http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/topic/15/computer-science Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 04 May 2026 10:09:59 -0400 Mon, 04 May 2026 10:09:59 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1341/crossed-wires-international-cooperation-on-cyber-security By Madeline Carr - Although cyber security is quite clearly a ‘post-state' problem, it has actually proven very difficult to move beyond a Westphalian conception of either the problem or the possible solutions. This leads to a central paradox about cyber security as we currently conceive it: on the one hand, it appears to be a problem that cannot be dealt with effectively by state instruments like the military or law enforcement but despite that, there remains a strong expectation that the state retains responsibility for providing security in this realm. This paradox has led to an emphasis in cyber security... Sun, 31 Jan 2016 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1341/crossed-wires-international-cooperation-on-cyber-security http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1343/stuxnet-the-worlds-first-cyber-boomerang By Alex Middleton - In June 2012, two years after the initial discovery of the Stuxnet worm,1 an excerpt from David Sanger's then soon to be released book entitled Confront and Conceal was published in the New York Times.2 This piece, purportedly based on the testimony of several current and former American, European and Israeli officials, declared that Stuxnet – "the world's first fully fledged cyber weapon"3 was engineered by the United States and Israel as part of a wider covert operation aimed at undermining the Iranian nuclear program.4 Whilst the United States and Israel had long been suspected of developing... Sun, 31 Jan 2016 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1343/stuxnet-the-worlds-first-cyber-boomerang http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1344/the-internet-as-a-slippery-object-of-state-security-the-problem-of-physical-border-insensitivity-anonymity-and-global-interconnectedness By Memphis Krickeberg - Cybersecurity is presented in the growing literature on the subject as an essentially "slippery" object for state security.1 The Internet puts a lot of stress on the conventional conception of state security as the insurance of the state's survival in the international realm. In addition, cybersecurity supposedly leads to a reconfiguration of state security which must be apprehended through new paradigms. In this article we establish a typology of the main arguments found in cybersecurity discourses that emphasize fundamental differences between cybersecurity and more conventional factors of state... Sun, 31 Jan 2016 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1344/the-internet-as-a-slippery-object-of-state-security-the-problem-of-physical-border-insensitivity-anonymity-and-global-interconnectedness http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1345/internet-freedom-rhetoric-versus-reality By Vaughan A. Holding - In the last few years the Internet has borne witness to and facilitated a great deal of social and societal change. From Hilary Clinton's positive 2010 address; ‘Remarks on Internet Freedom', to the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions that showcased the power of social media, the internet, its use and power, has been at the forefront of recent news.1 However, equal to, if not overtaking the positive and enabling factors of the Internet in recent years are the many controversies surrounding it. While undoubtedly carrying the potential to do great good, the Internet has been plagued with numerous... Sun, 31 Jan 2016 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1345/internet-freedom-rhetoric-versus-reality http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1269/an-overview-of-essential-security-measures-for-competitive-organizations By Teodor Topalov Et. Al. - In today’s world whether an organization has a small network managed and controlled by a small team of individuals or has multiple large databases and mainframes managed by a large team of professionals, information technology is always present in the structure of an organization. As large corporations seek to maximize the shareholder’s wealth and gain an edge in increasingly competitive niche markets, more top-level managers and executives, seek the competencies and potential benefits that a strong information security structure provides. In today’s world of innovation and advancements... Fri, 30 Oct 2015 08:16 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1269/an-overview-of-essential-security-measures-for-competitive-organizations http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1082/defending-the-cyber-realm By Alex Middleton - There is a widespread belief that as societies and governments become increasingly reliant upon information technology, they in turn are becoming more vulnerable to a whole range of cyber-threats.1 Whether these dangers are capable of generating enough damage to warrant a redistribution of government resources is the question at the heart of this essay. This paper provides an evaluation of the cyber-threat arguing that it deserves recognition as a top-tier priority given that it poses some significant challenges to both national security and economic prosperity. Whilst cyber -crime falls under... Wed, 01 Jan 2014 07:58 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1082/defending-the-cyber-realm http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/629/cracking-the-digital-vault-a-study-of-cyber-espionage By Constantine J. Petallides - The Internet originated with research funding provided by the Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to establish a military network. As its use expanded, a civilian segment evolved with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other science agencies.[3] While wired connections between mainframes at certain bases existed as early as the late 1950s,[4] these rudimentary links had very limited functionality. The connection was usually unreliable, and in some cases could only transmit small bundles of data in one direction. While it is true that these connections... Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/629/cracking-the-digital-vault-a-study-of-cyber-espionage http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/58/distributed-trust-based-management-whos-getting-in By Tony M. Damico - As in the case of a national accounting firm that handles accounts related to a wide variety of industries and company size, there would be multiple offices across a wide geographical area with many managers vying for control and access to data or information. Few data sources are more confidential than the financials of a business. Maintaining strict confidentiality through precise access control is an absolute must. In a company managing funds and accounts for an eclectic set of clients, multiple access attempts from users of all levels and needs will be ongoing. A simple list attempting to... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:40 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/58/distributed-trust-based-management-whos-getting-in http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/47/cyber-attack-prevention-for-the-home-user-how-to-prevent-a-cyber-attack By Tony M. Damico - Consider the difference between network intrusion prevention and network detection systems. Prevention systems “automatically detect and block malicious network and application traffic, while allowing legitimate traffic to continue through to its destination” (Top Layer, 2008). A detection system may detect suspicious activity, but where is the protection from fast acting attacks? A prevention system must identify and stop malicious attacks before they do damage and have a chance to infect a system. As the Top Layer article indicates, “[The prevention system] must operate with... Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:36 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/47/cyber-attack-prevention-for-the-home-user-how-to-prevent-a-cyber-attack http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/44/a-vulnerable-network-undersea-internet-cable-attacks By Tony M. Damico - Conversely, one could argue that with more cables being laid, some redundancy will occur so that the increased number of undersea cables will ensure greater continuity in times of cable breakdown. In any event, protecting these cables has become more of a hot topic after theses attacks. The idea that submarines may carry men close enough to the cables to cut or otherwise damage them brings other goals to mind. A possibility exists that during the downtime of the cables, monitoring devices may be attached to gain some amount of unrestricted access to the transmissions running through the cable... Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:35 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/44/a-vulnerable-network-undersea-internet-cable-attacks http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1698/a-brief-history-of-cryptography By Tony M. Damico - As early as 1900 B.C., Egyptian scribes used hieroglyphs in a non-standard fashion, presumably to hide the meaning from those who did not know the meaning (Whitman, 2005). The Greek’s idea was to wrap a tape around a stick, and then write the message on the wound tape. When the tape was unwound, the writing would be meaningless. The receiver of the message would of course have a stick of the same diameter and use it to decipher the message. The Roman method of cryptography was known as the Caesar Shift Cipher. It utilized the idea of shifting letters by an agreed upon number (three was a... Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:34 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1698/a-brief-history-of-cryptography