Ideas for Google Summer of Code 2015

A detailed description of ideas for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) project proposals. The ideas are grouped by the project it is related to. After a short description for each project the ideas are described. The ideas described here are of direct interest of our organization, but students can also propose original ideas. In any case, it is a good practice be in contact with the possible mentors and other students in our IRC channel #labepi at freenode.net network and GSoC mailing list labepi-gsoc@googlegroups.com.

• Project: GIK
  • Idea: Network scanner daemon and database
  • Idea: Algorithms for analysis of large graphs
• Project: KIoT
  • Idea: IoT unix based gateway system
• Project: RadialNet
  • Idea: General improvements and new features
  • Idea: New drawing algorithms and performance improvements
  • Idea: Remote computer fingerprint database management
• Project: SHELF
  • Idea: Minimalist system image for computing nodes
  • Idea: Parallel stochastic search optimization algorithms
• Project: ZION
  • Idea: Remote computer fingerprinting tool
  • Idea: Evaluation of remote computer fingerprint uniqueness

Project: GIK

The Great Internet Keeper (GIK) project aims to build tools and theories to study the Internet. The current state of development of this project is theoretical. The first results, presented in a PhD thesis (see references), support the creation of tools with new strategies to perform monitoring of large networks. The next steps are grouped in two main ideas, described below.

• Idea: Network scanner daemon and database
  • Brief description:
    The Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) researchers have been collecting connectivity and latency data for a wide cross-section of the Internet. On its PhD thesis, Medeiros (2013) use this data to support some conjectures about the design of monitoring systems for large scale networks. This idea is for talented students who wish to develop new tools based on this research.
  • Expected results:
    (a) an Internet centric topology mapper;
    (b) an accurate latency estimator for each hop of an Internet path; and
    (c) an optimized database system to store the data collected by these tools.
  • Expected knowledge: computer networks, signal processing, statistics, feature extraction, graph theory.
  • Skill level: medium.
  • Mentor: João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] MEDEIROS, J.P.S. A Influência da Observabilidade e da Visualização Radial no Projeto de Sistemas de Monitoramento de Redes de Computadores (in portuguese). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 2013.
    [2] LYON, G.F. Nmap Network Scanning. Nmap Project, 2009.
• Idea: Algorithms for analysis of large graphs
  • Brief description:
    On its PhD thesis, Medeiros (2013) presents conjectures about the design of monitoring systems for large scale networks. This is made based on experiments and simulations which use metrics to characterize graphs. Some algorithms used to compute these metrics are not fast enough to study graphs with the size of the Internet. This idea is for talented students who wish to develop a library based in C language to study large scale graphs. The proposal should be based on the use and extension of our `C Library for Algorithmics and Data Structures' (CLADS).
  • Expected results:
    (a) the implementation of the classical Edmonds' algorithm for the maximum matching problem;
    (b) the implementation of Vazirani's algorithm for the maximum matching problem;
    (c) the implementation of optimized algorithms to compute some metrics on graphs; and
    (d) write a technical report describing the discoveries and achievements.
  • Expected knowledge: c, data structures, graph theory and complex networks.
  • Skill level: hard.
  • Mentor: João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] MEDEIROS, J.P.S. A Influência da Observabilidade e da Visualização Radial no Projeto de Sistemas de Monitoramento de Redes de Computadores (in portuguese). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 2013.
    [2] LIU, Y.-Y.; SLOTINE, J.-J.; BARABASI, A.-L. Controllability of complex networks. Nature, Volume 473, pp 167–173, 2011.

Project: KIoT

This is a new project which aims to create an open source low cost development environment for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The integration of wireless sensors networks (WSN) to the Internet is an emerging research topic in the scientific community. But wireless sensors and integration devices are too expensive to make possible practical research on large scale. Moreover, some open source enthusiasts wants a free platform to develop its applications. These two facts were the reason to the creation of a core (kernel) development platform for IoT, named KIoT.

• Idea: IoT unix based gateway system
  • Brief description: The major part of electronic commercial and industrial devices are based on existing legacy systems. Integrate these devices to the IoT infrastructure is a problem the student will deal with on this idea.
  • Expected results:
    (a) a free operating system platform to serve as a IoT gateway;
    (b) a representative application which explores gateway pontential; and
    (c) a technical report describing the steps to build the gateway.
  • Expected knowledge: unix, c, kernel development, microelectronic, microprocessor programming, wireless networks and data transmission systems.
  • Skill level: hard.
  • Mentor: João Batista Borges Neto or João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] MCKELLAR, J.; RUBINI, A.; CORBET, J.; KROAH-HARTMAN, G. Linux Device Drivers. O'Reilly, 2015.

Project: RadialNet

A network visualization tool initially developed for Umit during the GSoC (Google Summer of Code) program in 2007. It consists in a graphical tool to illustrate network information obtained by Nmap. Basically, it offers a interactive visualization for exploration of network topology and properties using a radial layout based placement of network nodes. Part of RadialNet is integrated on the official Nmap front-end, named Zenmap. The official Nmap book contains a section named Surfing the Network Topology devoted to this subject. To get the last version of RadialNet check its repository.

• Idea: General improvements and new features
  • Brief description:
    In general terms, students should expose in proposals for this idea the improvements and new features they think it should be in RadialNet. For example, it is already possible to import Nmap XML files and to perform scans using Nmap. Although Nmap integration should be improved, import data from CAIDA tools like Scamper is also a desired new feature.
  • Expected results:
    (a) import data from other network scan tools;
    (b) improve Nmap integration; and
    (c) create and keep up to date RadialNet users and developers documentation.
  • Expected knowledge: python, gtk, network monitoring and network security.
  • Skill level: easy.
  • Mentor: João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] MEDEIROS, J.P.S. A Influência da Observabilidade e da Visualização Radial no Projeto de Sistemas de Monitoramento de Redes de Computadores (in portuguese). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 2013.
    [2] LYON, G.F. Nmap Network Scanning. Nmap Project, 2009.
• Idea: New drawing algorithms and performance improvements
  • Brief description:
    The radial layout used to draw the network gives to RadialNet its name. However, probably it is not always the best method to draw any graph. Other methods, for example force-directed graph drawing, should be considered. Moreover, the use of some general strategies can improve the performance of drawing algorithms, for example the Quadtree data structure.
  • Expected results:
    (a) improve the performance of the radial layout method;
    (b) implement, at least, two other drawing methods; and
    (c) write a technical report comparing the performances of each method.
  • Expected knowledge: python, gtk, graph drawing, scientific visualization, computational geometry and data structures.
  • Skill level: hard.
  • Mentor: João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] MEDEIROS, J.P.S. A Influência da Observabilidade e da Visualização Radial no Projeto de Sistemas de Monitoramento de Redes de Computadores (in portuguese). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 2013.
    [2] TOLLIS, I.G.; DI BATTISTA, G.; EADES, P.; TAMASSIA, R. Graph Drawing: Algorithms for the Visualization of Graphs. Prentice Hall, 1998.
• Idea: Remote computer fingerprint database management
  • Brief description:
    Remote computer fingerprinting (RCF) is a main research interest of our group. There is a large number of tools and methods to perform RCF, which makes difficult study that matter. This idea intends to promote proposals which aims to group the most expressive remote device fingerprint databases and make easier their management.
  • Expected results:
    (a) a database management system for heterogeneous remote device fingerprint databases;
    (b) support to Nmap IPv4 and IPV6 remote operating system fingerprints; and
    (c) a classification system to match acquire data with stored fingerprints.
  • Expected knowledge: python, gtk, computer networks and pattern classification.
  • Skill level: medium.
  • Mentor: João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] MEDEIROS, J.P.S. A Influência da Observabilidade e da Visualização Radial no Projeto de Sistemas de Monitoramento de Redes de Computadores (in portuguese). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 2013.
    [2] MEDEIROS, J.P.S.; BORGES NETO, J.B.; DANTAS QUEIROZ, G.S.; PIRES, P.S.M. Intelligent Remote Operating System Detection. In: Case Studies in Intelligent Computing, pp 177-196, ISBN 978-1-4822-0703-3, CRC Press, 2014.
    [3] MEDEIROS, J.P.S.; BORGES NETO, J.B.; BRITO JUNIOR, A.M.; PIRES, P.S.M. Learning Remote Computer Fingerprinting. In: Computational Intelligence in Digital Forensics. Studies in Computational Intelligence, Volume 555, pp 253-283, ISBN 978-3-319-05884-9, Springer, 2014.
    [4] LYON, G.F. Nmap Network Scanning. Nmap Project, 2009.

Project: SHELF

SHELF HPC Platform (Scalable, Heterogeneous, Low-cost and Free High Performance Computing Platform) is a project which aims to build up a parallel and distributed computing low-cost testbed for research and educational purposes. It consists on a Beowulf cluster equipped with standard Linux systems, specifically Debian, and Open MPI (A High Performance Message Passing Library).

• Idea: Minimalist system image for computing nodes
  • Brief description:
    Legacy hardware may have very restricted processing and storage capabilities. Since the project is intended to use low cost devices, the loaded system on computer nodes should be fast and small. Proposals for this idea should describe a methodology which will achieve how to build up a minimalist functional system for parallel processing.
  • Expected results:
    (a) a technical report describing the steps to build the minimalist system image;
    (b) the implementation of a representative parallel algorithm to evaluate the system; and
    (c) a technical report with a performance comparison between a general and the minimalist system.
  • Expected knowledge: unix, c, kernel configuration, operating systems, computer networks, distributed systems and parallel programming.
  • Skill level: medium.
  • Mentor: João Batista Borges Neto or João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] PACHECO, P. Parallel Programming with MPI. Morgan Kaufmann, 1996.
• Idea: Parallel stochastic search optimization algorithms
  • Brief description:
    Some computational problems can not be solved exactly in a reasonable amount of time. NP-complete is a class of problems which practically require the use of experimental algorithms to solve them approximately. Since some of these experimental algorithms can be parallelized, its is possible to take advantage of parallel programming to speed up this process. Basically, for this idea the student should propose the implementation of at least two experimental parallelized algorithms (e.g. genetic algorithms).
  • Expected results:
    (a) implementation of two experimental parallelized algorithms;
    (b) application of the implementations to two problems; and
    (c) a technical report comparing the performance of the two implementations.
  • Expected knowledge: computer networks, parallel programming, distributed systems, optimization, stochastic search and experimental algorithms.
  • Skill level: hard.
  • Mentor: João Batista Borges Neto or João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] PACHECO, P. Parallel Programming with MPI. Morgan Kaufmann, 1996.

Project: ZION

It is a project which aims to identify remote networked systems and devices through the network, e.g. using operating system fingerprinting. Operating System (OS) fingerprinting is the process of identify the OS of a remote machine through a computer network. This process has many applications in network security. Both white and black hat hackers can use OS fingerprinting to obtain information about possible vulnerable targets on a computer network. There are many tools that can perform OS fingerprinting. However, there are many OS fingerprinting deceiving tools that can invalidate identification results. Two well known OS fingerprinting deceiving tools are Honeyd and IP Personality. The use of PAT (Port Address Translation), often related to load balancing and services distribution, also difficult identification, because some OS fingerprinting tools use more than a open port to perform identification. Other problem is packet normalization. Some firewalls, like OpenBSD PF, has the ability of normalize packets to suppress ambiguities and security problems in communication.

• Idea: Remote computer fingerprinting tool
  • Brief description:
    This idea consists in the creation of a new remote computer fingerprinting tool, which can overcome the problems described above. The proposal should be based on the use and extension of our `C library for Learning Appliance and Neural Networks' (CLANN) and our `C Library for Network Environment Tools' (CLNET).
  • Expected results:
    (a) advances the characterization and classification processes;
    (b) write a technical report describing the discoveries and achievements;
    (c) create a significant database of remote compute fingerprints; and
    (d) write a tool to acquire, characterize and classify remote computer fingerprints.
    
  • Expected knowledge: computer networks, c, python, feature extraction and pattern classification.
    
  • Skill level: medium.
  • Mentor: João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] MEDEIROS, J.P.S.; BORGES NETO, J.B.; BRITO JUNIOR, A.M.; PIRES, P.S.M. Learning Remote Computer Fingerprinting. In: Computational Intelligence in Digital Forensics. Studies in Computational Intelligence, Volume 555, pp 253-283, ISBN 978-3-319-05884-9, Springer, 2014.
    [2] MEDEIROS, J.P.S.; BORGES NETO, J.B.; DANTAS QUEIROZ, G.S.; PIRES, P.S.M. Intelligent Remote Operating System Detection. In: Case Studies in Intelligent Computing, pp 177-196, ISBN 978-1-4822-0703-3, CRC Press, 2014.
• Idea: Evaluation of remote computer fingerprint uniqueness
  • Brief description:
    This is a qualified research idea. The student should elaborate and perform an experiment to verify quantitatively the possibility of creation of unique remote computer fingerprints.
  • Expected results:
    (a) a significant experiment measuring the uniqueness hypothesis for remote computer fingerprints;
    (b) write a technical report describing the discoveries and achievements; and
    (c) write a prototype tool to acquire, characterize and classify remote computer fingerprints.
    
  • Expected knowledge: computer networks, python, signal processing, statistics, feature extraction and pattern classification.
    
  • Skill level: hard.
  • Mentor: João Paulo de Souza Medeiros.
  • Suggested references:
    [1] MEDEIROS, J.P.S.; BORGES NETO, J.B.; BRITO JUNIOR, A.M.; PIRES, P.S.M. Learning Remote Computer Fingerprinting. In: Computational Intelligence in Digital Forensics. Studies in Computational Intelligence, Volume 555, pp 253-283, ISBN 978-3-319-05884-9, Springer, 2014.
    [2] KOHNO, T.; BROIDO, A.; CLAFFY, K.C. Remote physical device fingerprinting. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp 93-108, 2005.