes the security faults within the database, showing the lack of baseline cybersecurity controls to ensure a hardened system. The authors proposed a security-centered database architecture after auditing the researched organization's IT infrastructure and information systems.
International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION, 2023
The escalating complexity of cyber attacks demands innovative intrusion detection systems (IDS) t... more The escalating complexity of cyber attacks demands innovative intrusion detection systems (IDS) to safeguard critical assets and data. The study aims to explore the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing the IDS's ability to identify and classify network traffic and detect anomalous behavior. The paper offers a concise overview of IDS and AI and examines the existing literature on the subject, highlighting the significance of integrating advanced language models for cybersecurity enhancement. The research outlines the methodology employed to assess the efficacy of AI within IDS. Furthermore, the study considers key performance metrics such as detection accuracy, false positive rate, and response time to ensure a comprehensive evaluation. Findings indicate that AI is a valuable asset in enhancing the accuracy of AI for detecting and responding to cyber attacks. Nonetheless, the study also brings to light certain limitations and challenges associated with incorporating AI into IDS, such as computational complexity and potential biases in training data. This research emphasizes the potential of advanced language models like ChatGPT in augmenting cybersecurity solutions and offers insights into overcoming associated challenges for a more robust and effective defense against sophisticated cyber attacks.
International Journal of Health Systems and Translational Medicine
Healthcare systems in the United States have discovered the massive potential for digital technol... more Healthcare systems in the United States have discovered the massive potential for digital technology to enhance clinical outcomes and change care delivery (Coventry & Branley, 2018). Technologies range from telemedicine technology providing care remotely, storing electronic health records (EHRs), and devices that deliver medication or monitor health (Coventry & Branley, 2018). There has been a 300% increase in cyberattacks in the healthcare industry (Janofsky, 2019). The increasing cost and threat to cybersecurity, especially amid a global pandemic, highlights organizations' immediate need to utilize system thinking to prevent continuous loss. This research discussion aims to use the literature's contextual review to examine healthcare cybersecurity organizational behavior through systems thinking lens to explore a holistic managerial thinking to better manage healthcare cybersecurity.
Research Anthology on Securing Mobile Technologies and Applications, 2021
Android is a free, open source platform that allows any developer to submit apps to the Android M... more Android is a free, open source platform that allows any developer to submit apps to the Android Market with no restrictions. This enables hackers to pass their malicious apps to the Android Market as legitimate apps. The central issue lies at the heart of the Android permission mechanism, which is not capable of blocking malicious apps from accessing sensitive phone resources (e.g., contact info and browsing history); it either allows or disallows apps from accessing the resources requested by the app at the installation time. This chapter investigated the scope of this issue and concluded that hackers use malicious apps as attack vectors to compromise Android smartphones and steal confidential data and that no security solutions exist to combat malicious apps. The researcher suggested designing a real time monitoring application to detect and deter malicious apps from compromising users' sensitive data; such application is necessary for Android users to protect their privacy an...
Relatório apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do t... more Relatório apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do tÃtulo de pós-doutoramento em Ciências da InformaçãoCybersecurity has gone through several changes that have presented new challenges in recent years, complicated by the rise of cybercrime and digital warfare. With the introduction of militarizing the space domain, it has become apparent that we must consider multidomain concepts. Thus, the threat landscape has again shifted, and defenders must become knowledgeable about how the cyber domain crosses into maritime, land, air, and space. The traditional thinking of protecting enterprise systems locked away in a building is no longer. Thus, we have the emergence of cyber warfare and cyber as a fifth domain that brings together maritime, land, space, and air. These domains are not just for the military but the civilian sector as well. Understanding the role of cyber and how it can be used to take advantage or secure the remaining domains will...
2021 World Engineering Education Forum/Global Engineering Deans Council (WEEF/GEDC), 2021
In the wake of a pandemic, it has been essential that programs move online quickly while remainin... more In the wake of a pandemic, it has been essential that programs move online quickly while remaining the same academic rigor as being on the ground. Therefore the cybersecurity coursework and labs were taught entirely online while representing real-world scenarios. The College of Computing at Illinois Institute of Technology has recently been actively creating new partnerships, strengthening their cybersecurity, Information Technology, and other computing programs to meet national security needs. These activities have allowed partnerships with the United States Armed Services, Department of Defense, and numerous industry partners. The newly found focus on national security has provided a different perspective on cybersecurity-related to global events and how it can shape those currently, such as political events.
Cybercrime affects multiple areas of society with nefarious activities ranging from human traffic... more Cybercrime affects multiple areas of society with nefarious activities ranging from human trafficking to illegal arms sale. The Internet has allowed some nefarious activities to be revived as others have emerged in this new age. In turn, this has become a national security issue for countries as this requires resources to combat this evolving threat. These activities include undermining legitimate services that provide government services to its citizens, such as passport, national identification, tax services, and more. This paper introduces some of these activities, enabling readers to understand this digital criminal world further.
Many countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are using Information Co... more Many countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are using Information Communications Technology (ICT) to enhance agriculture development and production. To do this efficiently the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program managed for West Africa by Winrock International has been tasked with providing volunteer assignments to ministries of agriculture. The University of Missouri Saint Louis (UMSL) has entered a partnership with Winrock International to offer upper-level undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to provide technical assistance to international government entities. In this panel; we discuss findings and opportunities for improvement in Guinea and Senegal as they relate to ICT discovered through the onsite support provided.
This paper provides insights on performance and usability from an assignment funded by the Cathol... more This paper provides insights on performance and usability from an assignment funded by the Catholic Relief Service Farmer-to-Farmer Program, which provides technical assistance with volunteers from the United States to farmers, agricultural institutions, and government organizations involved in the agricultural sector. The assignment required an affordable mobile data collection solution and IT training in Benin. The researchers developed a platform and provided technical training on-site. This investigation looks at conclusions based on the interpretation of the system usability scale (SUS) results from a representation of 13 cooperators. The research demonstrated the efficiency of the mobile data collection platform, and the training proved to be helpful for the participants. Before the contributions of the researchers, 46.2% of the participants scored at the D level or below. Once training was complete, 76.9% of the participants scored in the range of the B or higher.
The Internet of Things describes a world in which smart technologies enable objects with a networ... more The Internet of Things describes a world in which smart technologies enable objects with a network to communicate with each other and interface with humans effortlessly. This connected world of convenience and technology does not come without its drawbacks, as interconnectivity implies hackability. This new world of convenience calls for revolutionary protection strategies to reassess security. Risk management concepts and Information Assurance architecture similar to those practiced in the United States Department of Defense should be used as guidelines for cyber security implementation. This new emerging market that is facilitating the exchange of services and goods requires understanding the associated laws for the implementation of an IoT architecture (Weber, 2010).
Since the popularization of the big data concept, it has been implemented in various areas. Conte... more Since the popularization of the big data concept, it has been implemented in various areas. Contemporary literature has proved the potential of using big data in crime prevention. In this research paper, we examine research on big data being used in Crime Prevention while implementing an author-centric to a concept-centric research approach. We also present the foundation for future research by analyzing data derived from the City of Chicago. We identified the neighborhoods in Chicago that are statistically more prone to crimes and used data of the last 10 years to make our observations. We additionally provide further discussion points for future research purpose.
The cybersecurity of critical infrastructures is an essential topic within national and internati... more The cybersecurity of critical infrastructures is an essential topic within national and international security as 16 critical infrastructure sectors touch various aspects of American society. Because the failure to provide adequate cybersecurity controls within the critical infrastructure sectors renders the country open to an attack that could have a debilitating effect on security, national public health, safety, and economic security, this matter is so vital that there is the Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 21 Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience advances a national policy to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning and resilient critical infrastructure. An organization identified as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the mission to be the risk advisor for the United States (US). Other organizations, such as the National Security Agency (NSA), have approved a specific Knowledge Unit (KU) t...
Handbook of Research on Theory and Practice of Financial Crimes, 2021
The explosion of the internet has given rise to cybercrimes, online identity theft, and fraud. Wi... more The explosion of the internet has given rise to cybercrimes, online identity theft, and fraud. With the internet, these crimes are able to occur anywhere in the world and limitless to whatever selected target. The anonymity of the internet allows criminal activity to flourish, and the number of unsuspecting victims is growing. From script kiddies to nation-states, this new method of internet-enabled crimes has strained governments. This chapter provides insight into how crimes related to online identity theft and fraud are carried out. Examined within this chapter are the evolution of cybercrime, history of identity theft, applications for internet anonymity, and discussion on effects caused by romance scams and data breaches. Finally, recommendations are provided on what organizations and individuals can do to protect themselves against these vicious crimes.
International Journal of ICT Research in Africa and the Middle East, 2019
This article critically analyzes a project executed for the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farm... more This article critically analyzes a project executed for the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program which provides technical assistance with volunteers from the United States to farmers, agricultural institutions, and government organizations involved in agriculture such as the Ministry of Agriculture. In Guinea, the focus is on computer literacy as more sectors of agriculture rely on computing technology. These skills range from basic computing tasks such as creating databases to more advanced items such as programming global positional systems. This study looks at findings, based on the analysis of the system usability scale results from a sample of 16 participants. The findings demonstrated that the training proved to be effective for the participants and continued training is necessary. As a result of training, 62.5% of the participants ranked above average, as opposed to 43.6% prior to training.
International Journal of Hyperconnectivity and the Internet of Things, 2018
There has been a fast-growing demand for cybersecurity professionals to defend cyber space and in... more There has been a fast-growing demand for cybersecurity professionals to defend cyber space and information systems. With more and more programs and course offerings in cybersecurity popping up in higher education, it is important to have a consistent and reliable quality standard to guide and evaluate the training and preparation of qualified cyber defense workforce. The national Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) designation program jointly sponsored by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a rigorous national standard with specific criteria for maintaining the quality of cybersecurity education. This article explains the CAE-CDE program criteria and requirements and discusses the important role of the special designation in improving cyber defense education and workforce development. This article illustrates the educational value and quality impact of the CAE-CDE program with three case studies: (1) Univ...
Cybersecurity Capabilities in Developing Nations and Its Impact on Global Security, 2022
ICT has become an essential factor in Ethiopia and other East African countries to transform thei... more ICT has become an essential factor in Ethiopia and other East African countries to transform their economies. Meanwhile, the agriculture sector is still the primary driver of economic development. The difference between the past and present years is the injection of technology to further drive this business. For Ethiopia, this means using a database to support countrywide micro-financing to farmers in seeking capital for leasing land, purchasing needed materials, and hiring workers. The objectives of this chapter were to redesign and harden the database architecture of the researched micro-financing organization. The researchers performed an assessment of the organization's information systems. After identifying weaknesses, they followed controls identified in the NIST SP 800-53. This chapter describes the security faults within the database, showing the lack of baseline cybersecurity controls to ensure a hardened system. The authors proposed a security-centered database architecture after auditing the researched organization's IT infrastructure and information systems.
International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION, 2023
The escalating complexity of cyber attacks demands innovative intrusion detection systems (IDS) t... more The escalating complexity of cyber attacks demands innovative intrusion detection systems (IDS) to safeguard critical assets and data. The study aims to explore the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing the IDS's ability to identify and classify network traffic and detect anomalous behavior. The paper offers a concise overview of IDS and AI and examines the existing literature on the subject, highlighting the significance of integrating advanced language models for cybersecurity enhancement. The research outlines the methodology employed to assess the efficacy of AI within IDS. Furthermore, the study considers key performance metrics such as detection accuracy, false positive rate, and response time to ensure a comprehensive evaluation. Findings indicate that AI is a valuable asset in enhancing the accuracy of AI for detecting and responding to cyber attacks. Nonetheless, the study also brings to light certain limitations and challenges associated with incorporating AI into IDS, such as computational complexity and potential biases in training data. This research emphasizes the potential of advanced language models like ChatGPT in augmenting cybersecurity solutions and offers insights into overcoming associated challenges for a more robust and effective defense against sophisticated cyber attacks.
International Journal of Health Systems and Translational Medicine
Healthcare systems in the United States have discovered the massive potential for digital technol... more Healthcare systems in the United States have discovered the massive potential for digital technology to enhance clinical outcomes and change care delivery (Coventry & Branley, 2018). Technologies range from telemedicine technology providing care remotely, storing electronic health records (EHRs), and devices that deliver medication or monitor health (Coventry & Branley, 2018). There has been a 300% increase in cyberattacks in the healthcare industry (Janofsky, 2019). The increasing cost and threat to cybersecurity, especially amid a global pandemic, highlights organizations' immediate need to utilize system thinking to prevent continuous loss. This research discussion aims to use the literature's contextual review to examine healthcare cybersecurity organizational behavior through systems thinking lens to explore a holistic managerial thinking to better manage healthcare cybersecurity.
Research Anthology on Securing Mobile Technologies and Applications, 2021
Android is a free, open source platform that allows any developer to submit apps to the Android M... more Android is a free, open source platform that allows any developer to submit apps to the Android Market with no restrictions. This enables hackers to pass their malicious apps to the Android Market as legitimate apps. The central issue lies at the heart of the Android permission mechanism, which is not capable of blocking malicious apps from accessing sensitive phone resources (e.g., contact info and browsing history); it either allows or disallows apps from accessing the resources requested by the app at the installation time. This chapter investigated the scope of this issue and concluded that hackers use malicious apps as attack vectors to compromise Android smartphones and steal confidential data and that no security solutions exist to combat malicious apps. The researcher suggested designing a real time monitoring application to detect and deter malicious apps from compromising users' sensitive data; such application is necessary for Android users to protect their privacy an...
Relatório apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do t... more Relatório apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do tÃtulo de pós-doutoramento em Ciências da InformaçãoCybersecurity has gone through several changes that have presented new challenges in recent years, complicated by the rise of cybercrime and digital warfare. With the introduction of militarizing the space domain, it has become apparent that we must consider multidomain concepts. Thus, the threat landscape has again shifted, and defenders must become knowledgeable about how the cyber domain crosses into maritime, land, air, and space. The traditional thinking of protecting enterprise systems locked away in a building is no longer. Thus, we have the emergence of cyber warfare and cyber as a fifth domain that brings together maritime, land, space, and air. These domains are not just for the military but the civilian sector as well. Understanding the role of cyber and how it can be used to take advantage or secure the remaining domains will...
2021 World Engineering Education Forum/Global Engineering Deans Council (WEEF/GEDC), 2021
In the wake of a pandemic, it has been essential that programs move online quickly while remainin... more In the wake of a pandemic, it has been essential that programs move online quickly while remaining the same academic rigor as being on the ground. Therefore the cybersecurity coursework and labs were taught entirely online while representing real-world scenarios. The College of Computing at Illinois Institute of Technology has recently been actively creating new partnerships, strengthening their cybersecurity, Information Technology, and other computing programs to meet national security needs. These activities have allowed partnerships with the United States Armed Services, Department of Defense, and numerous industry partners. The newly found focus on national security has provided a different perspective on cybersecurity-related to global events and how it can shape those currently, such as political events.
Cybercrime affects multiple areas of society with nefarious activities ranging from human traffic... more Cybercrime affects multiple areas of society with nefarious activities ranging from human trafficking to illegal arms sale. The Internet has allowed some nefarious activities to be revived as others have emerged in this new age. In turn, this has become a national security issue for countries as this requires resources to combat this evolving threat. These activities include undermining legitimate services that provide government services to its citizens, such as passport, national identification, tax services, and more. This paper introduces some of these activities, enabling readers to understand this digital criminal world further.
Many countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are using Information Co... more Many countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are using Information Communications Technology (ICT) to enhance agriculture development and production. To do this efficiently the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program managed for West Africa by Winrock International has been tasked with providing volunteer assignments to ministries of agriculture. The University of Missouri Saint Louis (UMSL) has entered a partnership with Winrock International to offer upper-level undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to provide technical assistance to international government entities. In this panel; we discuss findings and opportunities for improvement in Guinea and Senegal as they relate to ICT discovered through the onsite support provided.
This paper provides insights on performance and usability from an assignment funded by the Cathol... more This paper provides insights on performance and usability from an assignment funded by the Catholic Relief Service Farmer-to-Farmer Program, which provides technical assistance with volunteers from the United States to farmers, agricultural institutions, and government organizations involved in the agricultural sector. The assignment required an affordable mobile data collection solution and IT training in Benin. The researchers developed a platform and provided technical training on-site. This investigation looks at conclusions based on the interpretation of the system usability scale (SUS) results from a representation of 13 cooperators. The research demonstrated the efficiency of the mobile data collection platform, and the training proved to be helpful for the participants. Before the contributions of the researchers, 46.2% of the participants scored at the D level or below. Once training was complete, 76.9% of the participants scored in the range of the B or higher.
The Internet of Things describes a world in which smart technologies enable objects with a networ... more The Internet of Things describes a world in which smart technologies enable objects with a network to communicate with each other and interface with humans effortlessly. This connected world of convenience and technology does not come without its drawbacks, as interconnectivity implies hackability. This new world of convenience calls for revolutionary protection strategies to reassess security. Risk management concepts and Information Assurance architecture similar to those practiced in the United States Department of Defense should be used as guidelines for cyber security implementation. This new emerging market that is facilitating the exchange of services and goods requires understanding the associated laws for the implementation of an IoT architecture (Weber, 2010).
Since the popularization of the big data concept, it has been implemented in various areas. Conte... more Since the popularization of the big data concept, it has been implemented in various areas. Contemporary literature has proved the potential of using big data in crime prevention. In this research paper, we examine research on big data being used in Crime Prevention while implementing an author-centric to a concept-centric research approach. We also present the foundation for future research by analyzing data derived from the City of Chicago. We identified the neighborhoods in Chicago that are statistically more prone to crimes and used data of the last 10 years to make our observations. We additionally provide further discussion points for future research purpose.
The cybersecurity of critical infrastructures is an essential topic within national and internati... more The cybersecurity of critical infrastructures is an essential topic within national and international security as 16 critical infrastructure sectors touch various aspects of American society. Because the failure to provide adequate cybersecurity controls within the critical infrastructure sectors renders the country open to an attack that could have a debilitating effect on security, national public health, safety, and economic security, this matter is so vital that there is the Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 21 Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience advances a national policy to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning and resilient critical infrastructure. An organization identified as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the mission to be the risk advisor for the United States (US). Other organizations, such as the National Security Agency (NSA), have approved a specific Knowledge Unit (KU) t...
Handbook of Research on Theory and Practice of Financial Crimes, 2021
The explosion of the internet has given rise to cybercrimes, online identity theft, and fraud. Wi... more The explosion of the internet has given rise to cybercrimes, online identity theft, and fraud. With the internet, these crimes are able to occur anywhere in the world and limitless to whatever selected target. The anonymity of the internet allows criminal activity to flourish, and the number of unsuspecting victims is growing. From script kiddies to nation-states, this new method of internet-enabled crimes has strained governments. This chapter provides insight into how crimes related to online identity theft and fraud are carried out. Examined within this chapter are the evolution of cybercrime, history of identity theft, applications for internet anonymity, and discussion on effects caused by romance scams and data breaches. Finally, recommendations are provided on what organizations and individuals can do to protect themselves against these vicious crimes.
International Journal of ICT Research in Africa and the Middle East, 2019
This article critically analyzes a project executed for the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farm... more This article critically analyzes a project executed for the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program which provides technical assistance with volunteers from the United States to farmers, agricultural institutions, and government organizations involved in agriculture such as the Ministry of Agriculture. In Guinea, the focus is on computer literacy as more sectors of agriculture rely on computing technology. These skills range from basic computing tasks such as creating databases to more advanced items such as programming global positional systems. This study looks at findings, based on the analysis of the system usability scale results from a sample of 16 participants. The findings demonstrated that the training proved to be effective for the participants and continued training is necessary. As a result of training, 62.5% of the participants ranked above average, as opposed to 43.6% prior to training.
International Journal of Hyperconnectivity and the Internet of Things, 2018
There has been a fast-growing demand for cybersecurity professionals to defend cyber space and in... more There has been a fast-growing demand for cybersecurity professionals to defend cyber space and information systems. With more and more programs and course offerings in cybersecurity popping up in higher education, it is important to have a consistent and reliable quality standard to guide and evaluate the training and preparation of qualified cyber defense workforce. The national Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) designation program jointly sponsored by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a rigorous national standard with specific criteria for maintaining the quality of cybersecurity education. This article explains the CAE-CDE program criteria and requirements and discusses the important role of the special designation in improving cyber defense education and workforce development. This article illustrates the educational value and quality impact of the CAE-CDE program with three case studies: (1) Univ...
Security Solutions for Hyperconnectivity and the Internet of Things
Secure computing is essential as environments continue to become intertwined and hyperconnected. ... more Secure computing is essential as environments continue to become intertwined and hyperconnected. As the Internet of Things (IoT), Web of Things (WoT), and the Internet of Everything (IoE) dominate the landscape of technological platforms, protection these complicated networks is important. The everyday person who wishes to have more devices that allow the ability to be connected needs to be aware of what threats they could be potentially exposing themselves to. Additionally, for the unknowing consumer of everyday products needs to be aware of what it means to have sensors, Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), Bluetooth, and WiFi enabled products. This submission explores how Availability, Integrity, and Confidentiality (AIC) can be applied to IoT, WoT, and IoE with consideration for the application of these architectures in the defense sector.
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