Monday, December 30, 2019

The Security Threats And Security Architecture Design

ABSTRACT Among civilian communication systems, vehicular communications emerge as one of the most convincing effort made to enhance safety and improve the efficiency of transportation systems, to meet ever-increasing traffic demands. Security is one of the critical factors that need to be addressed towards the deployment of vehicular communication systems. The efficiency of the transportation systems, as well as the physical safety of vehicles, drivers, and passengers depend on the security factor. Vehicular communications has to pass through the analysis of potential security threats and the design of a robust security architecture able to cope with these threats. In this paper we deal with the security threats and security architecture design. INTRODUCTION: Vehicular communications (VC) will play a vital role in enabling safer, smarter and greener transportation, with envisioned applications providing, for example, warnings on environmental hazards (e.g., ice on the pavement), traffic and road conditions (e.g., emergency braking, congestion, or construction sites), and local (e.g., tourist) information. To empower such applications, vehicles and road-side infrastructure units (RSUs), namely network nodes, will be furnished with on-board processing and wireless communication modules, to communicate with each other over single or multiple hops. Then, communication between vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) (bi-directional) will be possible directlyShow MoreRelatedThe Health Information Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996943 Words   |  4 PagesHealth Insurance Reform: Security Standards of 2003, part of the overall Security Rule contained in the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Although the federal rules detail the need for the protection of health information, Professor Fue and Professor Blum in 2013 extended the need to ensure that security is built into other systems that affect individual’s health (Fue Blum, 2013). Although there is no explicit requirement for architecture called out in Fue Blum’sRe ad MoreA Security Expert For A Large Insurance Company1423 Words   |  6 Pagesconfidentiality, privacy, threats and increased use of information system have prompted organizations to start protecting their systems to ensure electronic, physical and network information security. To ensure information security for this organization, a review of the company’s network, information systems and security policies must be conducted. In this report, I will be a security expert for a large insurance company. My job here is to assess the company, revise and reproduce the security policies, identifyRead MoreManaging Information Security Risks: The Octave Approach1635 Words   |  6 PagesAlberts, C. Dorofee, A.(2003) Managing Information Security Risks: The OCTAVE Approach. New York: Addison Wesley. This work is a descriptive and yet process-oriented book on the concept of security risk assessment with a specific focus on new risk evaluation methodology, OCTAVE. The term OCTAVE is used to denote f Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation SM.It is important that organizations conduct a security risk evaluation in order for them to effectively evaluateRead MoreSecureTek Security Design1243 Words   |  5 PagesSecureTek Security Design Security architecture is a major component and part of a system’s architecture and is usually designed to provide important guidance during the development of the system. It usually outlines the assurance level required and in the process outlines the possible impacts that this level of security might have on the development process of the actual system. Since security is a major component for the success of any given business unit, it is necessary to have a fully functionalRead MoreNetwork Analysis : The Core Layer1277 Words   |  6 Pagescore is primarily responsible for transmitting data, processing instructions, and managing the network as a whole. The network architecture used for the GFI network allows for interconnection and communication between all devices on the network. The only evidence of network segmentation is the access layer 2 VLAN switch connected to the finance department. This flat design allowed GFI to reduce cost and save on network maintenance and administration. However, as the company has grown beyond a smallRead MoreInternal Threats From Hackers And Malicious Software853 Words   |  4 Pagesincreasing number of threats, privacy issues, etc. information security is now a necessity for all organizations. This has alerted businesses globally to take steps in ensuring the security of their information and other assets. While most security measures focus on the external threats from hackers and malicious software, internal threats account for twice the impact of loss as external threats. These internal threats could be Intentional or accidental. But mostly internal threats are caused by poorRead MoreTraining For Building Secure Software Security Activities853 Words   |  4 Pagescarry out software security activities throughout your organization (2015). The collection of security knowledge included in the intelligence domain are policy, standards, design and attack patterns in reference to a secure architecture and secure development framework within the SSF (McGraw, 2006). This domain provides the essential resources to equip the staff with the necessary training for development and delivery. McGraw (2006) traced that the topics included are security knowledge and assuranceRead MoreSection{Secure Cloud Computation: Threats, Requirements905 Words   |  4 Pagessection{Secure Cloud Computation: Threats, Requirements and Efficiency} In this section, one common system architecture of outsourcing computation is firstly proposed. Then, we demonstrate typical security threats and corresponding security requirements. After that, some functionally work related to secure outsourcing are discussed. The concept of the balance between security and efficiency is briefly talked at the end of the section. subsection{System Architectures for Outsourcing Computation } ARead MorePreventing Attacks on New Network-Based Systems862 Words   |  3 Pagessystem also comes with a host of new threats and challenges, both internal and externally based. There are a number of external threats that now put the organization in danger based on its new IT structure. For one, introduction of viruses, spyware, and malware can now be much easily spread throughout the organization at a much faster speed (Cisco 2012). Network-based structures increase the autonomic nature of much of the security involved; when the security is not good enough to recognize hiddenRead MoreImplementing Enterprise Architecture For A Private Bank917 Words   |  4 PagesProject Environment: This paper presents a project on implementing Enterprise Architecture for a Private bank to introduce a Mobile Application. The idea of creating an application is taken from United State banks and their applications which helps their customers to access their accounts on their mobile devices and manage their accounts, activity on it. This project deals with bank’s IT department and management to implement this idea of creating an application. This bank has been selected on the

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Nietzsche And Mill s Ideas Of Freedom - 1243 Words

Free to Disagree A primary objective of identifying common ground between Nietzsche and Mill’s ideas of freedom is to define freedom adequately so that it can be used as a basis for comparison. Each theorist’s opinion on what freedom is, however, appears to be fairly distinct. Mill might describe freedom as the absence of constraints to original, individual thought, whereas Nietzsche conceptualizes freedom as continual self-overcoming to evolve a more actualized self. Freedom for Nietzsche is overcoming wrong beliefs and creating one’s own values, whereas for Mill, freedom is having the leeway to discover one’s own values. In effect, Mill focuses on the structural protections or necessities that allow creativity to flourish, and Nietzsche wants to deconstruct those structures that impede that flourishing. Mill emphasizes optimizing the political and social realms, which in theory then provide a safe haven for Nietzsche’s intrapsychic or spiritual struggle. Thus, Mil l s definition could be described as political whereas Nietzsche s could be understood as transformational. Both strive toward achieving the highest level of individual potential, and both want to support discovery of one’s most individualized beliefs. Given that each theorist has such distinct views on the definition itself, however, one needs to extrapolate the essence of what each would consider freedom to be. So for the purposes of describing how Mill and Nietzsche intersect, this approximation of aShow MoreRelatedBoth Mill And Nietzsche Would Argue That The Singularity1342 Words   |  6 PagesBoth Mill and Nietzsche would argue that the singularity of values, or preconceived, undivided ideas of truth, is an impediment to freedom. Nietzsche’s perspective further details how utility theory, as a method to determine freedom, inhibits freedom, as it appears to support the singularity of values. He would argue that prescribing a moral good of utility and saying that it is good for society as a whole, is promoting cultural specificity in that it assumes that one idea is good for everyone. NietzscheRead MoreNietzsche And Mill s Theory Of Morality Essay1505 Words   |  7 Pages Nietzsche and Mill have explored the theory of ‘morality’ from different perspectives. The two philosophers appear to get along that the notion ‘morality’ has been exploited to a great extent, though a little certainty has been provided on the issue. The two philosophers agree on the complexity of the issue. Mill’s theory of ethics is based on the concept of ‘utility. The philosopher provides the meaning of the idea as it has been largely perverted. Nietzsche stipulates that ‘morality’ is notRead MoreThe Universal Declaration Of Human Rights3323 Words   |  14 Pagessocially constructed. This then further constructs the concept of man . The universal man in the declaration is constructed on a particular man; the man envisaged by that particular society, at that particular time. This largely corresponded to the idea of the self-made, bourgeois man, who was asserting his humanity against his feudal overlords. This implied the ex clusion of members of the lower classes of society, under the guise of ‘universal’ rights – a critique first forcefully made by Karl MarxRead MoreExistentialism vs Essentialism23287 Words   |  94 Pagescreate the meaning and essence of their lives. Existentialism asserts that â€Å"existence precedes essence,† which is in opposition to the classical doctrine that â€Å"essence precedes existence.† The claim â€Å"existence precedes essence† is a rejection of the idea that human nature has an end or goal. 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Ihab Hassan (1971) describes a variety of aesthetic, literary, technological and philosophical deconstructionsRead MoreGender Equality : The Common Law Era Of Treating Men And Women2503 Words   |  11 Pagesemployment. John Stewart, a renowned philosopher spoke a lot about this topic, he contended that, Women on the other hand were looked down upon as weaker beings and as a people with a lower IQ not being able to make independent and intelligent decisions (Mill, 56). They were not allowed to vote and in most cases, they were not educated and also jobless. However, over time though the women became more aggressive in fighting for their rights leading to a situation where men also started suffering from genderRead Moresecond sex Essay13771 Words   |  56 Pag es[Alfred C. Kinsey and others: Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male (W.B. Saunders Co., 1948)] is no exception, for it is limited to describing the sexual characteristics of American men, which is quite a different matter. 3 E. Levinas expresses this idea most explicitly in his essay Temps et IAutre. Is there not a case in which otherness, alterity [altà ©rità ©], unquestionably marks the nature of a being, as its essence, an instance of otherness not consisting purely and simply in the opposition ofRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 PagesChallenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work that today qualify as constituting

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Medicaid Fraud Free Essays

Medicaid Fraud HCS/545 July 9, 2012 Medicaid fraud comes in many forms. A provider who bills Medicaid for services that he or she does not provide is committing fraud. Overstating the level of care provided to patients and altering patient records to conceal the deception is fraud. We will write a custom essay sample on Medicaid Fraud or any similar topic only for you Order Now Recipients also commit fraud by failing to report or misrepresenting income, household members, residence, or private health insurance. Facilities have also been known to commit Medicaid fraud through false billing. The Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse statute provides that an individual who knowingly and willfully offers, pays, solicits, or receives any remuneration in exchange for referring an individual for the furnishing of any item or service (or for the purchasing, leasing, ordering, or recommending of any good, facility, item, or service) paid for in whole or in part by Medicare or a state health care program (i. e. , Medicaid) shall be guilty of a felony; this is known as the â€Å"anti-kickback† statute (Mackelvie, 2004). Medicaid fraud affects taxpayers, recipients, and health care organizations. Measures to reduce Medicaid fraud are necessary. Individuals, facilities, and providers commit Medicaid fraud in several ways. One of the most common ways providers commit fraud is billing for services never provided. For instance, a physician may bill Medicaid for x-rays or lab work that the patient never received. Another way is double billing. Double billing occurs when both Medicaid and a private health insurance are billed for the same services. Medicaid is secondary health insurance to private health insurance and should be billed only for the charges that the primary health insurance does not pay. A third way providers commit Medicaid fraud is billing for phantom visits; charging Medicaid for seeing a patient who has not been seen. Providers have committed Medicaid fraud by billing for unnecessary tests and billing for more expensive procedures when a limited or less comprehensive procedure was performed. Facilities such as pharmacies commit fraud by substituting brand name drugs for generic drugs and billing Medicaid for the brand name drug. Still other facilities receive kickbacks and file false cost reports. Kickbacks involve receiving payments or services for referral of patients to other facilities or providers where the patient will receive unnecessary services to generate additional income. False cost reports are seen in nursing home cases of fraud and involve owners filing charges for their own personal expenses. Individuals enrolled in Medicaid programs commit fraud by hiding resources, assets, and income. They also commit fraud by denying spouses live in their households or failing to report marriage to continue receiving Medicaid benefits. Individuals with private health insurance who fail to report this insurance and continue using Medicaid benefits are committing fraud. It is an abuse of the Medicaid program when individuals who could obtain coverage on their own instead enroll in Medicaid to cover their medical expenses. Also the federal government stipulates that an individual cannot receive Medicaid in more than one state at the same time. Often, individuals move to another state and fail to report or close their Medicaid benefits with the state in which they were residing. Some individuals want to maintain coverage in more than one state because benefits differ from state to state and some individuals will travel between neighboring states using their Medicaid benefits. This constitutes Medicaid fraud. A program to fight Medicaid fraud has cost the United States at least $102 million in auditing fees since 2008 while identifying less than $20 million in overpayments, investigators found (Wayne, 2012). According to the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (2012), Medicaid provider fraud costs American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually and hinders the very integrity of the Medicaid program. Medicaid fraud affects recipients, providers, health care facilities, and taxpayers. Fraud increases the costs of providing benefits to Medicaid recipients. To compensate for such fraud, states must either raise taxes or decrease services in other areas. Those who most need Medicaid services may not be able to obtain benefits because resources are not available. For patients, Medicaid fraud could mean tampering with their medical records, which could put their health at risk. People can get hurt when doctors or other providers give less or more care than needed just to make more money. Also the public is more skeptical about social service programs as more incidents of Medicaid fraud occur every day. Providers and facilities who commit Medicaid fraud can face penalties from state and federal governments. Federal or state authorities may investigate allegations of fraud depending on where the fraud was reported, the laws broken, and the amount of money involved. The strictness of penalties levied by state governments varies from state to state. Federal laws such as The False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, and Social Security Act are laws that address fraud and abuse. Title XI of the Social Security Act contains Medicaid program-related anti-fraud provisions, which impose civil penalties, criminal penalties, and exclusions from federal health care programs on persons who engage in certain types of misconduct (Staman, 2010). Under federal regulations, providers convicted of fraud are excluded for a minimum of five years from receiving funds from any federally funded health care program, either as a health care provider or employee (National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units, 2012). The False Claims Act imposes penalties on anyone who knowingly submits false claims for payment through a governmental program. Penalty for conviction under this Act is a fine not exceeding $10,000 or an imprisonment of up to five years, or a combination of the two (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, 2011). The Anti-Kickback Statute makes it a criminal offense to knowingly and willfully offer, pay, solicit, or receive any remuneration to induce or reward referrals of items or services reimbursable by a Federal health care program (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, 2011). Violations of this law are punishable by up to five years in prison, criminal fines up to $25,000, administrative civil money penalties up to $50,000, and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, 2011). There are other federal laws to address fraud and abuse of government programs such as Medicaid. These penalties are a reactive measure to control abuse of Medicaid, but proactive measurements are needed to discourage providers, individuals, and facilities from committing fraud. On October 27, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed the legislation that provided each state with the opportunity and resources to establish a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) to investigate and prosecute provider fraud (National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units, 2012). The MFCU investigates Medicaid provider fraud and misuse of Medicaid recipients’ funds. The jurisdiction of the Medicaid Fraud Control Units is limited to investigating and prosecuting Medicaid provider fraud, MFCU’s do not investigate recipient fraud. States must also take initiatives to curtail fraud. Many states are looking to use new technology as a means to prevent fraud. One such technology is biometrics. Biometric technology compares a user’s feature such as a fingerprint. This technology has the potential to prevent recipient fraud by eliminating card sharing as well as preventing provider fraud by reducing phantom billing and other forms of fraud. New York, for example, has integrated targeted data mining and risk analysis into its fraud-fighting tool box. In Texas, a few simple process changes and new pattern analysis and recognition efforts moved the state closer to ‘real–time analysis’ and significantly increased the amount of fraud identified (National Conference of State Legislators, 2012). States must develop continually ways to prevent Medicaid fraud and protect the resources provided for recipients. Controlling Medicaid fraud will be a continual task. The burden falls not on just the federal government, but also state governments, facilities, providers, recipients, and citizens. States should fully commit to working with federal policymakers and agencies to improve the integrity of the Medicaid program. Clarity is needed to define federal and state government roles in maintaining integrity of the Medicaid program. Collaboration and communication between Medicaid and Medicare is needed to reduce fraud. States should evaluate the utility of existing tools used to fight Medicaid fraud. Incentives for providers, recipients, and citizens to report suspected fraud must be made available. Abuse of Medicaid affects everyone and costs will continue to rise if measures are not taken to use better the resources available in the Medicaid program. References National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units. (2012). What is Medicaid Fraud?. Retrieved from http://www. namfcu. net/about-us/what-is-medicaid-fraud Mackelvie, C. F. (2004). â€Å"The impact of fraud and abuse regulations – Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse statutes. Retrieved from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m3257/is_n10_v46/ai_13413481/pg_6/? tag=content;col1 Wayne, A. (2012). Medicaid Fraud Audits Cost Five Times Amount U. S. Found. Retrieved from How to cite Medicaid Fraud, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Avon Products free essay sample

After five straights years of ten percent plus growth and twenty-five percent operating profit growth under CEO Andrea Jung, the company suddenly began losing profits. One of the main reasons of this lost was the fast growth of Avon that couldn’t be supported by its employees. As with many growing organizations the structure, people and processes that were right for a $5 billion company were not necessarily a good fit for a ten billion dollar company (Goldsmith Carter, 2010, p. 2). There were weaknesses that hurt the effectiveness of the employees at the talent management practices. Decisions on talent movement, promotions, and other key talent activities were often influenced as much by individual knowledge and emotion as by objective facts. Neither managers nor Associates have any idea about how the talent practices work. Even the HR department wasn’t sufficient to answer basic questions that might be asked by managers like â€Å"What will happen to me if I don’t do this? † (Goldsmith Carter, 2010). Thus, changing at the talent management practices was a necessity for the company in order to increase the operation profits. The change theory typified in Avon Products case study is the 360 degree assessment process along with performance management and succession planning this would deliver the expected results if they were consistently and flawlessly executed. They used this method to build talent practices that were easy to implement. The proposed talent management model was integrated business and human resources strategy, talent management processes, organizational culture, provides a systemic approach, and results in having talented leaders and individuals available to accomplish the mission of the organization. One of the most simple and powerful changes was to bring transparency to every talent practice. Avon’s 360 degree assessment process was hardly a model of transparency when the turnaround began. The new team leader requested copies of each VP’s 360 degree assessment due to understand common behavioral strengths and weaknesses. A new, much simpler 360 was designed and implemented that explicitly stated that proper managerial and leadership behaviors were critical for a leader’s success at Avon. Helping to make the transition to transparency easier, the new 360 assessments and report differed from typical tools that rate the participants on proficiency in various areas. The type of evaluation information that was collected was from complex to simple, from egalitarian to differentiated, from episodic to disciplined, from meaningless to consequential, from opaque to transparent, from emotional to factual and from meaningless to consequential. Leaders know what is required to be successful, how to measure the situation, how HR and management can assist them, and the consequences of higher and lower performance. They know their performance rating, their potential ratings and how they can change each of those. They actively differentiated levels of Avon talent and provided each level with the appropriate experience. Their highest potential leaders understand how management feels about them, and they see a commensurate investment. Their lower performing leaders get the attention they need (Silzer Dowell, 2010). Managers do the right thing for their associates both because the barriers have been lower than what they previously built and because management helped them with value added tools and information. Processes began to happen on schedule and consistently around the world. Talent decisions are made with an additional layer of qualitative and quantitative information drawn from across many different leader experiences. Leaders know that they must build talent the Avon way for both their short and long term success. When the turnaround began, no global process for understanding or acting on associate engagement issues existed. Select regions or department made efforts of varying effectiveness, but there was no integrated focus on consistent measurement and improvement of engagement (Silzer Dowell 2010). In designing the engagement process, management applied the same three questions: the business benefit, the simple path, to adding additional value. Management accepted the substantial research that showed a correlation, and some causation between increasing engagement and increasing various business metrics. There were two goals established around simplicity. One goal was to understand as much of what drove engagement as possible, while asking the least number of questions. The second goals were to write the questions as simple as possible, so that if managers needed to improve the score on a question, their options for action would be relatively obvious. Management was confident that if managers took the right actions to improve their engagement results, not only would the next year’s scores increase, but the business would benefit from the incremental improvement. The challenge was to determine and imply communicate to the managers what the right actions were. Management with the assistance of a research team developed a statistical equation model that would become the engine to produce the answers. The statistical equation model allowed them to understand the power of each engagement dimension, for example, immediate manager, empowerment, senior management, to increase engagement, and to express that power in an easy to understand statement (Goldsmith Carter, 2010). Avon’s mission is focused on six core aspirations the company continually strives to achieve. They are leader in global beauty, building a unique portfolio of beauty and related brands, striving to surpass competitors in quality, innovation, and value, and elevating Avon’s image to become the world’s trusted beauty company. Empower their employees to achieve economic independence by offering a superior earning opportunity as well as recognition, service and support, making it easy and rewarding to be affiliated with Avon. Deliver superior returns to shareholders by pursuing new growth opportunities while maintaining a commitment to be a responsible, ethical company and a global corporate citizen that is held as a model of success (Avon Products Inc. , 2012). Avon Products Inc. is the world largest direct seller right now. The changes in 2006 set the stage for renewed growth by enabling them to be faster and nimbler, but since then the business has grown significantly and become increasingly complex.