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This paper aims to discuss the ethical aspects of hardware reverse engineering (HRE) and propose an ethical framework for HRE when used to mitigate cyber risks of the digital supply chain of critical infrastructure operators.

A thorough review and analysis of existing relevant literature was performed to establish the current state of knowledge in the field. Ethical frameworks proposed for other areas/disciplines and identified pertinent ethical principles have been used to inform the proposed framework’s development.

The proposed framework provides actionable guidance to security professionals engaged with such activities to support them in assessing whether an HRE project conforms to ethical principles. Recommendations on action needed to complement the framework are also proposed. According to the proposed framework, reverse engineering is neither unethical nor illegal if performed honourably. Collaboration with vendors and suppliers at an industry-wide level is critical for appropriately endorsing the proposed framework.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no ethical framework currently guides cybersecurity research, far less of cybersecurity vulnerability research and reverse engineering.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework for predicting the next period financial behavior of bank mergers within a statistical-oriented setting.

Bank mergers are modeled combining a discrete variant of the Smoluchowski coagulation equation with a reverse engineering method. This new approach allows to compute the correct merging probability values via the construction and solution of a multi-variable matrix equation. The model is tested on real financial data relative to US banks collected from the National Information Centre.

Bank size distributions predicted by the proposed method are much more adherent to real data than those derived from the estimation method. The proposed method provides a valid alternative to estimation approaches while overcoming some of their typical drawbacks.

Bank mergers are interpreted as stochastic processes focusing on two main parameters, that is, number of banks and asset size. Future research could expand the model analyzing the micro-dynamic taking place behind bank mergers. Furthermore, bank demerging and partial bank merging could be considered in order to complete and strengthen the proposed approach.

The implementation of the proposed method assists managers in making informed decisions regarding future merging actions and marketing strategies so as to maximize the benefits of merging actions while reducing the associated potential risks from both a financial and marketing viewpoint.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study where bank merging is analyzed using a dynamic stochastic model and the merging probabilities are determined by a multi-variable matrix equation in place of an estimation procedure.

In the present paper, a CAD and reverse engineering (RE) methodology has been adopted for the development of a complex assembly of a TFC 280 crane cabin. A different approach has been adopted to eliminate fouling as well as interference with other components of the crane such as boom, gantry, front drum, rear drum, etc. with its cabin. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A dummy 3-D CAD model of the assemblies has been made using assembly constraints of Master Assembly and then checked for fouling and interference using IDEAS NX 12 to validate cabin design. In fabrication industries, one of the critical challenges is to maintain close geometric tolerances in finished products, which have been taken care of by the use of accurate value of K-factor.

Ergonomics of the re-engineered crane cabin has also been improved by providing rear vision and improvement in operator's forward visibility from 165° to 180°.

The work has been carried out using RE methodology un-used in this part of the world (Jamshedpur, India).

The purpose of this paper is to explore the limitations of the national system of innovation (NSI) approach in countries in developing economies with at best incomplete sets of market institutions.

This paper employed a grounded theory approach using semi‐structured interviews to explore a case study of one industry segment (the IC design industry segment) in one developing economy, China.

This paper argues that developing countries have institutions beyond the national system that can affect science and technology activities. Owing to co‐ethnic transnational technology networks and the politics of finance, China's firms experience distinct patterns of performance not explained by the NSI framework. A particular type of foreign firm, the hybrid foreign‐invested enterprise, combines foreign finance with commitment to China to drive China's technological development. Other firms, particularly those closely tied to the Chinese state, contribute less or even negatively to China's development. Strong ties to the state in the context of China actually undermine the incentive for innovation.

This paper deconstructs both NSI and the idea of national political economies more broadly. The paper also offers value in presenting a detailed case study of on‐the‐ground innovation and upgrading in China.

In this paper, we explore the technical challenges to automatically generate computer‐aided design models of existing vehicle parts using laser range imaging techniques. We propose a complete system that integrates data acquisition and model reconstruction. We discuss methods to resolve the occlusion problem and the associated registration problem. We also present our reconstruction algorithm. This range image‐based, computer‐aided reverse engineering system has a potential for faster model reconstruction over traditional reverse engineering technologies. Finally, we present results derived from the system.

Aims to develop an approach to deploy practically a concurrent engineering environment. Deployment here signifies a combination of two important elements: translation from one language to another, and team decision making. The translation of the customer′s vision into physical reality by the product development team is described. Towards this end, computer graphics with virtual reality capabilities will be used in order to help customers communicate their requirements. Examines the utilization of graphic capabilities of computers into a new digressive approach for concurrent engineering that combines the concepts of quality function deployment, reverse engineering and virtual reality.

Notes that as we move towards an information‐based society, information technologies will play a key role in establishing and maintaining economic competitiveness and that while the systems development life cycle approach has brought some order to the software development process, information engineering brings additional structure to the process. Points out that re‐engineering techniques are used to align every area of the enterprise: people, strategy, technology and business processes. Describes software re‐engineering activities and processes with a special emphasis on developing and maintaining quality systems.

With the development of systems and applications, the number of users interacting with databases has increased considerably. The relational database model is still considered as the most used model for data storage and manipulation. However, it does not offer any semantic support for the stored data which can facilitate data access for the users. Indeed, a large number of users are intimidated when retrieving data because they are non-technical or have little technical knowledge. To overcome this problem, researchers are continuously developing new techniques for Natural Language Interfaces to Databases (NLIDB). Nowadays, the usage of existing NLIDBs is not widespread due to their deficiencies in understanding natural language (NL) queries. In this sense, the purpose of this paper is to propose a novel method for an intelligent understanding of NL queries using semantically enriched database sources.

First a reverse engineering process is applied to extract relational database hidden semantics. In the second step, the extracted semantics are enriched further using a domain ontology. After this, all semantics are stored in the same relational database. The phase of processing NL queries uses the stored semantics to generate a semantic tree.

The evaluation part of the work shows the advantages of using a semantically enriched database source to understand NL queries. Additionally, enriching a relational database has given more flexibility to understand contextual and synonymous words that may be used in a NL query.

Existing NLIDBs are not yet a standard option for interfacing a relational database due to their lack for understanding NL queries. Indeed, the techniques used in the literature have their limits. This paper handles those limits by identifying the NL elements by their semantic nature in order to generate a semantic tree. This last is a key solution towards an intelligent understanding of NL queries to relational databases.