Phishing is a form of online identity theft that uses social engineering techniques
to steal sensitive information from the users to gain financial benefits. It exploits
human vulnerability. Phishing attacks have been growing in number as well as sophistication. The phishing problem has become so serious on the Internet that it attracts ample research attention. Several anti-phishing schemes have been suggested to combat the menace. Browser extension is one such scheme that helps the user to distinguish spoofed websites from legitimate ones. In the paper, “Preventing Phishing Attacks with Virtual Browser Extension”, Swapan Purkait proposes an approach to protect the vulnerable users from phishing attacks.

Worm is a self-propagating malicious code which exploits a network on the Internet and infects vulnerable computers by replicating itself to cause damages to the computers. Sophisticated worms spread so quickly on the Internet that it becomes very difficult to prevent a widespread epidemic. Although a number of worm detection techniques are available, early detection of unknown worms remains a challenging task. The paper, “Worm Attack Detection in Network-Based System”, by Ogwueleka Francisca Nonyelum, presents a hybrid intrusion detection system behind routers and firewalls. The author claims that the hybrid system improves the effectiveness and reliability of computer worm detection to a great extent.

Advances in embedded systems and wireless technologies give rise to Distributed Real Time Systems (DRTS). These systems find applications in many areas such as surveillance, industrial control and disaster response, to name a few. These systems suffer from resource constraints in terms of computation and communication. Task allocation and resource management is an important aspect of these systems. Despite the availability of a lot of work in the literature, better task allocation in DRTS is challenging and attracts research attention. The paper, “Algorithm for Performance Improvement of DRTS Under Static Load Sharing Scheme”, by Urmani Kaushal, Avanish Kumar and Narendra Kumar, describes an algorithm for task allocation. Experimental validation of the algorithm shows significant performance improvement of the system in terms of processing cost of the tasks.

Social networking sites have gained tremendous popularity in recent years as they allow users to express their individuality and meet people with similar interests. However, these sites present several social and interpersonal issues. The paper, “Social Web: A Snapshot of Issues in the New Dimension of FIRO-B”, by Ramana Rao M V, Yuva Raju Macha, P Usha Gayatri, Chandra Sekharaiah K, K S Niraja and T Arundhathi, describes a set of five issues in the context of FIRO-B. The authors also illustrate the coping strategies for these issues.

Finally the paper, “Digital Innovation in Design Practices: Technologies, Opportunities and Challenges”, by Runddy D Ramilo, provides an account of digital innovation in design and building technology. It discusses the current practices and presents several barriers to adoption of digital innovations in the field of designs.

-- A C Ojha
Consulting Editor