Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Analyse the reasons for the recent UK recession and its impact on one Essay

Analyse the reasons for the recent UK recession and its impact on one particular leisure market. E.g. travel, restaurants, tourism - Essay Example Choice as a factor of growth is crucial in the growth of an economy since the economy needs consumers will and choice of products in order to relish and grow. That said, it is evident that the economy requires the input of consumers and produces who act as the driving force since they provide the necessary resources which include labour, land, physical and human capital etc. This paper will discuss the main reasons why the recent UK recession occurred and its impact in the tourism industry as a leisure market. The paper will aim at answering the why and the how questions in relation to the causes and the impacts of the 2008 – 2009 UK recession that occurred between the last quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009. The paper addresses the reasons of the recession in the first section and the impacts of the recession on the tourism industry in the second section and finally a conclusion, which aim at giving a clear discussion and analysis of the first two sections. Verick and Islam (2010) argue that the 2008 – 2009 global recession (financial crisis) was largely accelerated by the global imbalances that were being experienced worldwide at that time in terms of a drop in interest rates, perceptions of risks, and the regulation of financial systems. The UK was, apparently, not left behind as it faced many financial problems including near bankruptcy of banks, a fall in its stock market, large levels of public debt, a tumbling currency and frozen money markets which were all factors that promoted a recession (Cooper, 2009). Among the leading causes of the recession was the devaluation of UK currency the Sterling Pound. The Sterling Pound during the recession had a devaluated by 25-30% from the value it once held in before the recession. This was in accordance with the basic economic theory that states that any decrease in the exchange rates of a currency will eminently aid in the

Monday, October 28, 2019

Animal Abuse Problem Essay Example for Free

Animal Abuse Problem Essay Animal abuse is a people problem. Cruelty to animals can be prevented by all costs. Educate people you see abusing their animals and always, always report suspicious activity to your local law enforcement or animal control. An abused animal can turn on a human in an instant, so children and innocent bystanders can be attacked by an animal if it feels threatened. When abused, animals are not the only ones in danger. As C.S. Lewis once said, If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reasons. Maybe an eye for an eye should be implemented on animal abusers. Continue reading at NowPublic.com: Animal Cruelty: Facts, Prevention, Statistics and Action | NowPublic News Coverage http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/animal-cruelty-facts-prevention-statistics-and-action-2886267.html#ixzz2L2yNrWDW As humankind has progressed, there has been an increase in governance and rules and regulations of everyday life. These governance and rules rise from general disgust over happenings and concepts all over the world. One such rapidly growing concept is animal cruelty. Animal abuse simply put is cruel unwarranted treatment of animals. Such treatment generally has a single point program to subject animals and sometimes pets to unnecessary harm and pain. One major type of animal abuse is torture. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-cruelty-animal-abuse-facts-statistics.html It is prevalent in all areas of the society. People in rural as well as urban areas are reported for animal cruelty cases. The statistics show reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of cases related to animal abuse that go unreported. People carry out violent and gruesome attacks on animals, both domestic as well as stray. The most common victims of animal abuse are: Horses Livestock Dogs Cats Birds Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-abuse-statistics.html We have heard of an old saying Dogs a mans best friend. Most of us must have read Black Beauty at least once. The lion is the king of the jungle, a fact even kids from kindergarten are aware of. There are many other instances where animals are thought of as our friends. Yet, we tend to inflict pain and torture on our friends. Animal cruelty is not an issue that is unheard of. Since time immemorial, man, the high in the food chain, has tortured those beneath him. Practically all animal species have been abused by man in some way or the other. Humans are thought to be the most intelligent of all species. Still, when we look at the animal abuse statistics, mankind is put to shame. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-abuse-statistics.html Animal Abuse Facts and Statistics It’s really hard to write about animal abuse facts. It’s hard to do the research, read the stories, get the statistics, watch the videos, and see the pictures. But the statistics are just so disturbing that readers need to know the truth. According to the Human Society of the United States, there is no national reporting system for abuse to animals. However Pet-Abuse.com has collected statistics on animal cruelty since 2001. As of October 13, 2012 they have 19,517 cases listed on their web site. The following animal abuse stats for the U.S. are from their database: Top 5 Types of Abuse [pic] †¢ 32% neglect or abandonment †¢ 12% hoarding †¢ 11% shooting †¢ 9% fighting †¢ 7% beating Most of the above forms of violence toward animals is self-explanatory. However, hoarding may need some more explanation. This involves people who are often well intentioned but what they do is collect animals and may have hundreds of animals living in their house, barn or yard. It’s pretty much impossible to take care of this number of animals well and the cost of food and veterinary care would be sky high. Hoarding is really another form of neglect, just on a much grander scale than traditional neglect or abandonment. Most cases of abuse toward animals are directed toward dogs, cats, and horses. The statistics on dogs included non-pit bulls pit bulls. Of the cases listed on their website, 48% are alleged cases, 24% are convicted records, and 16% are open. Most abusers of animals are men between 31 and 50 years of age. While many animal cruelty cases are tracked on the web, it is believed the number of cases is much greater. A recent search of Google News found more than 10 articles regarding allegations or convictions toward animals in September in Texas alone compared to just 13 on Pet-Abuse.com for all of the United States. In other words, the data on animal abuse is even worse than what is reported on well known web sites.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Argumentative Essay About College :: Education College

Dear Ben,Hey Ben! I was talking with Sean yesterday when he told me the news, you're planning to delay college. This came as a shock to me when I heard it. By not attending college, you may get a year's rest and a chance to think your decisions through, but if you ever do decide to attend college, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities as well. I think you should consider going to college rather than driving the open road after High School.The information you've learned in High School will be more fresh in your mind now than 1 year from now. You have passed 12 years of schooling, yet now you believe it is time to rest and see other places and people for a year or more before attempting college. College adds 4 more years of intense work, yet knowledge learned within High School can make learning new material easier for you. Other people often find themselves getting sidetracked once they put off the option to attend college, that can only hinder your ability to eventually become a college graduate.College can be a fun experience if shared with friends and people of similar age. By waiting an extra year or two, you will find it more uncomfortable within your classes. The entire college experience involves parties, football games, and drinking beer with your buddies as well as an education. As you get into the entire experience and enjoy college, you will understand and appreciate what a college offers.The ideal time for college is now more than ever as you also have scholarships and your parents to help with the expensive money arrangement which is needed. Parents can be a great help in paying for your college, and may be willing to pay much more immediately after graduation from High School, than paying 2 years afterwards. Scholarships are always helpful to students, paying for a little bit of an expensive college. Argumentative Essay About College :: Education College Dear Ben,Hey Ben! I was talking with Sean yesterday when he told me the news, you're planning to delay college. This came as a shock to me when I heard it. By not attending college, you may get a year's rest and a chance to think your decisions through, but if you ever do decide to attend college, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities as well. I think you should consider going to college rather than driving the open road after High School.The information you've learned in High School will be more fresh in your mind now than 1 year from now. You have passed 12 years of schooling, yet now you believe it is time to rest and see other places and people for a year or more before attempting college. College adds 4 more years of intense work, yet knowledge learned within High School can make learning new material easier for you. Other people often find themselves getting sidetracked once they put off the option to attend college, that can only hinder your ability to eventually become a college graduate.College can be a fun experience if shared with friends and people of similar age. By waiting an extra year or two, you will find it more uncomfortable within your classes. The entire college experience involves parties, football games, and drinking beer with your buddies as well as an education. As you get into the entire experience and enjoy college, you will understand and appreciate what a college offers.The ideal time for college is now more than ever as you also have scholarships and your parents to help with the expensive money arrangement which is needed. Parents can be a great help in paying for your college, and may be willing to pay much more immediately after graduation from High School, than paying 2 years afterwards. Scholarships are always helpful to students, paying for a little bit of an expensive college.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Religion in Society Essay -- Essays Papers

Religion in Society Miriam, Deborah and Huldah all are names of prophets from the Bible; they also all happen to be women. There are even two books in the Bible about women, Esther and Ruth. Psalm 68:11 reads, "The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host." With all of this support for women, why are they treated as the inferior sex in the church? The article, â€Å"Women and Gender; Reading the Bible through the Eyes of Women,† states that it is â€Å"crucial that women have the same opportunities and freedom of expression as men in the Church, so that the entire community may benefit from their contribution.† However, many churches do not allow women to play a role in the services, and most do not allow there to be a woman priest or pastor. Lori Beamen points out that fact that, â€Å"Although women frequently do the same work as men, they are denied the authority that accompanies those tasks when performed by men.† Statistics even show that 69.9% of women attend church more often than once a year opposed to 58.2% of men. So how can women put in so much time and do all of this work, and still be denied authority? Even though there are instances in the Bible that support women, many people use the Bible to limit women’s roles in the church and to show women are inferior in general. Some feel that since Adam was created first, and it was Eve who was responsible for the eating of the fruit, men are superior. However, the Women and Gender article notes that â€Å"When God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, He did not talk to Adam alone. He addressed the two of them together as two equals, to whom He gave a common task. And that is exactly what partners are: two people who are equ... ...r verse. Paul writes in Galatians 3: 28-29, â€Å"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.† The role of women was enhanced by Christianity and faith in Christ transcends differences and makes all believers one in Christ. Nobody is more superior than the other and if we all remember that, the better the church will function as a whole, no matter if the teachers are male or female. Bibliography African Church Information Service (2003, December 1). â€Å"Women and Gender; Reading the Bible through the Eyes of Women.† AllAfrica, Inc. Beamen, Lori. Introduction. (2004) Sociology of Religion. Wallace, Ruth A. â€Å"The Social Construction of a New Leadership Role: Catholic Women Pastors.† Sociology of Religion, p. 136.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart a known celebrity and founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (a business which is built on showing others how to cost effectively manage and decorate the home), who was given a tip by Douglas Fanueil and Mr. Bacanovic, employees of the Merrill Lynch brokerage company. This tip which broke the confidentiality policy of the brokerage company led to the subsequent sale of Martha’s shares in the ImClone company during the latter company’s blackout period with the effects of causing the share price of ImClone’s share to drop and the share price of shares of the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to drop after the scandal broke that Martha had engaged in insider trading. Through a series of events, she, her broker and his assistant were subsequently prosecuted and sentenced. In this case study, we will be examining how the public perceived Martha Stewart’s actions and also the penalties that were imposed. We will also look at how her decisions impacted and also provided major setbacks to her business because of her insider trading scandal on the Imclone Systems Incorporated. By carrying out this research, we as a group would determine if the blame should be placed on her or not and also determine if the fines were adequate for the crime committed. 1.Did Martha Stewart commit the crime of insider trading when she sold her ImClone shares on December 27, 2001? We believe that Martha Stewart was guilty of insider trading. The justifications for our point are as follows: a) Martha Stewart was told by Mr. Faneuil (under direction from his boss who was also Ms. Stewart’s stockbroker) that the largest stockholders of ImClone (Sam Waksal and his daughter Aliza) had sold all their shares in the company on that same day, December 27th, and she immediately sold hers as well. This in itself was a breach of client confidentiality and insider information because no one knew about it but their stockbrokers. By virtue of the position Mr. Bacanovic (Mr. Faneuil’s boss) at the brokerage company of Merril Lynch he was not to mention or discuss the actions of any of his other clients. b) Even though Martha Stewart did not know about the FDA’s unfavourable report about ImClone, the sudden ‘dumping’ of the shares on the market was enough for her to speculate that there must be something wrong and that she should get her shares sold as quickly as possible in order to obtain the best possible share price or avoid a loss. Tipped with the knowledge of the Waksals actions and her intuition of imminent disaster she ordered that her shares in that company be sold as quickly as possible. c) She called Sam Waksal as soon as she received the tip-off in the hopes of obtaining the reason behind their actions. d) When investigated by criminal authorities she instructed her secretary to change the original message the secretary wrote from Mr. Bacanovic and then thought better of it and advised the secretary to revise the changes and restore the original message. She also lied repeatedly to criminal authorities on the real reason behind the sudden sale of her shares. 2.Did the U.S. Attorneys and the Securities and Exchange Commission use good judgment in the indictment of Martha Stewart? Do you believe that her indictment was based on evidence of a serious crime, or do you believe that prosecutors consciously or unconsciously had additional motives for pursuing the case? It is our belief that good judgment was exercised in indicting Martha Stewart. The indictment was based on the evidence of reasonable intent. Martha Stewart on hearing of the actions of the Waksals, and making reasonable judgments that the company was in trouble, intended that she should not make a loss on her investment in ImClone and made immediate moves and succeeded in selling her shares in the company for a profit of $228,000. If she had waited until December 28th when the share price fell to $45.39 per share she would have made only $178, 292, a loss of $49,708. Also the trading of Martha Stewart’s shares occurred during the company’s blackout period which commenced on December 21st. At this time no shares from the company were permitted to occur and the stockbrokers at Merrill Lynch would have known that and should have advised their clients accordingly. It is our belief that prosecutors might consciously have had additional motives for pursuing the case. Martha Stewart a celebrity of high profile would sell newspapers if investigated and later indicted. A prosecutor who was able to make a strong, believable case would bring fame to himself/herself and possibly new job opportunities. 3. Do you agree with the jury that she was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges? We agree with the jury that Martha Stewart was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges. To establish a reasonable doubt of conspiracy, four main things must occur: a) Two or more persons in some way or manner, coming to a mutual understanding, in trying to accomplish a common and unlawful plan as charged in the indictment. An example of this includes the breakfast meeting between Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic on January 16th – after the sale of the shares – to construct a statement that they reproduced to the criminal authorities – that is, that Martha had agreed to sell her shares if the share price fell below $60.00 per share. Another example was illustrated when Douglas Faneuil was persuaded by his boss (Peter Bacanovic) to agree to the conspiracy constructed by his boss that there was a $60 stop-loss order on Martha Stewart’s ImClone shares. b) The person willfully became a member of such a conspiracy. Mr. Fanueil accepted a bribe from his boss (Peter Bacanovic) in the form of an extra week of vacation and a paid trip, so that he would not reveal the fact that Martha Stewart had been tipped off. Fanueil’s actions were acts of choice. c) That one of the conspirators during the existence of the conspiracy knowingly committed at least one of the methods (or overt act) described in the indictment. Bacanovic and Stewart repeatedly lied to the government agencies and attorneys in order to try to hamper the investigations. Bacanovic tampered the worksheet by adding â€Å"@60† near the entry for Stewart’s shares of Imclone. d) That such ‘overt act’ was a knowingly committed act done in order to carry out or accomplish some object of the conspiracy. Justification of this was seen when Bacanovic informed Faneuil that he must call Stewart to inform her of the Waksal’s actions. He decided to leave the message with Stewart’s administrative assistant in order for her to receive the message to allow her to carry out or give instructions on what actions to take. Faneuil had asked Bacanovic if he was allowed to tell Stewart and he stated â€Å"Of course that’s the whole point† On realizing what the written policy inside of the office stated he was very worried. Obstruction of justice is a crime. It is an offense that arises when someone tries to prevent, impede or influence the administration of justice, for example, bribing a juror, threatening a judge or encouraging false testimony. Obstruction of justice occurred when Stewart and Mr. Bacanovic conspired and continuously lied about the reason why Stewart sold her shares in an effort to hamper investigations. One such lie was the prearranged plan to sell Stewart’s shares if the price fell below $60 per share. 4. Was her punishment, including both imprisonment and fines appropriate? Were the punishment of Peter Bacanovic and Douglas Faneuil appropriate? We agree that the punishment imposed on Martha Stewart was a little too lenient. Due to her actions after being tipped off, she was able to make a profit of approximately $50,000, thus a fine of $30,000 still meant that she was gaining approximately $20,000. We believe that all of her profits should have been disgorged as compared to her wealth the amount is relatively small anyway. The imprisonment of five months imprisonment and then five months of home confinement, we believe was a suitable length of time. The relinquishing of her duties to act as an officer of a public company did not do her any damage as she still drew the same salary as she was accustomed to and even had a bonus. In her after-sentencing statement, she said that this had been no more than a personal matter that had been blown out of proportion; this in itself indicates that she was not remorseful about her actions. Whether these punishments were a deterrent for future action is questionable as Martha Stewart still violated the terms of her house arrest and this had to be subsequently extended for three weeks. We think that the punishments imposed on both Peter Bacanovic and Douglas Faneuil were inappropriate. First we look at Douglas Faneuil. Although he was following the instructions of his boss, he knew what he was told to do was wrong. He knew there was a displayed, written office policy with respect to client information privacy. He accepted a bribe from Mr. Bacanovic and waited approximately seven months after the incident before coming forward with the truth. A short term of imprisonment at a minimum security facility might have been added. With respect to Mr. Bacanovic, his penalties should have been harsher. His position at Merrill Lynch afforded him access to certain non-public information and as such his actions should have been within the law. He disregarded the policies of the company with respect to confidentiality, he also used his position to influence and bribe another employee of the company to comply with a conspiracy in the commitment of insider trading and he also conspired with his client Martha, to concoct an alibi to avoid prosecution by the government. He should have been given a heavier fine since he was the main person behind the scandal and had gained commission on the sale of both the Waksal and the Stewart shares. Also a longer term of imprisonment would have been fitting, maybe a term of two years.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Information and Geography of United Arab Emirates

Information and Geography of United Arab Emirates Population: 4,975,593 (July 2010 estimate)Capital: Abu DhabiBordering Countries: Oman and Saudi ArabiaArea: 32,278 square miles (83,600 sq km)Coastline: 819 miles (1,318 km)Highest Point: Jabal Yibir at 5,010 feet (1,527 m)United Arab Emirates is a country located on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula. It has coastlines along the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf and it shares borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman. It is also located near the country of Qatar. United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation that was originally formed in 1971. The country is known as being one of the wealthiest and most developed in western Asia. Formation of United Arab Emirates According to the United States Department of State, UAE was originally formed by a group of organized sheikhdoms that lived on the Arabian Peninsula along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. These sheikdoms were known to have constantly been in dispute with one another and as a result, constant raids on ships the area was called the Pirate Coast by traders in the 17th and early 19th centuries.In 1820, a peace treaty was signed by the areas sheikhs in order to protect shipping interests along the coast. Raiding of ships continued until 1835 however, and in 1853 a treaty was signed between the sheikhs (Trucial Sheikhdoms) and the United Kingdom which established a perpetual maritime truce (US Department of State). In 1892 the U.K. and the Trucial Sheikhdoms signed another treaty that forged a closer relationship between Europe and the present-day UAE region. In the treaty, the Trucial Sheikhdoms agreed not to give away any of their land unless it went to the U.K. and i t established that the sheikhs would not begin new relationships with other foreign nations without first discussing it with the U.K. The U.K. then promised to provide military support to the sheikhdoms if needed.Throughout the mid 20th-century, there were several border disputes between the UAE and neighboring countries. In addition in 1968, the U.K. decided to end the treaty with the Trucial Sheikhdoms. As a result, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, along with Bahrain and Qatar (which were also being protected by the U.K.), tried to form a union. However they were unable to agree with each other so in the summer of 1971, Bahrain and Qatar became independent nations. On December 1 of the same year, the Trucial Sheikhdoms became independent when the treaty with the U.K. expired. On December 2, 1971, six of the former Trucial Sheikhdoms formed the United Arab Emirates. In 1972, Ras al-Khaimah became the seventh to join. Government of United Arab Emirates Today the UAE is considered a federation of seven emirates. The country has a federal president and prime minister which makes up its executive branch but each emirate also has a separate ruler (called an emir) who controls the local government. The UAEs legislative branch is made up of a unicameral Federal National Council and its judicial branch is made up of the Union Supreme Court. The seven emirates of the UAE are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al Qaywayn. Economics and Land Use in United Arab Emirates The UAE is considered one of the wealthiest nations in the world and it has a high per capita income. Its economy is based on oil but recently the government has begun programs to diversify its economy. Today the main industries of UAE are petroleum and petrochemicals, fishing, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, commercial ship repair, construction materials, boat building, handicrafts, and textiles. Agriculture is also important to the country and the main products produced are dates, various vegetables, watermelon, poultry, eggs, dairy products,  and fish. Tourism and the related services are also a large part of UAEs economy. Geography and Climate of United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates is considered a part of the Middle East and it is located on the Arabian Peninsula. It has a varied topography and in its eastern portions but much of the rest of the country consists of flat lands, sand dunes,  and large desert areas. In the east there are mountains and UAEs highest point, Jabal Yibir at 5,010 feet (1,527 m), is located here.The climate of UAE is desert, although it is cooler in the eastern areas at higher elevations. As a desert, UAE is hot and dry year round. The countrys capital, Abu Dhabi, has an average January low temperature of 54ËšF (12.2ËšC) and an average August high temperature of 102Ëš (39ËšC). Dubai is slightly hotter in the summer with an average August high temperature of 106ËšF (41ËšC). More Facts About United Arab Emirates UAEs official language is Arabic but English, Hindi, Urdu,  and Bengali are also spoken 96% of the population of UAE are Muslim while a small percentage is Hindu or Christian UAEs literacy rate is 90% Sources: Central Intelligence Agency. CIA - The World Factbook - United Arab Emirates. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ae.htmlInfoplease.com. (n.d.). United Arab Emirates: History, Geography, Government, and Culture- Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/ipa/A0108074.htmlUnited States Department of State. United Arab Emirates. Retrieved from: state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5444.htmWikipedia.com. United Arab Emirates - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Domestication of Sesame Seed - Ancient Gift from Harappa

The Domestication of Sesame Seed - Ancient Gift from Harappa Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is the source of edible oil, indeed, one of the oldest oils in the world, and an important ingredient in bakery foods and animal feed. A member of the family Pedaliaceae, sesame oil is also used in many health cure products; sesame seed contains 50-60% oil and 25% protein with antioxidant lignans. Today, sesame seeds are widely cultivated in Asia and Africa, with major production regions in Sudan, India, Myanmar and China. Sesame was first used in flour and oil production during the Bronze Age, and incense lamps containing sesame pollen have been found at Iron Age Salut in the Sultanate of Oman. Wild and Domesticated Forms Identifying wild from domesticated sesame is somewhat difficult, in part because sesame isnt completely domesticated: people have not been able to specifically time the maturing of the seed. The capsules split open during the maturing process, leading to varying degrees of seed loss and unripe harvesting. This also makes it likely that spontaneous populations will establish themselves around cultivated fields. The best candidate for sesames wild progenitor is S. mulayaum Nair, which is found in populations in western South India and elsewhere in south Asia. The earliest reported sesame discovery is in the Indus Valley civilization site of Harappa, within the mature Harappan phase levels of mound F, dated between 2700 and 1900 BC. A similarly dated seed was discovered at the Harappan site of Miri Qalat in Baluchistan. Many more instances are dated to the second millennium BC, such as Sangbol, occupied during the late Harappan phase in Punjab, 1900-1400 BC). By the second half of the second millennium BC, sesame cultivation was widespread in the Indian subcontinent. Outside the Indian Subcontinent Sesame was disbursed to Mesopotamia before the end of the third millennium BC, presumably through trade networks with Harappa. Charred seeds were discovered at Abu Salabikh in Iraq, dated to 2300 BC, and linguists have argued that the Assyrian word shamas-shamme and the earlier Sumerian word she-gish-i may refer to sesame. These words are found in texts dated to as early as 2400 BC. By about 1400 BC, sesame was cultivated in middle Dilmun sites in Bahrain. Although earlier reports exist in Egypt, perhaps as early as the second millennium BC, the most credible reports are finds from the New Kingdom including Tutankhamens tomb, and a storage jar at Deir el Medineh (14th-century BC). Apparently, the spread of sesame into Africa outside of Egypt occurred no earlier than about AD 500. Sesame was brought to the United States by enslaved people from Africa. In China, the earliest evidence comes from textual references that date to the Han Dynasty, about 2200 BP. According to the classic Chinese herbal and medical treatise called the Standard Inventory of Pharmacology, compiled about 1000 years ago, sesame was brought from the West by Qian Zhang during the early Han dynasty. Sesame seeds were also discovered at the Thousand Buddha Grottoes in the Turpan region, about AD 1300. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Plant Domestication, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Abdellatef E, Sirelkhatem R, Mohamed Ahmed MM, Radwan KH, and Khalafalla MM. 2008. Study of genetic diversity in Sudanese sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) germplasm using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. African Journal of Biotechnology 7(24):4423-4427. Ali GM, Yasumoto S, and Seki-Katsuta M. 2007. Assessment of genetic diversity in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) detected by Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism markers. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology 10:12-23. Bedigan D. 2012. African origins of sesame cultivation in the Americas. In: Voeks R, and Rashford J, editors. African Ethnobotany in the Americas. New York: Springer. p 67-120. Bellini C, Condoluci C, Giachi G, Gonnelli T, and Mariotti Lippi M. 2011. Interpretative scenarios emerging from plant micro- and macroremains in the Iron Age site of Salut, Sultanate of Oman. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(10):2775-2789. Fuller DQ. 2003. Further evidence on the prehistory of sesame. Asian Agri-History 7(2):127-137. Ke T, Dong C-h, Mao H, Zhao Y-z, Liu H-y, and Liu S-y. 2011. Construction of a Normalized Full-Length cDNA Library of Sesame Developing Seed by DSN and SMARTâ„ ¢. Agricultural Sciences in China 10(7):1004-1009. Qiu Z, Zhang Y, Bedigian D, Li X, Wang C, and Jiang H. 2012. Sesame Utilization in China: New Archaeobotanical Evidence from Xinjiang. Economic Botany 66(3):255-263.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

At School I Have Been Bullied by a Teacher

At School I Have Been Bullied by a Teacher Hashtag: #EnElColegioTengo (At school I have) Why Some Teachers Crossed the Line? A 14-year old girl in her second year of high school was yelled at, humiliated, and sent out of the room by her well-experienced male science teacher for simply asking stupid questions. Teachers who bullied their students, according to study, were mostly new teachers overwhelmed by frustrations or tenured teachers who were very set in their ways and unwilling to change their traditional coercive teaching practices. A few instances of accidental coercive reaction due to lack of experience and frustrating students’ behavior may be acceptable for new teachers but the bullying male science teacher is a veteran teacher. One explanation is the fact bullying behavior is rooted in personal values, ingrained, and consistent with the way a person understands the world. Since the behavior of tenured teachers served them well in the past and in fact earned them their current position and authority, they see themselves as superior, arrogant and unsympathetic towards â€Å"inferior† students. Study of bullying teachers shows that regardless of frustration or student’s positive behavior, teachers who are more senior, tenured, and experienced teachers routinely practiced bullying behavior. These include habitual utterance of offensive or suggestive language, derogatory or degrading remarks, get involved in coercive sexual behavior, racist and sexist comments, embarrassing, threatening, and intimidating remarks. Moreover, regardless of their position and authority, they engaged in spreading false rumors in an attempt to discredit and socially isolate an individual. Is There a Cure for Teacher’s Bullying Behavior? Connecting with students in both personal and professional manner is often very challenging. The study shows that teachers who cannot control a student displaying negative behavior in class often engage in power struggle until they become frustrated and respond with bullying. For this reason, it may be helpful for teachers to avoid engaging in the power struggle with aggressive or irritating students. Some of the recommended strategies to avoid power struggle is to build a positive relationship with students through caring concern, constructive feedback, and respect. For example, teachers communicating respectfully, paying attention to students concern, acknowledging those with positive behaviors, working with each student to address behavioral problems is unlikely to get negative responses from students. In contrast, those who used force and engaging in the power struggle, make a public scene of a student’s negative behavior, and taking it too personal often form the negative relationship, increased the potential for burnout, frustration, and bullying behavior. The above recommendations are clearly not inapplicable to â€Å"superior† tenured teachers who in a way value their deeply rooted unethical teaching practices. Since the principal in practice avoids dismissing these senior bullies, some of them were reassigned to non-teaching positions where cannot harm students. Other less senior bullies, probably those with potential for change, were sent to some sort of anti-bullying programs aimed at changing their culture, attitudes, feelings, and behavior. In preventing tenured teachers’ bullying, some programs encourage teaching and non-teaching staff to report a teacher bullying a student. Others conducted a student empowerment session aimed at balancing the power inside the classroom. This program in practice promotes awareness of bullying behaviors and their consequences and eventually developed respect between both parties.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Internet will misleading children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Internet will misleading children - Essay Example Hence, this paper will center on pornographic issues with the intention of knowing how children can access such pornographic information as well as how it affects them. It must be mentioned that most parents do not know when their children or wards have the access to the internet. This makes it to be rather more risky. The influx of smartphones to the market helped in the acceleration of children’s desire to view and read what was posted in the internet. At least, they do not need large computers or laptops to view and illicit materials. Their smartphones in the hands is an enough access to the internet world. It should be known that there are two major contents or materials which children always look for in the internet; written materials, pictures, and YouTube materials. YouTube refers to internet contents that are videoed. With the social media, instant messages become something that will always appeal to children. Children visiting the social media sites like facebook, Black Berry Messenger (BBM), tweeter, and some other social media are always vulnerable especially when they have friends with bad influence. Since the purpose of the social media is to relate and communicate with each other using the social media network, some sexual predators use it as a means to lure vulnerable children to sexual fantasies. The sexual predators do this using text messages, pictures, and the YouTube. They sent erotic instant messages to small children with the aim of arousing them sexually. This includes the use of profane and romantic words in the messaging. Children who are more vulnerable always fall prey to this kind of message by being sexually aroused. In the social media network, communications are also possible through pictures and YouTube. Children visiting the social media network always fall into the various url, pictures, and YouTube video, which they can enjoy for ours at the ignorance of

Friday, October 18, 2019

Evaluation of Zara's fashion marketing performance Term Paper

Evaluation of Zara's fashion marketing performance - Term Paper Example ithin the Singapore apparel industry is almost one point three percent and it occupies the sixth position after the other international brands such as Mango, Guess, Espirit and the like (Burgen, 2014). Its vision is to satisfy the customer’s desires and needs and therefore they keep on renovating business so that it may be able to improve the condition of the business and satisfy the customers. Zara’s mission statement includes the ideals of contributing to the world in which they interact so that it may lead to sustainable development of the entire society (Jacob & Mamgain, 2011). The brand actually deals with clothing, footwear and accessories designed for men, women and children. The main advantage that Zara has in comparison to the other retailers on the market is that they do not define their segmentation into ages, therefore they are able to cater a broader range of market and capture more customers. Values that are mostly associated with the brand Zara are modern , trendy, glamorous and the likes (Zara.com, 2010). Typically a Zara customer is mostly a young, trendy fashion conscious individual who is also seeking value in the products that he or she is buying. Moreover the customer is highly related and updated with the latest fashion trends and is keen on purchasing products which carry a highly fashionable outlook or design but a reasonable price tag. The ultimate value that they want from these products are that they should be sophisticated, impressive and should add a glamor quotient to their wardrobe. Zara is such a brand which is proud of its decision to avoid mass production. In the domain of style and design, it offers its customers with the latest style and designer products. It aims at achieving high fashion with a low price intent. . The customers who buy Zara are mostly young, fashion conscious and they are also very conscious of the value of products. They are also highly aware of the latest fashion trends in the

Ethics in Scientific Journals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethics in Scientific Journals - Essay Example Ethics is very important in scientific journals. It is very important to note that when reporting any scientific information, care should be exercised. Over the recent past, scientific journals have gained a lot of popularity. Currently, there are journals for scientific research, where scientific researchers would publish their reports, especially those that are either urgent or not large enough to make a book. There are occasions where scientific research is reported in the main media channels. It is very important to ensure that when reporting scientific information, correctness is maintained. This would ensure that any misleading information is eliminated; hence they do not reach the masses. Whether published in the scientific journals or main mass media, there would always be a review done to ensure that ethics, among other factors, are maintained in the report. Scientific reports, unlike other reports, are having a greater impact. Rollin (12) says that scientific reports are de pended upon by many professionals for application in various fields. The reports are always subjected to peer review because of the consequences with which they have when misinterpreted. Aristotle (23) says that scientific journals would be peer-reviewed before publication to ensure that any misleading information is completely eliminated. This scholar gives an example of a medical report. The world has witnessed the emergence of many new health complications that have necessitated research. Some of the existing stubborn diseases like HIV/AIDs have also called for scientific research to unravel the mystery behind them. When a report about such diseases is made, medics would always rely on them in their normal duties. This is an issue about someone’s life. If any information is given about them, then it would be putting the lives of many people at risk. This will not only be a criminal offense, but also a very unethical term. The same is the case with other professionals like engineering because the consequence would result in bodily harm. Unlike political reports that are always full of speculations, scientific reports would not always sustain any speculations. There are no rumors in a medical report. The report must be precise and without any form of doubt. If there is a need for further research because some parts of the research are not conclusive, it should be made clear so that this part needs further research. As such, any person using this material would know that the research is not conclusive in other sections. When applied, the person would know that the material is not conclusive and therefore would know the limits within which the report would be valid Scientist should therefore keenly review media reports about their studies and work to correct any misleading statements. It is a common phenomenon that journalists would be interested in reporting various facts about scientific research.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic Dissertation

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic climate effectively - Dissertation Example co’s different sections 39 Figure 3: Reason of attraction of customers of Tesco 40 Figure 4: Responses regarding Tesco being the best in price, quality & service 41 Figure 5: Percentages of respondents choosing M&S different sections 42 Figure 6: Reason of attraction of M&S customers 43 Figure 7: Responses regarding M&S being best in price, quality & service 44 Abstract: It has been found that despite the fact that the UK population is only 1% of the population of the globe; the United Kingdom took fourth place in the world trade (Allen, 2010).  Mechanical engineering and transport, manufactured goods and chemicals are the main exports of Great Britain. Starting from the 70's, oil production not only has reduced imports of petroleum products, but also brought substantial gains in trade.  British Petroleum is the largest industrial corporation and the UK ranks second in Europe.  Britain provides 10% of world exports of services - banking, insurance, brokerage, advisory, a s well as in computer programming. Retail sales index characterizes the strength of consumer demand; its growth indicates an increase in the production of goods, strengthening the economy and currency. Published in the 13th day of the month has an impact on the market in the medium and long term.  This indicator is the most informative and does not include the number of cars sold, since this value is very volatile.  There is a seasonal dependence, as described by Craig Emerson (2008). Chapter 1: Introduction: 1.1 Background: The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world.... The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world. Companies face different market circumstances in different phases and they react accordingly, In order to retain their positions in the market, they have to adopt different strategies so that they are able to generate enough revenue. The global downturn during 2008-2009 is one of the worst recessions faced by the world economy. All the developed western countries like US, UK, France etc were badly hit by the global meltdown. Many companies of these developed nations were unable to cope up with the recession despite adopting different strategies and finally went bankrupt or were acquired by other companies. Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Barnsley Building Society, Alliance & Leicester and Bear Stearns etc to name a few. Generally, a huge number of financial markets are still coping with the effects of financial crisis. Particularly, governments have played a significant role in supporting its financial markets to survive in midst of such financial crisis. In the British economy, retail sector enjoys noteworthy importance due to its contribution in GDP of the country.

Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Speech - Essay Example The freedom is necessary, but we do not like the freedom, which cause unnecessary change in the society. â€Å"Hate speech is against the law, communication that classifies a person or a group on the basis of color, disability, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, or other characteristic is regarded as hate speech.† (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech) Hate speech occur in all of countries but in different ways. There are hate speeches against religion, homosexuality, and racialism. The speech should be respectful of other people’s religion. When necessary, criticism should be polite. Hate speech cause a lot of problem between people, countries, and religion. If anyone espouses Christianity, Islam religion or any other religion, we should respect his/her opinion. If someone chooses to be a Muslim, someone will tell him that all Muslim kill other people or Muslims are barbarian and terrorist. That is wrong since not all Muslim kill ot her people, but the question is (Why the people kill others?). There are various causes of hate speech. For example, â€Å"Following the end of world war II, 24 German leaders were brought before the international Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.† (https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+hate+speech%3Fpdf&ie=utf-8&oe=utf8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a). Two of the leaders were linked to incitement and distribution of the Nazi propaganda. This is kind of Hate of speech and it caused deaths of many people in the world. In the same way, the racialism was huge problem in United State. The Black people lived miserable lives due to hate speech. They were lived with people who hated them and they did many kind of the callousness. In addition, they were not getting their rights, in other words they were enslaved. They had to demonstrate against the government to get their freedom. â€Å"Pornography is material designed to arouse and has no legal or consistent d efinition.† http://www.ffeusa.org/html/statements/statements_pornography.html Pornography most of time is dangerous for the societies. The commercials do not care about pornography and its effects. They care about their money and the ways to get more money. Sometimes, they show pictures and films have contempt for women. Moreover, men learn violence and force women to do sex as shows depict. â€Å"What is obscenity? It is not synonymous with pornography, as most pornography is not legally obscene. Most pornography is protected by the First Amendment.† (Freedom of speech and press, Henry Cohen consequently, people should have freedom of speech and opinion, but their opinion should be reasonable. â€Å"Freedom of speech is the political right to communicate one's opinions and ideas via speech.† (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech). People’s opinion is significant for the government and for the other people. We cannot develop our country if we do not listen to people's opinion without interference. They can say idea through any media whether by write, TV, or radio. Most of great countries have freedom speech. The government and people listen for their voice, what they need, what they criticize and reasons for their criticism. If any person or government said this is our country we should not criticize them since, they too are citizens. The country belongs to all people and, not an individual’s property. Everyone has the right to say his opinion and idea to develop his country and

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic Dissertation

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic climate effectively - Dissertation Example co’s different sections 39 Figure 3: Reason of attraction of customers of Tesco 40 Figure 4: Responses regarding Tesco being the best in price, quality & service 41 Figure 5: Percentages of respondents choosing M&S different sections 42 Figure 6: Reason of attraction of M&S customers 43 Figure 7: Responses regarding M&S being best in price, quality & service 44 Abstract: It has been found that despite the fact that the UK population is only 1% of the population of the globe; the United Kingdom took fourth place in the world trade (Allen, 2010).  Mechanical engineering and transport, manufactured goods and chemicals are the main exports of Great Britain. Starting from the 70's, oil production not only has reduced imports of petroleum products, but also brought substantial gains in trade.  British Petroleum is the largest industrial corporation and the UK ranks second in Europe.  Britain provides 10% of world exports of services - banking, insurance, brokerage, advisory, a s well as in computer programming. Retail sales index characterizes the strength of consumer demand; its growth indicates an increase in the production of goods, strengthening the economy and currency. Published in the 13th day of the month has an impact on the market in the medium and long term.  This indicator is the most informative and does not include the number of cars sold, since this value is very volatile.  There is a seasonal dependence, as described by Craig Emerson (2008). Chapter 1: Introduction: 1.1 Background: The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world.... The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world. Companies face different market circumstances in different phases and they react accordingly, In order to retain their positions in the market, they have to adopt different strategies so that they are able to generate enough revenue. The global downturn during 2008-2009 is one of the worst recessions faced by the world economy. All the developed western countries like US, UK, France etc were badly hit by the global meltdown. Many companies of these developed nations were unable to cope up with the recession despite adopting different strategies and finally went bankrupt or were acquired by other companies. Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Barnsley Building Society, Alliance & Leicester and Bear Stearns etc to name a few. Generally, a huge number of financial markets are still coping with the effects of financial crisis. Particularly, governments have played a significant role in supporting its financial markets to survive in midst of such financial crisis. In the British economy, retail sector enjoys noteworthy importance due to its contribution in GDP of the country.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Problem solution report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Problem solution report - Essay Example the risk reward ratio is very high and the results are guided by the factors such as ideas, innovative experiments, freedom of thinking, rate of success, pressure for delivery, unexpected breakdowns in the processes, chances of failures, opportunities to learn new techniques, etc. Therefore, identification of the problem, analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization (here it is the team), providing facilities to achieve the objectives, maintaining communications at all levels, lateral as well as vertical, etc. are very important in this regard. When the above fundamental factors are put in place, motivation, decision making within the frame work, accountability of the members of the team and above all motivation to the team members would yield excellent results considering the potentials of the employees with sound and balanced background in the field. The Australian company Morning Drops Company (MDC) faces similar problems faced by the multinational companies, such as IBM, Xerox, etc., the converging points of different cultures. If we could concentrate on the relevant points without going deeper into the cultural differences, a common platform for the people belonging to various cultures would emerge. It is in this direction the problem should be approached for efficient resolution. According to Hofstede model, there are ‘five dimensions to national cultures: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, Masculinity and Long Term Orientation†¦ The new factors revealed common problems with which IBM employees in all these societies had to cope, but for which their upbringing in their country presented its own profile of solutions. These problems were: (4) The balance between ego values (like the need for money and careers) and social values (like cooperation and a good living environment). The former were more frequently chosen by men, the latter by women, but there were also country differences.’ (Hofstede, G, 2009). Having

Regulation and Criminal Liability Essay Example for Free

Regulation and Criminal Liability Essay Currently in the United States, the Americans continue to face unfair treatments of health care professionals within the work place. Regulates and laws have been created and set forth to help individuals’ feel protected and to know their rights as a victim of such criminal acts. People deserve to be treated with respect, especially in the care of health professionals. In this paper will contain information on criminal liabilities of health professionals and show people who may have been violated by health care providers the steps of filing a civil complaint. In addition, the paper will go into investigating allegations and disciplinary actions. Up-to-date regulatory policy regarding health care professionals is based on the speculation that the market for resources in health care is unsuccessful because consumers do not have complete facts about the nature of services these professionals offer. The outcome of some professionals possibly will exploit consumers on the condition lesser-quality services. The theory of economics proposes that in the absence of order, many health care professionals might offer minimum quality services at expensive quality prices to uneducated consumers. Therefore, the main justification for managing health professionals is to expand the quality of their services and to guard the interests of unaware health care consumers. Health care professional guidelines restrict access into the profession by setting the least possible measures of education and experience mandatory to practice. Furthermore, those regulations identify the legal acceptable boundaries of training for the health care provider or the permissible scope of health care professionals training and state the permitted business training of health care professionals. In the United States the federal system of government, regulates every states health care professional practice. Health professional training performances are statutory laws that create regulatory or licensing agencies or boarding to promote rules that order medical  practice. State licensing laws initiating the lesser level of education and experience needed to practice, explain the roles of the profession and bound the act of these roles to licensed individuals. State occupation practice limits restrictions on the services of professionals by for-profit firms, limitations on the operation of trade names, restrictions on the process of numerous workplaces, and boundaries on the place of health care professionals workplaces. Earlier in 1977 state companies practice limitations on frequently incorporated restrictions on marketing by professionals. Principles of Medical Ethics, the American Medical Association (AMA) declare a physician shall obey the law† and â€Å"record doctors’ insufficient in character or ability, or engaging in deception or fraud. AMA could refuse membership to doctors guilty of criminal activity, in addition to physicians charged with crimes in different countries. Reference to petition for licensure, the Federation of State Medical Boards, in connection of state medical boards’ responsibility for punishing physicians, suggests that every state medical board run criminal record review as part of licensure application practice and all candidates with a criminal background, comes before the committee for questioning to examine the candidates ability for licensure. AMA recognizes that doctors can be criminally arraigned merely to the degree of statue, and these regulations unlike state to state. Although illustrations from our data demonstrate the regular ordinary sanctions by state medical boards after the doctors have been criminally found guilty. According to AMA recent data less than 80 percent of doctors who carried out sexual acts offenses the physicians’ licenses would be revoked, suspended, or surrendered. Merely 53 % of doctors convicted of criminally possessing, using, or prescribing controlled substances and only 40% of doctors were guilty of criminal wrongdoing connected to the practice of medicine had their licenses surrendered, revoked, or suspended. The statistics show a system that permits questionable physicians to remain practicing medicine after displaying clear unethical and risky behavior. If an individual thinks that a health care provider, local or state government agency, has discriminated against he/she based on national origin, race, age, or disability, one can file a civil rights complaint. OCR can examine disability-based discrimination complaints against programs ran by HHS. Below certain regulations and statue, OCR has  slight authority to explore complaints of discrimination based on religion and sex. If an individual believe his/her health care provider moral safety rights have been breached, individuals can file a complaint with OCR. The Case Resolution Manual for Civil Rights Investigations (CRM) offers OCR managers and staff with the strategies and process designed to effectively and promptly investigate, evaluate and settle compliance and complaint evaluation, and to implement violation locations where guaranteed. When filling a complaint an individual have to follow the complaint requirements and that is followed by: (http://www.hhs.gov) Be filed in writing, either electronically via or paper the OCR Complaint Portal, by email, fax, or mail. Social service provider or health care provider involved, and describe the acts or omissions, that one believed over stepped the civil rights regulations or law. Must be filed in 180 days of when the omission complained of or act occurred. OCR could prolong the 180-day period if individual can provide a worthy reason. In conclusion individuals need to educate themselves on the laws which supposed to protect them from mistreatment of any health care provider and learn the appropriate ways to handle the situation in case of becoming a victim to any type of neglect or abuse. Physicians’ and nurses should follow the quality standards. Patients are treated with kindness, dignity, compassion, respect, honesty and understanding. References Article in Health Matrix: United States Physicians’ Disciplined for Criminal Activity, Retrieved on April 22, 2014 from: http://www.citizen.org/page.aspx?pid=696 Principles of Medical Ethics, Retrieved on April 22, 2014 from; http:// http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics/principles-medical-ethics.page United States Department of Health and Human Resources, Retrieved on April 22, 2014 from: http://www. hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/complaints/index.html#file Wilson,D., The Regulation of Health Care professionals other than Physicians, Retrieved on April 22, 2014 from;

Monday, October 14, 2019

Security Issues in Peer-to-peer Networking

Security Issues in Peer-to-peer Networking ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The interest in the field of networking, driven me to take the computer networking as my course in M.Sc. there are many different types of networks. Out of them the more popularized and upcoming trend of networks are peer-to-peer networks. This report of my final dissertation for the partial fulfilment of my M.Sc, computer networking, would not have been possible without the support of my supervisor, Mr. Harry Benetatos. He helped me a lot by guiding me and pin-pointing the key mistakes which I have done during my research. My course leader Mr. Nicholas Ioannides also helped me a lot to complete this dissertation. His advises and suggestions gave me a lot of encouragement and support which made me do this research and finish it in time. I am very thankful to my university, LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY which provided me the free access to the IEEE library which helped me to find the key papers which are very useful for my research. I also thank my parents for their support given to me in all walks of my life. DEDICATION: I dedicate this report to my parents and my well wisher Sakshi for their constant support and encouragement throughout my education and life. CHAPTER 1 PROJECT INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT: This dissertation is all about the security issues in the peer-to-peer networks. There are many security issues in peer-to-peer networks. I have chosen to do research on worm intrusions in peer-to-peer networks. In this document I have mentioned how the worm propagates in the network from one peer to another peer, how the worm can be detected and how the detected worm can be attacked and save the network from getting infected. 1.2 AIM: Security issue in Peer-to-peer networks: Securing the peer-to-peer network from worms.   1.3 OBJECTIVES: Ø To understand how the peers communicate with each other in the peer-to-peer network Ø To analyse the propagation of worms in the network. Ø To detect the worms near the nodes of the network Ø To defence the worms in the network. 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION: This document briefly discusses about how the worms propagates in the network and how can it be detected and attacked in order to save the peer-to-peer network 1.5 APPROACH: My approach for this dissertation is as follows: Ø Understanding peer-to-peer networks Ø Defining the problem Ø Data collection and analysis Ø Study and understanding the existing solutions for the problem Ø Comparing different solutions Ø conclusion 1.6 METHODOLOGY: This section of my document contains what important steps to be followed in order to achieve the mentioned objectives. It also helps to schedule how to develop and complete different parts of the dissertation. In this dissertation firstly I will study and understand about the peer-to-peer networks and how the peers in the networks communicate and share information with the remaining peer in the network. Then I do research on how the worm propagates in the network, how can the worm be detected and how the detected worm can be attacked and restore the network.   In the pictorial form the different stages of my dissertation are 1.7 PREVIEW ABOUT THE COMING CHAPTERS IN THE REPORT: The rest of the report is organised as follows: in the chapter 2, there is brief discussion about the peer-to-peer networks, different types of peer-to-peer networks, advantages and disadvantages of the peer-to-peer networks. There is also some information about the worms, its nature and different types of worms. In chapter 3, there is a discussion about the methods given by the different person to detect the worm in the network by the method of matching the characteristic string of the worm. In section 4, there is a solution for this issue. That is mathematical method of detecting the worm in the network and defending it. Chapter 5 consists of a critical appraisal and suggestions for the further work. Finally, I concluded in chapter 6. CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW OF THE GENERIC AREA AND IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM: 2.1 NETWORK: Network is a group of electronic devices which are connected to each other in order to communicate which each other.   The devices can be computers, laptops, printers etc. networks can be wired or wireless. Wired networks are networks in which the devices are connected with the help of wires. Wireless networks are the networks in which the devices are connected without the wires. There are many different types of networks and peer-to-peer is one of the important and special types of networks. 2.2 PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS: Peer-to-peer networks are emerged in 1990 because of the development of the peer-to-peer file sharing like Napster [1].   Peer-to-peer networks abbreviated as p2p networks are the networks in which all the nodes or peers in the network acts as servers as well as clients on demand. This is unlike typical client server model, in which the clients requests the services and server supplies the resources. But in case of peer-to-peer networks every node in the networks requests services like a client and every node will supply the resources like server on demand. Peer-to-peer network doesn’t need any centralized server coordination.   Peer-to-peer network is scalable. Addition of new nodes to the network or removal of already existing nodes on the network doesn’t affect the network. That means addition or removal of nodes can be done dynamically. All the nodes connected in a peer-to-peer network run on the same network protocol and software. Resources available on a node in the network are available to the remaining nodes of the network and they can access this information easily. Peer-to-peer networks provide robustness and scalability. All the wired and wireless networks can be configured as peer-to-peer networks. Home networks and small enterprise networks are preferable to configure in a peer-to-peer networks. Most the networks are not pure peer-to-peer networks because of they use some network interface devices. In the beginning, the information is stored at all the nodes by making a copy of it. But this increases the flow of traffic in the network. But now, a centralised system is maintained by the network and the requests are directed to the nodes which contains the relevant information. This will save the time and the traffic flow in the network. 2.3 WIRELESS NETWORKS: Devices connected to each other without any wires can also be configured like peer-to-peer networks. In a case of small of number of devices it is preferable to configure the network in wireless peer-to-peer networks because it will be easy to share the data in both the directions. It is even cheaper to connect the networks in wireless peer-to-peer because we do not need to spend on the wires. Peer-to-peer networks are divided into three types. They are: Instant messaging networks Collaborative networks Affinity community networks[2] Instant messaging networks: In this type of peer-to-peer networks, the users can chat with each other in real time by installing some software such as MSN messenger, AOL instant messenger etc. Collaborative networks: This type of peer-to-peer networks are also called as distributed computing.   This is widely used in the field of science and biotechnology where the intense computer processing is needed. Affinity community peer-to-peer networks: It is a type of p2p network, where the group of devices are connected only for the purpose of sharing the data among them. Peer to peer networks are basically classified into two types. They are: Ø Structured peer-to-peer networks Ø Unstructured peer-to-peer networks 2.4 STRUCTURED PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS: In the structured peer-to-peer nodes connected in the network are fixed. They use distributed hashing table (DHT) for indexing [4]. In DHT data is stored in the form of hash table like (key, value). Any node willing to retrieve the data can easily do that using the keys. The mapping of values to the keys are maintained by all the nodes present in the network such that there will be very less disruption in case of change in the set of participants DHT-based networks are very efficient in retrieving the resources. 2.5 UNSTRUCTURED PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS: In unstructured p2p network nodes are established arbitrarily. There are three types of unstructured p2p networks. They are Pure peer-to-peer Hybrid peer-to-peer Centralized peer-to-peer In Pure p2p networks all the nodes in the network are equal. There won’t be any preferred node with special infrastructure function. In hybrid p2p networks there will be a special node called â€Å"supernodes† [3] . This supernode can be any node in the network depending on the momentary need of the network. Centralized p2p network is a type of hybrid network in which there will be one central system which manages the network. The network cannot be able to work without this centralized system Basically, all the nodes in the peer-to-peer networks contain the information of the neighbour in its routing table. The rate of propagation of worms in the peer-to-peer networks is larger than compared to the other networks. This is because the information of the neighbour peers can easily achieved from the routing table of the infected node. Different types of files are shared between the nodes in the peer-to-peer networks. These files can be the audio files, video files, music files, text documents, books; articles etc. there are a lot of peer-to-peer software available these days in the market for sharing the files. Some of them are bittorrent, limeware, shareaza, kazaa, Imesh, bearshare Lite, eMule, KCeasy, Ares Galaxy, Soulseek, WinMX, Piolet, Gnutella, Overnet, Azureus (vuze), FrostWire, uTorrent, Morpheus, Ants, Acquisition[5]. There are lot more file sharing softwares in the market but these are the top 20 file sharing softwares for peer-to-peer networks. Basically, all the nodes connected together in the network should configure with the same network protocol and the same software should be installed in all the nodes in order to communicate with each other. Else the nodes in the network cannot communicate if they are configured with the different software or protocol. 2.6 ADVANTAGES OF PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS [6]: It is more useful for the small business network comprising of very small number of computer systems or devices. Computers in this network can be configured easily. Full time network administrator is not required for the p2p networks. Easy maintenance of the network. Only a single operating system and less number of cables needed to get connected Can be installed easily Users can control the shared resources Distributed nature of the network increases the robustness of the network. 2.7 DISADVANTAGES OF THE PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS [12]: No centralised administration Back-up should be performed on the each computer individually. Peer-to-peer networks are not secure Every computer in the network behaves as server and client which can slow down the performance of the system Legal controversy with the copyrights. 2.8 WORM: Worm is a computer malware program or it can be called as a mischievous code which can multiple itself   into several replicas or it duplicate itself into several copies. Worm in simple can be called as â€Å"autonomous intrusion agent† [19] .It doesn’t actually alters the function of the system but it pass through i.e., worm is unlike virus.   It intrudes the network without the mediation of the user. This is first detected by Robert T Morris in 1988[18]. Today we have some billions of systems connected to internet. Bu during 1988 there were only 60,000 systems connected to the internet. During that period 10% of the internet systems i.e., 6000 of the systems are infected and almost clogged because of the worms [8]. Worms when enters the system it hides in the operating system where it cannot be noticeable [18] . It drastically slows down the system the effect the other programs in the system. In worst cases it could even effect the entire network and slow down the internet across whole world. As it is said earlier that it replicates itself into multiple copies and attach itself to the emails and corrupt them and sometimes deleting the file without the user interaction. If it enters our email, it can able to send itself to all the contacts in our email book and then to all the contacts of the emails of our email book and likewise it propagates, grow and spread at the higher rate. Worms will even create the â€Å"backdoor† into the computer [11]. This will make the attackers to send spam easily. Some famous worms discovered in 2003 and 2004 are â€Å"Mydoom†, â€Å" Sobig† and â€Å"Sasser†[7].   â€Å"Sasser† worm has recently affected the computers which are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating system. It restarts the system automatically and crashes it. It is spread to all the nodes in the network. There are some worms which are unlike the normal worms. These worms are very useful to the user some times. Hence, these are called the â€Å"helpful worms† [9]. Sometimes they help users without the interaction with the user. But most of the known worms are harmful and will always tries to infect the nodes in the network and affect the performance of the network. When the peer-to-peer networks are attacked by the worms, it slows down the efficiency of the network. So there is a need to save the networks from entering into the network and spreading itself all over the network. The worms should be detected and defended. If we delay in defending these worms, they replicate itself and makes many copies of itself and spread all through the network. This is very dangerous to the network as it affects the performance and efficiency of the network [10]. CHAPTER 3 RELEVANT WORK DONE BY OTHERS IN ORDER TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM: Many people proposed solutions to this problem. First Zhou L gave solution to p2p worm and he observed that propagation of worm in p2p network is very speed when compared to other networks[13] . Jayanthkumar performed some simulations on worm propagation from infected node to other node[10]. Wei yu researched on the behaviour of worms in p2p networks[14]. In my research I found one more interesting method of detecting the worms in the peer-to-peer network. This is indeed a special method of detecting the worms in network because the authors Yu Yao, Yong Li, Fu-xiang Gao, Ge Yu in their paper titled â€Å"A Signature-behaviour-based P2P worm detection approach† they proposed a mechanism of detecting the known worms in the peer-to-peer networks based on characteristic string matching. Worm make use of vulnerabilities in the network and +Spreads[15]. They also proposed the detection mechanism for the unknown worms based on their behaviour. They technique mainly consists of the te chnology of characteristic string matching, identifying the application and the unknown worm detection technology. They have given the algorithm for the matching the characteristics string of the worm called suffix-tree algorithm- suffix array algorithm. This is efficient and simple with very less time complexity. As peer-to-peer network follows fragment transfer technique there is chance of assigning the characteristics string of the worm to the other blocks of data. And again during the reorganisation process this characteristic string can identify the worm. These authors even validated their results by simulation. They proved that their method is also one of the efficient methods of p2p worm detection. As mentioned above this method detects the known worm and also the unknown worms based on characteristic string matching and their behaviour respectively. In this method they initially capture the network packets using the library function called â€Å"LibPcap†. â€Å"LibPcap† is the library function that captures the network packets in UNIX and Linux platforms. This function contains many functions that will be useful for capturing the network packets. After capturing the data packets with help of these functions the non-P2P packets are filtered out. So now the P2P packets are filtered. In these P2P packets the known worms are detected by using the characteristic string matching. This is implemented by the couple of algorithms. They are the â€Å"suffix array algorithm† and the â€Å"dichotomy algorithm†. These algorithms are very accurate and are capable of detecting the worms in very less time. As I mentioned above peer-to-peer networks follow fragment transfer mechanism. Hence the characteristic string of the worm can be assigned to the other blocks of data. So, in this situation it is difficult to detect the worm if the characteristic string of the worm is based on the single packet. But if the characteristic string is present in the block then there is a chance of detecting the worm because it will assign it to the two packets. At this time the worm characteristic string present in the two different data packets need to restructure. After restructuring, the worm can be detected by using the matching mechanism. In this way the known worm in the network is detected by using the characteristic string matching. The unknown worms in the p2p network can be detected with the help of the act characteristics of the worm at the initial stage of its propagation. This can be called as the behaviour based detection of the unknown p2p worms. Like this all the known and unknown worms in the network are detected. 3.1 P2P KNOWN WORM DETECTION: There are four steps in detecting the p2p known worms. They are: Deal flow Technology of identifying the application Characteristic string matching Reorganising the characteristic string 3.1.1 DEAL FLOW: In this step of deal flow the flow of data is divided into four steps[16]. Step 1: Extracting the p2p data stream from the original data stream. Step 2: check the extracted p2p data stream for worms using characteristic string matching with the worms already existing in the library function. Step 3: data is flow is reorganised. It now contains worm characteristic string as well. Go to step 2. Step 4: check the data flow for unknown worms using unknown worm detection techniques. After performing the four steps update the library function. All the four steps is represented   pictorially as in the next page. Figure 4: flow chart representing four steps to detect worms   yes    normal  Ã‚  Normal no  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abnormal abnormal 3.1.2 TECHNOLOGY OF IDENTIFYING THE APPLICATION: As said earlier, this paper uses the method of capturing the data packets and sca it for the worms which are known with the help of a function library called â€Å"LibPcap†[17] . For this there should be already some assigned rules in the network interface devices. So assigning these rules to those devices is done in stepwise procedure as: Identify the available network interface devices Open the network interface device Compile the rules that we are willing to attach to the devices Setup the rules of filtering to the device Now operate the equipment Start the process of capturing the packets There are some rules for identifying the p2p application. They are: Characteristic information of the known p2p is used Sometimes, if source-destination IP pairs don’t use the known P2P and they may use TCP and UDP at same time, then they are p2p. At a particular time source pairs {srcIP, srcport}[27] and the destination pairs {dstIP, dstport}[27] are checked Here we can identify whether it’s a p2p or not. If the number of connection port is equal to the number of connection IP, then we can say that it is a p2p. There are the situations where these rules have been used unruly. So the there were some amendments made to these rules. The amendments are rule (2) can identify even the mazes which are present and rule (3) is modified in such a way that in the detect cycle {srcIP, srcport}[27] pairs at the source and the {dstIP,   dstport }[27] pairs at the destination are checked. From this they derived that if the number of connection port is equal to the number of connection IP, the protocols which are used are same. If they are different then the protocols are different. 3.1.3 CHARACTERISTIC STRING MATCHING: This is the most important section of the paper. Here authors have given some definitions to the terms which we are going to use, the algorithms which we are going to use to detect the worm. Couple of algorithms are mentioned. They are suffix-array algorithm and the dichotomy algorithm. So the entire process of detecting the worm depends on the efficiency and the accuracy of these algorithms. First of all before using and understanding suffix-array algorithm we will try to understand some keywords and rules. Suffix: suffix is the part of a string or a substring which starts at a particular location to the end of the string. If a suffix in the string S starts at the location ‘i’ to the end of the string S, then the suffix can be represented as Suffix(i)=S[i,Len(S) ][27] . Let us understand how the strings can be compared. The comparison in this paper followed â€Å"dictionary comparison† If u and v are the two different strings. Comparing the strings u and v is same like comparing u[i] and v[i], where ‘i’ starts with the value 1. Ø Here string u is equal to string v i.e., u=v when u[i]=v[i] Ø String u is greater then string v i.e., u>v when u[i]>v[i] Ø String u is less than string v i.e., u But the results were still not obtained for i>len(u) or i>len(v) Also if len(u)>len(v) then u >v, if len(u) Suffix-array: suffix-array is denoted by SA. It is a one-dimensional array. It is an array of SA[1], S[2], SA[3],†¦. And so on. Here s[i] Rank-array: rank-array is nothing but SA-1. If SA[i]=j, then Rank[j]=i. we can say that the rank[i] saves the rank of Suffix(i) in an ascending order for all the suffixes. In this paper the author has taken the example of string â€Å"science† and explained everything clearly. The string â€Å"science† can generate seven suffixes. They are: Suffix(1): science Suffix(2): cience Suffix(3): ience Suffix(4): ence Suffix(5): nce Suffix(6): ce Suffix(7): e When we sort out everything in a dictionary order it will be in the order as follow Suffix(6)= ce Suffix(2)= cience Suffix(7)= e Suffix(4)= ence Suffix(3)= ience Suffix(5)= nce Suffix(1)= science Suffix-array algorithm follows multiplier ideas. Firstly get SA1 and Rank1 by comparing every character in the string. Comparing string is similar to comparing the every character sequentially. So by comparing every character, SA1 and Rank1 can derive SA2 and Rank2. And this SA2 and Rank2 will derive SA4 and Rank4. And this will again derive SA8 and Rank8. So finally suffix-array and rank-array are derived from this process. The main process of the suffix-array algorithm is Ø Calculating SA1 and Rank1. Firstly all the suffixes are arranged in the first letter order and then suffix-array (SA1) is generated by using quick sorry algorithm and then Rank1 is also generated. Ø Comparing 2k-prefix Suffix(i) and Suffix(j) using SAk and Rankk. 2k-Suffix(i) = 2k-Suffixes(j), this is equivalent to Rankk[SAk[i]] = Rankk[SAk[j]] and Rankk[SAk[i+k]] = Rankk[SAk[j+k]] 2k-Suffix(i) Suffix-array algorithm is a sorting algorithm which sorts out the characteristic string. So, this uses binary search algorithm. The algorithm follows Step 1: in the first step values are assigned like left=1, right=n and max_match=0 Step 2: the middle value i.e., mid= (left +right)/2. Step 3: comparing the characters corresponding to Suffix (SA[mid]) and P. the longest public prefix r can be helpful in implantation and comparison. If r > max_match, then max_match=r. Step 4: if Suffix(SA[mid])   If Suffix(SA[mid])>P, then right=mid-1   If Suffix(SA[mid])=P, then go to step 6 Step 5: if left Step 6: if max_match= m, then print â€Å"match is successful†. 3.1.4 REORGANISING THE CHARACTERISTIC STRING: In this step the characteristic string is reorganised. If the character string is divided into two different data blocks, then the data block with the partial characteristic string is stored. Basically, all the information about the data block like index, beginning offset, length of the block and so on are contained at the head of the each block. Here a structure piece is defined which consists of index of the block, beginning offset of the block offset, length of the character array head and the length of the character array end[18]. Initially each and every data packet is compared with the characteristic string for matching. If it is matched then the warning or an alert is sent to all the users about the worm. Here if the tail of the characteristic string of the worm matches with the head of the data block, then it will be stored in the character array end. And if the head of the characteristic string of the worm matches with the tail of the data block then it is stored in the corr esponding character array head. Suppose if the neighbouring data block contains a partial characteristic string of the worm then the neighbour string in the array head as well as in the end will be reorganised. Now this reorganised string will again perform the characteristic string matching and if any worm is detected then again the warning is sent to all users saying that the worm have found. If it is not matched then it won’t perform any operation. If in a case that the characteristic string is present in the block but is divided into two different data packets, then a special term called â€Å"character array† is introduced. First the matching mechanism is performed in both the data packet. If the matching characteristic string is found then the warning is sent to the users that there is a worm present. But if only part of the characteristic string is found then it will be enough if it meets some of the requirements like the head of the data packet should match wit h the tail of the characteristic string or the tail of the data packet should match with the head of the characteristic string. But if these conditions are not satisfied then no operation is performed. Now, if the tail of the data packet contains the partial characteristic string then the data packet is stored in the array. If the length of the characteristic string is m, then the Array[m] is set as ’’. And if the head of the data packet contains a part of the characteristic string then that data packet is stored in the n consecutive units of array. Finally, this array will be the characteristic string matching and if the worm is detected then the warning is sent to all the users. If it is not matched then nothing is done. 3.2 DETECTING UNKNOWN P2P WORM: In the above section we have seen how the known worm is detected. But that algorithm or mechanism are meant to detect the unknown p2p worms. So here in this section we will understand how the unknown worms can be detected and restrain the network. As we know in p2p networks a node can able to send the information to multiple hosts at a same time. Anyhow same protocol is used by all the nodes in the network[27]. These characteristics of the network helps worm to propagate easily. As we discussed above, only the known worms can be detected by using the characteristic string matching method. Here we will see how the unknown worms can be detected. The unknown worms are detected based on the behaviour of the node. Some of the detection rules are: same content files are transferred to multiple hosts in a very short time. Same protocol is used and the destination port is same. If these rules are satisfies by the source port then it allows the p2p worm to propagate. Now, it is necessary to e xtract the characteristics of worm near the worm propagation nodes. When these characteristics are extracted, they are added to the feature library. This data similarity comparison and extracting the characteristics are done using the LCSeq algorithm. But the LCSeq algorithm based on generalized suffix tree (GST) is the more efficient. The overall idea is that all the suffixes are represented as a tree. And this tree will have some characteristics like: Ø Every node in a tree is a string and root is the empty string Ø Every suffix can be represented as a path from the root. Ø Every substring can be considered as a prefix of a suffix. Ø To achieve the searching public sub sequence, every node should be set the information of its subordinate source string. 3.3 EXPERIMENT: We know that the worm body tries to infect the other nodes in the network by sending the worm to the specific ports of p2p node. So here the author tried to prove the efficiency of his method by performing an experiment. In this experiment he prepared a multiple group worm body and sent it repeatedly at regular intervals of time. Then he captured these packets and extracted their characteristics and compared it with the one that already exist in the feature library. P2p worm is detected separately using different algorithms like BF algorithm, KMP algorithm and suffix-array algorithm and compared their results doing three experiments. In the experiment 1, worm characteristics are in the same packet.. in the experiment Security Issues in Peer-to-peer Networking Security Issues in Peer-to-peer Networking ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The interest in the field of networking, driven me to take the computer networking as my course in M.Sc. there are many different types of networks. Out of them the more popularized and upcoming trend of networks are peer-to-peer networks. This report of my final dissertation for the partial fulfilment of my M.Sc, computer networking, would not have been possible without the support of my supervisor, Mr. Harry Benetatos. He helped me a lot by guiding me and pin-pointing the key mistakes which I have done during my research. My course leader Mr. Nicholas Ioannides also helped me a lot to complete this dissertation. His advises and suggestions gave me a lot of encouragement and support which made me do this research and finish it in time. I am very thankful to my university, LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY which provided me the free access to the IEEE library which helped me to find the key papers which are very useful for my research. I also thank my parents for their support given to me in all walks of my life. DEDICATION: I dedicate this report to my parents and my well wisher Sakshi for their constant support and encouragement throughout my education and life. CHAPTER 1 PROJECT INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT: This dissertation is all about the security issues in the peer-to-peer networks. There are many security issues in peer-to-peer networks. I have chosen to do research on worm intrusions in peer-to-peer networks. In this document I have mentioned how the worm propagates in the network from one peer to another peer, how the worm can be detected and how the detected worm can be attacked and save the network from getting infected. 1.2 AIM: Security issue in Peer-to-peer networks: Securing the peer-to-peer network from worms.   1.3 OBJECTIVES: Ø To understand how the peers communicate with each other in the peer-to-peer network Ø To analyse the propagation of worms in the network. Ø To detect the worms near the nodes of the network Ø To defence the worms in the network. 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION: This document briefly discusses about how the worms propagates in the network and how can it be detected and attacked in order to save the peer-to-peer network 1.5 APPROACH: My approach for this dissertation is as follows: Ø Understanding peer-to-peer networks Ø Defining the problem Ø Data collection and analysis Ø Study and understanding the existing solutions for the problem Ø Comparing different solutions Ø conclusion 1.6 METHODOLOGY: This section of my document contains what important steps to be followed in order to achieve the mentioned objectives. It also helps to schedule how to develop and complete different parts of the dissertation. In this dissertation firstly I will study and understand about the peer-to-peer networks and how the peers in the networks communicate and share information with the remaining peer in the network. Then I do research on how the worm propagates in the network, how can the worm be detected and how the detected worm can be attacked and restore the network.   In the pictorial form the different stages of my dissertation are 1.7 PREVIEW ABOUT THE COMING CHAPTERS IN THE REPORT: The rest of the report is organised as follows: in the chapter 2, there is brief discussion about the peer-to-peer networks, different types of peer-to-peer networks, advantages and disadvantages of the peer-to-peer networks. There is also some information about the worms, its nature and different types of worms. In chapter 3, there is a discussion about the methods given by the different person to detect the worm in the network by the method of matching the characteristic string of the worm. In section 4, there is a solution for this issue. That is mathematical method of detecting the worm in the network and defending it. Chapter 5 consists of a critical appraisal and suggestions for the further work. Finally, I concluded in chapter 6. CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW OF THE GENERIC AREA AND IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM: 2.1 NETWORK: Network is a group of electronic devices which are connected to each other in order to communicate which each other.   The devices can be computers, laptops, printers etc. networks can be wired or wireless. Wired networks are networks in which the devices are connected with the help of wires. Wireless networks are the networks in which the devices are connected without the wires. There are many different types of networks and peer-to-peer is one of the important and special types of networks. 2.2 PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS: Peer-to-peer networks are emerged in 1990 because of the development of the peer-to-peer file sharing like Napster [1].   Peer-to-peer networks abbreviated as p2p networks are the networks in which all the nodes or peers in the network acts as servers as well as clients on demand. This is unlike typical client server model, in which the clients requests the services and server supplies the resources. But in case of peer-to-peer networks every node in the networks requests services like a client and every node will supply the resources like server on demand. Peer-to-peer network doesn’t need any centralized server coordination.   Peer-to-peer network is scalable. Addition of new nodes to the network or removal of already existing nodes on the network doesn’t affect the network. That means addition or removal of nodes can be done dynamically. All the nodes connected in a peer-to-peer network run on the same network protocol and software. Resources available on a node in the network are available to the remaining nodes of the network and they can access this information easily. Peer-to-peer networks provide robustness and scalability. All the wired and wireless networks can be configured as peer-to-peer networks. Home networks and small enterprise networks are preferable to configure in a peer-to-peer networks. Most the networks are not pure peer-to-peer networks because of they use some network interface devices. In the beginning, the information is stored at all the nodes by making a copy of it. But this increases the flow of traffic in the network. But now, a centralised system is maintained by the network and the requests are directed to the nodes which contains the relevant information. This will save the time and the traffic flow in the network. 2.3 WIRELESS NETWORKS: Devices connected to each other without any wires can also be configured like peer-to-peer networks. In a case of small of number of devices it is preferable to configure the network in wireless peer-to-peer networks because it will be easy to share the data in both the directions. It is even cheaper to connect the networks in wireless peer-to-peer because we do not need to spend on the wires. Peer-to-peer networks are divided into three types. They are: Instant messaging networks Collaborative networks Affinity community networks[2] Instant messaging networks: In this type of peer-to-peer networks, the users can chat with each other in real time by installing some software such as MSN messenger, AOL instant messenger etc. Collaborative networks: This type of peer-to-peer networks are also called as distributed computing.   This is widely used in the field of science and biotechnology where the intense computer processing is needed. Affinity community peer-to-peer networks: It is a type of p2p network, where the group of devices are connected only for the purpose of sharing the data among them. Peer to peer networks are basically classified into two types. They are: Ø Structured peer-to-peer networks Ø Unstructured peer-to-peer networks 2.4 STRUCTURED PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS: In the structured peer-to-peer nodes connected in the network are fixed. They use distributed hashing table (DHT) for indexing [4]. In DHT data is stored in the form of hash table like (key, value). Any node willing to retrieve the data can easily do that using the keys. The mapping of values to the keys are maintained by all the nodes present in the network such that there will be very less disruption in case of change in the set of participants DHT-based networks are very efficient in retrieving the resources. 2.5 UNSTRUCTURED PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS: In unstructured p2p network nodes are established arbitrarily. There are three types of unstructured p2p networks. They are Pure peer-to-peer Hybrid peer-to-peer Centralized peer-to-peer In Pure p2p networks all the nodes in the network are equal. There won’t be any preferred node with special infrastructure function. In hybrid p2p networks there will be a special node called â€Å"supernodes† [3] . This supernode can be any node in the network depending on the momentary need of the network. Centralized p2p network is a type of hybrid network in which there will be one central system which manages the network. The network cannot be able to work without this centralized system Basically, all the nodes in the peer-to-peer networks contain the information of the neighbour in its routing table. The rate of propagation of worms in the peer-to-peer networks is larger than compared to the other networks. This is because the information of the neighbour peers can easily achieved from the routing table of the infected node. Different types of files are shared between the nodes in the peer-to-peer networks. These files can be the audio files, video files, music files, text documents, books; articles etc. there are a lot of peer-to-peer software available these days in the market for sharing the files. Some of them are bittorrent, limeware, shareaza, kazaa, Imesh, bearshare Lite, eMule, KCeasy, Ares Galaxy, Soulseek, WinMX, Piolet, Gnutella, Overnet, Azureus (vuze), FrostWire, uTorrent, Morpheus, Ants, Acquisition[5]. There are lot more file sharing softwares in the market but these are the top 20 file sharing softwares for peer-to-peer networks. Basically, all the nodes connected together in the network should configure with the same network protocol and the same software should be installed in all the nodes in order to communicate with each other. Else the nodes in the network cannot communicate if they are configured with the different software or protocol. 2.6 ADVANTAGES OF PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS [6]: It is more useful for the small business network comprising of very small number of computer systems or devices. Computers in this network can be configured easily. Full time network administrator is not required for the p2p networks. Easy maintenance of the network. Only a single operating system and less number of cables needed to get connected Can be installed easily Users can control the shared resources Distributed nature of the network increases the robustness of the network. 2.7 DISADVANTAGES OF THE PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS [12]: No centralised administration Back-up should be performed on the each computer individually. Peer-to-peer networks are not secure Every computer in the network behaves as server and client which can slow down the performance of the system Legal controversy with the copyrights. 2.8 WORM: Worm is a computer malware program or it can be called as a mischievous code which can multiple itself   into several replicas or it duplicate itself into several copies. Worm in simple can be called as â€Å"autonomous intrusion agent† [19] .It doesn’t actually alters the function of the system but it pass through i.e., worm is unlike virus.   It intrudes the network without the mediation of the user. This is first detected by Robert T Morris in 1988[18]. Today we have some billions of systems connected to internet. Bu during 1988 there were only 60,000 systems connected to the internet. During that period 10% of the internet systems i.e., 6000 of the systems are infected and almost clogged because of the worms [8]. Worms when enters the system it hides in the operating system where it cannot be noticeable [18] . It drastically slows down the system the effect the other programs in the system. In worst cases it could even effect the entire network and slow down the internet across whole world. As it is said earlier that it replicates itself into multiple copies and attach itself to the emails and corrupt them and sometimes deleting the file without the user interaction. If it enters our email, it can able to send itself to all the contacts in our email book and then to all the contacts of the emails of our email book and likewise it propagates, grow and spread at the higher rate. Worms will even create the â€Å"backdoor† into the computer [11]. This will make the attackers to send spam easily. Some famous worms discovered in 2003 and 2004 are â€Å"Mydoom†, â€Å" Sobig† and â€Å"Sasser†[7].   â€Å"Sasser† worm has recently affected the computers which are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating system. It restarts the system automatically and crashes it. It is spread to all the nodes in the network. There are some worms which are unlike the normal worms. These worms are very useful to the user some times. Hence, these are called the â€Å"helpful worms† [9]. Sometimes they help users without the interaction with the user. But most of the known worms are harmful and will always tries to infect the nodes in the network and affect the performance of the network. When the peer-to-peer networks are attacked by the worms, it slows down the efficiency of the network. So there is a need to save the networks from entering into the network and spreading itself all over the network. The worms should be detected and defended. If we delay in defending these worms, they replicate itself and makes many copies of itself and spread all through the network. This is very dangerous to the network as it affects the performance and efficiency of the network [10]. CHAPTER 3 RELEVANT WORK DONE BY OTHERS IN ORDER TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM: Many people proposed solutions to this problem. First Zhou L gave solution to p2p worm and he observed that propagation of worm in p2p network is very speed when compared to other networks[13] . Jayanthkumar performed some simulations on worm propagation from infected node to other node[10]. Wei yu researched on the behaviour of worms in p2p networks[14]. In my research I found one more interesting method of detecting the worms in the peer-to-peer network. This is indeed a special method of detecting the worms in network because the authors Yu Yao, Yong Li, Fu-xiang Gao, Ge Yu in their paper titled â€Å"A Signature-behaviour-based P2P worm detection approach† they proposed a mechanism of detecting the known worms in the peer-to-peer networks based on characteristic string matching. Worm make use of vulnerabilities in the network and +Spreads[15]. They also proposed the detection mechanism for the unknown worms based on their behaviour. They technique mainly consists of the te chnology of characteristic string matching, identifying the application and the unknown worm detection technology. They have given the algorithm for the matching the characteristics string of the worm called suffix-tree algorithm- suffix array algorithm. This is efficient and simple with very less time complexity. As peer-to-peer network follows fragment transfer technique there is chance of assigning the characteristics string of the worm to the other blocks of data. And again during the reorganisation process this characteristic string can identify the worm. These authors even validated their results by simulation. They proved that their method is also one of the efficient methods of p2p worm detection. As mentioned above this method detects the known worm and also the unknown worms based on characteristic string matching and their behaviour respectively. In this method they initially capture the network packets using the library function called â€Å"LibPcap†. â€Å"LibPcap† is the library function that captures the network packets in UNIX and Linux platforms. This function contains many functions that will be useful for capturing the network packets. After capturing the data packets with help of these functions the non-P2P packets are filtered out. So now the P2P packets are filtered. In these P2P packets the known worms are detected by using the characteristic string matching. This is implemented by the couple of algorithms. They are the â€Å"suffix array algorithm† and the â€Å"dichotomy algorithm†. These algorithms are very accurate and are capable of detecting the worms in very less time. As I mentioned above peer-to-peer networks follow fragment transfer mechanism. Hence the characteristic string of the worm can be assigned to the other blocks of data. So, in this situation it is difficult to detect the worm if the characteristic string of the worm is based on the single packet. But if the characteristic string is present in the block then there is a chance of detecting the worm because it will assign it to the two packets. At this time the worm characteristic string present in the two different data packets need to restructure. After restructuring, the worm can be detected by using the matching mechanism. In this way the known worm in the network is detected by using the characteristic string matching. The unknown worms in the p2p network can be detected with the help of the act characteristics of the worm at the initial stage of its propagation. This can be called as the behaviour based detection of the unknown p2p worms. Like this all the known and unknown worms in the network are detected. 3.1 P2P KNOWN WORM DETECTION: There are four steps in detecting the p2p known worms. They are: Deal flow Technology of identifying the application Characteristic string matching Reorganising the characteristic string 3.1.1 DEAL FLOW: In this step of deal flow the flow of data is divided into four steps[16]. Step 1: Extracting the p2p data stream from the original data stream. Step 2: check the extracted p2p data stream for worms using characteristic string matching with the worms already existing in the library function. Step 3: data is flow is reorganised. It now contains worm characteristic string as well. Go to step 2. Step 4: check the data flow for unknown worms using unknown worm detection techniques. After performing the four steps update the library function. All the four steps is represented   pictorially as in the next page. Figure 4: flow chart representing four steps to detect worms   yes    normal  Ã‚  Normal no  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abnormal abnormal 3.1.2 TECHNOLOGY OF IDENTIFYING THE APPLICATION: As said earlier, this paper uses the method of capturing the data packets and sca it for the worms which are known with the help of a function library called â€Å"LibPcap†[17] . For this there should be already some assigned rules in the network interface devices. So assigning these rules to those devices is done in stepwise procedure as: Identify the available network interface devices Open the network interface device Compile the rules that we are willing to attach to the devices Setup the rules of filtering to the device Now operate the equipment Start the process of capturing the packets There are some rules for identifying the p2p application. They are: Characteristic information of the known p2p is used Sometimes, if source-destination IP pairs don’t use the known P2P and they may use TCP and UDP at same time, then they are p2p. At a particular time source pairs {srcIP, srcport}[27] and the destination pairs {dstIP, dstport}[27] are checked Here we can identify whether it’s a p2p or not. If the number of connection port is equal to the number of connection IP, then we can say that it is a p2p. There are the situations where these rules have been used unruly. So the there were some amendments made to these rules. The amendments are rule (2) can identify even the mazes which are present and rule (3) is modified in such a way that in the detect cycle {srcIP, srcport}[27] pairs at the source and the {dstIP,   dstport }[27] pairs at the destination are checked. From this they derived that if the number of connection port is equal to the number of connection IP, the protocols which are used are same. If they are different then the protocols are different. 3.1.3 CHARACTERISTIC STRING MATCHING: This is the most important section of the paper. Here authors have given some definitions to the terms which we are going to use, the algorithms which we are going to use to detect the worm. Couple of algorithms are mentioned. They are suffix-array algorithm and the dichotomy algorithm. So the entire process of detecting the worm depends on the efficiency and the accuracy of these algorithms. First of all before using and understanding suffix-array algorithm we will try to understand some keywords and rules. Suffix: suffix is the part of a string or a substring which starts at a particular location to the end of the string. If a suffix in the string S starts at the location ‘i’ to the end of the string S, then the suffix can be represented as Suffix(i)=S[i,Len(S) ][27] . Let us understand how the strings can be compared. The comparison in this paper followed â€Å"dictionary comparison† If u and v are the two different strings. Comparing the strings u and v is same like comparing u[i] and v[i], where ‘i’ starts with the value 1. Ø Here string u is equal to string v i.e., u=v when u[i]=v[i] Ø String u is greater then string v i.e., u>v when u[i]>v[i] Ø String u is less than string v i.e., u But the results were still not obtained for i>len(u) or i>len(v) Also if len(u)>len(v) then u >v, if len(u) Suffix-array: suffix-array is denoted by SA. It is a one-dimensional array. It is an array of SA[1], S[2], SA[3],†¦. And so on. Here s[i] Rank-array: rank-array is nothing but SA-1. If SA[i]=j, then Rank[j]=i. we can say that the rank[i] saves the rank of Suffix(i) in an ascending order for all the suffixes. In this paper the author has taken the example of string â€Å"science† and explained everything clearly. The string â€Å"science† can generate seven suffixes. They are: Suffix(1): science Suffix(2): cience Suffix(3): ience Suffix(4): ence Suffix(5): nce Suffix(6): ce Suffix(7): e When we sort out everything in a dictionary order it will be in the order as follow Suffix(6)= ce Suffix(2)= cience Suffix(7)= e Suffix(4)= ence Suffix(3)= ience Suffix(5)= nce Suffix(1)= science Suffix-array algorithm follows multiplier ideas. Firstly get SA1 and Rank1 by comparing every character in the string. Comparing string is similar to comparing the every character sequentially. So by comparing every character, SA1 and Rank1 can derive SA2 and Rank2. And this SA2 and Rank2 will derive SA4 and Rank4. And this will again derive SA8 and Rank8. So finally suffix-array and rank-array are derived from this process. The main process of the suffix-array algorithm is Ø Calculating SA1 and Rank1. Firstly all the suffixes are arranged in the first letter order and then suffix-array (SA1) is generated by using quick sorry algorithm and then Rank1 is also generated. Ø Comparing 2k-prefix Suffix(i) and Suffix(j) using SAk and Rankk. 2k-Suffix(i) = 2k-Suffixes(j), this is equivalent to Rankk[SAk[i]] = Rankk[SAk[j]] and Rankk[SAk[i+k]] = Rankk[SAk[j+k]] 2k-Suffix(i) Suffix-array algorithm is a sorting algorithm which sorts out the characteristic string. So, this uses binary search algorithm. The algorithm follows Step 1: in the first step values are assigned like left=1, right=n and max_match=0 Step 2: the middle value i.e., mid= (left +right)/2. Step 3: comparing the characters corresponding to Suffix (SA[mid]) and P. the longest public prefix r can be helpful in implantation and comparison. If r > max_match, then max_match=r. Step 4: if Suffix(SA[mid])   If Suffix(SA[mid])>P, then right=mid-1   If Suffix(SA[mid])=P, then go to step 6 Step 5: if left Step 6: if max_match= m, then print â€Å"match is successful†. 3.1.4 REORGANISING THE CHARACTERISTIC STRING: In this step the characteristic string is reorganised. If the character string is divided into two different data blocks, then the data block with the partial characteristic string is stored. Basically, all the information about the data block like index, beginning offset, length of the block and so on are contained at the head of the each block. Here a structure piece is defined which consists of index of the block, beginning offset of the block offset, length of the character array head and the length of the character array end[18]. Initially each and every data packet is compared with the characteristic string for matching. If it is matched then the warning or an alert is sent to all the users about the worm. Here if the tail of the characteristic string of the worm matches with the head of the data block, then it will be stored in the character array end. And if the head of the characteristic string of the worm matches with the tail of the data block then it is stored in the corr esponding character array head. Suppose if the neighbouring data block contains a partial characteristic string of the worm then the neighbour string in the array head as well as in the end will be reorganised. Now this reorganised string will again perform the characteristic string matching and if any worm is detected then again the warning is sent to all users saying that the worm have found. If it is not matched then it won’t perform any operation. If in a case that the characteristic string is present in the block but is divided into two different data packets, then a special term called â€Å"character array† is introduced. First the matching mechanism is performed in both the data packet. If the matching characteristic string is found then the warning is sent to the users that there is a worm present. But if only part of the characteristic string is found then it will be enough if it meets some of the requirements like the head of the data packet should match wit h the tail of the characteristic string or the tail of the data packet should match with the head of the characteristic string. But if these conditions are not satisfied then no operation is performed. Now, if the tail of the data packet contains the partial characteristic string then the data packet is stored in the array. If the length of the characteristic string is m, then the Array[m] is set as ’’. And if the head of the data packet contains a part of the characteristic string then that data packet is stored in the n consecutive units of array. Finally, this array will be the characteristic string matching and if the worm is detected then the warning is sent to all the users. If it is not matched then nothing is done. 3.2 DETECTING UNKNOWN P2P WORM: In the above section we have seen how the known worm is detected. But that algorithm or mechanism are meant to detect the unknown p2p worms. So here in this section we will understand how the unknown worms can be detected and restrain the network. As we know in p2p networks a node can able to send the information to multiple hosts at a same time. Anyhow same protocol is used by all the nodes in the network[27]. These characteristics of the network helps worm to propagate easily. As we discussed above, only the known worms can be detected by using the characteristic string matching method. Here we will see how the unknown worms can be detected. The unknown worms are detected based on the behaviour of the node. Some of the detection rules are: same content files are transferred to multiple hosts in a very short time. Same protocol is used and the destination port is same. If these rules are satisfies by the source port then it allows the p2p worm to propagate. Now, it is necessary to e xtract the characteristics of worm near the worm propagation nodes. When these characteristics are extracted, they are added to the feature library. This data similarity comparison and extracting the characteristics are done using the LCSeq algorithm. But the LCSeq algorithm based on generalized suffix tree (GST) is the more efficient. The overall idea is that all the suffixes are represented as a tree. And this tree will have some characteristics like: Ø Every node in a tree is a string and root is the empty string Ø Every suffix can be represented as a path from the root. Ø Every substring can be considered as a prefix of a suffix. Ø To achieve the searching public sub sequence, every node should be set the information of its subordinate source string. 3.3 EXPERIMENT: We know that the worm body tries to infect the other nodes in the network by sending the worm to the specific ports of p2p node. So here the author tried to prove the efficiency of his method by performing an experiment. In this experiment he prepared a multiple group worm body and sent it repeatedly at regular intervals of time. Then he captured these packets and extracted their characteristics and compared it with the one that already exist in the feature library. P2p worm is detected separately using different algorithms like BF algorithm, KMP algorithm and suffix-array algorithm and compared their results doing three experiments. In the experiment 1, worm characteristics are in the same packet.. in the experiment