This paper presents a new behavior based covert channel utilizing the database update mechanism of anti-virus software. It is highly covert due to unattended, frequent, automatic signature database update operations performed by the software. The design of the covert channel is described; its properties are discussed and demonstrated by a reference implementation. This paper uses these points t...

Computer network is unpredictable due to information warfare and is prone to various attacks. Such attacks on network compromise the most important attribute, the privacy. Most of such attacks are devised using special communication channel called ``Covert Channel''. The word ``Covert'' stands for hidden or non-transparent. Network Covert Channel is a concealed communication path within legitim...

Covert communication refers to the process of communicating data through a channel that is neither designed, nor intended to transfer information. Traditionally, covert channels are considered as security threats in computer systems and a great deal of attention has been given to countermeasures for covert communication schemes. The evolution of computer networks led the communication community...

This paper presents an overview of different concepts regarding covert channels. It discusses the various classifications and the detailing of various fields used to manipulate for the covert channel execution. Different evaluation criteria’s are presented for measuring the strength of covert channels. The defenses and prevention schemes for this covert channel will also be discussed. This pape...

Is self-directed speech critical to cognitive processes supporting complex, goal-directed behavior? If so, how? An influential developmental hypothesis is that children talk to themselves to support cognitive control processes, and that with age this speech becomes increasingly covert and strategic. However, while many studies suggest language supports cognitive control, evidence that self-dire...

To enable unexpected shifts of covert visual spatial attention, a ventral attention network is thought to dampen activity in a dorsal attention network that maintains the current focus of attention. However, direct evidence to support this view is scarce. In the present study, we investigated this hypothesis by asking healthy young adults to perform a covert visual spatial attention task while ...

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Covert channels evade isolation mechanisms between multiple parties in the cloud. Especially cache covert channels allow the transmission of several hundred kilobits per second between unprivileged user programs in separate virtual machines. However, caches are small and shared and thus cache-based communication is susceptible to noise from any system activity and interrupts. The feasibility of...

For extremely sensitive applications, it may be advantageous for users to transmit certain types of data covertly over the network. This provides an additional layer of security to that provided by the different layers of the protocol stack. In this paper we present a covert side channel that uses the 802.11 MAC rate switching protocol. The covert channel provides a general method to hide commu...