Next-Generation Software Created To Identify Complex Cyber Network Attacks

Next-Generation Software Created To Identify Complex Cyber Network Attacks

Researchers in George Mason University’s Center for Secure Information Systems have developed new software that can reduce the impact of cyber attacks by identifying the possible vulnerability paths through an organization’s networks.

By their very nature networks are highly interdependent and each machine’s overall susceptibility to attack depends on the vulnerabilities of the other machines in the network. Attackers can take advantage of multiple vulnerabilities in unexpected ways, allowing them to incrementally penetrate a network and compromise critical systems. In order to protect an organization’s networks, it is necessary to understand not only individual system vulnerabilities, but also their interdependencies.

Cyber Project Looks to Help IT Professionals With DNS Vulnerabilities

Sandia National Laboratories computer scientist Casey Deccio has developed a visualization tool known as DNSViz to help network administrators within the federal government and global IT community better understand Domain Name System Security (DNSSEC) and to help them troubleshoot problems.

DNSSEC is a security feature mandated to all federal information systems by the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The mandate, issued in 2008, requires that "the top level .gov domain will be DNSSEC-signed, and processes to enable secure delegated sub-domains will be developed."

Manufacturing: Configure Your Own Operating Software

Is the oil pressure in the hydraulic system too high? What's the current condition of the rotor blades on that wind turbine plant? It is important for the people who operate facilities and machines to be able to answer this sort of question at any given time, because malfunctions and failures can prove to be costly.

‘Combinatorial' Approach Squashes Software Bugs Faster, Cheaper

 A team of computer scientists and mathematicians from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Texas, Arlington is developing an open-source tool that catches programming errors by using an emerging approach called "combinatorial testing." The NIST-Texas tool, described at a recent conference, could save software developers significant time and money when it is released next year.

Studying software crashes in a variety of applications from medical devices to Web browsers, NIST researchers obtained hard evidence to support long-held conventional wisdom: most software failures result from simple

Taking The Hard Work Out Of Software

Developing software is a complicated and laborious process. A new European platform automates much of the tricky building and testing phases of programming.

Computer software has come a long way. The first-ever ‘computer program’ was a very short one written by Ada Lovelace in 1842-3 to calculate Bernoulli numbers. In the early days, programming was more often than not an individual effort carried out by enthusiasts.

Today, software development is so complex and sophisticated that entire teams work for years to develop a program. Building, testing and releasing software consumes an ever-growing amount of time and resources. According to one EU-funded project, the answer lies in the automation of these processes.

New Hardware Boosts Communication Speed On Multi-Core Chips

Computer engineers at North Carolina State University have developed hardware that allows programs to operate more efficiently by significantly boosting the speed at which the "cores" on a computer chip communicate with each other.

The core, or central processing unit, is the brain of a computer chip; most chips currently contain between four and eight cores. In order to perform a task more quickly using multiple cores on a single chip, those cores need to communicate with each other. But there are no direct ways for cores to communicate.

New Hardware Boosts Communication Speed On Multi-Core Chips

 

User interface design

User interface design or user interface engineering is the design of computers, gadgets, appliances, machines, mobile communication devices, software applications, and websites with the focus on the user's experience and interaction.

Unlike traditional design where the goal is to make the object or application physically attractive, the goal of user interface design is to make the user's interaction experience as simple and intuitive as possible - what is often called user-centered design.

Where good graphic/industrial design is bold and eye catching, good user interface design is often subtle and invisible.

For more information about the topic User interface design.

New Hardware Boosts Communication Speed On Multi-Core Chips

Computer engineers at North Carolina State University have developed hardware that allows programs to operate more efficiently by significantly boosting the speed at which the "cores" on a computer chip communicate with each other.

The core, or central processing unit, is the brain of a computer chip; most chips currently contain between four and eight cores. In order to perform a task more quickly using multiple cores on a single chip, those cores need to communicate with each other. But there are no direct ways for cores to communicate. Instead, one core sends data to memory and another core retrieves it using software algorithms.

"Our technology is more efficient because it provides a single instruction to send data to another core, which is six times faster than the best state-of-the-art software we could find," says Dr. James Tuck, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. Tuck explains that the

SOFTWARE

Computer software

Software is a program that enables a computer to perform a specific task, as opposed to the physical components of the system (hardware).

This includes application software such as a word processor, which enables a user to perform a task, and system software such as an operating system, which enables other software to run properly, by interfacing with hardware and with other software.

Practical computer systems divide software into three major classes: system software, programming software and application software, although the distinction is arbitrary, and often blurred. Computer software has to be "loaded" into the computer's storage (such as a hard drive, memory, or RAM).

Once the software is loaded, the computer is able to execute the software.

Computers operate by executing the computer program.

This involves passing instructions from the application software, through the system software, to the hardware which ultimately receives the instruction as machine code.

Each instruction causes the computer to carry out an operation -- moving data, carrying out a computation, or altering the control flow of instructions.

Application software

Application software is a defined subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform.

This should be contrasted with system software which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities, but typically does not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user.

The term application refers to both the application software and its implementation. A simple, if imperfect, analogy in the world of hardware would be the relationship of an electric light - an application - to an electric power generation plant - the system.

The power plant merely generates electricity, itself not really of any use until harnessed to an application like the electric light which performs a service that the user desires.

Typical examples of software applications are word processors, spreadsheets, and media players.