Firmware Over-the-air Programming Techniques for IoT Networks - A Survey

The devices forming Internet of Things (IoT) networks need to be re-programmed over the air, so that new features are added, software bugs or security vulnerabilities are resolved, and their applications can be re-purposed. The limitations of IoT devices, such as installation in locations with limited physical access, resource-constrained nature, large scale, and high heterogeneity, should be taken into consideration for designing an efficient and reliable pipeline for over-the-air programming (OTAP). In this work, we present a survey of OTAP techniques, which can be applied to IoT networks. We highlight the main challenges and limitations of OTAP for IoT devices and analyze the essential steps of the firmware update process, along with different approaches and techniques that implement them. In addition, we discuss schemes that focus on securing the OTAP process. Finally, we present a collection of state-of-the-art open-source and commercial platforms that integrate secure and reliable OTAP.

A Comprehensive Survey of Attacks without Physical Access Targeting Hardware Vulnerabilities in IoT/IIoT Devices, and Their Detection Mechanisms

With the advances in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT (IIoT), these devices are increasingly used in daily life or industry. To reduce costs related to the time required to develop these devices, security features are usually not considered. This situation creates a major security concern. Many solutions have been proposed to protect IoT/IIoT against various attacks, most of which are based on attacks involving physical access. However, a new class of attacks has emerged targeting hardware vulnerabilities in the micro-architecture that do not require physical access. We present attacks based on micro-architectural hardware vulnerabilities and the side effects they produce in the system. In addition, we present security mechanisms that can be implemented to address some of these attacks. Most of the security mechanisms target a small set of attack vectors or a single specific attack vector. As many attack vectors exist, solutions must be found to protect against a wide variety of threats. This survey aims to inform designers about the side effects related to attacks and detection mechanisms that have been described in the literature. For this purpose, we present two tables listing and classifying the side effects and detection mechanisms based on the given criteria.

The Global Pandemic and Challenges for Tertiary Education in Malaysia

The global pandemic and subsequent series of movement control orders (MCOs) imposed by the Malaysian government have severely impacted the tertiary education sector comprising both public and private universities in Malaysia. Private colleges and universities in Malaysia now face increased financial pressures as enrolments of students have either been cancelled outright or deferred. Whilst full-time employees in the tertiary education sector face additional pressures to handle these disruptions, contractual staff members face the risk of unemployment resulting from the non-renewal of their existing teaching contracts. Even if some of these classes can be moved online, challenges remain; for example, scientific research and classes that require physical access to laboratories for the conduct of experiments will be impacted.

Tourism Promotion and Disability

This study illustrates the preliminary results of a corpus-based analysis aimed at discovering the main linguistic features characterising the promotion of tourism for special-needs travellers. Even if accessible tourism represents an important sector in the market, not only for its social and moral importance but also for its strong economic potential, detailed research on the linguistic properties of tourism for disabled people is still rather limited and mainly tends to focus on the problems of physical access rather than considering the ways to improve its promotional strategies. Through a comparative corpus-based analysis, this paper will investigate the relevant linguistic features of a corpus of promotional materials advertising holidays and tourist services for the disabled, and relate them to the communicative strategies of two other corpora dedicated to the standard and translational language of tourism. The aim of this research is to show how mainstream tourism discourse still considers disability as a taboo topic, mostly ignoring or vaguely mentioning it in the general promotion of tourist destinations. The study will also attempt to suggest new linguistic and social attitudes aimed at stylistically improving and further including the accessible tourism sector within the overall tourism promotion.

COVID-19 impacts on virtual exchange around the world

The COVID-19 pandemic has simultaneously created both opportunities and challenges for the emerging field of virtual exchange: On one hand, institutional administrators and funding organisations saw virtual exchange as the solution to global learning needs while physical travel was restricted and traditional mobility programmes were suspended. On the other hand, instructors felt overwhelmed by transitioning all of their teaching online, and without physical access to their educational institutions, many students and instructors lacked reliable internet connections or safe places to engage in learning, not to mention the financial burdens of the pandemic. This moderated panel discussion which took place during the IVEC 2020 conference invited diverse perspectives to explore the impacts of the pandemic on virtual exchange in various contexts around the world. Central to the discussion were issues of equity, inclusion and justice: Is virtual exchange truly a more accessible and equitable form of global learning, as it is often promoted to be? In this video contribution, Eva Haug moderates the conversation between Maha Bali, Paulo Goes, and Anita Patankar around the following questions. * How is virtual exchange a solution to global learning during COVID-19? * What have been the two to three most relevant impacts of the pandemic on virtual exchange activity at your institution, in your country, or region of the world? * How can we as a field of practitioners maintain and sustain the current momentum and interest in VE in a post-COVID-19 world? * Can intercultural exchange be apolitical? * If an institution is in a position of power or privilege, how can they create space in virtual exchange for institutions that are less represented? The video recording is accessible on: https://vimeo.com/459415071 (CC BY-NC-NC)

Moral proximity and the territorial imperative

In The Shifting Border, Ayelet Shachar offers us two concrete proposals for combatting the danger posed by the shifting border, especially to those crossing borders in search of safety. One proposal suggests that human rights travel with migrants, so that agents who control the border must take responsibility for protecting their human rights at the border. A second proposal, which forms the basis of my commentary below, asks that states consider alternative ways for migrants to seek protection safely. In responding to this second proposal, I make two proposals of my own that stem from Shachar's analysis: (1) her analysis offers us the resources we need in order to expand, not only the channels available to migrants for seeking protection, but also our sense of who should be involved in controlling admission, and (2) expanding the “who” that is involved in admission gives meaning to the concept of “moral proximity” which can help to overcome the territorial imperative that dominates the rules governing international migration, i.e., the imperative that protection travels with physical access to territory, only.

Measuring Physical access to primary health care facilities in Gambella Region (Western Ethiopia)

As part of the project “More equity and quality of health services in Gambella, Gambella Region”, financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and implemented by the Italian NGO Doctors with Africa CUAMM (Padua, Italy) a geographic database of the distribution of health facilities of Gambella Region (western Ethiopia) was created. This data collection was carried out in two missions carried out in February 2018 and November-December 2019. It allowed a mapping of the access roads and the location of health facilities using Geomatic Approaches and related technologies (Remote Survey, Field Survey, GPS, GIS). The field work has allowed the investigation in 11 Waredas (i.e. districts) with the census of 3 primary hospitals, 26 health centres and 121 HPs and related road access by car or, in case of inaccessibility of vehicles, by foot or boat.The final result of this work is the availability of a detailed cartographic picture of the geographical distribution of Health Facilities (HFs) in order to support the modern decision-making tools to be adopted for the distribution of human and instrumental resources. As an example we describe a network analysis performed by ESRI™ Network Analyst which showed the importance of this approach to remodel a more efficient referral system.

Rethinking Digital Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Bangladesh

A growing body of literature is advancing the impact of financial inclusion and digital finance on marginalized populations. However, mainstream scholarship has not focused on understanding the potential drivers and challenges of digital approaches to financial inclusion. This study aims to investigate the mismatch between assumptions implicit in the financial inclusion discourse and ideas of access and use of digital technologies and seeks to move the discourse forward through a comprehensive framework for digital financial inclusion. Our study showed that the social dynamics of financial engagement with new technologies require a move beyond a simple individualistic adopter/non-adopter binary framework and ‘supply oriented’ financial infrastructure. We conclude that although digital services have eased and bridged the gap of physical access to financial services, such services have not been utilised due to lack of basic connectivity, financial literacy and social awareness. This article theoretically contributes to digital financial services adoption literature by offering a significant critical overview and a new perspective on both digital finance and financial inclusion mechanisms.

"Risk literacy" and social cleavages: Vulnerability in three acts

Although recent studies show widening socio-economic divisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many such divisions were already identified as social cleavages. Scholars and observers tend to view the world in a dichotomous manner, overgeneralising their analyses along known cleavages. Therefore, the relevance of our work as scholars is at risk and we, the scholars of the contemporary world, are “vulnerable” to the temptation of ignoring the details, nuances, and complexities. The uneven impact of and recovery from the pandemic is not necessarily binary – for example, a refusal to follow the medical consensus (e.g. social distancing, vaccination) can be observed on both sides of many cleavages. Against such a background, this paper first characterises the pandemic as a medical, socio-economic, and information crisis. With the former two “pillars” resembling the known cleavages, the third pillar goes beyond the physical access to information and deals with the people’s perception of various risks. Such a behavioural angle to the vulnerability – labelled “risk literacy” – highlights the phenomenon of “digital divide” and shows a promising feature as an additional analytical tool. By familiarising ourselves with the people’s varying risk perceptions, we increase our own literacy against the risk of overgeneralisation.