Ernest Cachia

A Multi-Tier, Multi-Role Security Framework for E-Commerce Systems

As the use of the Internet for commercial purposes continues to grow, so do the number of security threats which attempt to disrupt online systems (Glisson and Welland, 2005); (Deloitte, 2005); and (Gordon et al., 2005). A number of these threats are in fact unintended (Mackey, 2003). For example, a careless employee might drop a cup of coffee onto essential equipment. However, when compared to the brick and mortar world, the Internet offers would-be attackers a more anonymous environment in which to operate. Also, the free availability of hacking tools makes it possible even for the curious teenager to carry out dangerous attacks. Despite this ever-present threat however, it is all too often the case that security is dealt with (if at all) after a Web application has been developed (Gaur, 2000). This is mainly due to our software development heritage whereby companies prefer to focus on the functionality of new systems because that provides and immediate return on investment. This paper proposes a framework for building security into Web applications as they are being developed. The core philosophy here is that security is too big an issue to leave up to one person/team after the product has been developed. The framework also provides a quality assurance process and a communication protocol to ensure that all security-related tasks have been carried out

Multi-frame blind image deconvolution through split frequency - phase recovery

Accurate information extraction from images can only be realised if the data is blur free and contains no artificial artefacts. In astronomical images, apart from hardware limitations, biases are introduced by phenomena beyond control such as atmospheric turbulence. The induced blur function does vary in both time and space depending on the astronomical “seeing” conditions as well as the wavelengths being recorded. Multi-frame blind image deconvolution attempts to recover a sharp latent image from an image sequence of blurry and noisy observations without knowledge of the blur applied to each image within the recorded sequence. Finding a solution to this inverse problem that estimates the original scene from convolved data is a heavily ill-posed problem. In this paper we describe a novel multi-frame blind deconvolution algorithm, that performs image restoration by recovering the frequency and phase information of the latent sharp image in two separate steps. For every given image in the sequence a point-spread function (PSF) is estimated that allows iterative refinement of our latent sharp image estimate. The datasets generated for testing purposes assume Moffat or complex Kolmogorov blur kernels. The results from our implemented prototype are promising and encourage further research.

Dictionary based encoding of cosmological images

The pioneering theory of Compressed Sensing (CS) provides a framework for ill-posed inverse problems and allows for the recovery of sparse signals from a set of measurements. Its applicability to astronomy datasets was recognised from its infancy. In this work, CS techniques are used to aid in the construction of an optimised dictionary that is capable of encoding cosmological images. A learning algorithm that automatically determines and adapts the size of the repository according to the provided training set, is presented. Use of the robust and fast StOMP ℓ1 minimization method is made for the recovery of sparse one dimensional signals. The results suggest that accurate reconstructions with very low residual errors can be obtained.

Preliminary findings to design EIE curricula harmonised to the technical global challenges

Most of the global challenges the Europe face nowadays requires better Electrical and Information Engineering (EIE) education as the enabler of Europes industrial competitiveness. EIE higher education tested model curricula is one of the expected outcomes of the SALEIE (527877-LLP-1-2012-1-UK-ERASMUS-ENW) project. Prior designing any example of EIE curricula in the key challenge subjects it is necessary to identify and define what are the global technical challenges which may challenge both the EIE teachers and learners technical knowledge, creativity, adaptability, communication skills etc. This paper presents the preliminary results in describing and identifying the technical global challenges the EIE graduates may face following the next few decades and proposes top level criteria to analyse EIE curricula in strong connection with the graduate skills which the industry may require.

Using Weak Bisimulation for Enterprise Integration Architecture Formal Verification--I

In this paper we propose the application of weak bisimulation for enterprise application integration verification. Formal verification is carried out by taking the system specification and design models of an integrated system and converting them into value passing CCS (calculus of communicating systems) processes. If a weak bisimulation relation is found between the two models, then it could be concluded that the El Architecture is a valid one. The formal verification of an El Architecture would give value to an El project framework, allowing the challenge of cumbersome and complex testing typically faced by El projects (R. Khanna, 2005), to be alleviated, and thus increasing the possibility of a successful El project, delivered on time and within the stipulated budgeted costs. This paper shows the applicability of value passing CCS (or equivalent) formal notation to model the El systems characteristics, as well as investigates into the computation complexity of available weak bisimulation algorithms, in order to analyze the applicability of this proposition in real life

Measuring the functionality of online stores

This paper shows the need of a framework which can be used to measure the functionality delivered by electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems. Such a framework would be helpful in areas such as cost prediction, effort estimation, and so on. The paper goes on to propose such a framework, based on the established methods of function points and object points.