Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS) have been a prevalent threat to information security across organizations. Moreover, the rise of botnets has provided a lucrative environment for DoS attacks to evolve and increase at an alarming rate. Hence, it is crucial for organizations to integrate security policies and infrastructure within their operations. Various security products such as Intrusion Detection/Prevention systems (IDS/IPS) and firewalls help address this need. However, acquiring and configuring these products can be time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, configuring & integrating such systems together requires technical expertise in information security. This research study suggests a novel approach to developing a lightweight and low-cost sensor for early detection of DoS attacks. The sensor communicates over a distributed network, with an IPS system which responds by reducing the impact of DDoS attacks. Such a configuration also allows the solution to be scalable i.e. the IPS could be configured to manage data from multiple sensors. The project is being conducted in 3 phases: (1) Identify, implement and test the technologies required for monitoring and logging traffic to and from insecure device, within a virtual environment. (2) Extend configuration to the production environment including Raspberry Pi(s) acting as the sensors. (3) Add usability enhancements such as an interactive console or Graphical User Interface (GUI) for system configuration. With development in progress, it is anticipated that this project will open various avenues to explore the potential for effective use of remote devices to detect DoS attacks.

The electrochemical growth of single-crystalline germanium (Ge) nanowires has been previously demonstrated in an aqueous solution for use in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technologies. The motivation for growing these nanowires using electrodeposition is to improve the purity of germanium nanowires relative to traditional synthetic methods. However, nanomaterial growth has been shown to be highly sensitive to both oxygen and water and can lead to impurities, surface layers or morphology changes. . We have grown germanium nanowires in anhydrous organic solution in a nitrogen blanketed electrochemical cell. We have then compared the morphology and material properties of the wires grown in aqueous solution to the wires grown in organic solution to determine the effects of water and oxygen on the wire growth. Improving nanomaterial growth will help in having more efficient computers and cell phones by improving semiconductors.

Nanowires have shown significant promise as high-capacity, conversion-type lithium-ion battery negative electrodes. Investigating the local properties of these materials during cycling has primarily been done via in-situ transmission electron microscopy or synchrotron-based techniques. Both techniques require highly specialized equipment that is not readily available. Atomic force microscope (AFM)-based measurements of electronic and ionic transport offer another alternative. However, analyzing these electrode materials via AFM has proven difficult due to the large surface variations in Z-height and the flexibility of the wires, which can trap and damage AFM tips. Therefore, sample preparation becomes critical. In this study we screened a variety of preparation methods including epoxies and resins and from those results, determined successful methods to prepare and ultramicrotome samples to create thin slices of electrode that can support analysis via AFM. These images allow for the elucidation of surface characteristics to support future surface functionalization and show that AFM can be applied to the imaging of these types of electrode materials to obtain nanoscale properties. A stronger understanding of local properties in these materials is critical to future developments that are highly anisotropic and require nanostructures.