Resilient Solutions Research Articles

On-Chip Magnetic Probes for Hardware Trojan Prevention and Detection

Security threats due to Hardware Trojans are growing in volume and variety. The miniature size of Trojans coupled with their diversity and their unpredictable effects made them difficult to detect. Researchers have proposed different techniques to either prevent the insertion of Hardware Trojans or detect them at early stages. In this article, a new tamper resilient solution is presented to capture the electromagnetic signature of integrated circuits to ensure their security. In the proposed method, the remaining metal and polysilicon layers are fully utilized as internal magnetic probes to monitor the signature of the device and in the meantime deprive attackers of layout resources to route Hardware Trojans. 3-D full-wave electromagnetic field simulations using high-frequency structural simulator show that tampering with a chip to insert a minimally invasive Trojan of 12 μm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> , the area required to insert an inverter, can be detected through the magnetic signature.

A comprehensive approach for optimizing controller placement in Software-Defined Networks

Software-Defined Networks (SDNs) are characterized by dividing a network architecture in a data plane (i.e., any packet-relaying nodes like switches or routers) and a control plane, where specialized controllers assign forwarding decisions to the underlying data plane, and must do so in a very short timeframe. Thus, controllers play a key role in SDNs and the Controller Placement Problem (CPP) becomes a critical issue, affecting network delays and synchronization. If there are significant propagation delays between controllers and nodes, or among controllers, their ability to quickly react to network events is affected, degrading reliability. In this work, we propose a comprehensive mathematical formalization of the CPP, which constrains propagation latency and controller capacity, and determines simultaneously the minimum number of controllers, their location and the assignment of nodes to each, while keeping a balanced load distribution among controllers. As CPP is NP-hard, a heuristic approach is also presented. Simulations for 60 network scenarios show that this approach obtains balanced and resilient solutions, in negligible time, which are proven to be optimal or near optimal for 90% of the evaluated cases.

Breaking the impasse: Towards a forward‐looking governance framework for gene editing with plants

Societal Impact StatementThe debate in Europe over how to govern novel techniques of gene editing in plants is fast developing into an impasse with actors rapidly consolidating positions on either side of the debate. Such polemic is not good for science nor for public policy if we are to develop the kinds of socio‐technical innovations that are needed to harness socially resilient solutions to pressing global societal challenges, such as food security and climate change. We analyze how we arrived at this impasse and explore novel ways to move beyond it.SummaryIn this paper we examine the controversy surrounding the governance of gene editing in plants in Europe.First, we review social science scholarship, drawing lessons from the public controversy over GM crops and foods. Second, we describe the European policy debate on the gene editing of plants with a particular focus on how the debate is framed by dominant actors. Third, we review solutions other countries have sought, and in particular touch on a level‐based approval system that Norway is proposing, articulated recently in a Dutch Rathenau Instituut report. Fourth, we introduce frameworks of responsible innovation as a way of aligning innovation trajectories with articulations and negotiations of broader societal values.We find that the lessons from the GM debate have been inadequately learnt and that the struggle over whether or not to amend the current GMO Directive has had the effect of reinforcing established positions. As ways forward, we argue that the application of the Norwegian level‐based regulatory framework can help move the focus away from assessments on safety to a tiered assessment of socio‐economic considerations, and that a framework of responsible innovation can help transform the cultures and practices of research.We conclude by setting out some challenges for the plant science community to engage in responsible research and innovation, both to operate as an honest broker and to engage in early, constructive and on‐going public dialogue.

Comments on “Insider Attack Protection: Lightweight Password-Based Authentication Techniques Using ECC”

The radical progress in web services has drained more attraction towards escalating the security of several applications that serve and interact with the Internet users. In order to get authenticated from servers, the users must disclose their secret information to the server such as password and username so that they can access distinct applications on the Web. Due to distinct security attacks, such secret credentials should be discouraged from being revealed. Moreover, it is vibrant to secure the systems from known attacks. In contrast to all known security attacks, the insider attack is considered devastating because the privileged insiders of a system can violate the secret credentials, which may lead towards irrecoverable damage to both the system and the user. Therefore, to ensure the security of the system from insider attacks, different protocols have been proposed. Very recently, Rajamanickam et al. “Insider attack protection: Lightweight password-based authentication techniques using ECC,” presented novel authentication scheme for insider attack protection. They claimed that their protocol not only prevents insider attack but it is also immune to several known security attacks. This comment discloses the non-trivial weaknesses in the authentication phase between client and server. We have identified that the adversary can successfully impersonate the entities communicating with each other through this protocol. Moreover, their protocol fails to offer forward and backward secrecy. Consequently, we suggest possible solution for attack resilience.

The Cyberphysical Power System Resilience Testbed: Architecture and Applications

The cyberphysical power system resilience testbed implements, tests, verifies, and evaluates cyberphysical resilience solutions for power systems integrated with a communication infrastructure. It offers a platform for real-time simulation of power systems in concert with real-world monitoring, control, and protection.

Reliability of emergency and standby diesel generators: Impact on energy resiliency solutions

Emergency diesel generators are the most common form of backup power for critical loads when the grid fails and are most often deployed as stand-alone generators (<2000 kW) tied to individual buildings for hospitals, emergency services, military bases, ports, airports, industries, and commercial facilities. Understanding the finite reliability of emergency diesel generators during continuous operation is crucial for energy planners, managers, and end-users. A new analysis of two large non-public emergency diesel generator operational data sets shows that commonly used reliability metrics are inadequate to predict the performance during a grid outage. Additional metrics addressing the likelihood of an emergency diesel generator to be available at the time an outage starts, successfully start and carry load, and constantly run for the duration of the outage are needed to predict the continuous run-time reliability of emergency diesel generators during a grid outage. This is the first analysis of the reliability of modern generators that follow standard maintenance protocols commonly used for backup power and these new metrics are shown to be dependent on the level of emergency diesel generator maintenance with values that can vary by more than an order of magnitude. Even using the new metrics for well-maintained emergency diesel generators, the analysis shows that the single emergency diesel generators configurations are only 80% likely to provide power for the duration of a two-week grid outage.

Removal Attacks on Logic Locking and Camouflaging Techniques

With the adoption of a globalized and distributed IC design flow, IP piracy, reverse engineering, and counterfeiting threats are becoming more prevalent. Logic obfuscation techniques including logic locking and IC camouflaging have been developed to address these emergent challenges. A major challenge for logic locking and camouflaging techniques is to resist Boolean satisfiability (SAT) based attacks that can circumvent state-of-the-art solutions within minutes. Over the past year, multiple SAT attack resilient solutions such as Anti-SAT and AND-tree insertion (ATI) have been presented. In this paper, we perform a security analysis of these countermeasures and show that they leave structural traces behind in their attempts to thwart the SAT attack. We present three attacks, namely “signal probability skew” (SPS) attack, “AppSAT guided removal (AGR) attack, and “sensitization guided SAT” (SGS) attack”, that can break Anti-SAT and ATI, within minutes.

Coronavirus as a Global Complex Problem Looking for Resilient Solutions

A new type of mysterious zoonotic virus called coronavirus is swiping the world, killing thousands of people and infecting hundreds of thousands, without any foreseen innovative solutions. The pandemic of COVID-19 could be categorised to be a complex problem since it is both challenging to discover and difficult to manage. The complexity of the coronavirus comes from its capacity to interact and evolve in unexpected ways. Yet, with this complex global problem, it is still possible to come with innovative solutions, if we managed to follow practices that shorten the time to learn about the virus and comprehend it. The researcher reviews the sequence of events of the first three months since the breakout of COVID-19 in December 2019, to set the mindset of the reader to consider this a complex problem that has constructs that need to be addressed, before we look for classical solutions. In order to simplify the complexity of this virus as a problem, a framework is proposed to help the specialised scientists to study the puzzle of coronavirus as a time-bound problem that could have resilient solutions. The framework focus on the traceability of the virus, besides its ‘doubling time’ and the Case Fatality Rate (CFR). Formulas of change and overall effectiveness of problem-solving are discussed, followed by a recommendation of how to optimise the utilisation of the proposed framework.

Acting local, thinking global: Globalizing resilience through 100 Resilient Cities

This article investigates the globalization of resilience by examining a particular and prominent vehicle for the dissemination of resilience ideas: the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) initiative. As a philanthropic initiative organized through a network of international cities, 100RC demonstrates how the spread of resilience thinking has been facilitated by exploiting changes in the structures and processes of global governance afforded by neoliberal globalization. The analysis focuses on explicating100RC’s animating logic of governance, which is committed to the cultivation of network connectivity. Rather than directly fostering resilience, connectivity is established as a condition under which resilience solutions can be immanently surfaced from the interactions of a diverse selection of stakeholders brought together through these networks. The article situates this governmental logic within broader changes associated with neoliberal globalization, namely the emergence of multi-scalar governance networks, the rise of philanthrocapitalism and the inception of platform capitalism. The conclusion discusses the implications of this analysis for further study of the relation between connectivity, danger, knowledge and value contained within resilience discourses.

A novel Kano-QFD-DEMATEL approach to optimise the risk resilience solution for sustainable supply chain

Sustainable supply chain management plays an important role in company’s sustainability success. As the frequently emerging disruptions may harm supply chain’s sustainable performance, managers need to design an effective sustainable supply chain (SSC) resilience solution to mitigate different risks. In addition, it is critical to integrate customer requirements (CRs) in SSC resilience solution design as SSC’s performance is highly determined by customer satisfaction (CS) in the customer-oriented market. This article proposes an integrative approach to achieve an effective design of SSC resilience solution, taking both CRs and risk factors (RFs) into consideration. In this study, the Kano model, decision-making and trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) are integrated with quality function deployment (QFD) through nonlinear programming to guide companies’ design. Kano model is employed to analyse CRs qualitatively and quantitatively to determine each CR’s priority and CS. DEMATEL is adopted to determine the RFs’ interrelationships. The results obtained with the Kano model and DEMATEL are incorporated into QFD to transform CRs into RFs, and then into resilience measures. Furthermore, a nonlinear optimisation model is formulated to achieve the optimal resilience solution with maximised CS and risk mitigation under minimum cost investment. Finally, a case study is conducted to verify the methodology.

Tropical urban parks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Challenging the attitudes of park management teams towards a more environmentally sustainable approach

In some western cultures, landscape practitioners are adapting the design, management and maintenance of urban parks in response to climate change and other pressures. The aim is to provide more robust and resilient solutions that expand the contribution of parks to ecosystem service delivery and give greater economic efficiency. However, urban parks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are still maintained, through traditional ‘high-intensity’ horticulture, which consumes significant resources and imposes a growing financial burden on the City. This paper draws on data from interviews with urban park management teams across different tiers from selected urban parks in Kuala Lumpur. Through photo simulation of alternative design and management regimes it investigates their response to a more environmentally sustainable approach, which reduces intensive maintenance and increases planting complexity. Results suggest that whilst there is an appetite for change, parks in tropical climates present different challenges to those in temperate climates where these ideas have typically been developed and applied. The seasonal change in the tropics between wet and dry seasons may be profound but is arguably less visually dramatic than temperate climates in terms of seasonal colour, changing visual permeability and amount of leaf litter. Increasing planting density and complexity in the tropics may also have unanticipated implications for personal safety when compared to temperate latitudes because of the consistent but much shorter seasonal daylight hours and absence of any extended twilight. This paper explores what appetite exists for park staff to move towards a more environmentally sensitive design approach. Attitudes are compared across different management levels, including those of ground staff who will be tasked with implementing this change and communicating it to the public directly. The data suggests that whilst there is some enthusiasm for more environmental approaches, especially amongst senior management, there are also significant reservations across all levels of park management.

Learn, Prepare, Act: “Throwing Shade” on Climate Change

ABSTRACTScience and technology centers continue to emerge as hubs for building climate change and resiliency literacy in communities around the United States. What’s less clear, however, is how these institutions foster and sustain climate action based on this acquired literacy. The Science Museum of Virginia developed, delivered, and evaluated climate science and resiliency-themed programming over a three year period, connecting with audiences from “K to grey.” Hyper-localization of climate change, accomplished by leading a small-scale community-based participatory research campaign (also known as “citizen science”) to assess the City of Richmond’s urban heat island effect, improved audience literacy and recall of adaptation and resilience solutions. When further nested within curriculum aligned with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Steps to Resilience Framework, hyper-localization produced additional learning and behavioral outcomes that bridged the gap from literacy to action. We posit that our model can inspire similar adaptation and resilience action-oriented programs in urban areas around the country.

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) in road construction: Twenty years of Italian experiences

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a thermoplastic material, derived from pre-expanded polystyrene beads, that combines an extreme lightweight with versatile strength and thermal insulation. These characteristics made EPS an excellent alternative to natural materials for the feasibility of building and construction projects that would otherwise destined, for time and implementation costs, to be postponed or alienated. Specifically, this technology has been successfully used in road infrastructure sector in the last twenty years in the construction of roads, bridge abutments, lightweight embankments and backfills, above all for the rapid restoration of compromised roads following landslide or calamitous events, representing an interesting and resilient solution in areas exposed to seismic risk or persistent vibratory actions. Thus, the authors want to offer a critical analysis of different EPS road applications in Italy, considering benefits and drawbacks, proposing technical and economic considerations for ideal conditions of use and suggesting failure analysis methods and tools.

Architectural Resilience in Cloud, Fog and Edge Systems: A Survey

An increasing number of large-scale distributed systems are being built by incorporating Cloud, Fog, and Edge computing. There is an important need of understanding how to ensure the resilience of systems built using Cloud, Fog, and Edge computing. This survey reports the state-of-the-art of architectural approaches that have been reported for ensuring the resilience of Cloud-, Fog- and Edge-based systems. This work reports a flexible taxonomy for reviewing architectural resilience approaches for distributed systems. In addition, this work also presents a capability-based cyber-foraging framework intended to improve the overall system resilience in the context of a physical node’s capabilities. This survey also highlights the trust-related issues and solutions in the context of system resilience and reliability. This survey will help improve the understanding of the current state of system resilience solutions and raise awareness about the issues related to physical capabilities and trust management in the context of distributed systems resilience.

Development of Resilient Seismic Solutions for Timber Structures in New Zealand Using Innovative Connections

There is increasing public pressure for damage avoidance structural systems using new engineered wood products, especially cross-laminated timber (CLT), in countries with high levels of seismic activity, such as New Zealand, to minimise the destruction after severe earthquakes with no post-event maintenance. This study presents damage avoidance lateral load-resisting systems (LLRSs) using rocking timber panels and the innovative resilient slip friction joint (RSFJ) technology. RSFJs can be used as hold-downs or as ductile links between adjacent walls or between the walls and boundary columns. These joints are capable of providing a self-centring behaviour (the main deficiency of conventional friction joints) in addition to a high rate of energy dissipation, all in one compact package. In addition, a novel type of shear-transferring device is introduced to be used as the shear key for rocking structural members. The proposed concepts are described and verified by large-scale experimental tests and numerical simulations. The results confirm that the introduced systems can be considered as the new generation of resilient LLRSs for timber construction.

Exponential and Resilient Control for Attitude Tracking Maneuvering of Spacecraft With Actuator Uncertainties

The spacecraft attitude tracking problem with exponential convergence and resilient control capability ensured is investigated. The system uncertainties induced by uncertain inertia and external disturbance, and the actuator uncertainties consisting of misalignment and faults, are addressed simultaneously. An observer-based exponential and resilient control scheme is presented. The closed-loop system is ensured to be stable that the attitude and the angular velocity tracking errors converge with an exponential rate to a small set with an arbitrary radius. The fast and high accuracy attitude tracking maneuver is accomplished. This resilient controller, characterized by a simple structure and less onboard computation, has great practical application potential. A rigid spacecraft example is shown to verify the effectiveness of the resilient solution with simulation and experimental results presented.

Financing coastal resilience by combining nature-based risk reduction with insurance

The increasing impacts of climate hazards combined with the loss of coastal habitats require urgent solutions to manage risk. Storm losses continue to grow and much of them are uninsured. These losses represent an increasing burden to individuals, businesses, and can jeopardize national development goals. Pre-hazard mitigation is cost effective, but both the public and private sector struggle to finance up-front investments in it. This article explores a resilience solution that combines risk transfer (e.g., insurance) with risk reduction (e.g., hazard mitigation), which have often been treated as two separate mechanisms for disaster risk management. The combined mechanism could help align environmental and risk management goals and create opportunities for public and private investment in nature-based projects. We assessed this resilience insurance with hypothetical cases for coral reef restoration. Under conservative assumptions, 44% of the initial reef restoration costs would be covered just by insurance premium reductions in the first 5 years, with benefits amounting >6 times the total costs over 25 years. We also test the sensitivity to key factors such as project cost, risk reduction potential, insurance structure, economic exposure and discount rates. The resilience insurance mechanism is applicable to many coastlines and can help finance nature-based adaptation.

Coupled numerical simulations of cooling potential due to evaporation in a street canyon and an urban public square

The extent and duration of evaporative cooling, as a countermeasure to the urban heat island effect, depend on factors such as moisture availability and material liquid capacity and permeability. The present study investigates the evaporative-cooling potential of conventional urban materials and green surfaces using two case studies: an isolated street canyon and a historical public square in the city of Zurich with a particular focus on pedestrian thermal comfort. The numerical model couples computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of wind flow with the heat and moisture transport (HAM) in urban materials in order to resolve storage and transport in urban settings. This way, we aim to provide a framework for the development of sustainable and resilient solutions for local heat islands.

Building urban resilience with nature-based solutions: How can urban planning contribute?

Cities face increasing environmental, social and economic challenges that together threaten the resilience of urban areas and the residents who live and work there. These challenges include chronic stresses and acute shocks, amplified by climate change impacts. Nature-based solutions have emerged as a concept for integrating ecosystem-based approaches to address a range of societal challenges. Nature-based solutions directly address and contribute to increased urban resilience. However, implementing nature-based solutions is inherently complex, given the range of ecosystem services, their multi-functionality and the trade-offs between functions, and across temporal and spatial scales. Urban planning can play a substantial role to support the implementation of nature-based solutions and to manage trade-offs and conflicts, as well as how social equity dimensions are considered. This paper presents a framework that guides the application of urban planning to nature-based solutions’ implementation, by addressing key trade-offs across temporal, spatial, functional and social equity aspects. The framework highlights the key questions, and the supporting information required to address these questions, to underpin the inclusion of nature-based solutions for urban resilience. We find that while urban planning can contribute substantially, there are continuing gaps in how the inherently anthropocentric urban planning processes can give voice to non-human nature.

An exact microgrid formation model for load restoration in resilient distribution system

The increase in extreme weather affects the distribution system, leading to system collapse and interruption power supply to loads. Microgrid formation and operation in island mode is a resilient solution when major faults happen in the distribution system. This paper proposes a novel microgrid formation model considering power loss and voltage constraints in the power balance and operation feasibility. The introduction of binary variables to represent the reconfigured network and the adoption of non-linear equations to represent the exact power flow will lead the microgrid formation model to be a mixed integer nonlinear program (MINLP). This paper proposes an iteration based linear approximation of the MINLP, the exactness of which can be guaranteed by the convergence of the iteration process. Numerical results based on IEEE 33 and PE&G 69 bus standard distribution systems demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed method.