Improve System Security Research Articles

Cyber-Physical System-Based Heuristic Planning and Scheduling Method for Multiple Automatic Guided Vehicles in Logistics Systems

The application of cyber-physical system (CPS) and edge computing in smart logistics systems has greatly improved the work efficiency. This article mainly focuses on the planning and scheduling problems in the CPS-based multiple automatic guided vehicles logistics system. A virtual network map with uneven time constraints is first proposed, which realizes the control and interaction of actual work in the control layer. Then, an improved A* path planning algorithm based on the characteristics of the path network model is implemented. A novel traffic control method is added to the planning process to achieve time-sensitive and proactive scheduling and collision avoidance. Results of the numerical experiments reveal that the proposed CPS-based heuristic method could be effectively applied to the multiple automatic guided vehicles logistics system to further improve system security as well as work efficiency.

User Authentication System Based on Speech and Cascade Hybrid Facial Feature

With the increasing demand for security in many fastest growing applications, biometric recognition is the most prominent authentication system. User authentication through speech and face recognition is the important biometric technique to enhance the security. This paper proposes a speech and facial feature-based multi-modal biometric recognition technique to improve the authentication of any system. Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) is extracted from audio as speech features. In visual recognition, this paper proposes cascade hybrid facial (visual) feature extraction method based on static, dynamic and key-point salient features of the face and it proves that the proposed feature extraction method is more efficient than the existing method. In this proposed method, Viola–Jones algorithm is used to detect static and dynamic features of eye, nose, lip, Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm is used to detect some stable key-point features of face. In this paper, a research on the audio-visual integration method using AND logic is also made. Furthermore, all the experiments are carried out using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). An accuracy of 94.90% is achieved using proposed feature extraction method. The main objective of this work is to improve the authenticity of any application using multi-modal biometric features. Adding facial features to the speech recognition improve system security because biometric features are unique and combining evidence from two modalities increases the authenticity as well as integrity of the system.

Representation of Uncertainty in Electric Energy Market Models: Pricing Implication and Formulation

Modern market management systems continue to evolve due to the intentions to improve system security and reliability. This evolution has been leading to a transition of market auction models from a deterministic structure with approximations on the reliability criteria (e.g., acquisition of contingency reserve through proxy reserve policies) to explicit representation of contingencies (e.g., estimation of postcontingency states via participation factors and stochastic programming). This aricle proposes a comprehensive framework to establish various procedures for evaluating: (i) transparency and incentive compatibility of different contingency modeling approaches, and (ii) efficiency of two possible stochastic market designs. First, the concept of securitized locational marginal price is presented to solve the issue of how market participants should be compensated for providing N-1 reliability services. Then, pricing implications and settlements of three market models are compared: a deterministic market model with proxy serve policies; state-of-the-art market models with estimated postcontingency states; and (iii) a two-stage stochastic market model. Second, this article evaluates two stochastic market models while accounting for potential adjustments from day-ahead scheduling to real-time operation: (i) minimizing expected operating cost of all N-1 scenarios, and (ii) minimizing the base-case (or no contingency) cost. These analyses are conducted on IEEE 118-bus test system.

On Feasibility of Autonomous Frequency-Support Provision from Offshore HVDC Grids

Offshore multi-terminal high-voltage dc (HVDC) grids are emerging as a technical reliable and economical solution to transfer more offshore wind energy to inland power grids. It is also envisaged that the offshore HVDC grids pave the way for both offshore wind participation and sharing inland frequency reserves for efficient power systems’ frequency control. The frequency control mechanism in an HVDC grid can be either centralized or decentralized. An autonomous frequency control (AFC) is a decentralized control, which does not require communication links between dc grid terminals. In the AFC, the dc-link voltage is used as a medium to reflect the inland frequency change to other terminals. The AFC has some technical and non-technical challenges, especially when the dc grid is connected to more than one shore ac systems. Among challenges of the AFC are the deficiency in meeting grid code requirements, adverse reaction of converters, dc voltage variations, difficulties of offshore wind participation in power markets. This paper proposes a new methodology of frequency control which uses both centralized control and AFC simultaneously. The proposed methodology shall improve system security and mitigate the listed problems of the AFC. A four-terminal dc grid is described and used for analysis and demonstration of the proposed methodology.

Power system security improvement using an OPA model and IPSO algorithm

The growing demand for power generation makes power systems increasingly more complex to operate and less secure against outages, so the risk of extensive blackouts is growing and needs to be addressed. Cascading failures are the main reason for extensive blackouts, so to investigate this effect a new method including a standard blackout model, named ORNL-PSerc-Alaska (OPA), and static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) placement using an improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) algorithm is proposed. This study provides two optimization approaches and presents optimal corrective actions. The results will help operators to implement corrective actions like optimal generation and load redispatching to return the system to a stable operating condition. The effectiveness of the proposed model is demonstrated using a realistic transmission network. Simulation results show a significant effect of SSSC on decreasing the risk of cascading failures and the ability of the proposed method to prevent blackout.

Distributionally-robust chance constrained and interval optimization for integrated electricity and natural gas systems optimal power flow with wind uncertainties

With increasing penetrations of gas-fired generation in power systems because of reducing gas prices and emissions regulations, the interdependent and coordinated operation of integrated electricity and natural gas systems (IEGSs) is becoming an urgent research topic. Meanwhile, the significantly increasing deployment of wind power necessitates that IEGSs operation considers wind power output uncertainty. How to model the impact of wind power uncertainty on IEGSs power and gas flows dispatch is challenging. In this paper, a hybrid distributionally-robust chance-constrained and interval optimization (DRCC-IO) based model is proposed to consider the influence of wind power uncertainty and its spatial-temporal correlation on IEGSs operation. First, the DRCC-OPF model is proposed to obtain reliable economic dispatch solutions for the electricity network considering the wind power forecast errors. The spatial-temporal correlation of the wind power plant (WPP) forecasts is considered with a sparse correlation covariance matrix. Then, the interval optimization (IO) model is used to model the impacts of the power variations of gas-fired units on the natural gas network. Finally, the proposed model considers the impacts of wind power uncertainty on both the electricity and natural gas networks. Case studies performed on a six-bus power system coupled with a seven-node gas system and an IEEE 118-bus power system with a 14-node gas system verify the effectiveness of the proposed method to improve system security and reduce costs of the IEGSs. The robustness of the wind power forecast errors can be controlled in the proposed model to trade off the security and costs of the IEGSs.

Security and Accuracy of Fingerprint-Based Biometrics: A Review

Biometric systems are increasingly replacing traditional password- and token-based authentication systems. Security and recognition accuracy are the two most important aspects to consider in designing a biometric system. In this paper, a comprehensive review is presented to shed light on the latest developments in the study of fingerprint-based biometrics covering these two aspects with a view to improving system security and recognition accuracy. Based on a thorough analysis and discussion, limitations of existing research work are outlined and suggestions for future work are provided. It is shown in the paper that researchers continue to face challenges in tackling the two most critical attacks to biometric systems, namely, attacks to the user interface and template databases. How to design proper countermeasures to thwart these attacks, thereby providing strong security and yet at the same time maintaining high recognition accuracy, is a hot research topic currently, as well as in the foreseeable future. Moreover, recognition accuracy under non-ideal conditions is more likely to be unsatisfactory and thus needs particular attention in biometric system design. Related challenges and current research trends are also outlined in this paper.

Optimal sizing of hybrid renewable energy system via artificial immune system under frequency stability constraints

An efficient sizing procedure for renewable energy resources (RESs) is a mandatory requirement for the implementation phase. The sizing procedure is mainly demand curve dependent, and the proper sizing certainly optimizes system components and hence reduces the cost. This article proposes an innovative optimal sizing procedure for wind/solar/battery hybrid renewable power systems (HRPSs) using the Artificial Immune System (AIS) technique. The optimal sizes of photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines, and batteries which fulfil the demand requirement with the least percent of load interruptions are identified. HRPSs usually suffer from the uncertainty of RESs and the absence of synchronous inertia. Energy storage systems (ESSs) could successively remedy these deficiencies. This article advises the application of ESS for providing the primary frequency control during any contingency/fall of frequency out of its normal limits. Accordingly, ESS acts as virtual synchronous inertia that balances between demand and generation during disturbance. The proposed sizing procedure is analysed as a constrained optimization problem. The constraints ensure high reliability power supply along with the frequency stability constraints. Therefore, the proposed sizing procedure has the advantages of minimized HRPS cost, improved system security, and regulated frequency. The uncertainty of RESs is considered in the proposed sizing procedure, to improve the applicability of the obtained results. The proposed procedure algorithm is correlated via comparison with Practical Swarm Optimization, a fertile optimization method. A case study for evaluating the proposed sizing approach is Qena AL-Gadida city, Qena province, Egypt. The power supply of this city is considered as a Microgrid. MATLAB is used for coding AIS and systems under concern. Numerous operating scenarios are considered to test the functionality of the proposed sizing and primary function regulation ability of its ESS. The results reveal the reliability and applicability of the advised sizing procedure. Moreover, adopting primary frequency regulation of ESS resulted only in a slight increase in the overall costs.

Electronic Scoring Scheme Based on Real Paillier Encryption Algorithms

Paillier algorithm has higher time efficiency than other homomorphic encryption algorithms due to only one power operation is required, but its encryption range is limited to integer, which cannot meet the need of electronic scoring system to encrypt real. To solve the problem, an electronic scoring scheme based on real Paillier algorithm is put forward. In the proposed scheme, compound transformation is introduced to convert real to large integer. The encryption range of Paillier algorithm is extended from integer to real by the large integer operation, which can make the scoring results more precision. In addition, a more secure and efficient two-way identity authentication strategy between clients and servers is designed by using Horner's rule. After hashing the username and password by Horner's rule, the obtained hash value is encrypted and transmitted, which can not only improve system security by avoiding disclosure of user's information during transmission, but also increase the computation efficiency due to the reduction of data size in encryption and decryption. In the experiment, compared with the existing encryption algorithms on different scoring data sets, the whole encryption and decryption time is slightly increased by 0.28% compared with the traditional Paillier, but computing real score is realized in the proposed method. The efficiency of addition and multiplication of the proposed method is increased averagely by 25.99% and 42.75%. The average shorten time of two-way identity authentication is 27.22 milliseconds due to the using of Horner's rule. When the number of clients is more than 105, the time efficiency is improved more obviously.

Point Cloud Processing System Development Based on PCL and Qt

LiDAR technology has been widely applied in various disciplines as it can obtain 3D information of targets directly and accurately. However, it is still a challenge to processing LiDAR point clouds efficiently as its huge datasets and complicated processing procedures. Current processing methods need integrate multiple software to complete the whole processing procedures to produce final results which needs lots of time effort and cause low efficiency. By analyzing the theories and methods of LiDAR data processing procedures, this research aims to develop a new point cloud processing software based on PCL and Qt. Firstly, the overall design and modules of the processing system was introduced. The main modules include data management, visualization, filtering, segmentation modeling and auxiliary function. Secondly, to improve system security and maintenance convenience, the system adopts the object-oriented programming method to encapsulate private members and methods of classes, and only open public member variables and methods are available to users. The main classes which were employed in this research were explained. Finally, indoor environments datasets were used to verify the point cloud processing system. The results showed that system has strong interactivity, intuitive display, easy to use and comprehensive features and good results can be derived.

Power system security enhancement by HVDC links using a closed-loop emergency control

In recent years, guaranteeing that large-scale interconnected systems operate safely, stably and economically has become a major and emergency issue. A number of high profile blackouts caused by cascading outages have focused attention on this issue. Embedded HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) links within a larger AC power system are known to act as a “firewall” against cascading disturbances and therefore, can effectively contribute in preventing blackouts. A good example is the 2003 blackout in USA and Canada, where the Québec grid was not affected due to its HVDC interconnection. In the literature, many works have studied the impact of HVDC on the power system stability, but very few examples exist in the area of its impact on the system security. This paper presents a control strategy for HVDC systems to increase their contribution to system security. A real-time closed-loop control scheme is used to modulate the DC power of HVDC links to alleviate AC system overloads and improve system security. Simulations carried out on a simplified model of the Hydro-Québec network show that the proposed method works well and can greatly improve system security during emergency situations.

Performance Analysis of Secure Communications Over Dual Correlated Rician Fading Channels

Wireless secrecy under dual correlated Rician fading environments is theoretically studied for correlated source–destination and source–wiretapper channels. Without considering wiretapper active jamming capability, expressions for: 1) the ergodic secrecy capacity when the wiretapper is active and 2) secrecy outage probability when the wiretapper is passive are obtained. To further improve system security, new secrecy analyses employing an adaptive encoder with ON/OFF transmission are also given. The new findings exactly reduce to existing findings under dual correlated Rayleigh fading and advance theoretical developments for wireless secrecy under dual correlated Rician fading. Monte Carlo simulation results are given, which match theoretical predictions. Under wireless secrecy context, the disadvantage of line-of-sight (LoS) power and channel correlation is evidently shown, revealing the non-usefulness of LoS power and establishing a tradeoff between the transmission security and the transmission success. Benefits of a high-average transmit signal-to-noise ratio are discussed.

E-Government Adoption and Security Website Framework for Martyrs and Wounded of Popular Mobilization Forces and Iraqi Militaries

In this paper, the limitation of the existing E-Government system is highlighted, followed by the introduction of the new e-service framework that handles the e-government system in the offline mode. This framework can manage complaints and transactions in an effective manner. The current study is significant since an unbiased assessment of the loopholes was conducted in accordance with the information security guidelines. Furthermore, all possible vulnerabilities of the system were assessed to evaluate the actual impacts of the information security guidelines. Some suggestions have been recommended to improve the information security of Egovernance systems for Martyrs and Wounded of Popular Mobilization Forces and Iraqi Militaries. Nevertheless, the current project framework has been adopted from the relevant research works performed earlier. The framework design involves two stages: (1) design of a flexible website for Martyrs and Wounded of Popular Mobilization Forces and Iraqi Militaries. In other words, we would like to provide a robust egovernment service to Iraqi government; and (2) improve system security and prevent man-in-the-middle (MiMT) attack. The significance of this study is to reduce the claim processing time for the martyrs and wounded of popular mobilization forces and Iraq military. Furthermore, it will increase the reply time from the departments and the clients to reply for their inquiries.

Estimating the Active and Reactive Power Flexibility Area at the TSO-DSO Interface

The penetration of distributed renewable energy sources in the distribution grid is increasing considerably in the last years. This is one of the main causes that contributed to the growth of technical problems in both transmission and distribution systems. An effective solution to improve system security is to exploit the flexibility that can be provided by distributed energy resources (DER), which are mostly located at the distribution grids. Their location combined with the lack of power flow coordination at the system operators interface creates difficulties in taking advantage of these flexible resources. This paper presents a methodology based on the solution of a set of optimization problems that estimate the flexibility ranges at the distribution and transmission system operators (TSO-DSO) boundary nodes. The estimation is performed while considering the grid technical constraints and a maximum cost that the user is willing to pay. The novelty behind this approach comes from the development of flexibility cost maps, which allow the visualization of the impact of DER flexibility on the operating point at the TSO-DSO interface. The results are compared with a sampling method and suggest that a higher accuracy in the TSO-DSO information exchange process can be achieved through this approach.

Application of Differential Evolution Algorithm for Optimal Placement of UPFC for Improved Voltage Stability

The Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is one of the versatile and most effective Flexible AC transmission System (FACTS) devices which can provide full dynamic control of a transmission line parameters, bus voltage, line impedance and phase angle for improved system security. However, the extent that performance of UPFC can be brought out; it’s greatly dependents upon the location of the device in the system. The present work is a Differential Evolution (DE) based algorithm for optimal placement of the UPFC device under steady state (normal, moderate and critical) conditions and is aimed at voltage profile enhancement of an interconnected power system. The proposed method is applied on an IEEE 14-bus power system which is demonstrated through MATPOWER simulation tool. The results obtained indicate that DE is robust based on the facts that the voltage profile was kept within the acceptable limit. Installing UPFC in the optimal location determined by DE can significantly enhance the security of power system through improvement of bus voltage limit violations.

Cloud access control authentication system using dynamic accelerometers data

SummaryThe main challenge of access control system is how to allow authorized users to access quickly and accurately. In reality, most access control system cannot run smoothly with the adverse impact of a security problem, it is because the access control card is easy to duplicate. To improve system security, recent efforts introduced biological technologies, such as fingerprint identification, facial recognition, and iris recognition. However, these methods are costly for installation and later maintenance. In this paper, we introduce a cloud access control system that employs the ability of sensing acceleration of Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform (WISP) tags combined with customized motions. Users are allowed to pass the access control system only if they operate user‐defined motions correctly. Authorized users can define the authentication motions by themselves, which not only facilitates the daily use but also improves the security of the cloud access control system. We conduct intensive experimental measurements. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of our proposed system.

Collaborative framework for protection against attacks targeting BGP and edge networks

This paper presents the design and data-driven overhead analysis of PrefiSec, a distributed framework that helps collaborating organizations to effectively maintain and share network information in the fight against miscreants. PrefiSec is a novel distributed IP-prefix-based solution, which maintains information about the activities associated with IP prefixes (blocks of IP addresses) and autonomous systems (AS) and enables efficient sharing of this information between participants. Within PrefiSec, we design and evaluate simple and scalable mechanisms that help to protect against prefix/subprefix attacks and interception attacks, and enable sharing of prefix related information related to a wide range of edge-based attacks, such as spamming and scanning. We also include an evaluation of which ASes need to collaborate, to what extent the size and locality of ASes matter, and how many ASes are needed to achieve good efficiency in detecting anomalous route announcements. Public wide-area BGP-announcements, traceroutes, and simulations are used to estimate the overhead, scalability, and alert rates. Our results show that PrefiSec helps improve system security, and can scale to large systems.

Moving target defense: state of the art and characteristics

Moving target defense (MTD) has emerged as one of the game-changing themes to alter the asymmetric situation between attacks and defenses in cyber-security. Numerous related works involving several facets of MTD have been published. However, comprehensive analyses and research on MTD are still absent. In this paper, we present a survey on MTD technologies to scientifically and systematically introduce, categorize, and summarize the existing research works in this field. First, a new security model is introduced to describe the changes in the traditional defense paradigm and security model caused by the introduction of MTD. A function-and-movement model is provided to give a panoramic overview on different perspectives for understanding the existing MTD research works. Then a systematic interpretation of published literature is presented to describe the state of the art of the three main areas in the MTD field, namely, MTD theory, MTD strategy, and MTD evaluation. Specifically, in the area of MTD strategy, the common characteristics shared by the MTD strategies to improve system security and effectiveness are identified and extrapolated. Thereafter, the methods to implement these characteristics are concluded. Moreover, the MTD strategies are classified into three types according to their specific goals, and the necessary and sufficient conditions of each type to create effective MTD strategies are then summarized, which are typically one or more of the aforementioned characteristics. Finally, we provide a number of observations for the future direction in this field, which can be helpful for subsequent researchers.

Application of the Clark-Wilson Model for Business Intelligence System Security Improvement

This paper presents the theoretical issues of data security in information systems, a practical implementation of the Clark-Wilson model on the example of Business Intelligence tool, performing the function of a telecommunications operator sales module, and an evaluation of the increase of security of the system created, using risk analysis.

On the Use of Dynamic Thermal-Line Ratings for Improving Operational Tripping Schemes

The increasing volume of renewable and intermittent generation that is being connected to power systems means that system operators need more advanced dynamic control tools to manage the increase in congestion and the resulting pressure on system constraints. The dynamic thermal-line rating (DTLR) is the thermal rating of a transmission line that is calculated in real time based on online measurements of the loading of the asset and local weather conditions. This dynamic rating will usually be greater than the static rating that is currently used, as the static rating is defined for the worst case scenario. Therefore, using the dynamic rating allows the thermal constraint on a line to be relaxed and the maximum loading increased. An operational tripping scheme (OTS) is a type of system integrity protection scheme that is used to relieve overloads on transmission lines during stressed system conditions by tripping preselected generation assets that are connected to the protected lines. An OTS is used to increase power flow on overhead lines, without building new assets or compromising security, but doing so results in potential generation constraints and higher system risk. This paper presents the novel integration of DTLRs into an existing OTS in order to improve its performance by reducing the likelihood of unnecessary generation tripping due to overly conservative line ratings. This novel OTS affords the system economic benefits, by avoiding unnecessary tripping, and improves system security by limiting the propagation of disturbed conditions and avoiding unnecessary tripping actions that could initiate dangerous cascading events that might lead to system blackouts. The new scheme is an example of a wide area monitoring, protection and control application.