Petros Belsis

Information systems security from a knowledge management perspective

– Information systems security management is a knowledge‐intensive activity that currently depends heavily on the experience of security experts. However, the knowledge dimension of IS security management has been neglected, both by research and industry. This paper aims to explore the sources of IS security knowledge and the potential role of an IS security knowledge management system., – The results of this paper are based on field research involving five organizations (public and private) and five security experts and consultants. A model to illustrate the structure of IS security knowledge in an organization is then proposed., – Successful security management largely depends on the involvement of users and other stakeholders in security analysis, design, and implementation, as well as in actively defending the IS. However, most stakeholders lack the required knowledge of IS security issues that would allow them to play an important role in IS security management., – In this paper, the knowledge management aspect of IS security management has been highlighted. Moreover, the basic sources of security‐related knowledge have been identified and a model of IS security knowledge has been created. Also, the activities to be supported by a security‐focused KM system have been identified. Thus, the basis for the development of specialized security KM systems has been set.

Providing advanced remote medical treatment services through pervasive environments

Advances on sensor technology, wireless environments and data mining introduce new possibilities in the healthcare sector, realizing the anytime-anywhere access to medical information. Towards this direction, integration of packet-switched networks and sensor devices can be effective in deploying assistive environments, such as home monitoring for elderly or patients. In this paper we describe a policy-based architecture that utilizes wireless sensor devices, advanced network topologies and software agents to enable remote monitoring of patients and elderly people; through the aforementioned technologies we achieve continuous monitoring of a patient’s condition and we can proceed when necessary with proper actions. We also present a software framework and network architecture that realizes the provision of remote medical services, in compliance with the imposed security and privacy requirements. A proof of concept prototype is also deployed, along with an evaluation of the overall architecture’s performance.

A pervasive architectural framework for providing remote medical treatment

The proliferation of mobile devices has led to their integration into a huge number of assistive environments where they perform a key role. Pervasive environments, built over wireless infrastructures, introduce new possibilities in the healthcare sector realizing the anytime-anywhere access to medical information paradigm. Towards this direction pervasive technology can be deployed in assistive environments, such as home monitoring for elderly or patients. In this paper we describe a policy based architecture that utilizes software agents and wireless sensor technologies to enable remote monitoring of patients and elderly people. We also discuss the technical challenges which directed the decisions with respect to the design of our software prototype architecture. These decisions mainly focus on providing continuous feedback of the patients condition, while transferring encrypted versions of the necessary medical information in accordance with the increased security and privacy requirements. The presented prototype implementation utilizes advanced network management technologies and software agent engineering in order to operate effectively, to achieve interoperability through the different modules and in order to comply with the imposed (by the legislative framework) increased security and privacy requirements.

A k-anonymity privacy-preserving approach in wireless medical monitoring environments

With the proliferation of wireless sensor networks and mobile technologies in general, it is possible to provide improved medical services and also to reduce costs as well as to manage the shortage of specialized personnel. Monitoring a person’s health condition using sensors provides a lot of benefits but also exposes personal sensitive information to a number of privacy threats. By recording user-related data, it is often feasible for a malicious or negligent data provider to expose these data to an unauthorized user. One solution is to protect the patient’s privacy by making difficult a linkage between specific measurements with a patient’s identity. In this paper we present a privacy-preserving architecture which builds upon the concept of k-anonymity; we present a clustering-based anonymity scheme for effective network management and data aggregation, which also protects user’s privacy by making an entity indistinguishable from other k similar entities. The presented algorithm is resource aware, as it minimizes energy consumption with respect to other more costly, cryptography-based approaches. The system is evaluated from an energy-consuming and network performance perspective, under different simulation scenarios.

A scalable security architecture enabling coalition formation between autonomous domains

Coalitions between autonomous domains are often formed in real life scenarios in order to enable access permissions to shared objects on grounds of bilateral resource-sharing agreements. The dynamic nature of coalitions poses new challenges relative to security management and joint administration of resources; therefore we distinguish a need for reconciliation and extension support to single-domain oriented security models, so as to incorporate location, time and context based related parameters in their role definition schemes. In this paper, we introduce a robust and scalable solution that enables the realization of coalition formation in a multi-domain policy ruled environment

Secure and distributed knowledge management in pervasive environments

Pervasive environments are mostly based on the ad hoc networking paradigm and are characterized by ubiquity in both users and devices and artefacts. In these inherently unstable conditions and bearing in mind the resources limitations that are attributed to participating devices, the deployment of knowledge management techniques is considered complicated due to the particular requirements. This paper addresses the issue of secure and distributed knowledge management applications in pervasive environments. We present a prototype implementation after having presented detailed design principles as far as the communications and the application itself is regarded. Robustness and lightweight implementation are the cornerstones of the proposed solution.

Deploying pervasive secure knowledge management infrastructures

Pervasive environments are mostly based on the ad hoc networking paradigm and are characterized by ubiquity in both users and devices and artifacts. In these inherently unstable conditions and bearing in mind the resource’s limitations that are attributed to participating devices, the deployment of Knowledge Management techniques is considered complicated due to the particular requirements. Security considerations are also very important since the distribution of knowledge information to multiple locations over a network, poses inherent problems and calls for advanced methods in order to mitigate node misbehaviour and in order to enforce authorized and authenticated access to this information. This paper addresses the issue of secure and distributed knowledge management applications in pervasive environments. We present a prototype implementation after having discussed detailed design principles as far as the communications and the application itself is regarded. Robustness and lightweight implementation are the cornerstones of the proposed solution. The approach we have undertaken makes use of overlay networks to achieve efficiency and performance optimization, exploiting ontologies. The work presented in this paper extends our initial work to tackle this problem, as this was described in (28).

A wireless distributed framework for supporting assistive learning environments

There is a lot of interest in developing environments utilizing various types of assistive technologies lately. Among else, people with specific difficulties may benefit from specially designed devices and software that aim in overcoming the disabilities of various groups. We describe a framework that aims in the provision of advanced services towards the facilitation of access to information for specific groups of people. Among else, our approach uses various tools and techniques. With wireless devices access to information is achieved independently of location, while with personalized services there is a capability to adjust the services and interfaces to various demands. Finally with a specific methodology that has been developed and tested as a result of international projects, the content and interfaces are adjusted to various needs of the participating user-groups.

End to end secure communication in ad-hoc assistive medical environments using secure paths

Recent advances in technology introduce many new capabilities for several sectors. Among else, the continuous improvement and integration of new features in mobile devices, allow their interoperation and integration to a large number of environments; primarily the medical sector may suffice from their utilization in order to monitor efficiently the condition of patients and provide feedback to specialists, especially in cases of absence of a stable (wired) network infrastructure. Strict security requirements emerge due to the sensitivity of data being transmitted, often imposed by different international legislation processes. We present an architecture that allows secure dissemination of medical information in a secure manner in the absence of stable topologies and infrastructures built upon resource efficient devices. The presented architecture utilizes advanced management techniques, achieving secure and privacy-preserving transmission of sensitive data. A number of initial measurements show the effective operation of our architecture in presence of an adequately large number of users participating in the performance test-bed scenario.

Using neural networks and SVMs for automatic medical diagnosis: A comprehensive review

In this paper we make a comprehensive review regarding the use of neural networks in automated medical diagnosis, with a special emphasis in Support Vector Machines (SVMs), which are specialized types of neural functions. Through the study, we see that, in many cases, symptoms and diseases can be efficiently predicted by neural systems, while SVMs are increasingly used in medical diagnosis due to their accurate classification characteristics.