Month: June 2015

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are legal and increasingly popular for individuals wanting to circumvent censorship, avoid mass surveillance or access geographically limited services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer. Used by around 20 per cent of European internet users they encrypt users’ internet communications, making it more difficult for people to monitor their activities.

The study of fourteen popular VPN providers found that eleven of them leaked information about the user because of a vulnerability known as ‘IPv6 leakage’. The leaked information ranged from the websites a user is accessing to the actual content of user communications, for example comments being posted on forums. Interactions with websites running HTTPS encryption, which includes financial transactions, were not leaked.

The leakage occurs because network operators are increasingly deploying a new version of the protocol used to run the Internet called IPv6. IPv6 replaces the previous IPv4, but many VPNs only protect user’s IPv4 traffic. The researchers tested their ideas by choosing fourteen of the most famous VPN providers and connecting various devices to a WiFi access point which was designed to mimic the attacks hackers might use.

Researchers attempted two of the kinds of attacks that might be used to gather user data – ‘passive monitoring’, simply collecting the unencrypted information that passed through the access point; and DNS hijacking, redirecting browsers to a controlled web server by pretending to be commonly visited websites like Google and Facebook.

The study also examined the security of various mobile platforms when using VPNs and found that they were much more secure when using Apple’s iOS, but were still vulnerable to leakage when using Google’s Android.

Dr Gareth Tyson, a lecturer from QMUL and co-author of the study, said:

“There are a variety of reasons why someone might want to hide their identity online and it’s worrying that they might be vulnerable despite using a service that is specifically designed to protect them.

“We’re most concerned for those people trying to protect their browsing from oppressive regimes. They could be emboldened by their supposed anonymity while actually revealing all their data and online activity and exposing themselves to possible repercussions.”

References:http://phys.org/

Operators must continually monitor conditions in power plants to assure they are operating safely and efficiently. Researchers on the Sensors and Controls Team at DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory can now fabricate prototype optical sensors that demonstrate superior properties in comparison to traditional sensors using a new laser-heated pedestal growth (LHPG) system. According to NETL researcher Michael Buric, “The new sensors have broader functional temperature ranges, increased durability, and reduced cost. Sensors produced using LHPG will be capable of operating in the high temperature and harsh environments associated with advanced power systems.”

LHPG is a crystal growth technique that reforms bulk high temperature-resistant materials, such as sapphire or YSZ (yttrium stabilized zirconium), into single-crystal optical fibers. The technique produces optical fibers with very high melting temperatures for use as sensor substrates. The LHPG system enables researchers to precisely control crystal growth, and to incorporate novel sensor materials with fiber-substrates during the growth process. The ability to control fabrication parameters along with high temperature-resistant materials generates optical fiber sensors with improved measurement sensitivity and durability. The optical fibers developed at the new facility will be incorporated into fiber sensor assemblies and evaluated for functionality under high temperature and pressure conditions. The materials that demonstrate the most promising performance characteristics will be further evaluated in various sensing configurations.

Optical fiber-based sensors offer distinct advantages including broadband wavelength and compatibility, and resistance to electromagnetic interference. They also eliminate electrical wires and contacts, which are commonly associated with sensor failure. Additionally, fiber optic sensors are compatible with embedded, remote, and distributed sensing technologies.
Innovative process control systems capable of functioning in the extreme environments of conventional and future fossil fuel-based power generation systems will play a key role in improving efficiency while reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Advanced sensor materials will enable continued use of our coal resources to improve U.S. economic competitiveness while providing global environmental benefits through reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The sensors developed using LHPG could also be applied to process monitoring and control for other energy systems, including solid oxide fuel cells, gas turbines, boilers, and oxy-fuel combustion. Other research at NETL is expanding the application of fiber optic-based sensors for use in subsurface monitoring including unconventional, deep, and ultra-deepwater oil and gas resource recovery and CO2 storage.

References:http://phys.org/

An electronic accelerometer of the kind found in most smart phones that let the device determine its orientation and respond to movement, could also be used to save lives on our roads, according to research to be published in the International Journal of Vehicle Safety.

Samuel Lawoyin, Ding-Yu Fei and Ou Bai of Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia, USA and Xin Liu of Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, have shown how an accelerometer can accurately detect when a driver is becoming drowsy, 8 times out of ten. Used in combination with other detection methods, the system could be used to significantly reduce the number of accidents caused by driver fatigue among commercial and long-distance drivers and others.

The team reports that each year there are thousands of avoidable accidents that take place on our roads because of driver fatigue, with an estimated 76000 injuries and 1200 deaths in the USA alone. Some observers suggest that driver drowsiness on long journeys is just as hazardous as alcohol consumption. Technology that can monitor deviations in the movement of the vehicle’s steering wheel when the driver begins to nod off is prohibitively expensive and difficult to implement. Likewise, monitoring systems that measure either the electrical activity in the driver’s heart or brain have their own problems while eyelid monitoring is also difficult to implement in a real-world driving scenario.

However, microelectronic accelerometers are a widely available device found in smart phones and other gadgets that can detect movement and so the researchers suggest they might be used to construct a simple, wearable device for a driving hat, headband, or attachment for spectacles or sunglasses that would trigger an alarm when the driver’s head movements indicate that they are becoming drowsy. It might even be possible to exploit the accelerometer in the driver’s phone for the same application. In the current tests, however, the team has used an accelerometer unobtrusively attached steering wheel itself to provide a simple means to detecting the kind of unusual steering adjustments that are commonly seen being made by drowsy drivers as they slip in and out of full wakefulness.

“Because the number of highway fatalities due to drowsy driving continues to show consistently high annual figures year after year, the necessity for a practical and inexpensive means of drowsy driving monitoring is becoming especially apparent,” the team concludes.” This study shows that the implementation of an accelerometer-based method for drowsy driving detection will be effective and yield high accuracy classifications of a driver’s drowsy state which has the potential to save lives.”

References:http://phys.org/