The exponential growth of IoT data demands efficient, secure, and scalable storage solutions on one hand, and efficient data migration and retrieval on the other hand are essential for the systems to be practical and acceptable for different applications. Traditional cloud-based models face latency, security, and high operational costs, while existing bi-directional data storage and retrieval-based IPFS models are not computationally efficient and incur high gas costs due to the necessary blockchain deployment. To overcome the challenges of efficient data migration, we initially developed a two-way data storage and retrieval system, as well as a scalable framework that dynamically monitors and transfers device-generated data to IPFS, records the content identifier (CID) on a blockchain, and enables secure, real-time access via smart contracts. Experimental results demonstrate that the existing work achieved an average data upload time of 117.12 seconds for a file size of 500 MB; our framework achieves a faster upload time of 7.63 seconds, marking a 93.47% improvement. We further optimize the proposed framework to reduce the file upload time incurred by the smart contracts by introducing a customizable, Python-based, blockchain-inspired, lightweight framework. It replicates the storage and retrieval functionalities of a traditional blockchain, with a file upload time of 4.2 seconds, which is 45% faster than our previous approach. This demonstrates its efficiency, security, and suitability for deployment in near-real-time and critical IoT applications, outperforming existing IPFS-smart contract-based solutions.

Metamorphic malware is a significant challenge for traditional malware detection techniques, as it continuously changes its code to evade its detection. The behaviour-based approach involves analysing the behaviour of malware rather than its code. By monitoring the system's behaviour, it is possible to detect malicious activity that may be associated with malware. We have proposed API call-based technique to detect metamorphic malware. Our approach involves finding the top 30 malicious API calls having the highest probability score based on extra trees classifier and identifying patterns of malicious API calls that indicate malicious behaviour. This paper presents an API call-based detection technique and proposes a novel approach based on ensemble learning techniques. The proposed algorithm has an accuracy of 0.99 and the F1-score is 0.85. Our system can detect changes in the code structure and behaviour of the malware, even if the malware's binary code has been obfuscated into a new variant. We demonstrate the effectiveness using a benchmark dataset of metamorphic malware.

A free and easily accessible platform for sharing information over social media has its negatives. It is being misused to intimidate others by exploiting the trust factor inherent within it. This paper is on the persistent pursuit of offering an exquisite solution to address this possible misuse of social media also called STAs and their subsequent impacts on society. These attacks are very sensitive to society and often organized groups with a high skill set are involved to disguise the security agencies. In this work, a model has been proposed to approximate socio-technical attack subject to the structural virality of information in the social network. The work is unique in the sense that previous works are mostly based on statistical values of the network but the proposed work considers the latent structure of the network which is not being reflected from their statistical values. This also paves the way for future researchers to implant other hidden features of nodes and messages circulating within the network which could be helpful for the detection and mitigation of STAs.

The increasing number of threats in cyberspace has meant that every internet user is at a greater risk than ever before. Children are no exception to this exploitation, incurring psychological and financial stress. Technology is on a persistent pursuit of offering exquisite solution to address the problems associated with children on the cyberspace. With every new product for parental control to secure children, comes a new technique to trespass the same. Consequently it summons an approach to look beyond technology; this paper aims to explore the relevance of moral cognition to decision making capability of children on the internet & the possibility of minimizing related risks using the observation. The authors establish a correlation between cognitive moral development and the cyber vulnerability level of children of age between 12 and 16 years, based on an empirical research using a comprehensive set of questionnaires and standard tests. The findings also paves path for future researchers to further analyze and implant features in the parental control software that would stimulate moral cognition, thereby redefining parental control software as parental care software.

Purpose The aim of this research is to demonstrate the importance of placing a valuation on information assets and to propose a new valuation technique that complements existing valuation methods and provides improved results. It seeks to answer the following research question: what are the attributes of information relevant to value and how can they be used to produce a valuation of the information? Design/methodology/approach Using a test bed, hosted on the college's intranet for 12 days, three important variables were calculated: accessibility, lifespan and outcome across five files. Calculating these three variables is essential to conducting an accurate valuation of the information asset. Findings The research demonstrates the relationships between these variable (accessibility, lifespan and outcome) as well as showing that they have a critical impact on the value of the information asset. The findings provide a strong rationale for the practitioner or researcher to adopt the model in real time situations. The correlation coefficients of our attributes are: 0.9996 for accessibility and lifespan; 0.9755 for accessibility and outcome and 0.9754 for lifespan and outcome. Research limitations/implications Due to the sensitive nature of some of the information held by the organization, the observations were somewhat limited. However, the model could be replicated with a collaborative arrangement between the organization and academia. Practical implications This paper aims to provide a new model for risk management that can be used effectively to conduct a valuation of information assets. The approach will help the organization to better quantify their information assets and will prove to be a useful tool for the next generation of Information security managers. Originality/value This paper determines the valuation of information assets based on three variables; accessibility, lifespan and outcome. These variables have been identified from the extensive literature review in the area of intangible assets.