Message Manipulation Research Articles

Enhanced Security Taxonomy for Fog-Enabled VANETs: A Comprehensive Survey on Attacks, Challenges, Applications and Architectures

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) are integral to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), enabling real-time communication between vehicles and infrastructure to enhance traffic flow, road safety, and passenger experience. However, the open and dynamic nature of VANETs presents significant privacy and security challenges, including data eavesdropping, message manipulation, and unauthorized access. This study addresses these concerns by leveraging advancements in Fog Computing (FC), which offers lowlatency, distributed data processing near-end devices to enhance the resilience and security of VANET communications. The paper comprehensively analyzes the security frameworks for fog-enabled VANETs, introducing a novel taxonomy that classifies threats, attack vectors, and mitigation strategies across various applications and architectures. Additionally, this study outlines methods for secure data sharing, real-time authentication, and threat mitigation while evaluating emerging security frameworks. By highlighting the advantages of FC—such as localized data privacy management, mobility support, and real-time decision-making—this survey establishes a foundation for future research and innovation in developing secure, scalable, and robust VANET systems. The findings offer practical implications for designing next-generation ITS with enhanced security and operational efficiency.

Agents of Change or Counterarguing? Investigating the Source Credibility of Celebrity Versus Traditional Experts on Health and Political Behaviors

Two online experimental studies ( nstudy1 = 318, nstudy2 = 462) were conducted to examine whether social media informant type (celebrity influencer vs. expert) and presentation type (numeric vs. generic information) influenced behavioral intentions. Results from Study 1 found that expert-authored posts with numeric information were more persuasive for credibility assessments and, in turn, intentions to obtain the COVID-19 booster vaccine. In Study 2, we retest our hypotheses in the context of support for police reform. Contrary to expectations, neither message manipulation persuaded individuals. Partisanship, however, played a key role in behavioral intentions.

The Convergence of Power: Exploring the Intersection between Politics, Communication, and Religion

In the intricate fabric of our modern societies, the intersection between politics, communication, and religion emerges as an essential field of study for understanding the dynamics of power. This work analyzes the use of communication by politics and religion as a fundamental tool to shape opinions, legitimize authority, and manage cultural and social identity. Through an exhaustive examination of both historical and contemporary theories and practices, this paper illustrates the manipulation of media and messages in various contexts to influence public opinion and guide political and religious decisions. Additionally, it assesses the ability of religious communication to affect public policy and, reciprocally, how these interactions impact social cohesion, policy formulation, and governance at a global level. This interdisciplinary analysis exposes the complexity of power dynamics at the confluence of communication, politics, and religion, providing crucial insights into their influence on the shaping of contemporary societies.

An ECC-Based Authentication Protocol for Dynamic Charging System of Electric Vehicles

Dynamic wireless charging emerges as a promising technology, effectively alleviating range anxiety for electric vehicles in transit. However, the communication between the system’s various components, conducted over public channels, raises concerns about vulnerability to network attacks and message manipulation. Addressing data security and privacy protection in dynamic charging systems thus becomes a critical challenge. In this article, we present an authentication protocol tailored for dynamic charging systems. This protocol ensures secure and efficient authentication between vehicles and roadside devices without the help of a trusted center. We utilize a physical unclonable function (PUF) to resist physical capture attacks and employ the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem (ECDLP) to provide forward security protection for session keys. We validated the security of our proposed scheme through comprehensive informal analyses, and formal security analysis using the ROR model and formal analysis tool ProVerif. Furthermore, comparative assessments reveal that our scheme outperforms other relevant protocols in terms of efficiency and security.

Cyber attacks on UAV networks: A comprehensive survey

New technologies are constantly emerging in the modern world and changing the way we live our everyday lives. Although technology has many useful applications, there are various ways it can potentially be abused. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are one of the most rapidly developing technologies, with potentially far-reaching consequences. A new focus on UAV applications has fueled rising concerns with regards to security, specifically around networked UAVs. UAVs may be managed from a remote place with relative ease. Essential operations involving the use of military tactics and weapons involve employing them in a variety of situations, such as reconnaissance, surveillance, and offensive, defensive, and civilian capacities. Message insertion, message manipulation, jamming, and GPS spoofing are the most commonly used cyber-attacks against these systems. Ensuring the security of electronics and communications in systems that employ several UAVs is of utmost importance to guarantee their safety and dependability in military and civilian activities. Many technological methods have been developed over the past decade for securing UAVs from cyber-attacks. This paper attempts to summaries the problems that can arise with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cyber-attacks, and the countermeasures used to protect against them. This is the first paper that details all of the past cyber-attacks on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

I've got the power: Encouraging pro-environmental behavior through messaging

Manufacturers and retailers are introducing pro-environmental alternatives (such as alternative meat products) to more conventional and less environmentally friendly products in order to encourage sustainable consumption. In this research, we test the impact of product-related environmental information, self-efficacy, power messages, and green consumption values (GCV) on purchase intentions and choice of pro-environmental alternatives. Our findings suggest that the effect of environmental information on purchase intentions for pro-environmental alternatives is stronger for individuals with high self-efficacy. We show that using power messages in marketing communications as an intervention has an effect similar to self-efficacy on purchase intentions toward the alternative. We also show that the power message manipulation interacts with GCV in enhancing perceptions of the individual’s environmental impact, which further influences purchase intentions and choice of the pro-environmental option. This research has implications for the literature on environmental messaging, advertisers, and marketers of sustainable products.

Reference Broadcast-Based Secure Time Synchronization for Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks

Security is an important factor that cannot be neglected in the design of time synchronization algorithms since industrial wireless sensor networks are prone to attacks against physical nodes and communication links. The Sybil attack is an intelligent attack with a high destructive capacity in pretending multiple identities and broadcasting illegitimate messages to destroy the network operation. Existing secure time synchronization algorithms mostly focus on distributed protocols; however, they pay less attention to Sybil attacks and centralized network time synchronization. In this paper, we propose a novel reference broadcast-based secure time synchronization (RSTS) for industrial wireless sensor networks with a time source against Sybil attacks. Different from previous protocols, in converging the network structure and the clock status, RSTS employs a public neighbor forwarding mechanism based on reference broadcast to filter the illegal time information automatically. Instead of establishing a table with timestamps of packet transmission and receipt, the least square linear regression is utilized to estimate the compensation relative to the source node with the recorded time and calculated time difference in receiving packets. The simulation results demonstrate that RSTS is resilient to Sybil attacks as well as message manipulation attacks in comparison with existing algorithms.

Narrative versus statistical messages: The interplay of perceived susceptibility and misperceptions on vaccine intention.

Although there is enough scientific evidence to show the benefits and safety of vaccines, vaccine rates are low, while misperceptions about vaccines are on the rise. The main purposes of the current study are to 1) examine the effects of narrative vs. statistical messages on vaccine intention, 2) test the mediating role of perceived expectancies, and 3) examine the moderating roles of perceived susceptibility and misperceptions on vaccine intention. Data were collected with an online experiment through Amazon Mturk. The online experiment was conducted via Qualtrics once the study was considered exempt by the Institutional Research Board of a large University in the U.S. A total of 300 participants aged 18 and above completed the survey. Findings show that perceived expectancies mediate the relationship between message manipulation and vaccine intention. Our findings also show a three-way interaction which indicates that among individuals with high misperceptions, statistical messages are more persuasive for individuals with high perceived susceptibility, while narrative messages are more influential for individuals with low perceived susceptibility.

Use of Internet Memes in PSAs: Roles of Perceived Emotion, Involvement with Memes, and Attitudes Toward the Issuing Organization in Perceived PSA Effectiveness

ABSTRACT To help solve the diabetes problem in Singapore, we developed humorous and fearful public service announcements (PSAs) based on popular Internet memes and investigated how the emotions derived from PSAs affect Singaporean millennials’ perceptions of PSAs’ effectiveness. In total, 416 people participated in the study through a Singaporean online survey company. Multivariable linear regression methods with SPSS were used to examine our hypotheses and research questions. According to the results, message manipulation significantly increased participants’ perceived emotion (i.e. perceived humor and fear). Moreover, the results showed that perceived humor and fear were positively associated with perceived PSA effectiveness in both models, testing the humor effect and fear effect separately. As per the moderation analysis, the association between the perceived emotion (i.e. humor and fear) and the perceived PSA effectiveness is likely to increase when attitudes toward the organization are less positive. Moreover, the association between perceived fear and perceived PSA effectiveness is likely to increase when participants’ involvement with memes is low. Our findings highlight important theoretical and practical implications for future studies investigating the effectiveness of Internet meme-based PSA messages regarding serious health issues.

The Security of “2FLIP” Authentication Scheme for VANETs: Attacks and Rectifications

Wireless broadcast transmission enables Inter-vehicle or Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication among nearby vehicles and with nearby fixed equipment, referred to as Road Side Units (RSUs). The vehicles and RSUs within transmission range establish a self-organizing network called Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET). The V2V communication in VANETs is vulnerable to cyber-attacks involving message manipulation. Thus, mechanisms should be applied to ensure both the authenticity and integrity of the data broadcast. However, due to privacy concerns, it is important to avoid the use of identifiers that may aid tracking and surveillance of drivers. This is a serious constraint on authentication mechanisms. Recently, Wang et al. [1] proposed <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">A Two-Factor Lightweight Privacy Preserving Authentication Scheme for VANET</i> named 2FLIP. They claim that their scheme includes a secure systemkey update protocol to restore the whole system when necessary. In this paper, we show that this is incorrect: 2FLIP does not provide perfect forward secrecy. This results in a known-key attack, as well as message forgery attack by an external adversary who may be an unregistered vehicle user. This external adversary can generate valid anonymous messages and further, they cannot be traced. The 2FLIP scheme is efficient, so we propose a modification to improve the security. We provide a formal security proof to show that our proposal is indeed provably secure. We demonstrate the efficiency of our proposal by conducting extensive performance analysis. We believe the enhanced system-key update protocol will be useful for application by researchers and designers in current and future VANET authentication schemes.

LbSP: Load-Balanced Secure and Private Autonomous Electric Vehicle Charging Framework With Online Price Optimization

Nowadays, autonomous electric vehicles (AEVs) are increasingly popular due to low resource consumption, low pollutant emission, and high efficiency. In practice, Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) networks supply energy power to EVs to ensure the usage of EVs. However, there are still certain security and privacy concerns in V2G connections, such as identity impersonation and message manipulation. Additionally, the widespread usage of EVs brings significant pressure on the power grid, leading to undesirable effects like voltage deviations if EVs’ charging is not well coordinated. In this article, to tackle these issues, we design a novel load-balanced secure and private EV charging framework named load-balanced secure and private framework (LbSP) for secure, private, and efficient EV charging with a minimal negative effect on the existing power grid. It assures reliable and efficient charging services by a lightweighted encryption technique. Also, it balances the energy consumption of power grids via an online pricing strategy that minimizes load variance by optimizing energy prices in real time. Moreover, it preserves users’ privacy while not affecting online pricing using an advanced differential privacy technique. Furthermore, LbSP deploys on an edge-cloud structure for fast response and more precise pricing, where clouds balance overall load consumption by online price optimization while edges gather data for clouds and respond to charging requests from EVs. The evaluation results show that the proposed framework ensures secure and private EV charging, balances energy load consumption, and preserves users’ privacy.

Effects of message framing, psychological distance, and risk perception on exercise attitude in Chinese adolescents.

ObjectivesHealth communication campaign that promotes physical activity may aid in reducing the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity in China. This study examined the effects of message framing and psychological distance on the exercise attitude of Chinese adolescents, along with the interactive role of risk perception.MethodsParticipants in this study were between 10 and 19 years of age. Three experiments were conducted independently. In experiment 1, 76 participants were recruited to assess the effectiveness of message manipulation. In experiment 2, 40 participants were recruited to compare the effects of gain- and loss-framed messages on the exercise attitude. In experiment 3, 37 participants were recruited to explore the interaction between message framing (gain vs. loss), temporal distance (proximal vs. distal), and risk perception (low vs. high) on the exercise attitude. Exercise attitude and risk perception were assessed by Likert-type questionnaires.ResultsThere was a significant main effect of message framing (P < 0.05), with the gain-framed message inducing a stronger exercise attitude than the loss-framed message. There was a significant main effect of temporal distance (P < 0.05), with the proximal temporal distance condition inducing a stronger exercise attitude than the distal temporal distance condition. In addition, a significant interaction (P < 0.05) was observed, and the perception of obesity-related risk was a crucial moderator of the message framing and temporal distance. Regardless of whether they were exposed to a gain- or loss-framed message, the proximal temporal distance condition induced a stronger exercise attitude in participants with a high risk perception (P < 0.05).ConclusionMessages promoting exercise that are framed as having a near-future gain effect and that emphasize disease risks are effective in motivating adolescents to engage in physical activity.

Message Manipulation: How Downsizing Messages are Encoded Based on the Intended Audience

This research explores the differences between how organizations communicate downsizing messages to external receivers (e.g. consumers, shareholders, etc.) versus internal receivers (e.g. employees). This study uses a unique dataset of 145 mass layoff forms submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (OMLTSD) from 2013-2019, and the accompanying downsizing announcements made in the media. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) text analysis software analyzed message formality, deception, confidence, emotional tone, and information quantity for downsizing announcements to both audiences. T-test analysis determines significant differences between these announcements. Downsizing messages communicated to internal receivers are more formal, confident, and succinct while downsizing messages communicated to external receivers are more deceptive and have a more negative emotional tone. This study uses an interdisciplinary approach (blending marketing and human resources management disciplines). In this study, the communications model is applied to organizational communication. Further, this is the first study to compare the same downsizing messages that were communicated to different audiences. Finally, this study uses a distinctly unique dataset to better explore and understand this complex topic.

Narrative Messages, Information Seeking and COVID-19 Vaccine Intention: The Moderating Role of Perceived Behavioral Control.

PurposeThe main purposes of the current study are to examine 1) the influence of narrative vs statistics messages on COVID-19 related information seeking and COVID-19 vaccine intention and 2) the moderating role of perceived behavioral control (PBC).DesignData for a between-subject randomized experiment were collected online. The manipulation messages were presented as screenshots from the CDC’s Facebook page.SettingThe participants were recruited from Amazon MTurk.SubjectsA total of 300 subjects participated in the study, who were 18 years and above (M = 38.40).MeasuresIntention to seek information, COVID-19 vaccine intention, and PBC.AnalysisTo test the hypotheses, we utilized Hayes’s (2014) PROCESS for SPSS (Model 1). For intention to seek information, the main effect of the message manipulation (narrative vs statistics) [b = −2.10, t (300) = −4.14, P < .001] and the interaction [b = .41, t (300) = 3.88, P < .001] were significant. For vaccine intention, the main effects of message manipulation [b = 1.64, t (300) = −2.61, P < .005] and the interaction [b = .34, t (300) = 2.64, P < .005] were significant.ResultsOur research found that narrative messages were more persuasive for both information seeking and vaccine intention. But this was true only in the case of individuals whose PBC was low.ConclusionsOur findings have critical implications for vaccine promotion research.

Обобщенная модель действий злоумышленника при манипулировании сообщениями, содержащими сигналы точного времени

This article gives the place and role of the common time system in the telecommunications system, gives an overview of the process of functioning of the common time system, indicating the main means of transmitting accurate time signals. Based on the analysis of the process of functioning of the common time system, the main risks of failures in technological and automated systems in case of violation of the accuracy of the transmission of common time signals are identified. As a result of the analysis of emerging risks, attention is focused on the main types of threats to the single time system when attacks are carried out by organized malefactors. A special place among the threats is occupied by the manipulation of messages containing precise time signals. To analyze this threat, a semi-Markov model of an attacker's actions when manipulating messages containing precise time signals is formed. The main stages of the process of carrying out the attack are singled out. Using the method of minors, the main stationary characteristics of the attack process are calculated, such as the probability of finding the attack process at various stages of its implementation, as well as the average time of the attack duration and the average recovery time of the unified time system from the consequences of the attack. This information also serves as the basis for determining the coefficient of correct operation of the unified time system. The results obtained can be reflected in the formation of strategies for protecting the unified time system from attacks by organized intruders.

ALI: Anonymous Lightweight Inter-Vehicle Broadcast Authentication with Encryption

Wireless broadcast transmission enables Inter-vehicle or Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication among nearby vehicles. This communication supports latency-critical applications for improved safety and maybe optimized traffic. However, V2V communication is vulnerable to cyber attacks involving message manipulation. Mechanisms are required to ensure both authenticity and integrity of broadcast data, while maintaining drivers privacy against surveillance. Considering the limited computational resources of vehicles and the possibility of high traffic density scenarios, authentication processes should have low computational overhead. Prior research has produced multiple authentication protocol proposals based on digital signatures, hash functions, or Message Authentication Codes (MACs). To date, there is no computationally efficient secure broadcast authentication scheme tolerable by the vehicles resource-constrained On-Board Units (OBUs) for latency-critical applications in heavy traffic conditions. This paper provides a new secure, efficient, and privacy-preserving scheme proposing Anonymous Lightweight Inter-vehicle (ALI) broadcast authentication with encryption. ALI provides a high level of anonymity by combining a message authentication scheme with beacon encryption. The cryptographic overhead for V2V communication in the ALI scheme is only 149 bytes, and can handle authentication of approximately 700 broadcast messages every 100 milliseconds. This demonstrates the suitability of the ALI scheme in heavy traffic scenarios. We show the security and efficiency of our proposal by conducting security proof and performance analysis.

BusCount: A Provable Replay Protection Solution for Automotive CAN Networks

Information technology has become eminent in the development of modern cars. More than 50 Electronic Control Units (ECUs) realize vehicular functions in hardware and software, ranging from engine control and infotainment to future autonomous driving systems. Not only do the connections to the outside world pose new threats, but also the in-vehicle communication between ECUs, realized by bus systems such as Controller Area Network (CAN), needs to be protected against manipulation and replay of messages. Multiple countermeasures were presented in the past making use of Message Authentication Codes and time stamps and message counters, respectively, to provide message freshness, most prominently AUTOSAR’s Secure Onboard Communication (SecOC). In this paper, we focus on the latter ones. As one aspect of this paper, using an adequate formal model and proof, we will show that the currently considered solutions exhibit deficiencies that are hard if not impossible to overcome within the scope of the respective approaches. We further present a hardware-based approach that avoids these deficiencies and formally prove its freshness properties. In addition, we show its practicability by a hardware implementation. Finally, we evaluate our approach in comparison to counter-based solutions currently being used.

Enhancing Type 2 diabetes risk communication with message framing and tailored risk feedback: an online randomised controlled trial

ABSTRACT Objective Type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk communication may help individuals better understand their risk and motivate behavioural changes. There is a wealth of research in health risk communication which suggest the effectiveness of message framing and tailored risk feedback; however, little is known about their potential utility when used concurrently and in high-risk population approaches to T2D prevention. Methods This study evaluated the effects of message framing and tailored risk feedback on T2D risk perception and behavioural intentions, and if these effects were varied by level of alcohol consumption. Three hundred and forty-seven online participants were stratified by levels of alcohol consumption and subsequently randomised to receive T2D information, risk estimates, and lifestyle recommendations that were subjected to four different message framing and tailoring manipulations. Results No significant differences were observed in T2D risk perceptions or behavioural intentions by study arm. However, T2D risk perception scores and accuracies, and behavioural intentions significantly increased post-intervention across all conditions. Conclusions Despite the lack of impact of message framing or message tailoring, this study suggests that a brief online T2D risk communication can help to correct risk perceptions and increase behavioural intentions. These preliminary findings are encouraging and support the continued development of online risk assessment and communication to help combat the current T2D epidemic. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Most individuals at risk of Type 2 diabetes do not engage in risk-reducing behaviours. (2) Risk communication may help to correct Type 2 diabetes risk perception and lead to healthy behavioural changes. (3) Message framing and tailored risk feedback have been shown to be effective ways of communication, though no studies have examined them in combination. What this topic adds: (1) Preliminary support for the brief online Type 2 diabetes risk communication intervention in correcting risk perceptions and increasing behavioural intentions. (2) Effectiveness of manipulation did not differ based on message manipulation. (3) Preliminary support for the use of the risk communication intervention in high-risk populations.

A Model to Evaluate Reliability of Authentication Protocols in C-ITS Safety-Critical Applications

In the near future, Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) transmission will enable wireless broadcast communication among nearby vehicles. Benefits for users include improved driver safety and potentially optimized traffic. However, this communication is vulnerable to cyber attacks involving message manipulation. Research aimed at tackling this problem has resulted in the proposal of multiple authentication protocols. The security, privacy, and other desirable features of authentication in vehicular networks have been widely studied. However, the efficiency of such authentication schemes has not been suitably addressed. There is no model to evaluate the efficiency of the proposals in a practical context, where the delay introduced by V2V authentication may impact on driver safety. In this paper, we provide such a model for evaluation. We explicitly present the key factors involved to evaluate the computational delay in the V2V authentication protocols. Our model has clearly defined metrics for computing the delay and evaluating the impact. Developing this model enables future research in the design of secure and efficient V2V authentication protocols suitable for practical application. Applying the model to assess proposed authentication protocols permits categorization based on safety service they can support. We demonstrate the applicability of our model through case studies. Our model can effectively analyze the delay introduced by an authentication protocol, and determine whether this would result in a crash, in the real world vehicular environments.

No significant association of repeated messages with changes in health compliance in the COVID-19 pandemic: a registered report on the extended parallel process model.

When people are confronted with health proposals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it has been suggested that fear of COVID-19 can serve protective functions and ensure public health compliance. However, health proposal repetition and its perceived efficacy also influence the behavior intention toward the proposal, which has not yet been confirmed in the COVID-19 context. The present study examined whether the extended parallel process model (EPPM) could be generalized to a naturalistic context like the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we explored how repetition of a health proposal is involved with the EPPM. In this study, two groups of participants were exposed to the same health proposal related to COVID-19, where one group was exposed once and another group twice. Participants then filled out a questionnaire consisting of items concerning behavior intention and adapted from the Risk Behavior Diagnosis Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the multivariate associations between the variables. Although the results showed that behavior intention is predicted by perceived efficacy, no significant influence of perceived threat was detected. Furthermore, no significant effect of repetition was found toward either response efficacy or perceived susceptibility. These findings indicate that to promote health compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more efficient to focus on health proposals’ perceived efficacy rather than the disease’s perceived threat. For future health communication research, the present study suggests improved analysis strategies and repeated manipulation of messages.