Security Performance Research Articles

Exploring SMEs’ adoption of big data analytics for information security management: a grounded theory approach

While African big businesses are increasingly utilising big data analytics to enhance their competitiveness, many small to medium enterprises (SMEs) across the continent remain hesitant to adopt these tools. Although SMEs could also gain significant benefits from big data analytics, the factors driving their potential adoption for information security management are not yet well understood. This paper presents a qualitative grounded theory study, focusing on SMEs in South Africa. Through in-depth analysis, this research generated a theory that reveals key factors influencing the adoption of big data analytics amongst these SMEs. Using semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 28 owner-managers of SMEs, then transcribed and systematically coded using the grounded theory approach. The resulting substantive theory provides valuable insights into the core aspects driving big data adoption for information security management among South African SMEs – specifically, ability, opportunity, and motivation. The study implies that by understanding the impact of these three factors, SMEs can make more informed decisions to enhance information security performance.

AI-driven anomaly detection in cloud computing environments

The rapid adoption of cloud computing has changed the way businesses manage and store data, but it has also introduced new security challenges. One of the most pressing concerns in cloud environments is the detection of anomalies, which can signal potential security breaches, system failures, or performance issues. Traditional anomaly detection methods often fall short due to the complexity, scalability, and dynamic nature of cloud infrastructures. In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven anomaly detection techniques, particularly those leveraging machine learning and deep learning, have shown promise in overcoming these limitations. This paper reviews AI-driven approaches to anomaly detection in cloud computing environments, exploring their applications in enhancing cloud security, optimizing performance, and ensuring efficient resource management. The paper examines the strengths of various AI techniques, including supervised and unsupervised learning, deep learning, and hybrid models, highlighting their capacity to detect complex, previously unknown anomalies. Despite their advantages, implementing AI-based systems in cloud environments presents challenges, including data quality issues, scalability concerns, and computational resource requirements. Solutions such as federated learning and model optimization techniques are explored as methods to address these challenges. Furthermore, the paper discusses future research directions, including the integration of AI-driven anomaly detection with emerging technologies like blockchain and IoT, and the potential for advancements in self-supervised learning and explainable AI (XAI). This review concludes by emphasizing the critical role of AI in securing cloud infrastructures and the promising future of anomaly detection in the cloud computing landscape.

Cross-layer Authentication Mechanism Model Combined with 5G Converged Channel Fingerprint

In the actual communication environment, once the attacker successfully steals the legitimate channel information, the key information can be cracked according to the authentication response, so there is a security risk of key leakage. This paper combines the physical layer channel characteristics with the shared key, and combines it into a joint key to design a challenge-response physical layer authentication mechanism based on interpolation polynomial. Then, this method is applied to the EAP-AKA’ authentication protocol of 5G network, and a cross-layer authentication mechanism for 5G converged channel fingerprint is proposed. Finally, using the captured high-level authentication challenge response data, a simulation environment is built in MATLAB and the feasibility and security of the scheme are verified. The experimental results show that the authentication mechanism has better authentication performance and security performance. Compared with the traditional high-level authentication mechanism, it has certain advantages in computing overhead and can meet the 5G application scenarios of large-scale IoT terminals. Moreover, it combines physical layer authentication with high-level authentication, realizes mutual complementarity and mutual enhancement, and enhances the security performance of authentication.

A novel blockchain-based anonymous roaming authentication scheme for VANET

With the widespread application of vehicular ad-hoc networks, ensuring secure and seamless cross-regional roaming for mobile users and obtaining corresponding services has become a focal point. However, designing an efficient and secure roaming authentication protocol is challenging due to the confidentiality and privacy issues that data transmission during the roaming authentication process may cause and the limited computational capabilities of mobile devices. Researchers have proposed many security-oriented schemes to address this thorny challenge. However, many state-of-the-art schemes need help meeting various security requirements and facing privacy leakage and single points of failure. Recently, Xue et al. proposed a distributed authentication scheme for roaming services in mobile vehicular networks based on smart contracts. Regrettably, it is noted that their scheme is vulnerable to ephemeral key leakage attacks. Further, we present a blockchain-based anonymous roaming authentication scheme called BARA, which changes how session keys are generated and significantly reduces on-chain storage costs using probabilistic data structure techniques. We utilize Scyther and Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN) logic to prove the security of BARA and compare it with similar protocols in terms of computation, communication, and revocation check. The analysis results demonstrate that BARA achieves a good balance between security performance and execution efficiency.

Advanced security framework for low Earth orbit satellites in space information network

Recently, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites have emerged as key players in space information network (SIN) due to their ability to provide global coverage. However, they remain susceptible to threats such as denial of service (DoS), man-in-the-middle (MITM), and spoofing attacks. In this paper, we propose a cross-layer security framework (CLSF) to address these vulnerabilities. Our approach begins by employing a physically unclonable function (PUF) at the upper layer to establish mutual authentication between legitimate satellites and ground stations, while also securely exchanging frequency seeds for the next phase. Following this, dynamic seed frequency hopping (DSFH) is applied at the physical layer to counter DoS, MITM, and spoofing attacks. Additionally, the frequency transitions of malicious satellites are modeled using a Markov chain. Our results demonstrate that the proposed CLSF, which integrates PUF and DSFH, delivers strong security performance.

Reversible Data Hiding in Shared JPEG Images

Reversible data hiding (RDH) in encrypted images has emerged as an effective technique for securely storing and managing confidential images in the cloud. However, most RDH methods in shared images (RDHSI) are designed for uncompressed images and cannot be applied for JPEG images. To address this issue, we propose a novel RDH in shared JPEG images. Our method consists of JPEG image sharing and data hiding in JPEG shares, which are both conducted on JPEG bit-stream. Specifically, the DC appended bits (DCA) and AC appended bits (ACA) derived from the original JPEG bit-stream are shared by ( \(k\) , \(n\) ) threshold Chinese remainder theorem-based secret sharing (CRTSS) with two different constraints, one for DC sharing and another for AC sharing. The constraint of DC sharing ensures that the DC coefficient shares do not overflow. The constraint of AC sharing ensures the sizes of ACA shares are less than the sizes of the original ACA so that the embedding room can be vacated from each shared JPEG bit-stream. Each data-hider can embed the secret data into the personal JPEG share. The original JPEG image can be recovered losslessly from any \(k\) JPEG shares. The proposed sharing and data hiding are both well compatible with the JPEG standard. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method not only well preserves the file size whether the JPEG shares or marked JPEG shares but also achieves outstanding security performance and a high embedding capacity.

DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION IN DELTA STATE AND ITS CYBER SECURITY IMPLICATIONS: A POST COVID-19 ASSESSMENT

Technology is everywhere and it’s changing the way things work, hence it is disruptive depending on its application and context. Disruptive technology introduces new markets and modifies existing ones, providing end users with better access, convenience, empowerment, choice, and value as well as competing with established models and practically transforming products and services. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid shift to remote learning and the adoption of disruptive technologies in educational institutions worldwide, including Nigeria. Despite this, there is limited evidence investigating how different disruptive technologies and configurations associate with cyber security within the educational sector. This research work examines the association of disruptive technology and cyber security implications in the Delta State educational system during the post COVID 19 pandemic period. A cross sectional approach was used for data collection through questionnaires where 55 responses out of 80 respondents from some selected schools in Delta State were used. The results confirm some cyber threats on using disruptive technology in e-learning as phishing and identity theft. The respondent’s level of online satisfaction, cyber security awareness and performance was significantly associated with various independent variables such as e-learning platforms, online interaction, and privacy concerns. An understanding of these relationships will help educators and other stakeholders to prioritize legislation and regulations that will address such developments. The aim should not to over-regulate and consequently strangle them, but to envisage change, prepare for it, and set up appropriate regulatory frameworks to ensure societal balance.

Visually meaningful image encryption for secure and authenticated data transmission using chaotic maps

Image ciphering techniques usually transform a given plain image data into a cipher image data resembling noise, serving as an indicator of the presence of secret image data. However, the transmission of such noise-like images could draw attention, thereby attracting the attackers and may face several possible attacks. This paper presents an approach for generating a visually meaningful image encryption (VMIE) scheme that combines three layers of security protection: encryption, digital signature, and steganography. The present scheme is dedicated to achieving a balanced performance in robustness, security and operational efficiency. First, the original image is partially encrypted by using the RSA cryptosystem and modified Hénon map (MHM). In the second stage, a digital signature is generated for the partially encrypted image by employing a hash function and the RSA cryptosystem. The obtained digital signature is appended to the partially encrypted image produced after implementing the zigzag confusion in the above partially encrypted image. Further, to achieve better confusion and diffusion, the partially encrypted image containing a digital signature undergoes through the application of 3D Arnold cat map (ARno times), to produce the secret encrypted image (Sr5). To ensure the security and robustness of the proposed technique against various classical attacks, the hash value obtained from the SHA-256 hash function and carrier images is utilized to generate the initial conditions Mh10 and Mh20 for modified Hénon map, and initial position Zip=(zrow,zcol) for zigzag confusion. In the proposed algorithm, the digital signature is utilized for both purposes to verify the sender’s authenticity and to enhance the encryption quality. The carrier image undergoes lifting wavelet transformation, and its high-frequency components are utilized in the embedding process through a permuted pattern of MHM, resulting in a visually meaningful encrypted image. The proposed scheme achieves efficient visual encryption with minimal distortion and ensures lossless image quality upon decryption (infinite PSNR), balancing high level of security along with a good computational efficiency.

Physical Layer Security in RIS-NOMA-Assisted IoV Systems with Uncertain RIS Deployment

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), as an emerging radio technology, are widely used to expand the transmission distance and structure cascade channels to improve the performance of communication systems. However, based on the continuous development of wireless communication technology, as Internet of Vehicles (IoV) communication systems assisted with RIS and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) can improve the overall transmission rate and system performance, the physical layer security (PLS) issue has gradually attracted attention and has become more and more important in the application of the system. In this paper, our aim is to investigate the potential threats for PLS, where an RIS is utilized in order to improve the security of wireless communications. In particular, we consider the non-fixed RIS location and wiretapping behavior of eavesdroppers on the data in this work, and further analyze the maximum safe-rate for above location assumptions. Numerical results reveal that RIS provides significant advantages on security performance, as well as providing a useful reference for the security design of future wireless communication systems, which verify the correctness of our analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Ultra-security optical image encryption using speckles through a multi-mode fiber

To realize optical image encryption for long-distance transmission while considering its security performance, an optical image encryption scheme is proposed in this paper. In the scheme, the pixel information of the plaintext image is first encoded by orbital angular momentum (OAM) holograms; then, the information-coded OAM beam is transmitted through a 1 km multimode fiber to generate speckles as ciphertexts for encryption; and finally, a pre-trained deep learning model capable of learning the relationship between the output speckles and the input information-coded OAM modes is used for decryption. The proposed scheme is not only able to achieve high fidelity recovered image but also a remarkable level of security. The high security stems from the combined use of three keys: the order key, the model key, and the coder key, during optical encryption. The image can therefore only be decrypted by authorized users who simultaneously know the three keys. We have experimentally demonstrated the high fidelity and high security encryption/decryption capabilities. Our work can provide a promising avenue for further research into long-distance optical image transmission and encryption with ultra-high security.

Comprehensive cost analysis of voice call recording storage with and without NAS and GSM gateway integration via unified communication server

This study is an extension of existing research, which previously demonstrated the effective integration of Network Attached Storage (NAS) with a GSM Gateway into Unified Communication (UC) Platform, thereby realizing remarkable enhancements in system scalability, data security, privacy, network and overall server performance. Although the technical and operational benefits of this integration were well understood and documented, however there was an important gap that is cost analysis. This paper addresses the gap by providing a comprehensive cost analysis of voice call archiving with and without NAS and GSM Gateway integration using UC. The analysis considers essential financial factors, including initial investment, ongoing operational costs, and long-term savings due to lower maintenance and scalability. While the findings reveal that the upfront costs of NAS and GSM Gateway integration are higher, these are offset by long-term operational efficiencies and system resilience, leading to substantial financial gains. The evaluation results offer organizations a strategic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of using this NAS-GSM Gateway integrated approach for voice data archiving in UC environments. This custom-costing solution provides a much-needed holistic perspective on the combined technical and financial benefits.

Secure and Lightweight Cluster-Based User Authentication Protocol for IoMT Deployment.

Authentication is considered one of the most critical technologies for the next generation of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) due to its ability to significantly improve the security of sensors. However, higher frequency cyber-attacks and more intrusion methods significantly increase the security risks of IoMT sensor devices, resulting in more and more patients' privacy being threatened. Different from traditional IoT devices, sensors are generally considered to be based on low-cost hardware designs with limited storage resources; thus, authentication techniques for IoMT scenarios might not be applicable anymore. In this paper, we propose an efficient three-factor cluster-based user authentication protocol (3ECAP). Specifically, we establish the security association between the user and the sensor cluster through fine-grained access control based on Merkle, which perfectly achieves the segmentation of permission. We then demonstrate that 3ECAP can address the privilege escalation attack caused by permission segmentation. Moreover, we further analyze the security performance and communication cost using formal and non-formal security analysis, Proverif, and NS3. Simulation results demonstrated the robustness of 3ECAP against various cyber-attacks and its applicability in an IoMT environment with limited storage resources.

Job Security as a Determinant of Academic Staff Performance: Evidence from Public Universities in Uganda

In today’s competitive higher education landscape, improving academic staff performance is essential for institutional success. This study investigated the relationship between employee job security and academic staff performance in three key areas: teaching, research, and community engagement at four public universities in Uganda. To understand how job security influences these domains, a cross-sectional survey design was utilised, with a sample of 350 participants selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using structured, close-ended questionnaires and analysed with IBM SPSS, employing both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that job security has a statistically significant positive effect on academic staff performance across all three areas, with teaching (R = 0.260, R² = 0.067), research (R = 0.312, R² = 0.097), and community engagement (R = 0.278, R² = 0.077) demonstrating modest correlations. As a result, the study rejected the null hypotheses, confirming that improved job security can enhance academic staff performance in these critical domains. However, the modest effect size suggests that job security alone may not lead to substantial performance improvements. Therefore, it is recommended that universities prioritise enhancing job security through clear policies and institutional support measures, including competitive remuneration, comprehensive health insurance, and opportunities for career advancement, while also implementing innovative strategies to foster a stable and supportive working environment that boosts productivity and overall outcomes

Secrecy outage probability of IRS‐aided VLC systems with power splitting

AbstractAn intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)‐aided visible light secure communication system is investigated. In order to improve its security performance, a power splitting scheme is adopted at the light‐emitting diodes. In contrast to most current research on the physical‐layer security in IRS‐aided visible light secure communication systems where secrecy rate or secrecy capacity maximization problems subject to various resource constraints were formulated, this letter takes the reliability of secure transmission into account. The closed‐form expression of secrecy outage probability is derived based on the statistical characteristics of the signal‐to‐noise ratio of the legitimate user, and the effects of light‐emitting diodes and IRS parameters and power splitting ratio on the secrecy outage probability are validated through simulations.

SYNERGY IN SECURITY: EVALUATING THE EFFICACY OF COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY THE ARMED FORCES OF NIGERIA IN COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM

In the face of evolving security threats, the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) stand at a critical juncture, where the echoes of gunfire meet the whispers of diplomacy. This study delves into the heart of Nigeria's counter-extremism efforts, examining the AFN's journey from traditional military approaches to a symphony of collaborative strategies. Through an extensive literature review, the study unravels the tapestry of stakeholder engagement woven by the AFN in their quest to combat violent extremism. This research navigates the complex terrain of Nigeria's security landscape, exploring how the AFN has transformed from a lone sentinel to a conductor of a diverse orchestra of stakeholders. It analyses key initiatives such as the National Security Strategy and the National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, viewing them as scores that guide this intricate performance of national security. The study reveals a narrative of progress punctuated by persistent challenges. It found that while the AFN has successfully harmonized efforts with civil society, religious leaders, and international partners, discordant notes of mistrust and resource constraints continue to resonate. The analysis uncovers the delicate balance the AFN must maintain – striking a chord between military might and community engagement, between national sovereignty and international collaboration. Emerging from our review is a portrait of an armed force in transition, learning to wield soft power alongside hard power. The study identifies innovative practices where the AFN has successfully bridged divides, creating unexpected alliances in the fight against extremism. However, we also highlight the unfinished symphony – areas where the collaboration falls short of its potential. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on military transformation in the face of asymmetric threats. By examining the AFN's collaborative strategies, it provides insights applicable not only to Nigeria but to armed forces globally grappling with similar security challenges. As the AFN continues to compose its response to violent extremism, this research offers both a reflection on its current performance and a prelude to future harmonies in national security efforts.

Distributed Medical Data Storage Mechanism Based on Proof of Retrievability and Vector Commitment for Metaverse Services.

The metaverse is a unified, persistent, and shared multi-user virtual environment with a fully immersive, hyper-temporal, and diverse interconnected network. When combined with healthcare, it can effectively improve medical services and has great potential for development in realizing medical training, enhanced teaching, and remote surgical treatment. The metaverse provides immersive services for users through massive and multimodal data, and its data scale and data growth rate are bound to show exponential growth. Blockchain-based distributed storage is a fundamental way to keep the metaverse running continuously; however, many blockchains, such as Ethereum and Filecoin, suffer from low transaction throughput and high latency, which seriously affect the efficiency of distributed storage services and make it difficult to apply them to the metaverse environment. To this end, this paper first proposes a network architecture for distributed storage systems based on proof of retrievability to address the problem of centralized decision making and single point of access in centralized storage. The secure data storage of the metaverse health system is ensured. Secondly, we designed two data transmission protocols through vector commitment and encoding functions to achieve the transfer of time cost from the critical path to storage nodes and improve the efficiency of data verification between nodes as well as the scalability of the metaverse health system. Finally, this paper also conducts security analysis and performance analysis of the proposed scheme, and the results show that our scheme is secure and efficient.

A Provably Secure and Lightweight Two-Factor Authentication Protocol for Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are rapidly being integrated into various fields, significantly impacting and facilitating many aspects of human life. However, the increasingly prominent security issues associated with WSNs have become a significant challenge. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the security challenges faced by WSNs in resource constrained and open communication environments. As a key component of the Internet of Things (IoT), a WSN can perceive, collect and transmit physical environmental data in real-time, and is widely used in military, medical, agricultural and other fields. However, the insecurity of communication channels and unauthorized user access pose severe threats to network security and data integrity. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a provably secure two-factor authentication protocol. This protocol utilizes a Chebyshev chaotic map and a two-factor authentication mechanism, which not only enhances security in WSNs but also improves authentication efficiency. The protocol is validated through security proof and performance experiments, demonstrating excellent security, functionality and efficiency. This provides strong support for secure and efficient communication in WSNs across various application scenarios.

A Versatile Image Encryption Scheme Based on Optical Hologram Technology and Chess Rules

A novel versatile image encryption scheme about hologram technology and chess rules is proposed in this paper. This scheme can encrypt images by transferring them from the spatial domain to the frequency domain. First, the theory of computer-generated holograms is applied to record phase and amplitude features by imitating the optical hologram. The original image is transformed to a hologram and the phase values of the points in the image are recorded. Second, the parameters associated with the plaintext image are obtained by a Hash function and used as the initial values of the chaotic system, and then the pawns on the board are regarded as pixel points of the image, where the movement direction of the pawns is the movement direction of the pixel points of the image. The hologram is confused by combining the pawns’ movement rules with the chaotic sequences. Finally, the encrypted image is gained through a combination of the chaotic sequence and the selective diffusion method. The test results show that the scheme is able to resist various attacks and has good security performance in encryption.

Comparative analysis of remote user authentication schemes based on external memory

Because of recent availability of remote services and resources, remote user authentication becomes an essential component of all digital environment. Remote user login authentication is the process of validating the identity of a user. Users present their credentials, such as username and password, as evidence of their identity. The most practical and effectively implemented remote user authentication scheme is the smart card-based one, however, because it is expensive to acquire and operate smart card facilities, users may find it challenging to employ smart card authentication schemes in remote environments. Mobility and simplicity of acquisition—especially for remote access—are the benefits of using this external memory. Therefore, this research performs comparative analysis of these remote user authentication schemes based external memory. The schemes are first evaluated for security features and performance in terms of computation cost. The results of analysis shown that Buhari et al.’s scheme has the highest security feature and is the only scheme that uses light-weight tamper resistance client file, followed the reviewed Kumari et al.’s scheme which is the only scheme that handles user privacy. The most efficient scheme is Buhari et al.’s scheme followed by Rhee et al.’s scheme.

Comprehensive Performance Testing Analysis and Security Vulnerability Detection of a 5G Stand Alone Network using a Firecell Testbed

With the proliferation of 5G networks, evaluating security vulnerabilities is crucial. This paper presents an implemented 5G standalone testbed operating in the mmWave frequency range for research and analysis. Over-the-air testing validates expected throughputs up to 5Gbps downlink and 1Gbps uplink, low latency, and robust connectivity. Detailed examination of captured network traffic provides insights into protocol distribution and signalling flows. The comparative evaluation shows only 0.45% packet loss on the testbed versus 2.7% in prior simulations, proving improved reliability. The results highlight the efficacy of the testbed for security assessments, performance benchmarking, and progression towards 6G systems. This paper demonstrates a robust platform to facilitate innovation in 5G and beyond through practical experimentation.For access to the code, data, and experimental results, visit our GitHub repository(https://github.com/Didilish/5G-SA-Testbed-Analysis)