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Publications

2020

Adversarial Machine Learning Applied to Intrusion and Malware Scenarios: A Systematic Review

Authors
Martins, N; Cruz, JM; Cruz, T; Abreu, PH;

Publication
IEEE ACCESS

Abstract
Cyber-security is the practice of protecting computing systems and networks from digital attacks, which are a rising concern in the Information Age. With the growing pace at which new attacks are developed, conventional signature based attack detection methods are often not enough, and machine learning poses as a potential solution. Adversarial machine learning is a research area that examines both the generation and detection of adversarial examples, which are inputs specially crafted to deceive classifiers, and has been extensively studied specifically in the area of image recognition, where minor modifications are performed on images that cause a classifier to produce incorrect predictions. However, in other fields, such as intrusion and malware detection, the exploration of such methods is still growing. The aim of this survey is to explore works that apply adversarial machine learning concepts to intrusion and malware detection scenarios. We concluded that a wide variety of attacks were tested and proven effective in malware and intrusion detection, although their practicality was not tested in intrusion scenarios. Adversarial defenses were substantially less explored, although their effectiveness was also proven at resisting adversarial attacks. We also concluded that, contrarily to malware scenarios, the variety of datasets in intrusion scenarios is still very small, with the most used dataset being greatly outdated.

2020

Multivariate and Multiscale Complexity of Long-Range Correlated Cardiovascular and Respiratory Variability Series

Authors
Martins, A; Pernice, R; Amado, C; Rocha, AP; Silva, ME; Javorka, M; Faes, L;

Publication
ENTROPY

Abstract
Assessing the dynamical complexity of biological time series represents an important topic with potential applications ranging from the characterization of physiological states and pathological conditions to the calculation of diagnostic parameters. In particular, cardiovascular time series exhibit a variability produced by different physiological control mechanisms coupled with each other, which take into account several variables and operate across multiple time scales that result in the coexistence of short term dynamics and long-range correlations. The most widely employed technique to evaluate the dynamical complexity of a time series at different time scales, the so-called multiscale entropy (MSE), has been proven to be unsuitable in the presence of short multivariate time series to be analyzed at long time scales. This work aims at overcoming these issues via the introduction of a new method for the assessment of the multiscale complexity of multivariate time series. The method first exploits vector autoregressive fractionally integrated (VARFI) models to yield a linear parametric representation of vector stochastic processes characterized by short- and long-range correlations. Then, it provides an analytical formulation, within the theory of state-space models, of how the VARFI parameters change when the processes are observed across multiple time scales, which is finally exploited to derive MSE measures relevant to the overall multivariate process or to one constituent scalar process. The proposed approach is applied on cardiovascular and respiratory time series to assess the complexity of the heart period, systolic arterial pressure and respiration variability measured in a group of healthy subjects during conditions of postural and mental stress. Our results document that the proposed methodology can detect physiologically meaningful multiscale patterns of complexity documented previously, but can also capture significant variations in complexity which cannot be observed using standard methods that do not take into account long-range correlations.

2020

Active Learning-based Classification in Automated Connected Vehicles

Authors
Abdellatif, AA; Chiasserini, CF; Malandrino, F;

Publication
IEEE INFOCOM 2020 - IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops (INFOCOM WKSHPS)

Abstract

2020

Digital Reconstitution of Road Traffic Accidents: A Flexible Methodology Relying on UAV Surveying and Complementary Strategies to Support Multiple Scenarios

Authors
Padua, L; Sousa, J; Vanko, J; Hruska, J; Adao, T; Peres, E; Sousa, A; Sousa, JJ;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Abstract
The reconstitution of road traffic accidents scenes is a contemporary and important issue, addressed both by private and public entities in different countries around the world. However, the task of collecting data on site is not generally focused on with the same orientation and relevance. Addressing this type of accident scenario requires a balance between two fundamental yet competing concerns: (1) information collecting, which is a thorough and lengthy process and (2) the need to allow traffic to flow again as quickly as possible. This technical note proposes a novel methodology that aims to support road traffic authorities/professionals in activities involving the collection of data/evidences of motor vehicle collision scenarios by exploring the potential of using low-cost, small-sized and light-weight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). A high number of experimental tests and evaluations were conducted in various working conditions and in cooperation with the Portuguese law enforcement authorities responsible for investigating road traffic accidents. The tests allowed for concluding that the proposed method gathers all the conditions to be adopted as a near future approach for reconstituting road traffic accidents and proved to be: faster, more rigorous and safer than the current manual methodologies used not only in Portugal but also in many countries worldwide.

2020

Analysis and Design of a Polar Digitally Modulated CMOS PA Based on Switched Constant-Current

Authors
Gomes, R; Duarte, C; Pedro, JC;

Publication
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES

Abstract
Typical polar digital power amplifiers (DPAs) employ unit-cells operated in class-E or D-1, denoting a switched-resistance operation which degrades linearity. Besides introducing higher demand on digital predistortion (DPD), it also requires extra quantization bits, impacting the overall efficiency and system complexity. To address this, the present work makes use of an optimized constant-current cascode unit-cell which is combined with reduced conduction angle to achieve linear and efficient operation, while minimizing the effort on DPD and/or calibration. A design strategy is developed which focuses on the cascode bias voltage and transistor relative dimensions as design parameters, allowing cascode efficiency optimization without compromising linearity or reliability. A single-ended polar switched constant-current DPA is implemented in 180-nm standard CMOS. Continuous-wave measurements performed at 800 MHz demonstrate an output power of 24 dBm with a PAE of 47%. The DPA dynamic behavior was tested with a 64-QAM signal with 10 MS/s, achieving an average PAE of 20.9% with a peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of 8.7 dB and adjacent-channel leakage ratio (ACLR) = 40.34 dB. These results demonstrate comparable performance with the prior art while using only 6-bits clocked at 100 MHz baseband sampling frequency.

2020

Building a Polyglot Data Access Layer for a Low-Code Application Development Platform - (Experience Report)

Authors
Alonso, AN; Abreu, J; Nunes, D; Vieira, A; Santos, L; Soares, T; Pereira, J;

Publication
DAIS

Abstract
Low-code application development as proposed by the OutSystems Platform enables fast mobile and desktop application development and deployment. It hinges on visual development of the interface and business logic but also on easy integration with data stores and services while delivering robust applications that scale. Data integration increasingly means accessing a variety of NoSQL stores. Unfortunately, the diversity of data and processing models, that make them useful in the first place, is difficult to reconcile with the simplification of abstractions exposed to developers in a low-code platform. Moreover, NoSQL data stores also rely on a variety of general purpose and custom scripting languages as their main interfaces. In this paper we report on building a polyglot data access layer for the OutSystems Platform that uses SQL with optional embedded script snippets to bridge the gap between low-code and full access to NoSQL stores.

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