Upon first examination at Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI), Scottsdale, Arizona, prospective Neuro- cutaneous Syndrome (NCS) and Morgellons patients are required to fill out a Requisition Form in which they are asked to describe their symptoms. The body of this article is a compilation of statements by 166 patients in their own words, describing their symptoms at the time, the cause for initiation of their examination and treatment. Those patients that have followed our protocol have invariably recovered, and have been published. This article serves as an awareness call for those suffering comparable symptoms but have not managed to find out where to go for help.
Neurocutaneous Syndrome (NCS) is a dental toxicity disorder causing various neurological and dermatological symptoms that are often confused by the lay patient as parasitological infections. The cases of 24 randomly selected patients determined to be NCS cases at Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI) by OMA are presented. Previously reported and additional toxic sealants are reported. The dermatological and neurological symptoms characteristic of NCS were common to all 24 cases. Incubation period varied between a few hours and 19 years. Inaccurate interpretation of NCS symptoms by health care professionals is discussed. Faulty diagnosis undermines the patients physical and mental health and further traumatizes their quality of life especially when they are diagnosed with mental disorders and forced to submit to psychological treatment against their will. Medical professionals need to become more aware of NCS symptoms to properly tend to their patients well being.
The body of knowledge on delusional parasitosis incriminates “delusional patients” as having imaginary external and/or internal symptoms that feel like parasite movements, dismisses them as psychiatric cases, and confuses cause with effect. We are critical of these arguments and believe that the symptoms of crawling and pin-pricking are genuine; just misinterpreted as parasite movements. Based on our research on over 1000 “delusional” patients since 1996 at our Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI), we have established that the symptoms of crawling and pin-pricking are caused by toxicity from exposure to incompatible dental materials, among others, that alter the propagation of normal nerve impulses. We have also observed that external parasites/organisms including springtails (Collembola), other arthropods, bacteria, and fungi represent only opportunistic infections of skin sites compromised by the toxicity disorder involving the elimination of toxins through the skin. We have described a new pathological disorder, Neuro-cutaneous Syndrome (NCS) primarily associated with dental toxicity to which “delusional parasitosis” and “Morgellons” disease cases could be assigned. We have developed a protocol for the resolution of the symptoms of NCS cases. When followed to the letter, all symptoms of NCS, conventionally misdiagnosed as delusional parasitosis, are invariably and irreversibly resolved. We are also presenting a detailed case history of an NCS patient that has recovered from her experiential personal perspective.
This presentation follows 15 NCS patients who have been using our Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI) treatment protocol for healing from the Neurocutaneous Syndrome or Morgellons. By their own accounts, they recount their own experiences going through the steps and changes in symptoms and physical and psychological-emotional healing until they attained a state of recovery and balanced wellbeing; a dream come true.
Neurocutaneous Syndrome (NCS) and Morgellons were recently described from many patients showing dermatological and neurological disorders. Of the many different possible exposures, the most common were dental materials, especially sealants, liners, bases, cements, adhesives, bonding agents, metals, crowns, and root canal materials. The role of these dental materials as the causative agents of NCS was verified by the application of the cause-effect relationship. The original listing included about 360 products that were originally reported in a previous publication by the same author (Amin, 2005). The present work includes a considerably more extensive listing of 644 products. It is recommended that dentists research MSDS sheets for proposed dental materials to be used, and match blood bio-compatibility test results with patients’ dental history before embarking on, at least major, dental procedures.
We are reporting on eight cases of chronic Neurocutaneous Syndrome (NCS) exhibiting extreme dermatological symptoms. Dermatological symptoms are usually preceded by intermediate neurological stages of crawling and pin pricking sensations. We have published many articles on NCS but pictures of extreme dermatology and associated cases have not been previously reported. The photos included in this report were taken during initial examination at Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI) between 1993 and 2004. We have developed a protocol that successfully resolves the symptoms of NCS. “Delusional parasitosis” and Morgellons disease cases should be assigned to NCS and treated as such.
The body of knowledge on delusional parasitosis (often called Morgellons disease) incriminates “delusional patients” as having imaginary external and/or internal symptoms that feel like parasite movements, dismisses them as psychiatric cases, and confuses cause with effect. Based on our research on over 1000 “delusional” patients since 1996 at our Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI), we have established that the symptoms of crawling and pin-pricking are caused by toxicity from exposure to incompatible dental materials, among other toxicities, that alter the propagation of normal nerve impulses. It is not a parasitic condition. We have also observed that external parasites/organisms including springtails (Collembola), other arthropods, bacteria, and fungi represent only opportunistic infections of skin sites compromised by the toxicity disorder involving the elimination of toxins through the skin. We have described a new pathological disorder, Neuro-cutaneous Syndrome (NCS) primarily associated with dental toxicity to which “delusional parasitosis” and “Morgellons” disease cases could be assigned. We have developed a protocol for the resolution of the symptoms of NCS cases. When followed, all symptoms of NCS, conventionally misdiagnosed as delusional parasitosis, are invariably and irreversibly resolved.
Neuro-Cutaneous Syndrome (NCS) is a disorder primarily characterized by neurological crawling and pin-prick sensations and dermatological symptoms including itchy cutaneous sores. Many other neurological and dermatological imbalances are also involved. A cause-effect relationship has been established between toxic dental materials (cause) and NCS (effect). A protocol has been developed and NCS patients have been successfully treated at our Arizona-based Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI). This article addresses the experience of 18 new patients seen at PCI and treated following our designated protocol. Of these,6 patients have completed the protocol and have experienced full recovery.
A detailed analysis of the clinical history of a random sample of 50 NCS patients (9 males, 41 females) is reported. Symptoms are classified into six categories, neurological, dermatological (including opportunistic skin infections), systemic, oral, allergic and general. The most common symptoms in each of these categories in the same order are pin prick and crawling sensations, skin lesions and sores, respiratory and bowel disturbances, gum disease, sensitivities to light, noise and mold, and fatigue and insomnia. Symptoms were relatively similar in both sexes. These results are tabulated and their biological foundation explained. The misdiagnosis of NCS by medical professionals is discussed. NCS symptoms in toothless patients and those on recreational drugs are described. Over 360 dental toxins are placed in four major categories and their mode of action explained. Incubation period varied between a few hours to 28 years. Our protocol for rehabilitation is included. All patients following and completing our rehabilitation protocol recovered.
As cybersecurity education and training methods endeavor to build a skilled workforce to meet the growing demands of government and industry, it is important to craft training exercises to build and assess a learner's understanding of cybersecurity topics in a fun and meaningful way. To meet this need, we designed a concept map and virtual model of a collaborative, virtual cybersecurity escape room. Escape rooms, which are a form of serious games intended to increase knowledge and skills or measure learning outcomes, are scenario-based and interactive in nature. The artifacts described align the serious gaming elements with elements associated with the learning experience to assist game designers and educators in addressing the need for a collaborative virtual space where learners can practice skills associated with cybersecurity in a gamified manner.
The rapid development of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) and incorporation within more traditional industrial control systems, such as Building Management Systems (BMS) and Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) can lead to undesirable consequences. In a desire to gain functionality, separated components are often integrated and accessible through less secure means. Furthermore, the architecture and operational environment of some devices may lead to unintended consequences based on either physical or logical co-location. To perform analysis of the remote attack surface we used publicly available tools and data sets such as Shodan [1], nmap [2], and exploit-db's searchsploit tool [3]. We will also discuss evidence of possible remote attack surface weakness across the sector, as a whole, and what the implications of weaknesses within our threat model may permit within the operating environment.
The global cybersecurity crisis has forced academic institutions to expand cybersecurity education, and accessible, quality cybersecurity curriculum is needed. The CLARK cybersecurity curriculum resource library is a large-scale Design Science Research project intended to address critical demands in cybersecurity. This paper focuses on the need for a living digital library, surveys current cybersecurity repositories, and discusses factors that determine the success of a digital library. We also discuss CLARK, a multifaceted solution that includes various lenses for building and sustaining a living library of cybersecurity curriculum.
Technology runs much of modern society’s daily functions due to how efficient, reliable, and easy it is to access and manage content anywhere at any time. This rapid growth has created an emphasis on cybersecurity to ensure data integrity in today’s digital realm and the future to come. Since more industries are relying on technology, cybersecurity is becoming more utilized as the foundation for success for many companies and individuals alike. However, as these new avenues for communication become part of daily life, cyber threats have also become more prevalent. One of these avenues affected includes healthcare telemedicine (Annaswarmy et al. 2020) which during COVID-19 pandemic provides patients with more convenient methods of medical services. To prevent cyber-attacks on these services through social engineering, among several defense techniques, including machine learning (ML), are being researched to mitigate the effects of human error. This paper provides recent social engineering attacks on healthcare systems, devices, and telemedicine services; and highlights the potential of machine learning in defending against social engineering attacks.
Digital technologies are becoming more engrained in our daily life and society (e.g., smart city and smart nation), and these technologies can be both the target of and tool used to facilitate a broad range of malicious cyber activities. This reinforces the importance of disciplines such as digital forensics. Digital forensics is a relatively new, multidisciplinary field with roots in traditional forensic sciences, as well as combining elements of technology, legal, social science, political science, criminal justice, and various other disciplines. Compared to the more established fields of computer science, information security, and cybersecurity, digital forensics is somewhat understudied. Though interest in the field is growing and the industry is in need of trained professionals, there are a multitude of challenges to overcome as it relates to education. There is a glaring lack of standardization and structure both in existing educational programs and for those developing new digital forensics programs. Existing programs are scattered among various colleges and departments, and there are significant gaps in the materials covered and relevant emerging technologies. Despite these challenges, the digital forensics field and its variety of subfields such as Internet of Things, mobile, cloud, network, and vehicle forensics have been steadily gaining academic interest and attention. Finding solutions and developing robust higher educational programs is a necessary step to improve the quality of digital forensics education and produce highly trained professionals with the skills required to detect, investigate and prosecute malicious cyber activities in civil litigations (e.g., corporate espionage), criminal investigations and national security investigations.
Two state universities are working together on a two-part research project. The first part revolves around creating a learning experience for these universities’ students where they will develop key cybersecurity skills. They are tasked with creating and assessing fictional businesses to produce mock data that will be vital to the second part of this project. This will require them to develop a secure network architecture for their business along with security policies that consider the physical security of the organization not just the cybersecurity. The second part will be to design and develop a tool that will assist businesses in risk management. The created mock data will be used to test the tool during its development. We have hired students from both universities to work together to create several fictional businesses. These fictional businesses, once created, will be assessed using the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Security Evaluation Tool (CSET). This tool produces a report from a business security assessment that will be used in the second part of this project. The student workers are split into groups, each of which have at least one student from each university with different levels of expertise to ensure that students have the chance for peer-to-peer learning and to network with students outside of their university. The goal for the first part of this project is to help students develop cybersecurity skills through cooperative research.
K-ary codes are a form of obfuscation used by malware in which the code is distributed across K distinct files. Detecting them is difficult because recognizing the pieces that belong together is hard and provably impossible in general, and the techniques of encryption, metamorphism, and steganography can further obfuscate the code. We built a proof-of-concept K-ary program to test its detectability. It simulated a “keylogger”, malware that records keystrokes. We distributed it into parallel obfuscated processes run by a central controller process. We ran both static and dynamic tests to try to detect the keylogger using a variety of parameters. These tests used cosine similarity and clustering methods to correlate pieces of the malware, assuming that using a controller process meant the pieces would have similar code for communications, and that similarity could still be recognized even if obfuscated. Results showed moderate but not perfect success at recognizing our simulated malware. This should provide new tools to detect malware camouflage and evasion.
The system titled Secure Coding Assistant was developed to automate early detection for a subset of the Java secure coding rules specified by the SEI CERT at the Carnegie Mellon University. This system can help Java programmers significantly reduce security vulnerabilities in their code caused by the violations of secure coding rules. Since other software defects can also lead to security vulnerabilities, efforts have been taken to extend Secure Coding Assistant aiming at empowering programmers to detect, locate and remove code errors during coding time. This paper presents an enhancement to Secure Coding Assistant by a combination of Design by Contract and Programming Logic. Java programmers using this system are advised to provide their design contracts, i.e., logic assertions, for program structures of methods, if-then-else statements and while-loop statements. The design contracts defined by programmers can be automatically checked at the time of their program execution. To further facilitate the process of detecting and locating of code errors, using the programmers-defined design contracts, sub-design contracts can be automatically generated by the system based on the inference rules for the if-then-else statement and the while-loop statement in programming logic. The sub-design contracts generated by the system can also be automatically checked at dynamic time. In addition, based on the assignment axiom and the inference rule for the sequence statement in programming logic, the weakest pre-conditions of certain assignment sequences can be automatically generated from the post-conditions of the sequences, enabling programmers to statically analyze the correctness of the corresponding design contracts they specify. With the enhancement presented, Secure Coding Assistant can assist programmers for the early detections of not only secure coding rule violations but also errors in code. These early detections are performed in unison with the coding process to pursue software security.
This work addressed efficient and effective implementation of honeypots (decoy devices) for industrial control systems in cloud services. The honeypots we investigated simulated control systems of a small electrical-power distribution system. Starting with two honeypot software frameworks called Conpot and GridPot, we increased their deceptiveness by adding new obfuscation techniques, new simulated features of an electric grid, and new control interfaces that mimicked the operator interface for an actual power plant. These deceptions were effective in our first experiments with a standalone honeypot. We then deployed the honeypot at three cloud sites in the U.S. and in Asia. Attacks we observed were mostly similar between the deployments with a few differences. We were concerned that deployment in the cloud could be detected by attackers and discourage them, but we saw no significant differences in activity between the two kinds of deployments; apparently enough systems are managed in the cloud today that such deployment is not suspicious. We conclude that honeypots for industrial control systems using cloud services are an effective tool for collecting attack intelligence.
The cost of building industrial control systems for cyber security research is a barrier far too high for most research institutions let alone space and safety requirements, leading the field to search for cheaper alternative solutions which may not always provide the same benefits. Through real world use cases, Argonne National Laboratory staff and interns developed a novel method of simulating industrial control system’s environments using Node-RED, an open-sourced software, to handle programmable logic controllers’ tasks and update and host a Modbus TCP/IP server. Through the CyberForce Competition™, the team has tested the usability of this method and has created 3D reactive models and physical models that run based the systems simulated in Node-RED. This method of simulation allows for easily deployed industrial control systems for any researcher to use in simulating how it might respond to attack, allowing for low budget institutions to do cutting edge research in the field of industrial control system security.
Jump-Oriented Programming (JOP) is a seldom studied form of advanced code-reuse attacks, very different from return-oriented programming (ROP). JOP identifies snippets of code ending in an indirect jump or indirect call (gadgets), and these are chained together to construct exploits. All applications contain gadgets in executable memory. In this paper we present a mature tool, JOP ROCKET, to facilitate JOP gadget discovery and classification. Additionally, it automates generation a complete JOP chain to bypass Data Execution Prevention (DEP), using a limited virtual machine with emulation. The JOP chain generation utilizes a novel variation to the approach to JOP. Automating JOP chain generation can help provide for automatic detection of vulnerabilities in an application prior to being released, allowing for remediation.
