Search Results (224)

Smart contracts and cryptocurrency wallets are foundational components of decentralized applications (dApps) on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum. While these technologies enable secure, transparent, and automated transactions, their integration also introduces complex security challenges. This study presents a security-oriented analysis of smart contract and wallet integration, focusing on BlockScribe—a decentralized Ethereum-based application for digital record certification. We systematically identify and categorize security risks arising from the interaction between wallet interfaces and smart contract logic. In particular, we analyze how user authorization flows, transaction design, and contract modularity affect the security posture of the entire dApp. To support our findings, we conduct an empirical evaluation using static analysis tools and formal verification methods, examining both contract-level vulnerabilities and integration-level flaws. Our results highlight several overlooked attack surfaces in wallet–contract communication patterns, including reentrancy amplification, permission mismanagement, and transaction ordering issues. We further discuss implications for secure dApp development and propose mitigation strategies that improve the robustness of wallet–contract ecosystems. This case study contributes to a deeper understanding of integration-layer vulnerabilities in blockchain-based systems and offers practical guidance for developers and auditors aiming to strengthen smart contract security. Full article

The digital business environment is rapidly evolving with advancements in information technology (IT), increasing the risk of information security incidents. Grounded in the resource-based view and in contingency theory, this study adopts a different approach from prior research by conceptualizing security management activities not as mere risk control mechanisms, but as strategic innovation drivers that can enhance corporate performance (sales revenue and operating profit). The authors develop a research model with six independent variables, including internal and external security management activities, CISO role configuration (independent or dual-role with CIO), and investment levels in IT and information security. The dependent variables include sales revenue and operating profit, with ISMS or ISO certification as a moderating variable. Using information security (IS) disclosures and financial data from 545 Korean firms that have reported their security management activities to the Ministry of Science and ICT, multiple regression and moderation analyses reveal that high IT investment negatively impacts performance, but this effect is mitigated when formal security systems, like ISMS or ISO, are in place. The results suggest that integrating recognized security frameworks into management strategies can enhance both innovation and financial outcomes, encouraging a proactive approach to security management. Full article

As BIM projects grow in volume and complexity, automated Information Compliance Checking (ICC) is becoming essential to meet demanding regulatory and contractual requirements. This study presents novel controlled vocabularies and processes for the management of information requirements, along with a structured evaluation of the Information Delivery Specification (IDS) and its associated tools. The controlled vocabularies are important as they provide support to standardization, information retrieval, data-driven workflows, and AI integration. Information requirements are classified by input type and project interaction context (phase, origin, project role, and communication), as well as by applicability (data management function, model granularity, BIM usage, and checkability). The ontology comprises seven categories: identity, geometry, design/performance, fabrication/construction, operation/maintenance, cost, and regulatory category, each linked to verification principles such as uniqueness and consistency. This enables systematic implementation of validation checks aligned with company and project needs. We introduce three ICC workflows in relation to the BIM authoring tools (inside, outside, and hybrid) and suggest key criteria for the functional and non-functional evaluation of IDS tools. Empirical results from a real project using five IDS tools reveal implementation issues with the classification facet, regular expressions, and issue reporting. The proposed ontology and framework lay the foundation for a scalable, transparent ICC within openBIM. The results also provide ICC process guidance for practitioners, a SWOT analysis that can inform enhancements to the existing IDS schema, identify possible inputs for certification of IDS tools, and generate innovative ideas for research and development. Full article

Starting Active Materials for Synthesis (SAMS) represents a critical stage in drug manufacturing, directly influencing the microbiological quality and safety of the final product. The introduction of SAMS marks the point where Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) begin to apply, which are essential for ensuring sterility and preventing microbial contamination during the synthesis process. However, defining the exact point in the process that qualifies as the SAMS is subject to uncertainties, as earlier stages are not always governed by stringent GMP standards. The regulatory differences between various countries further contribute to this issue. This study explores the implications of SAMS selection and use in relation to sterility and infection control, analyzing the guidelines of major Regulatory Authorities and comparing their approaches to GMP. Regulations from several international regulatory agencies were examined, with a particular focus on microbiological control measures and infection protection in the SAMS manufacturing process. The analysis focused on the microbiological control requirements and safety measures applicable to the stages preceding the introduction of SAMS into the production of the final Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). Documents published between 2015 and 2025 were included based on predefined criteria regarding relevance, accessibility, and regulatory authority. The analysis revealed significant discrepancies between regulations regarding the definition and management of SAMS. In particular, the regulations in Mexico and India have notable gaps, failing to provide clear guidelines on SAMS sterility and protection against infectious contamination. Conversely, China has introduced risk-based approaches and early-stage microbiological controls, especially for sterile products, aligning with international standards. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S), and the World Health Organization (WHO) have well-established systems for microbiological quality control of SAMS, including rigorous measures for the validation of suppliers and risk management to ensure that SAMS does not compromise the microbiological safety of the final product. The regulations in Brazil and Canada introduce additional measures to protect the microbiological quality of SAMS, with specifications for contamination control and certification of critical stages. The lack of a harmonized language for the definition of SAMS, coupled with a fragmented regulatory framework, presents a challenge for infection protection in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Key issues include the absence of specific regulations for stages prior to the introduction of SAMS and the lack of standards for inspections related to these stages. A desirable solution would be the mandatory extension of GMPs to the stages before SAMS introduction, with centralized control to ensure sterility and protection against infection throughout the entire manufacturing process. Full article

The article discusses issues related to improving the energy efficiency of translucent structures (hereinafter referred to as windows) in the construction of buildings in the Republic of Kazakhstan. An analysis of the current regulatory requirements for the thermal insulation of windows and other translucent structures, depending on the climatic conditions of the construction region, was carried out. The authors propose a schematic map of the climatic regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan and stricter values for the thermal resistance of windows depending on the degree-days of the heating period, which will significantly reduce heat loss in buildings and cut heating costs. Calculations of potential energy savings and economic benefits from the introduction of energy-efficient windows are presented, and schemes for the certification and labeling of windows by energy efficiency class are proposed. The work is based on an analysis of national standards and international experience and is aimed at supporting sustainable construction and the implementation of Kazakhstan’s climate commitments. Full article

A dual watermark and DNA image encryption based on a chaotic map is proposed. Firstly, a new discrete chaotic map is proposed, and the dynamic characteristics are analyzed. Then, the hash value changes initial conditions, and the pseudo-random sequence is generated. The encrypted copyright image is fused with the feature value of the original image and then encrypted again to form zero-watermarking, which is registered with the copyright certification authority. The zero-watermarking is taken as a robust watermark and embedded into the original image based on a chaotic sequence to ensure its invisibility. Finally, a cross-mutation DNA encryption is proposed. The experimental results verify the performance of encryption and dual watermark copyright authentication, and the ability to resist attacks. Full article

We introduce TrustShare, a novel blockchain-based framework designed to enable secure, privacy-preserving, and trust-aware cyber threat intelligence (CTI) sharing across organizational boundaries. Leveraging Hyperledger Fabric, the architecture supports fine-grained access control and immutability through smart contract-enforced trust policies. The system combines Ciphertext-Policy Attribute-Based Encryption (CP-ABE) with temporal, spatial, and controlled revelation constraints to grant data owners precise control over shared intelligence. To ensure scalable decentralized storage, encrypted CTI is distributed via the IPFS, with blockchain-anchored references ensuring verifiability and traceability. Using STIX for structuring and TAXII for exchange, the framework complies with the GDPR requirements, embedding revocation and the right to be forgotten through certificate authorities. The experimental validation demonstrates that TrustShare achieves low-latency retrieval, efficient encryption performance, and robust scalability in containerized deployments. By unifying decentralized technologies with cryptographic enforcement and regulatory compliance, TrustShare sets a foundation for the next generation of sovereign and trustworthy threat intelligence collaboration. Full article

Guide dogs are essential in supporting the autonomy of blind and visually impaired individuals. Austria is the first country to implement a legally mandated, two-stage certification protocol for the official recognition of guide dogs, assessed by an independent authority. The first stage includes two evaluation phases: the dog guides its familiar trainer (Phase 1) and then an unfamiliar blind tester (Phase 2). While Phase 2 ensures an objective assessment of guiding performance, it may also introduce stress due to the unfamiliar handler and separation from the trainer that could impact welfare and behaviour. This study aimed to evaluate whether Phase 2 of the Austrian evaluation protocol elicits higher stress than Phase 1 in guide dogs and, hence, needs to be refined in this regard by comparing physiological and behavioural responses between the two test phases. Fourteen guide dogs were assessed during real evaluations. Salivary cortisol was collected before the evaluation day and at several time points on the evaluation day (before and after each phase). Behavioural responses were coded from video recordings of the first 5 and 15 min of each phase, including stress-related behaviours, task-related performance behaviours, and handler behaviours. Cortisol levels did not differ significantly between the phases. Dogs turned around significantly more often in Phase 2, potentially seeking reassurance, but showed a non-significant trend toward fewer stress-related behaviours. Verbal praise occurred more frequently with the unfamiliar tester. These findings suggest that the current evaluation protocol does not induce substantial physiological or behavioural stress when dogs are guided by an unfamiliar tester, supporting its continued use as a welfare-conscious and objective certification approach that could also potentially serve as a model for other countries. Full article

In trans-border data (data transferred or accessed across national jurisdictions) exchange scenarios, identity authentication mechanisms serve as critical components for ensuring data security and privacy protection, with their effectiveness directly impacting the compliance and reliability of transnational operations. However, existing identity authentication systems face multiple challenges in trans-border contexts. Firstly, the transnational transfer of identity data struggles to meet the varying data-compliance requirements across different jurisdictions. Secondly, centralized authentication architectures exhibit vulnerabilities in trust chains, where single points of failure may lead to systemic risks. Thirdly, the inefficiency of certificate verification in traditional Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) systems fails to meet the real-time response demands of globalized business operations. These limitations severely constrain real-time identity verification in international business scenarios. To address these issues, this study proposes a trans-border distributed certificate-free identity authentication framework (STALE). The methodology adopts three key innovations. Firstly, it utilizes email addresses as unique user identifiers combined with a Certificateless Public Key Cryptography (CL-PKC) system for key distribution, eliminating both single-point dependency on traditional Certificate Authorities (CAs) and the key escrow issues inherent in Identity-Based Cryptography (IBC). Secondly, an enhanced Elliptic Curve Diffie–Hellman (ECDH) key-exchange protocol is introduced, employing forward-secure session key negotiation to significantly improve communication security in trans-border network environments. Finally, a distributed identity ledger is implemented, using the FISCO BCOS blockchain, enabling decentralized storage and verification of identity information while ensuring data immutability, full traceability, and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits significant advantages in authentication efficiency, communication overhead, and computational cost compared to existing solutions. Full article

The educational system manages extensive documentation and paperwork, which can lead to human errors and sometimes abuse or fraud, such as the falsification of diplomas, certificates or other credentials. In fact, in recent years, multiple cases of fraud have been detected, representing a significant cost to society, since fraud harms the trustworthiness of certificates and academic institutions. To tackle such an issue, this article proposes a solution aimed at recording and verifying academic records through a decentralized application that is supported by a smart contract deployed in the Ethereum blockchain and by a decentralized storage system based on Inter-Planetary File System (IPFS). The proposed solution is evaluated in terms of performance and energy efficiency, comparing the results obtained with a traditional Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus protocol and the new Proof-of-Authority (PoA) protocol. The results shown in this paper indicate that the latter is clearly greener and demands less CPU load. Moreover, this article compares the performance of a traditional computer and two Single-Board Computers (SBCs) (a Raspberry Pi 4 and an Orange Pi One), showing that is possible to make use of the latter low-power devices to implement blockchain nodes but at the cost of higher response latency. Furthermore, the impact of Ethereum gas limit is evaluated, demonstrating its significant influence on the blockchain network performance. Thus, this article provides guidelines, useful practical evaluations and key findings that will help the next generation of green blockchain developers and researchers. Full article

Blockchain technology is emerging as a pivotal framework to enhance the security of internet-based systems, especially as advancements in machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and cyber–physical systems such as smart grids and IoT applications in healthcare continue to accelerate. Although these innovations promise significant improvements, security remains a critical challenge. Blockchain offers a secure foundation for integrating diverse technologies; however, vulnerabilities—including adversarial exploits—can undermine performance and compromise application reliability. To address these risks effectively, it is essential to comprehensively analyze the vulnerability landscape of blockchain systems. This paper contributes in two key ways. First, it presents a unique layer-based framework for analyzing and illustrating security attacks within blockchain architectures. Second, it introduces a novel taxonomy that classifies existing research on blockchain vulnerability detection. Our analysis reveals that while ML and deep learning offer promising approaches for detecting vulnerabilities, their effectiveness often depends on access to extensive and high-quality datasets. Additionally, the layer-based framework demonstrates that vulnerabilities span all layers of a blockchain system, with attacks frequently targeting the consensus process, network integrity, and smart contract code. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of blockchain security threats and detection methods, emphasizing the need for a multifaceted approach to safeguard these evolving systems. Full article

The AIoT paradigm, which combines AI with IoT, offers great advantages in manufacturing processes. However, its use in aeronautical testing is still incipient, since this kind of test must ensure strict safety requirements. This study presents one AIoT architecture aimed at structurally testing aeronautical applications that ease the integration of AI techniques to interpret the data obtained by wireless IoT devices. In addition, the authors propose implementation guidelines for developers. The presented approach was experimentally validated in the rigorous and standardized certification test of a real aerospace component, namely a flag track component of the Embraer E2 model aircraft. Recorded magnitudes with IoT devices were compared with the data obtained using conventional technologies in terms of the quality of information and compliance with the requirements of aeronautical regulations. In order to illustrate the integration of different AI techniques in the AIoT architecture, ARIMA and LSTM algorithms were used to analyze the data captured with three sensors. The obtained results proved that the AIoT architecture is valid in structural testing applications, achieving a reduction in cabling and deployment time as well as improving flexibility and scalability. The presented approach paves the way to introduce AI-based algorithms for analyzing, either in run-time and off-line, the structural testing results obtained by means of IoT devices. Full article

Hydrogen is a promising candidate for addressing environmental challenges in aviation, yet its use in structural validation tests for Wing Structure-Integrated high-pressure Hydrogen Tanks (SWITHs) remains underexplored. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to assess the feasibility of conducting such tests with hydrogen at aircraft scales. It first introduces hydrogen’s general properties, followed by a detailed exploration of the potential hazards associated with its use, substantiated by experimental and simulation results. Key factors triggering risks, such as ignition and detonation, are identified, and methods to mitigate these risks are presented. While the findings affirm that hydrogen can be used safely in aviation if responsibly managed, they caution against immediate large-scale experimental testing of SWITHs due to current knowledge and technology limitations. To address this, a roadmap with two long-term objectives is outlined as follows: first, enabling structural validation tests at scales equivalent to large aircraft for certification; second, advancing simulation techniques to complement and eventually reduce reliance on costly experiments while ensuring sufficient accuracy for SWITH certification. This roadmap begins with smaller-scale experimental and numerical studies as an initial step. Full article

This study presents a decentralised ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) scheme designed for secure and efficient access control in resource-constrained Internet-of-Things (IoT) environments. By utilising multi-authority architecture and outsourced computation, the scheme enhances scalability, simplifies key management by eliminating reliance on a certificate authority (CA), and ensures data confidentiality through randomised proxy keys. It is particularly suited for multi-scenario IoT applications involving information sharing, such as smart cities or industrial automation in strategic alliances or conglomerates. Demonstrating security against chosen-plaintext attacks under the decisional bilinear Diffie–Hellman assumption, the scheme offers a practical and scalable solution for decentralised access control. Full article

The paper offers an in-depth deformation study of glass fiber-reinforced and carbon composite filaments of 3D printers. During the certification, the authors used DIC (Digital Image Correlation) as a full-field strain measurement technique to explore key material traits as a non-contact optical measurement method. The insights captured through the DIC technology enabled to better understand the localized strain distributions during the loading of these reinforced filaments. The paper analyzes the glass fiber and carbon fiber filaments used in 3D printing that are reinforced with these materials and are subjected to bending and compressive loading. The segment presents how loading affects the performance of reinforced filaments when varying such factors as the deposition patterns, layer orientation, and other process parameters. Different types and combinations of reinforcements and printing variables were tested, and the resulting dependencies of mechanical parameters and failure modes were established for each case. Key conclusions demonstrate that the mechanical behavior of both carbon- and glass fiber-reinforced filaments is strongly affected by the 3D printing parameters, particularly infill density, pattern, and build orientation. The application of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) allowed for a precise, full-field analysis of strain distribution and deformation behavior, offering new insights into the structural performance of fiber-reinforced 3D printed composites. The findings from the study provide guidance for the proper choice of filling material and the optimal parameters for the 3D printing process of models with high-performance indexes and seamless applications in the automotive and industrial manufacturing sectors. Full article