Geminate labels programmed by two-tone microdroplets combining structural and fluorescent color

Creating a security label that carries entirely distinct information in reflective and fluorescent states would enhance anti-counterfeiting levels to deter counterfeits ranging from currencies to pharmaceuticals, but has proven extremely challenging. Efforts to tune the reflection color of luminescent materials by modifying inherent chemical structures remain outweighed by substantial trade-offs in fluorescence properties, and vice versa, which destroys the information integrity of labels in either reflection or fluorescent color. Here, a strategy is reported to design geminate labels by programming fluorescent cholesteric liquid crystal microdroplets (two-tone inks), where the luminescent material is ‘coated’ with the structural color from helical superstructures. These structurally defined microdroplets fabricated by a capillary microfluidic technique contribute to different but intact messages of both reflective and fluorescent patterns in the geminate labels. Such two-tone inks have enormous potential to provide a platform for encryption and protection of valuable authentic information in anti-counterfeiting technology.

SLR-SELinux: Enhancing the Security Footstone of SEAndroid with Security Label Randomization

The root privilege escalation attack is extremely destructive to the security of the Android system. SEAndroid implements mandatory access control to the system through the SELinux security policy at the kernel mode, making the general root privilege escalation attacks unenforceable. However, malicious attackers can exploit the Linux kernel vulnerability of privilege escalation to modify the SELinux security labels of the process arbitrarily to obtain the desired permissions and undermine system security. Therefore, investigating the protection method of the security labels in the SELinux kernel is urgent. And the impact on the existing security configuration of the system must also be reduced. This paper proposes an optimization scheme of the SELinux mechanism based on security label randomization to solve the aforementioned problem. At the system runtime, the system randomizes the mapping of the security labels inside and outside the kernel to protect the privileged security labels of the system from illegal obtainment and tampering by attackers. This method is transparent to users; therefore, users do not need to modify the existing system security configuration. A tamper-proof detection method of SELinux security label is also proposed to further improve the security of the method. It detects and corrects the malicious tampering behaviors of the security label in the critical process of the system timely. The above methods are implemented in the Linux system, and the effectiveness of security defense is proven through theoretical analysis and experimental verification. Numerous experiments show that the effect of this method on system performance is less than 1%, and the success probability of root privilege escalation attack is less than 10−9.

Synthesis and Research of Rare Earth Nanocrystal Luminescent Properties for Security Labels Using the Electrohydrodynamic Printing Technique

YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by two methods, namely the sonochemical method and hydrothermal method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed the tetragonal phase of YVO4 (JCPDS 17-0341) was indexed in the diffraction peaks of all samples. The samples synthesized by the sonochemical method had a highly crystalline structure (X-ray diffraction results) and luminescence intensity (photoluminescence results) than those synthesized by the hydrothermal method. According to the results of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the average size of YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles was around 25–30 nm for the sonochemical method and 15–20 nm for the hydrothermal method. YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles in the case of the sonochemical method had a better crystalline structure and stronger emissivity at 618 nm. The Eu3+ ions’ average lifetime in YVO4:Eu3+ at 618 nm emission under 275 nm excitation were at 0.955 ms for the sonochemical method and 0.723 ms for the hydrothermal method. The security ink for inkjet devices contained YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles, the binding agent as polyethylene oxide or ethyl cellulose and other necessary solvents. The device used for security label printing was an inkjet printer with an electrohydrodynamic printing technique (EHD). In the 3D optical profilometer results, the width of the printed line was ~97–167 µm and the thickness at ~9.1–9.6 µm. The printed security label obtained a well-marked shape, with a size at 1.98 × 1.98 mm.

Sonochemical Synthesis and Properties of YVO4:Eu3+ Nanocrystals for Luminescent Security Ink Applications

Solutions and redispersible powders of nanocrystalline, europium-doped YVO4, are prepared via a wet chemical method using the ultrasonic processor (sonochemical) and microwave and thermal stirring. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) results, YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles synthesized using sonochemical method have better crystallinity than those prepared using thermal stirring and microwave methods exhibiting the tetragonal structure known for bulk material. From field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results, it is found that the size of nanoparticles is around 25 nm and increasing after annealing at 900°C. From UV-Vis result, there is a peak at 270 nm corresponding to the absorption of VO43− groups. The photoluminescence (PL) results clearly show the strongest red emission peak at the wavelength around 618 nm. The highest luminescent intensity is obtained for the sample prepared by the sonochemical method at pH = 12 and annealing temperature at 900°C for 4 h. The average lifetimes of the Eu3+ ions in the samples annealed at 300, 600, and 900°C for 1 h at 618 nm emission under 275 nm excitation are 0.36, 0.62, and 0.64 ms, whereas sample annealed at 900°C for 4 h has lifetime of 0.70 ms. The security ink, containing synthesized YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles, is dispersed in glycerol and other necessary solvents. The experimental security labels are printed by inkjet using the electrohydrodynamic printing technique. The resulting lines represented to the security labels are analyzed by the 3D microscope equipment and UV 20 W mercury lamp with a wavelength of ∼254 nm. The seamless line of the printed security label has the value of the width at ∼230 μm, thickness at ∼0.68 μm, and distance between two adjacent lines at 800 μm. This result is compatible for producing security labels in small size (millimeter) in order to increase security property.

The impact of IoT security labelling on consumer product choice and willingness to pay

Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as security cameras and smart TVs vary considerably in the extent to which they provide security features to protect users from online threats, and it is currently difficult for consumers to differentiate between them. This creates a barrier to the adoption of purchasing behaviours that would help protect consumers from cybercrime. One proposal to address this is for IoT devices to carry a security label to help consumers navigate the market. Using a discrete choice experiment, we estimate the potential impact of such labels on participant’s decision making, after controlling for the influence of device functionality and price. We estimate the impact of three different labelling schemes on consumer choice, and their willingness to pay for devices that carried each of them. With the exception of a Graded label that implied a device had weak security, participants were significantly more likely to select a device that carried a label than one that did not. Participants were also willing to pay more for devices with premium functionality and those that came with a security label. While they were generally willing to pay more for premium functionality than security, for two of the labels tested, they were prepared to pay the same amounts. Qualitative responses suggest that participants would use a label to inform purchasing decisions, and that the labels did not generate a false sense of security. Our findings suggest that the use of a security label represents a policy option that could influence behaviour and that should be seriously considered.

Self-assembly of coordination polymers on plasmonic surfaces for computer vision decodable, unclonable and colorful security labels

An unclonable, colorful, and computer vision decodable anti-counterfeiting label is fabricated by self-assembly of coordination polymers on plasmonic surfaces. The physics behind the colors on the security label is surface plasmon enhanced optical interference.