Critical Physical Infrastructure Research Articles

Software Implementation Solutions of A Lightweight Block Cipher to Secure Restricted IoT Environment: A Review

With the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, IoT devices are integrated into many of our daily lives, including industrial, security, medical, and personal applications. Many violations of IoT safety have appeared due to the critical physical infrastructure, and network vulnerabilities. Considering the nature of the restricted and limited resources of these devices in terms of size, capacity, and energy, Security is becoming increasingly important. Lightweight cryptography is one of the directions that offer security solutions in resource-constrained environments such as Radio-frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor network (WSN).This paper discusses the security issues of these resource-constrained IoT devices and reviews the most prominent Lightweight Bock Cipher suitable for software implementation. Through studying thespecifications and the inner structure for each cipher and their implementation of the performance evaluation on some kind of platform, we provide a design strategies guideline for cryptographic developers to design improved Lightweight Block cipher solutions and compact software implementation for resource-constrained environments.

Unequal Protection Revisited: Planning for Environmental Justice, Hazard Vulnerability, and Critical Infrastructure in Communities of Color

Existing environmental justice (EJ) and hazard vulnerability literatures inadequately address key texts and topics related to critical physical infrastructure, including stormwater, green space, sewerage, energy, and roads, among other systems. This scoping review demonstrates how fundamental principles of EJ can bolster and compliment those of social vulnerability (SV) with a focus on stormwater systems and flood risks. The discussion and conceptual framework provide in-depth insight to how neighborhoods are not inherently vulnerable, but occupy built environments that are systematically sequestered, neglected, and underserved. Social processes and larger planning and development patterns shaped by power and privilege create areas of both prosperity and disadvantage. These outcomes are brought about specifically by early racial zoning, segregation, legalized redlining, and ultimately the isolation of racial minorities that have led to diminished tax bases and built environments in disrepair. Thus, infrastructural robustness and resilience at the neighborhood level result directly from human decisions and social ideologies of environmental racism and classism. The associated human-built environment manifests social and physical circumstances of damage and disease mentioned in both the SV and EJ literatures. The built environment must be explored with a progressive lens that views physical infrastructure as an extension of social circumstances to gain a comprehensive and robust understanding of how low-income communities and communities of color are unequally managed and protected in both daily environmental conditions and extreme events.

Close-in blast resistance of large-scale auxetic re-entrant honeycomb sandwich panels

The protection of critical infrastructure, including government buildings, airports, religious buildings, military buildings and military vehicles, which are at risk to blast loads, has become important due to increasing terrorist activities in recent years. Sacrificial cladding systems based on negative Poisson’s ratio core topologies have recently received more attention as a protective technology due to its excellent energy absorption capability. In this study, field blast tests were performed on metallic re-entrant honeycomb-cored sacrificial cladding systems as protective structures for steel plate structures. This study focused on the near-field blast loading conditions where liquid Nitromethane (NM) spherical charges were detonated in close proximity to the main structure. Two 6 mm thick mild steel plates and two steel plates protected with re-entrant honeycomb-cored sacrificial cladding systems were among the specimens tested. The proposed auxetic cladding system was fabricated from aluminium sheets using a novel in-house built folding machine. Numerical simulations were conducted utilising LS-DYNA software and the Blast Impact Impulse Model (BIIM). The results obtained from the numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results. It was found that the deformation pattern of the sacrificial auxetic cladding system varies with the intensity of the blast loading, and there is a limit at which the proposed protective system ceases to effectively absorb the applied blast loading. The variation of negative Poisson’s ratio of the system with blast loading was studied. It was found that the auxetic cladding system could become a solid projectile leading to damage amplification for very close-range blast loads due to rapid densification of the auxetic core. The proposed cladding systems with narrow re-entrant angles performed well under blast loads due to relatively low stiffness of the panels. Finally, the optimisation study was performed for the protective system. Overall, the experimental and numerical results assure that auxetic-based cladding systems are suitable for applications requiring blast protection such as armoured vehicles and critical physical infrastructure but need to be carefully designed for the given blast threat to prevent overloading of the protected structures.

Modeling Cyber Attacks at Intelligent Traffic Signals

Transportation networks are considered one of the critical physical infrastructures for resilient cities (cyber-physical systems). In efforts to minimize adverse effects that come with the advancement of vehicular technologies, various governmental agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), work together. This paper develops belief-network-based attack modeling at signalized traffic networks under connected vehicle and intelligent signals frameworks. For different types of cyber attacks, defined in the literature, risk areas and impacts of attacks are evaluated. Vulnerability scores, technically based on the selected metrics, are calculated for signal controllers. In addition, the effect of having redundant traffic sensing systems on intersection performance measures is demonstrated in terms of average queue length differences.

Cybersecurity Management for (Industrial) Internet of Things: Challenges and Opportunities

The internet of things (IoT) is about an integration between the physical and the cyber worlds in several aspects of peoples’ lives, with benefits of convenience and entertainment in the “smart home” domain, and process optimization, costs savings and business opportunities in the industrial, “smart city” and other domains such as power and health care, however, associated with concerns about security. Security is a must for IoT systems to protect sensitive data and critical physical infrastructure. It is estimated that the number of networked devices will reach 20-50 billion by 2020 on a global scale. Security risks can become expensive (particularly in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications) and dangerous for corporations, governments and even individuals’ lives, and strategies to combat cybercrime are being developed. However, there are 3 main challenges for solving security issues in IoT and IIoT settings: Applications operate in highly distributed environments, heterogeneous smart objects are used, and sensors and actuators are limited in terms of power and computational resources. Therefore, traditional security countermeasures do not work efficiently in IoT systems. A key security challenge in the IoT context is the increase of the overall attack surface for malicious attacks, as compared to isolated (i.e., non-connected) systems. Cybersecurity management has to increase awareness, competence levels and assess novel technologies such as blockchain and SDN (Software Defined Networking). Opportunities are offered by 5G and “green” IoT, particularly with regard to energy and CO2 emissions savings. This review article discusses the state-of-the-art, trends and developments arounds challenges and opportunities in cybersecurity management.

In This Issue: Food Systems Resilience

In This Issue: Food Systems Resilience

A Cascade-Based Emergency Model for Water Distribution Network

Water distribution network is important in the critical physical infrastructure systems. The paper studies the emergency resource strategies on water distribution network with the approach of complex network and cascading failures. The model of cascade-based emergency for water distribution network is built. The cascade-based model considers the network topology analysis and hydraulic analysis to provide a more realistic result. A load redistribution function with emergency recovery mechanisms is established. From the aspects of uniform distribution, node betweenness, and node pressure, six recovery strategies are given to reflect the network topology and the failure information, respectively. The recovery strategies are evaluated with the complex network indicators to describe the failure scale and failure velocity. The proposed method is applied by an illustrative example. The results showed that the recovery strategy considering the node pressure can enhance the network robustness effectively. Besides, this strategy can reduce the failure nodes and generate the least failure nodes per time.

Information and communications technologies in the age of globalization

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the challenges and opportunities for implementing ICTs in Africa. It identifies potential areas that ICTs can be targeted and implemented for maximum in the region, and offers an integrated framework that could help the region to coordinate various components and institutionalize ICTs in the economy. It is argued that Africa needs an integrated approach to leverage ICTs for socioeconomic development.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews African theoretical perspectives of ICTs. Synthesizing literature on African perspectives of ICTs, an integrated framework is developed to help provide a coherent focus for the implementation of ICTs in a holistic manner.FindingsBasic systems for leveraging ICTs for development in Africa are fragmented and uncoordinated. Critical physical infrastructure and human capacity do not work synergistically to effectively implement ICTs. Where the basic infrastructure exists, various components do not operate synergistically to engender optimal results.Practical implicationsIdeas formulated in this study will be helpful to future researchers relative to how various ICT components could be systematized and managed to stimulate sustainable socioeconomic development and structural changes in Africa. The framework will help to guide policymakers to design and implement ICT‐friendly policies and strategies.Originality/valueA systemic framework is developed to help policymakers in Africa to institutionalize ICTs in their economies.

Lessons from Stuxnet

Malware such as Stuxnet can affect critical physical infra-structures that are controlled by software, which implies that threats might extend to real lives.

Lessons from Stuxnet

The article mentions that the malware such as Stuxnet can affect critical physical infrastructures that are controlled by software, which implies that threats might extend to real lives. Stuxnet differs from past malware in several ways. First, most malware tries to infect as many computers as possible, whereas Stuxnet appears to target industrial control systems and delivers its pay load under very specific conditions. Second, Stuxnet is larger and more complex than other malware. It cotains exploits for four vulnerabilities.

A Wireless Sensor Network Platform for Structural Health Monitoring: enabling accurate and synchronized measurements through COTS+custom-based design

Structural health monitoring has long been identified as a prominent application of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), as traditional wired-based solutions present some inherent limitations such as installation/maintenance cost, scalability and visual impact. Nevertheless, there is a lack of ready-to-use and off-the-shelf WSN technologies that are able to fulfill some most demanding requirements of these applications, which can span from critical physical infrastructures (e.g. bridges, tunnels, mines, energy grid) to historical buildings or even industrial machinery and vehicles. Low-power and low-cost yet extremely sensitive and accurate accelerometer and signal acquisition hardware and stringent time synchronization of all sensors data are just examples of the requirements imposed by most of these applications. This paper presents a prototype system for health monitoring of civil engineering structures that has been jointly conceived by a team of civil, and electrical and computer engineers. It merges the benefits of standard and off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and communication technologies with a minimum set of custom-designed signal acquisition hardware that is mandatory to fulfill all application requirements.

A nature-inspired decentralized trust model to reduce information unreliability in complex disaster relief operations

One of the foremost challenges confronting society today is the vulnerability of critical physical infrastructures in urban areas to extreme events. The major challenge in these scenarios despite the availability of the means of communication (e.g. ad-hoc networks, hand held devices) is the lack of trust among the first responders due to their having no prior experience of interactions amongst themselves. Also the spreading of inaccurate or misleading information can have disastrous consequences in the chaotic and hazardous environments which are prevalent in large-scale disasters. Therefore it is imperative that the responders possess the ability to assess and evaluate the trustworthiness as well as the information propagated by fellow responders in order to facilitate collaboration. This paper presents a decentralized trust model to enhance reliable information dissemination in large-scale disasters. The model proposed includes a distributed recommendation scheme, incorporated into an existing membership maintenance service for ad-hoc networks. In addition it has a nature-inspired activation spreading mechanism that allows trust-based information propagation. Search and Rescue exercises involving civil engineers and firefighters were conducted at the Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) to test the software. The upshot of the simulation was immediate and robust establishment of trust and high resilience to the spread of the unreliable information.

Robust Mobile Ad Hoc Space for Collaboration to Support Disaster Relief Efforts Involving Critical Physical Infrastructure

When an extreme event hits an urban area, the efficiency and effectiveness of the first response have a profound effect on disaster relief efforts. The redefinition of the civil engineers’ role and responsibilities as first response team members, along with an enhanced collaboration between disaster relief organizations, will greatly improve first response efforts and the securing of affected infrastructures. To improve collaboration efforts, the currently used radio systems-based interaction medium needs to be modified due to the impossibility of storing, retrieving, and transferring digital information, and limited support to implement information dissemination policies. This paper presents a reliable, transparent, and portable mobile ad hoc space for collaboration (MASC) based on a short range wireless communication platform to address these limitations in order to provide more consistent and efficient collaboration among first responders. The system was designed around a robust data redundancy core, and tested through software simulations and by conducting a search and rescue exercise involving civil engineers and firefighters. The simulation results highlight that the number of machines, the replication level, the size of the replication unit, and the wireless communication range are key design elements of the system in providing high availability. The search and rescue exercise allowed this research to confirm the high availability simulation results and to demonstrate that MASC is able to adequately manage and disseminate information in disaster scenarios. These encouraging results allow this research effort to conclude that MASC is able to address these new challenges.

The Economic Impact of the Mercedes Benz Investment on the State of Alabama

AbstractAs part of its strategy to attract new businesses, in 1994 the State of Alabama won the Mercedes Benz bid to establish an automobile assembly plant in Vance, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama at the cost of $222 to $253 million worth of incentives. The study assessed the economic impact of the Mercedes Benz investment using IMPLAN. The IMPLAN industry code 49, industrial construction, and industry code 384, motor vehicle, were used to project the impact of the investment for the construction and production phases respectively. The results from four scenarios indicated that the investment would generate sizable direct and indirect employment, income, output, and tax revenue for the state economy. From the estimated revenue, the pay-out period for the cost of the incentive would be from four to seven years. The scenarios also indicated that the increase in the volume of locally purchased automobile parts will increase the multiplier effects for the state economy. Currently, the direct benefits from suppliers accrue to other states with established suppliers networks. The finding also suggested a heavy concentration of the impact of Mercedes Benz plant in the north and northeast part of the state. These counties were also the beneficiaries of past agglomeration economies in terms of critical physical infrastructure and human resource development.

Urban public finance in developing countries

The publication of this volume on urban public finance is timely. The book distills the lessons learned by the authors during many years of work. These lessons will be of great value for policymakers, who are recognizing that urban development is still a major challenge for developing countries. Investments by urban local governments in social and physical infrastructure are now recognized as critical. Maintenance of public capital assets in urban areas is now the responsibility of local authorities, thus fiscal discipline and reliance on local resources have become the watchwords of the 1990s. There has been a growing demand to involve citizens more directly in governance. Related to this is the notion that people will pay more taxes if they see a closer relation between what they pay and what they receive in public goods and services. This volume provides a policy framework for urban public finance in developing countries. On the basis of an in-depth survey of global experience during the past two decades, it offers detailed guidance on issues of how to design local revenue instruments. Beyond this, it seeks a better understanding of the critical elements that connect urban policy and national economic development. By following the lessons of comparative experience gathered here, cities can begin to overcome their government's failures to provide them with critical physical and social infrastructure.