SELF REPAIRING SOFTWARE TACKLES MALWARE ATTACK

The new software called A3, or Advanced Adaptive Applications, was co-developed by Massachusetts-based defense contractor, Raytheon BBN, and was funded by Clean-Slate Design of Resilient, Adaptive, Secure Hosts, a program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The four-year project was completed in late September.

There are no plans to adapt A3 for home computers or laptops, but Eide says this could be possible in the future.

"A3 technologies could find their way into consumer products someday, which would help consumer devices protect themselves against fast-spreading malware or internal corruption of software components. But we haven't tried those experiments yet," he says.

U computer scientists have created "stackable debuggers," multiple de-bugging applications that run on top of each other and look inside the virtual machine while it is running, constantly monitoring for any out-of-the-ordinary behavior in the computer.

Unlike a normal virus scanner on consumer PCs that compares a catalog of known viruses to something that has infected the computer, A3 can detect new, unknown viruses or malware automatically by sensing that something is occurring in the computer's operation that is not correct. It then can stop the virus, approximate a repair for the damaged software code, and then learn to never let that bug enter the machine again.

 While the military has an interest in A3 to enhance cybersecurity for its mission-critical systems, A3 also potentially could be used in the consumer space, such as in web services like Amazon. If a virus or attack stops the service, A3 could repair it in minutes without having to take the servers down.

To test A3's effectiveness, the team from the U and Raytheon BBN used the infamous software bug called Shellshock for a demonstration to DARPA officials in Jacksonville, Florida, in September. A3 discovered the Shellshock attack on a Web server and repaired the damage in four minutes, Eide says. The team also tested A3 successfully on another half-dozen pieces of malware.

Shellshock was a software vulnerability in UNIX-based computers (which include many web servers and most Apple laptops and desktop computers) that would allow a hacker to take control of the computer. It was first discovered in late September. Within the first 24 hours of the disclosure of Shellshock, security researchers reported that more than 17,000 attacks by hackers had been made with the bug.

"It is a pretty big deal that a computer system could automatically, and in a short amount of time, find an acceptable fix to a widespread and important security vulnerability," Eide says. "It's pretty cool when you can pick the Bug of the Week and it works."

Now that the team's project into A3 is completed and proves their concept, Eide says the U team would like to build on the research and figure out a way to use A3 in cloud computing, a way of harnessing far-flung computer networks to deliver storage, software applications and servers to a local user via the Internet.

The A3 software is open source, meaning it is free for anyone to use, but Eide believes many of the A3 technologies could be incorporated into commercial products.

Other U members of the A3 team include research associate David M. Johnson, systems programmer Mike Hibler and former graduate student Prashanth Nayak.

How to transcend Stage Fear? Read this blog to know more..

       Why would anyone want to overcome stage fear?It is something so natural,even the best speakers feel it just before delivering a speech. For thousands of years,people have been trying to overcome fear.They have failed,and rightly so.Our fear of public speaking keeps us on our toes,and helps us to channel our energies to deliver the best speech we possibly can,on a given day.

Statistics prove that the fear of public speaking is one of the greatest fears faced by people around the world,second only to the fear of death. In a way,public speaking feels a little like death.It puts you in a place of absolute un-predictability.You thought you could always live your boring,average life-fit in the crowd unnoticed,and now-suddenly,you have to take the stage,step up,and be awesome.No excuses. Acknowledging the fear building up in oneself,and tapping it to ones advantage is what separates the best speakers from the average ones.

Here are two amazing ways to acknowledge,accept and transcend your fear of public speaking for the best.

1.Breathing

           The mind is an extension of the body.The body is a continuation of the mind.One cannot exist without the other. When you are happy,in love,or full of joy-your body is in it's peak state.Your breathing is more full,your body is straight,your shoulders relaxed. When you are sad,depressed or afraid,your breathing becomes shallow,faster,dis-continuous,more uneven.Your body becomes stiff,your jaws get tight. Have you felt this before? It happens all the time. All the evidence goes a long way to show that the mind and body are deeply inter-connected. Think of a sad incident,and the tear glands are activated.Think of fear-and the body contracts,adrenaline rises,lips get dry,bowel movement increases,breathing becomes rapid. What we are going to do is shift the body to shift the mind. Observe your breathing right now. Is it shallow or full?Slow or fast?Relaxed or forceful?

Stop reading and observe your breathing. No really! I 'll wait. Feel each in-breath and out-breath on the tip of your nose or against your belly.There is a tiny gap between each in-breath and out-breath.

Do you notice it? Now let's start. Breathe in slowly.... One...two...three...four

Hold....

One...two.... Breathe out real slow.... One...two...three...four...five...six

Repeat this 4-2-6 sequence for 4-5 minutes. The idea is to breathe out as slowly and gently as you can.The sound of your out-breath should not be audible to anyone,not even to yourself. Once you have mastered the extremely simple art of breathing out gently and slowly,the breathing in and holding of the breath will take place spontaneously. Once you try the 4-2-6 technique for a few times,it will be so natural to you.Then you can drop the technique completely and simply breathe gently. It is a very simple and scientific technique.Try it at-least once.

2.What can you give?

        Our fears arise within us because of inferior thought patterns. We are so selfish,always thinking of ourselves. 'If I speak,what will they think about Me?' 'Do I have anything to say at all?' 'How will they judge me?' Notice how all our misery is created when we think about ourselves, 'Me and my problems','me and my little world'. We have become like beggars,walking around with cupped hands, asking passer-bys to give us appreciation,respect and approval. What if we deleted all the trash? The trash in our heads that says-I'm not good enough. What if we consciously select the spam mails in the inbox of our minds and replace them instead with superior thoughts?

What if we became selfless and said-

I am not here in this world to take or get.I want nothing. I am here to give,to serve,to love. The underlying rule here is: Don't wait for permission. I don't want your permission to live my life,and you don't need mine to live yours.

Say to yourself:

I don't need external respect,love and acknowledgement. I am grateful for all that I have,and I have so much to offer to every person I meet. I am so sure of myself-I don't seek for validation from anyone. The beauty or irony of it is- the less you seek for external validation,the more it comes to you. In the end,what you get is just a reflection of your state of mind.

So the next time you get up from your chair to give a speech,tell to yourself and the world-

I am here to give and to serve. How can I help them? How can I make their lives better? I am grateful to all these wonderful people who are spending their time listening to me.I want to help them,be one with them,give them my best. Shift from Get to Give,from Selfish to Selfless,from 'me' to 'them'. Your speech will never be the same again,nor will your life.

Don’t get so busy that you don’t take time to sharpen your axe.

Once upon a time there was a very strong wood-cutter. He asked for a job from a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was very good and so were the work conditions and for that reason the wood-cutter was determined to do his very best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area in the forest where he was to work.

The first day the wood-cutter cut down 18 trees. His boss was extremely impressed and said, “Well done. Keep it up. You are our best wood-cutter yet.” Motivated by his boss’s words, the wood-cutter tried even harder the next day, but he only cut down 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder but only cut down 10 trees.

Day after day the woodcutter cut down fewer and fewer trees. His boss came to him and told him that if he did not chop down more trees each day he would lose his job. The wood-cutter needed the job, so he tried harder and harder. He worked during his lunch breaks and tea breaks, but still he could not cut down enough trees. “I must be losing my strength” the wood-cutter thought to himself. He worked over-time, but still it was not enough.

Eventually his boss came to him and told him he was fired. The wood-cutter was really upset, but he knew that he had worked as hard as he could and just did not have enough time to chop more trees. He sadly handed his axe back.

The boss took one look at the axe and asked, “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?”

“Sharpen my axe?” the wood-cutter replied. “I have never sharpened my axe. I have been too busy trying to cut down enough trees.”

Moral of the story:
Don’t get so busy that you don’t take time to sharpen your axe.