Academic research papers, presentations, and scholarly work
USENIX Security '25 - Seattle, August 2025
Abstract. Memorizing high entropy private keys as "brain wallets" has been deemed challenging, leading to reliance on low entropy keys or vulnerable storage methods. This work conducts a human study comparing memorization of 128-bit non-alphanumeric graphic seed schemes versus traditional BIP-39 alphanumeric schemes. Our hypothesis suggests graphical key seeds may be more memorizable than alphanumeric alternatives, particularly scene-based keys as recovery vehicles. We developed a comprehensive key generation, training, and authentication system to test this with 100 participants, analyzing memorability statistics and authentication success rates.
June 2013
Full TextAbstract. In the wake of the recent purchase of a quantum computer by Google and NASA, this synthesis paper examines relevant articles surrounding the architecture and potential applications for quantum computing. The article also explains the principles of quantum computing necessary for such analysis.
May 2013
Full TextAbstract. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks continue to plague today's Internet. The variety and ingenuity of such attacks requires network security analysts to perpetually develop more robust forms of attack identification and prevention. UDP flood is one of the simplest to deploy DDoS attacks. It is based on the idea of overwhelming the receiver with a huge amount of traffic causing congestion and preventing legitimate services. Such attacks are often launched together with IP spoofing which makes it difficult to identify the malicious traffic and distinguish it from legitimate connections. The hop count defense mechanism identifies malicious traffic and helps to thwart the DDoS attacks by comparing the TTL field value carried in the IP header of the arriving packet with the actual number of hops to the source node. This paper focuses on the methodology for modeling a DDoS UDP flood with an IP spoofing attack and hop count defense using OPNET Modeler network simulation software.
December 2012
Full TextAbstract. Precursor work for the above paper.
October 2012
Full TextPresentation. What does it mean for a network application to "cross layers?" Different cross-layer paradigms explained.
May 2013
Full TextAbstract. Hard science linguistics (HSL) is unique among linguistic programs in that it studies communicative behavior of individuals in the real world, rather than theoretical, non-scientifically observable domains. Its founder, former physicist and early computer scientist Victor Yngve, applied his experience with the sciences, utilizing the principles of systems, boundaries, and control procedures to define this branch of linguistics. HSL has also developed its own expressive modeling language, replete with properties, tasks and linkages. Given the scientific discipline of this systems-based approach, there is remarkable overlap with the domain of computer science. However, the paucity of computer applications for the hard science linguist is both unexpected and unfortunate. Object-oriented programming provides a mechanism to translate linguistic elements into computerized models. In this article, we demonstrate how to leverage advances in object-oriented and prototype-based design to construct dynamic and reusable HSL toolkits.
December 2012
Full TextAbstract. Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ruby and Io are all prime examples of pure object-oriented languages. Their implementation of such object-oriented features such as inheritance, encapsulation, polymorphism and abstraction differ, however. To assess the variations in these languages, the authors developed a rudimentary class registration system in Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ruby and Io. The mechanics and syntax of these features will be illustrated through a series of examples. When a feature does not fully exist, but a work-around can be crafted, this will also be discussed.
September 2012
Full TextPresentation. A review of the history of the creation of the Ada programming language.