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Institute
This thesis emphasizes problems that reports generated by vulnerability scanners impose on the process of vulnerability management, which are a. an overwhelming amount of data and b. an insufficient prioritization of the scan results.
To assist the process of developing means to counteract those problems and to allow for quantitative evaluation of their solutions, two metrics are proposed for their effectiveness and efficiency. These metrics imply a focus on higher severity vulnerabilities and can be applied to any simplification process of vulnerability scan results, given it relies on a severity score and time of remediation estimation for each vulnerability.
A priority score is introduced which aims to improve the widely used Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score of each vulnerability dependent on a vulnerability’s ease of exploit, estimated probability of exploitation and probability of its existence.
Patterns within the reports generated by the Open Vulnerability Assessment System (OpenVAS) vulnerability scanner between vulnerabilities are discovered which identify criteria by which they can be categorized from a remediation actor standpoint. These categories lay the groundwork of a final simplified report and consist of updates that need to be installed on a host, severe vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities that occur on multiple hosts and vulnerabilities that will take a lot of time for remediation. The highest potential time savings are found to exist within frequently occurring vulnerabilities, minor- and major suggested updates.
Processing of the results provided by the vulnerability scanner and creation of the report is realized in the form of a python script. The resulting reports are short, straight to the point and provide a top down remediation process which should theoretically allow to minimize the institutions attack surface as fast as possible. Evaluation of the practicality must follow as the reports are yet to be introduced into the Information Security Management Lifecycle.
Botswana serves as a role model for other African countries due to its rapid development in recent decades. Since the country is sparsely populated and a large part of the rural population depends on agriculture, especially livestock, this sector forms the backbone of the national economy. The digitization of this sector offers promising opportunities for economic growth and driving Botswana's evolution to a digital economy, while real value is being created for smallholder farmers. To support this process, an ITU research project made the key recommendation for the development of a digital crowdfarming tool and marketplace to create a digital ecosystem for smallholder agriculture. Within the research project, infrastructural challenges such as the creation of rural electricity supply and internet access, as well as the smallholders' need for remote monitoring, management, and better connectivity, were identified.
Based on the findings of the ITU research report, this bachelor's thesis aims to identify potential innovations for the digital development of smallholder agriculture in Botswana and to conceptualize proposals to address the identified challenges and needs of smallholder farmers. To achieve this, solutions were developed through literature research, technology analysis and expert involvement. These included the design of a decentralized mini-grid for power supply, proposals to create internet access, and the graphic visualization of a conceptual app. The latter addresses smallholder farmers' needs for remote monitoring, market access, knowledge enhancement, and connection to colleagues, buyers, and investors.
The proposed solutions and developed concepts provide impulses for further research and can serve as a basis for an extended evaluation through further involvement of experts and stakeholders.
With the increasing challenges of the 21st century, such as a rapidly growing population, increasing hunger and the destruction of the environment, the demand for sustainable and future-oriented ways of living is growing. To meet this demand, a residential district named Maun Science Park is being built in Botswana to develop a resilient society. In addition to the application of modern technology to optimise the use of resources, the environmentally friendly construction of the buildings is another goal of the project. This thesis investigates the prefabrication of rammed earth in terms of implementation and profitability for the Maun Science Park.
For this purpose, the specific properties, handling, as well as the application of the building material in prefabrication are first discussed.
This is followed by an investigation of how the work processes of prefabrication can be implemented in the Maun Science Park. Based on this, a profitability test is carried out using a break-even and sensitivity analysis.
The analyses showed that the investment in prefabrication is not profitable within the assumed production volume, which is due to the high fixed costs. These are primarily generated by the two main cost drivers, consisting of the new construction of the production hall and the rental of heavy construction equipment.
Lastly, recommendations for action were formulated that provide for a cost reduction in both the two main cost drivers as well as for other decisive factors.
Botswana is a country in southern Africa with rich mineral resources, which has built its economy on mining. Due to challenges in the upcoming years caused by climate and demographic change, it aims to move away from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy in the long term. In order to support the
process, the Maun Science Park, a centre for research and development is planned to be created in Maun, a town on the edge of the Okavango Delta. The project is initiated by the “International Resilience and Sustainability Partnership” (inRES), a non-governmental organization. The project is currently in the initiation phase.
The purpose of this thesis is to determine a cost framework with exemplary developer calculation and sensitivity analysis for the Maun Science Park Project in Botswana. Therefor, a source research was performed in a first step. Based on this, interviews were conducted with members of the inRES. Based on the data
obtained and further assumptions, a cost framework for the different project phases of the MSP project was established. Subsequently, a developer calculation
was exemplarily carried out on the basis of the project phase 2 and a sensitivity analysis was performed.
During the interviews, data was collected on the different project phases. It became clear that the interview partners had partly inconsistent perceptions
about different project phases. The calculation can be used as a basis for further calculation at the time of concretization of the planning data.
Urban car-free mobility
(2021)
Across the globe, urban areas experience the phenomena of rising road-congestion, air pollution and car accidents. These are just a few popular quantified effects that arise due to rapid, uncoordinated urbanization on a car-centric city layout. There is an urgent need to consider new concepts of urban mobility development to combat these negative effects. Car-free mobility is one notion adopted in diverse formats by numerous cities to create a more inclusive, just, healthy and sustainable urban life. The focus of this thesis is to ex- amine whether a car-free mobility concept is applicable to the Maun Science Park, Bot- swana. Therefore, the idea of car-free mobility, its positive aspects as well as its con- straints, are described first. This illustrates the complexity of urban transport planning as it is intertwined with urban land-use, political vision and people’s perceptions and behav- iors. Secondly, examples and strategies on how to change existing structures are pre- sented. Following this, the smart developments in the field of sustainable urban mobility are considered to provide an insight into their assets and drawbacks. Then the local mo- bility conditions are examined before the car-free concept is exemplarily applied to the Maun Science Park via scenario construction. These scenarios give a first vision of how a car-free concept can be applied to the MSP and additionally provide a starting point for future strategic planning as well as inspiration for other cities to follow along.
The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a worldwide standard for communication between peripherals. Nowadays USB interfaces are integrated in almost every device. It will be used to connect peripherals and computers. USB devices communicate between pieces of hardware, i.e., cable, plug and socket. Thus, there exists different standardized communication protocols depending on the application. In case of different communication protocols, it is necessary to verify them, that devices, no matter of country, can communicate to each other.
The verifying process is very important in order that companies can sell products with such interfaces and their designated logo, to guaranty a certain standard, which is provided all over the world. Devices have to complete various test procedures to get certified. Otherwise a company is not allowed to use logos ore designations, i.e., USB or information about data rates, i.e., SuperSpeed. Furthermore, successfully completed test procedures prove that a device works properly based on a professional method.
The Human-Machine-Interface (HMI) device family from the company Marquardt Verwaltungs GmbH, is using the USB interface for service and data exchange purposes. The service application is realized through a Virtual COM Port (VCP), based on the Communication Device Class (CDC) of USB. On the other side they want to use the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) based on the Still Image Capture Device class for data exchange between the HMI device and a computer. Of course, the integrated circuit, which implements the USB interface on the circuit board of the HMI device has to be verified, too. The verification will be performed through an external company. In contrast, the communication protocols do not need a verification but must be examined. The identification of an USB class in an operating system does neither guaranty a proper functionality nor comply with a professional scientific method.
To accelerate the development of a project as well as to reduce the production costs, it is a significant advantage to own a test environment. Microsoft provides the possibility to verify devices on Windows operating systems. Therefor they invented the Windows Certification Program, which contains software that can be used for verification purposes. One of them is the Windows Hardware Certification Kit (HCK) we want to set up and set the HMI device under test, to examine the implementation of MTP.
Thus, it is possible to use the HCK test setup during a development process to examine a current implementation without a big effort, i.e., cooperation with an external company or similarly approaches, which delays the whole development process by far.