Saturday, October 5, 2019
The coming of the American Revolution Research Paper
The coming of the American Revolution - Research Paper Example Great Britain was expected to be victorious because of its huge armed and naval power. Comparatively, American side was much more lacking in terms of armed and naval forces, size of army and previous experience at fighting against any huge state. Americans were interested to fight for independence while British fought for the continuity of their control over the American colonies considering their fighting spirit as a mutiny. Benedict Arnold was a part of Patriots belonging to the American side, but after being neglected and not sufficiently appreciated for his efforts in the wars, he became a turncoat and joined British army. Both sides have different advantages and disadvantages regarding their skills and experience. However, America has an upper hand in the war followed by its independence. The turning point for the Patriots was the battle of Saratoga. This paper discusses about the role of Benedict Arnold in the American Revolution, the advantages and disadvantages of the two sid es of the Revolution and the turning point for the patriots. Benedict Arnold, an Important Figure in the American Revolution Benedict Arnold participated in the American Revolution and was responsible for many victories during the revolution. Initially, he appeared as a heroic figure as he worked very hard for the independence of America colonies. Arnold became a part of the Continental Army as a patriot in 1775. Arnold joined Allen and his Green Mountain Boys on 10 May in order to take hold of the credulous British fort located at Ticonderoga in New York1. Arnold took part in another mission, which was planned to assemble Canadian dwellers as members of American army and take hold of the northern base that was held by Britain at that time so that the striking rate of the American side gets improved. This mission was very troublesome as the troops were required to march to Quebec from Maine. Arnold managed to attack the well guarded Quebec along with other patriots through a snowsto rm on 31st December knowing about the death and severe condition of many of his troops. He was left with no other opportunity, but to assault against the force. Arnold was severely injured and the attackers failed to have any victory. They had to face severe loss at the hands of British and Canada remained a British colony2. After being in good health again, Arnold joined in a significant mission that was to obstruct British incursion in New York in autumn of 1776. Arnoldââ¬â¢s role in constructing an American naval force was appreciative as he managed to provide hastily prepared armada on Lake Champlain where a British invasion under the command of General Carleton was expected. British fleet was flabbergasted at finding American fleet waiting for them beforehand3. The British fleet pushed back the American fleet, but the action took a long time, which made the British army return to Canada after reaching New York as the war season was over. Arnoldââ¬â¢s effort was approving and admirable as the Patriots were able to shun a major destructive step from the British side4. Arnold was unable to get the appreciation and recognition that he deserved instead of all his efforts towards supporting the independence cause. Arnold had no promotion while five junior officers of American army were endorsed to higher ranks. Considering this step as disapproving, he resigned from the army, but after
Friday, October 4, 2019
The Influence of Media on Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
The Influence of Media on Learning - Essay Example In the near future, Robert Kozma (1994) was saying, telephone, cable television, and digital computer technologies will merge (Stix, 1993). There is then the prospect of an interactive video supposedly "integrated with large multimedia databases to be distributed to people in various settings all over the world." With this announcement will probably come the threat of educational processes becoming quite expensive, complex, and made beyond the reach of most people. This is because Kozma doesn't present much defense on the significance of these changes. If we do not soon understand the relationship between media and learning-if we have not forgedsuch a relationship, this technology may be used primarily for interactive soap operas and online purchases of merchandise. Its educational uses may be driven primarily by benevolent movie moguls who design "edutainment" products whose contribution to learning may be minimal. There is much sense in the warnings and the hypothetical situation that Kozma (1994) gave. But much of his despair with the use of media may be caused by lack of emphasis on dialogue. A discussion on the theory of transactional distance (Moore, 1997) would be in order here. With all of these media, something has to bridge the gap between teacher and learner. Only then will media and its sophistication have any meaning (Moore, 1997). Any communication system devoid of feedback is deficient, as is the lack of interaction with the use of media in teaching. Kozma (1994) does not underscore this but only in the light of mentioning the delivery-truck model of transforming information. In teaching, it is the same as that of the derided hypodermic model (Smith, 1997) or of the banking system of education (ARRC, 2002) where the teacher deposits information and withdraws them back again through quizzes. There is very little learning then and throughout it all, the student may not have learned anything beyond memory work, where information stored can only evaporate after the quiz. True, "learning is a process by which the learner strategically manages available resources to create new knowledge by interacting with information and integrating it with information stored in memory" (Richey, 1989). This is why media cannot get all of the credit for the learning of the student, who still has to interact intelligently if he has to learn. On this regard, I would agree with critic, Richard Clark (1983). Kozma (1994) quoted that "learning with media is a complementary process within which representations are constructed and procedures performed, sometimes by the learner and sometimes by the medium." Studies are needed in this aspect to determine which are those performed by the learner and which are those by the medium. This aspect is emphasized because the case presented may be likened to children's' toys. While the objective is for the child to know how to manipulate things, discover how it could perform for his needs and interests, and where something is lacking, the child himself is supposed to be challenged to think of how the thing lacking is produced. Apparently, the situation has changed to the detriment of the child's thinking because of available technology. A
Thursday, October 3, 2019
The Secular Progressives vs. The Traditionalists Essay Example for Free
The Secular Progressives vs. The Traditionalists Essay In the New York Times best selling book from Fox News Commentator and mediator for The Oââ¬â¢Reilly factor, Bill Oââ¬â¢Reilly in his book Culture Warrior, defines and separates the two main competitors for the culture of America: The Secular Progressives vs. The Traditionalists. Oââ¬â¢Reilly sees this battle as much more important than the more known and easily recognized conservatives vs. liberals and consequently sees the stakes as being that much more important as well with the winner deciding the fate of America policies, both foreign and especially domestic, for generations to come. As a self proclaimed culture warrior, Oââ¬â¢Reilly puts himself center stage in this debate as he boasts that he sees himself as one of the most hated men in America as a result of his views on the media and other secular progressives and what he views as their destruction of the core values that has helped to make America great. ââ¬Å"The culture war has also made me perhaps the most controversial broadcaster in the country. That hot-button label controversial gives my enemies, they think, the right to attack me and my enterprises ceaselessly, unfairly, even dementedly. I truly drive the opposing force nuts! As you may know, Im engaged in fighting them on a daily basis, and that warfare is the subject of this book. â⬠( Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 5) And regardless of oneââ¬â¢s opinions on Mr. Oââ¬â¢Reilly, that is exactly what he does since he points out that one of the most important aspects of being a traditionalist is keeping your word. Oââ¬â¢Reilly shows how the culture war has played out in such high profile cases as The Passion of the Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11 and the battle against religion in public life. Oââ¬â¢Reilly also touches on race, education, the protection of children, the ACLU and the war against Christmas which according to Oââ¬â¢Reilly has seen an escalation in recent years in favor of political correctness which has run out of control. Bill Oââ¬â¢Reilly enjoys high ratings and stellar book sales because he pinpoints the moral decline in America that millions of Americans agree is happening in America. At the same time, the name Bill Oââ¬â¢Reilly also invokes many an impassioned opinion with many Americans hating what he has to say and according to Oââ¬â¢Reilly, have levied death threats against himself and his family for his outspoken views. As someone who has read this book and is well aware of the impact that Oââ¬â¢Reilly has on American media, either in an affective way, either positive or negative, the opinions of the author always do invoke a response from individuals. Whatever controversies are the hot topic in the news, Oââ¬â¢Reilly fearlessly confronts them and the reader, regardless of his political affiliation, is not left wondering what side of the isle Oââ¬â¢Reilly is on. He sees many aspects of life in black and white and is both revered and hated for such beliefs. ââ¬Å"The culture war must be won quickly and definitively, and the best way to do that is to expose the secular-progressive movement in our country for exactly what it is, to explain why it is so harmful for America, and to identify the movements top leaders. So here we go! â⬠( Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 6) Oââ¬â¢Reilly, towards the end of the book concedes that this will be a tough fight and that they winner is not set in stone. Therefore, expect more books of the same genre in the future from Bill Oââ¬â¢Reilly. In the 200 pages of Culture Warrior, Oââ¬â¢Reilly wastes no time in starting his unapologetic attacks on a wide variety of interests in America. ââ¬Å"For a variety of reasons that I will explain, I have chosen to jump into the fray and become a warrior in the vicious culture war that is currently under way in the United States of America. And war is exactly the right term. On one side of the battlefield are the armies of the traditionalists like me, people who believe the United States was well founded and has done enormous good for the world. â⬠(Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 10) According to Oââ¬â¢Reilly, an example of the influence of the secular progressivesââ¬â¢ power and influence in American culture is the war on Christmas perpetuated by the chief of all secular progressives: The ACLU. ââ¬Å"Gradually, Christmas trees did become ââ¬Ëholiday trees,ââ¬â¢ Christmas vacation became winter vacation and Christmas parades became ââ¬Å"Festival of Lights. â⬠(Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 45) In America, between 80-85% of its citizens define themselves as Christians. Yet, Oââ¬â¢Reilly points out the push by the secular progressives on the country towards a more religiously neutral celebration of the holidays. The word ââ¬Å"Christmasâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Merry Christmasâ⬠is no longer politically correct to say, but the more neutral ââ¬Å"Happy Holidays. â⬠Christmas trees are being replaced by Holiday trees even though their resemblance is the same. Using the term Christmas to describe the 25th of December as the birth of Jesus, and subsequently, the reason for the celebration is seen as oppressive to the minority in America that do not celebrate Christmas and therefore feel out of place during the Christmas season. On the other side of the isle are the traditionalists who see this as an assault on Christmas and political correctness gone too far and is out of touch with the majority of American in this country. Oââ¬â¢Reilly identifies the actions of the secular progressives as efforts to move America into being identified as neutral when it comes to religious issues. In doing so, Oââ¬â¢Reilly sees this trend as being in opposition to the motivations of the countryââ¬â¢s founding fathers; that, the majority were very religious and their mention of God can frequently be found in their personal writings. Oââ¬â¢Reilly outs the ACLU as center stage in his fight against the secular progressives. Oââ¬â¢Reilly gives them credit for the lambasting of Christmas, the neutralization of religion in public life and for all sorts of moral degradations in American culture. This fight against the ACLU will not be completed any time soon and will most likely be seen in Oââ¬â¢Reillyââ¬â¢s next book to be sure. Oââ¬â¢Reilly points out in another example of the ideological differences between the secular progressives and traditionalists are their respective views on government and the desired role that each side wishes would play in their life. ââ¬Å"On the home front in America, traditional forces strongly believe that their hard-earned money is not the property of the government, to be distributed as largesse to others who, perhaps, are not willing to work to earn their prosperity. â⬠( Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 75) Oââ¬â¢Reilly points to Europe and the stagnation of the economy that many of the nations are enduring. There is little motivation to work and to get ahead in life because of the high level of taxation and the desire of the secular progressives to copy Americaââ¬â¢s government involvement after that of Europeââ¬â¢s. Oââ¬â¢Reilly says that the secular progressives wish to drastically increase taxes and therefore, kill the incentives that many Americans have to be independent and to work for what they have instead of high taxations creating a cradle for people who do not wish to work. Oââ¬â¢Reilly wishes to avoid America moving in that direction and that Americaââ¬â¢s economy remain independent of high taxes which would fund such social programs like handing out clean needles to drug addicts, condoms to students and free money to people who do not wish to work. Such ideas firmly place Oââ¬â¢Reilly among the traditionalists of America and that is where he is likely to stay. Among one of Oââ¬â¢Reillyââ¬â¢s most impassioned rants he saved towards the end of the book. It is against the people who seem to rant against America and all that is supposed to be wrong with her. In the chapter entitled ââ¬Å"Hating America,â⬠Oââ¬â¢Reilly lists the people in the spotlight that seem to do their best to degrade America and the greatness that Oââ¬â¢Reilly sees on a daily basis. Oââ¬â¢Reilly, who is in opposition to the ideology of Norman Mailer but one who respects him, details the differences in their thinking concerning conservatives vs. liberals and for Oââ¬â¢Reilly traditionalists vs. secular progressives and their opinion on America. ââ¬Å"A good example of the useful face-off between polar opposites was my interview with Norma Mailer in March of 2006. One of Americaââ¬â¢s great writers, mailer doesnââ¬â¢t hate America but he finds it seriously flawed-as you know, a core secular progressive tenet. But mailer separates himself from the S-P garrison because he sees its weaknesses, selfishness and relativism. . . . Mailer says: ââ¬ËA great war is going on here, larger even that we realize, between liberals and the conservatives. The conservatives are saying in effect: ââ¬ËYou guys are trying to wreck existence by becoming too vain, too godless. â⬠And liberals are replying, ââ¬Å"Your obsession that God is judgmental looks to force all of humanity into rigid patterns that wonââ¬â¢t work any longer. â⬠(Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 120) Oââ¬â¢Reilly thinks that Mailer is incorrect but unlike his personal detractors, does so in a respectful manner. ââ¬Å"But Mailer is wrong. Traditional and conservative thinkers who understand their country do not put God at the head of public policy, nor do we point fingers at the opposition and label them sinners. Traditionalists believe that secular-progressive policies will weaken America and lead to societal chaos. While we see no reason to banish God from the public square, we donââ¬â¢t expect Him to be writing social policy on tablets and handing them to us in the Sinai. â⬠( Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 193) Oââ¬â¢Reilly does state the importance of the Bible and that it must be on the reading list of every true traditionalist but that a traditionalist will not be zealots in their pursuit of establishing a theocracy in America. In the second phase of secular progressivesââ¬â¢ view that America is seriously flawed is their desire for America to no longer be the lone superpower in the world. ââ¬Å"The secular progressive movement wants the United States to decline in power. It wants a new world order where global consensus would rule and the superpower model for our time would recede into obsolescence. â⬠(Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 194) But Oââ¬â¢Reilly accurately points out a different side towards Americaââ¬â¢s effect in the world and an effect that is central to traditionalistsââ¬â¢ opinion of America and of her greatness. ââ¬Å" By contrast, the T-warrior will fight to keep, even increase Americaââ¬â¢s vast power. Why? Because T-warriors understand that the United States is a righteous country that has in our brief history freed billions of people from political enslavement. It is our might and money that brought down Tojo, Hitler and the Soviet Unionâ⬠¦ If we go into decline, the world would be a much more dangerous place. Can you picture Russia and communist China dominating the world? How about the combined Arab states? â⬠(Oââ¬â¢Reilly, 194 Journalist as defined by Oââ¬â¢Reilly, the answer is a resounding NO! The greatest strength of Oââ¬â¢Reilly and the strength that makes him so successful can sometimes be one of his weaknesses: arrogance. Many of his points go beyond liberal or conservative, secularist or conservative but for the others, it might be seen as relative as it depends on the reader to make the final decision since the decline of morals or whether ignoring Americaââ¬â¢s religious foundations is a good or bad thing may never fully answered in this lifetime and in this country. But such topics are always good for material since millions of Americans do closely follow Oââ¬â¢Reilly on the radio and on television. The readerââ¬â¢s view on the Culture Warrior depends upon their religious and political leanings. If one feels that the existence of a liberal media that wishes Americaââ¬â¢s influence in the world to be curtailed is greatly exaggerated and Americaââ¬â¢s declining morals either doesnââ¬â¢t exist or is not important, Culture Warrior will evoke a strong and negative response. However, on the other hand, if one defines himself as a conservative and/or traditionalist, then the topics that Oââ¬â¢Reilly details will hit its mark. And for millions of Americans, it does just that. This is an important and entertaining book that, like much of what Oââ¬â¢Reilly does and says, will spark many needed discussions around the classrooms and water coolers of America. Oââ¬â¢Reilly is effective when it comes to seeing and articulating issues of importance in todayââ¬â¢s ever changing society and most importantly, it is a window into the mindset of millions of Americans.
Reconciliation Of Autonomy And Legitimate Authority Philosophy Essay
Reconciliation Of Autonomy And Legitimate Authority Philosophy Essay Political thought is deeply divided about the relationship between the individual and the community. The problem of the reconciliation of autonomy and legitimate authority is a moral one. Either I possess and am obliged to maintain my authority or I am not. Either I am totally part of my community and am obliged to serve it or I am not. Nobody ever doubted that in order to submit to some sort of authority it is necessary to sacrifice some of a persons personal autonomyà [2]à . However, many theorists argue that autonomy and the duty to obey someones commands can never co-exist. The greatest supporter of this conflict between authority and autonomy among the years has been Robert Paul Wolff. In his work In Defense of Anarchism he has insisted that there can never be a resolution between the conflict of autonomy and authority and that the only justifiable political system in virtue of autonomy is anarchism. But what exactly do these notions mean and how far is it true that the two theories can never be compatible? The Issue of Autonomy Autonomy is the right of a person to be free and the ability to choose his own actions without any constraints. For Wolff the fundamental assumption of moral philosophy is that men are responsible for their actionsà [3]à . This responsibility means that a person should be responsible for taking the final decision for what she should do. Therefore, the autonomous person being autonomous does not accept commands from anyone and does not recognize any authority over him by anyone. His acts are based on his independent assessment of the situation and on nobody elses orders; has a self-regulating capacity and has a duty to take control of ones conduct. This responsibility of action means that people are metaphysically free and therefore the maintenance of autonomy is a duty. Non-interference is the most important element in political autonomy. In fact, Gaus specifies that the fundamental liberal principle is that all interferences with action stand in need of justificationà [4]à . The idea of individual liberty for anarchists is inseparable fused with the theological doctrine that man has free will and can chose good or evil. Bakuninà [5]à defined freedom as following ones own reason and understanding justice. Therefore, law is rejected by anarchists because it is based on a false conception of free will and it usurps individual reason and morality. How far this statement is correct will be discussed later. The Issue of Political Obligation The central concept of political science is that of the stateà [6]à . State legitimacy (or authority) is viewed as the logical correlate of the obligation of citizens to obey the law (or the state). This obligation is usually referred to as political obligation. Several questions arise from the issue of political obligation such as whether there is actually a prima facie obligation to obey the rules or why should we obey the law in general. However, this analysis is not the purpose of this essay and therefore these issues will not be further analyzed. An obligation is a requirement or duty to act in a particular way. The possession of a right usually places someone else under an obligation to uphold or respect that rightà [7]à . The only theorists who are willing to reject completely the notion of political obligation are philosophical anarchists who insist on absolute respect for autonomy. Political obligation is a presumptive moral duty placed upon each and every individual in a given territory to obey all the laws enacted by the political institutions ruling the country. Political and legal institutions are authoritative institutions. Authority is the right to command, namely to order and therefore the right to be obeyedà [8]à ; it is the right to tell someone what to believe and how to act. The Conflict Theorists who support the conflict between autonomy and authority base their view on the fact that freedom is subordinated to an authority which creates regulations meant for protecting the bigger society. Therefore, people have to follow certain organizational ethics which may not be similar to their personal ethics. In order to have autonomy, individuals would just have to resort to choosing a company which holds values similar to their own. Taking responsibility means making the final decision about what to do, therefore there is no such thing as a command for the autonomous person. Political authority runs along with obligation to obey its rules, to follow it and disregard free will. But is this really true? There is a claim that political authority aims to impose its own judgement upon ours and that is illegitimate. When our judgment is incompatible with the law then, there is no obligation to obey the law and therefore, there can be no authority upon us. As long as a man fulfil ls his obligation to make himself the author of his decisions he will not accept any authority over him therefore, he will deny that he has a duty to obey the laws of the state simply because they are the laws. It has been said that we have the capacity to choose how to act. Still, this is not enough for one to take responsibility for his actions. Obligation to take responsibility for ones actions does not derive from the actors freedom of choice. Only because the actor has the capacity to reason about his choices can be said that he is held under a continuous obligation to take responsibility for them. For Kant moral autonomy is a combination of freedom and responsibilityà [9]à . Hence a responsible person is bound by any moral constraints he only should be the judge of them. It is possible to listen to the advice of others but in the end he will make the decision on his own by making sure for himself that it is a good adviceà [10]à . Therefore, there may be moral reasons for obeying the law but this does not imply a duty to obey the laws just because they are the laws. It rather shows a prima facie duty to obey the laws like that of keeping promises. The Anarchists Argument Following the neo-Kantian argument that people have a responsibility and a duty to act autonomously, political obligation is consistently illegitimate because it claims to replace any individual judgment. Kant supported that private judgment is more important than anything else and the welfare of single individuals should be above the need for some sort of authority. Based on this argument Robert Wolff in his work In Defense of Anarchism analyses the issue of how can moral autonomy ever be made compatible with political authority. He concludes that no comprehensive claim to political authority can be justified since it is incompatible with the requirement to act autonomously. Therefore according to Wolff, autonomy and political authority are genuinely incompatible. Yet, Kant himself does not imply in his use of the word autonomy any denial of the authoritativeness of the law. Wolff believes that the most appropriate model of society is where there are mutual agreements between indivi duals who are doing something because they want to do it and not by submitting to authority. Anarchism opposes the belief that authority and hierarchy are necessary in social relationships and argues for a society where authority and hierarchy are not needed. The most basic distinction between anarchist theories is that between a priori anarchism, which maintains that all possible states are morally illegitimate and a posteriori anarchism, which maintains that while all existing state are illegitimate this is not because it is impossible for there to be a legitimate stateà [11]à . There are two forms of anarchism. Political anarchism is divided into anarcho-collectivism, which focuses on the basic criteria of justice such as equality, fraternity and solidarity, and anarcho- individualism supports individual sovereignty and insists that no institution is entitled to restrict individual freedom. On the other hand philosophical anarchism does not only attack the state but follows the view that the very idea of legitimate political authority is inexistent. Therefore, no huma n being can rightfully exercise any authority over another individual and everyone should act based on their assessment of the situation. Wolffs philosophical anarchism supports that no authority possessed by a de facto authority is legitimate and therefore there is no way to establish any political obligationà [12]à . Anarchists attack the idea of legitimate authority in order to satisfy the statement of no compatibility. Wolffs version of philosophical anarchism is a good example of a priori anarchism. Wolff maintains that the authority which states must exercise is inconsistent with the autonomy of individuals that any legitimate state would have to respectà [13]à . They would have to comply with the law because it is the law but when someone complies with the law because it is the law then he forfeits his moral freedom; the liberty that each of us has to make his own mind about what he ought to do. Hence, the concept of a de jure legitimate state would appear to be vacuousà [14]à . Anarchist judgments of state illegitimacy are typically taken to entail that subjects of those illegitimate states have no political obligations. Accordingly, all subjects of all states are at moral liberty to treat laws as non-binding and governments as non-authoritativeà [15]à . Anarchists reach the con clusion that no government can be legitimate. Either we must be anarchists, or we must surrender our autonomy to whatever authority seems best at the moment. On Wolffs view contractual democracies are legitimate states but they gain their legitimacy through their citizens sacrifice of their autonomy. Henry Thoreau insisted that no individual should sacrifice his or her conscience to the judgment of politicians, elected or otherwise. This position denies that government can ever exercise rightful authority over the individual. In fact for Wolff no government is inherently or a priori better than another one, therefore, there is no reason why people should prefer a democracy to a dictatorship. In either case they lose their autonomyà [16]à . However, this view is not supported by everyone. As mentioned above doing something because it is the law (like arguing for a prima facie obligation to obey the law) is not sufficient reason of obedience. Then how about democracy? In a democratic society the citizen is both law giver and law maker, therefore autonomy is preserved as it is the citizen who authorizes the laws to which later he is required to submit toà [17]à . Wolff claims that democracy has no claim in the conflict because the person who finds himself in the minority rejects the alternative [when he voted] to find it forced upon him by a superior power. His will to be autonomous is frustrated because the will of the majority is placed upon him. However, the individual may recognize a moral obligation to obey the law but consider it to be a prima facie obligation. Since he reserves to himself in every case the decision whether the prima facie obligation is conclusive, then it can be said that he has reserved to himself the final decision as to whether to cooperat eà [18]à . On the other hand, Robert Nozick in his work Anarchy, State and Utopia welcomes an argument in favour of a minimal stateà limited to the narrow functions of protection against theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on. When a State takes on more responsibilities than these, Nozick says, rights will be violated.à In an effortà toà make a case forà the idea of a minimal State, Nozick illustrates that the minimalist State arises naturally from anarchy and that any expansion of State powerà beyond this minimalist threshold is unjustified.à Legitimate authority and political obligation are considered to be two sides of the same coin. For a state to be legitimate means that it has the right to issue and enforce directives. However, this is only possible if citizens are under a political obligation. As Simmons stated, if citizens do not have a prima facie obligation to obey the law then their governments do not have a right to promulgate and enforce ità [19]à . However, it does not follow that when a person is under political obligation that he should always obey the law. If this political obligation is prima facie then, does not this mean that moral considerations should always be taken into account when assessing the right course of action? If this is acceptable then there is not necessarily a conflict between political obligation and free will as a person must take into account his own considerations. One can have strong moral reasons for complying with directives issued by his government without owing any obligati ons to that government. But if we suppose that political obligation does not exist then what follows? A person can have moral constraints but as an autonomous man he should be the one deciding on these constraints. For example he can do what someone tells him but not because he told him; he must not submit to the will of others. In the same sense he may obey the law but not because it is the lawà [20]à . The duty to support the commonwealth implies a state of servitude which essentially is the requirement to obey commands, the nature of which is not known at the time the obligation is undertakenà [21]à . John Stuart Mill in his work On Liberty asserted that the only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilised community against his will is to prevent harm to otherà [22]à . In Mills view the law has no right to interfere with self-regarding actions; in his realm individuals are entitled to exercise unrestrained liberty. Lord Acton in his essays stated that liberty alone demands for its realization the limitation of public authority, fo r liberty is the only object which benefits all alike and provokes sincere opposition. Of course he was not an anarchist and this distinction is obvious as he speaks of limiting authority; an anarchist would speak of abolishing authority. When Wolff says constrained only by the dictated of his own will he means bound only by any prior commitments. Bakunin, an anarchist, stresses that the absence of any restraints or interferences is essential to liberty; that a persons human right consist in not obeying any other human being and not allow his actions to be determined by anyone but his own convictionsà [23]à . For him the state is the evil but it was historically necessary. Socrates suggested that there is a need to obey the commands (laws) of the polis. The commonwealth made Socrates free and he was arguing that he had a duty not to destroy or injure institutions which had made him free. However, even if the state made him free some flexibility is required by an institution in order for the individual to learn making the right choices and look for alternatives. Socrates argued that the duty to be autonomous and take responsibility for our actions does not abrogate our duty to be loyal to the state. Instead, our du ty of loyalty to the laws is valid only if our duty to be autonomous is. However, as long as the sphere of authority expands, liberty is necessarily constrained. Authority can be seen as a threat to reason and critical understanding since it demands unconditional, unquestioning obedienceà [24]à . The critics and a solution to the problem There are a number of critics who have argued that there is no necessary conflict between autonomy and authority. According to these critics, a morally autonomous individual takes responsibility for his actions by entering a reflective process in which he takes the final decision. But, individuals can still do this and then decide that they ought to follow the legitimate authorities. Therefore, there is no necessary conflict between the two. Plamenatz argued about a solution of the conflictà [25]à . He gave a modern version of consent as justification of political obligation. More concretely, he argued that in voting people consent to obey whoever is elected and that a vote constitutes a promise of obedience to the next government. Therefore, basically he argued for free will in deciding who to vote and taking responsibility of actions by accepting the result of the voting. An argument against this theory would be that it is irrational to consent in advance to whatever a government might do unless it was strictly specified in a manifesto whose terms would not be exceededà [26]à . By accepting the democratic system Plamenatz argues people also undertake the obligation to obey a government they have not voted for. Some could argue that it would be better to have free conscience rather than voting. The consent theory tries to make political obligation a result of free choice but then it over-interprets our act as vo ters to fill us with extensive moral obligationsà [27]à . Joseph Raz argues than an individual could have a duty to obey the law without having been bound himself to obey it. He argues that a person would have a duty to obey the law if it is most likely that he would do what he ought by obeying the law rather than following his independent judgmentà [28]à . However, by doing this it is not necessarily taking responsibility of his action but rather following someone else abdicated responsibility for his own actionsà [29]à . Individuals should act autonomously and since obeying someone else means he sees himself and his actions as someone elses responsibility, then someone would assume that no one could have a duty to obey anyone else. On the other hand, it could be argued that, this argument is not entirely correct. While someone obeying the law in this way is not exactly acting autonomously in doing so he may act responsibly. Although the individual does not judge for himself what the right thing to do is, he may judge if he should obey the law because by doing that he will be able to come closer to doing what he ought to do. Therefore, one could conclude that, a responsible subject follows the law not only for moral reasons but also as a result of his own deliberationà [30]à . Wolff, as well as other anarchists, would argue that by acting against your own evaluations is like doing what you believe to be wrong and that is impermissible. However, since any judgment about what to do rely on judgments about the likely consequences of ones possible actions, one may regard others as more competent than oneself at determining the consequences. Since he regards other evaluations better than his own then, one may rea sonably act on these instead of his own. Therefore, it is reasonable for an individual to obey someone elses dictates (i.e. the states) when they conflict with his own judgment. Otherwise, would it mean that when there is a clash between the demands of the state and the private interests or moral convictions of the people that disobedience should occurà [31]à ? Rawls in his work A theory of Justice he stated that sometimes civil disobedience may be justified since it depends upon the theory of political obligationà [32]à . There is an obligation to support just and efficient institutions which arises from our voluntary acts. Rawls assumes the social contract as a basis of political obligation and expresses that principles of justice should be those which free and rational men would agree to in an original position of equal liberty. Civil disobedience is non-violent and is justified as an attempt addressed to those holding the political power to correct any injustice. The exercise of authority is only appropriate when exercised in accordance with a constitution capable of being reasonably endorsed by the citizens. So can moral autonomy be compatible with political authority? Can the conflict be resolved and a solution be found? Since authority is the right to command and be obeyed and autonomy is the capacity to self-regulate ones actions there seems to be no compatibility between them. For Rousseau, human beings want to be free but at the same time they want the benefits of living in a society. But is it possible to find a form of association that defends and protects with all common forces the person and goods of each associate and by means of uniting with all, nevertheless obeys only himself and remains as free as before?à [33]à For Rousseau his theory of Social Contract is a solution for this conflict. Since the whole citizen is the sovereign it cannot have any interests contrary to the interests of the individuals who comprise it.à [34]à Jeffrey Reiman in an attempt to prove Wolff wrong by arguing for the legitimacy of classical democracy, he also supports the social contract arg ument. Classical anarchists such as Proudhon, Bakunin and Kropotkin rejected the claims of political obligation; however, they recognized that a healthy society demands sociable, cooperative and respectful behaviour from its membersà [35]à . Jean-Jacques Rousseau viewed democracy as the most important means through which humans can achieve freedom or autonomy in the sense of obedience to a law one subscribes to oneselfà [36]à . He insisted that citizens are only free when they participate directly and continuously in their communities. Individuals are only free when they make the laws which they obey. Is the conflict and incompatibility real? In conclusion, it appears that when autonomy is the duty of free will and responsibility of actions and political obligation is the duty to obey the law and therefore the obligatory imposition of rules upon citizens, there can be no co-existence between the two. By being autonomous it means to not accept any form of authority upon you and therefore no authority can be seen to be legitimate. Although, anarchists support this idea, many theorists are of the view that there can be compatibility between the two even if a level of autonomy needs to be sacrificed in order to accept authority and ensure security. If a state was not necessary then it would not have been created since every state is the creation of man. Political obligation is only a theory developed in order for a state to exist and function in a proper way. When even the greatest supporters of the conflict between the two theories such as Wolff depart from this long-supported theory of antinomyà [37]à it seems difficul t to support this anarchistic view of incompatibility and it is considered as an over-exaggeration of the issue.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Richard Lederer: His Works :: essays research papers fc
Richard Lederer: His Works Richard Lederer was once asked where he would get all these funny stories he answered: "Ever since I became a writer, I had found that questions the most difficult to answer and had only recently come up with an analogy that I thought would satisfy both my audience and me. Pouncing on the opportunity to unveil my spanking new explanation, I countered with, Where does the spider get its web? The idea, of course, was that the spider is not aware how it spins out its intricate and beautiful patterns with the silky material that is simply a natural part of itself. Asking a writer to account for the genesis of his or her ideas is as futile as asking a spider the source of its web and method of its construction." Richard Lederer Introduction and bibliography Richard Lederer was the kind of child who, almost as soon as he could talk, saw a butterfly and cooed, "Oh, goody. A butterfly will flutter by." Even as a high- school student, Richard knew that Elvis Presley, born three years before him, would become immortal because he recognized that "Elvis Lives" is a two-word anagram. Richard Lederer entered Haverford College as a pre-medical student but soon found that he was reading the chemistry books for their literary value. Mr. Lederer became an English major and then attended Harvard Law School, where he found that he read the law cases for their literary value. So rather than fighting his verbivorous instincts, He switched into a Masters of Arts and Teaching program at Harvard. That led to a position at St. Paul's School, in Concord, NH, where he taught English and media for 27 years. Richard Lederer said that he would have gladly served them for the rest of his days, but having earned a Ph.D. in English and Linguistics from the University of New Hampshire inspired him to write books on language. The enthusiastic and popular response to these books, beginning with ââ¬ËAnguished English', gave him the opportunity to leave the St. Paul's community to extend his mission to teach in the English language. More than a million of his books are in print, most with Pocket Books and Dell. Richard Lederer has a column, "Looking at Language," which reaches more than a million readers through newspapers and magazines across the United States. His books have been nominated for the Book-of-the-Month Club as well as appearing in the Literary Guild alternate selections, and, in addition, his work has received positive reviews from the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, National Review, and Reader's Digest.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Images, Symbols and Symbolism in Fahrenheit 451 :: Fahrenheit 451 Essays
Images and Symbols of Fahrenheit 451 Imagine a future in which all books are banned and censored in an attempt to keep the human race from thinking for themselves. Such a lifestyle is depicted in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This frightening world is one in which people are controlled by the government in every way. A number of restrictions are placed upon the people of this society. One of which is the prohibition of the possession and/or reading of literature. The firemen of this time are paid not to protect citizens from the danger of fires, but to burn all books to ashes. One fireman, by the name of Montag is (opened up to the ways of a life)<THIS IS VAUGE BE MORE SPECIFIC> in which people read, think, and live freely. Bradbury uses poetic devices throughout the novel to paint vivid images. Two of these poetic IMAGES are the use of fire and water WHICH portray different meanings. Bradbury refers to fire and its purpose on a number of occasions. To the firemen, fire symbolizes purification through the burning of books. This is ironic since such an act usually denotes destruction. Captain Beatty, chief of the fire department, believes that "fire is bright and fire is clean."(60) This belief develops when he explains to Montag the reasoning behind burning books. The reader is at this time given an image of Beatty, his character, and his way of thinking. In one instance, the flames were used to cleanse the fire department of its evils by its elimination of the chief. In this case, "Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on [Beatty]" until "he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling gibbering mannikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn."(119) A picture is created in the mind of the reader showing how Montag finally stands up for what he believes is right. Furthermore, when Montag set his own house ablaze, he undergoes an uncommon emotional experience in which he views the fire as a new starting point. The fire signifies Montag sterilizing his life by burning his house and "he felt himself gush out in the fire, snatch, rend, rip in half with flame, and put away the senseless problem."(116) This captures Montag in a stage of anger and frustration after his wife has left him and his chief is ready to arrest him.
Sms Banking
Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 SMS BASED SECURE MOBILE BANKING Manoj V, Bramhe Department of Information Technology, RTM Nagpur university St. Vincent Pallotti College of Engg. And Technology, Nagpur, India [emailà protected] com Abstractââ¬â M-banking has emerged as one of the main division of m-commerce. Mobile banking services consists of information inquiry, notifications and alerts, applications and payment transfer. Mobile based application is used for connecting customer handset with bank server for all such services.Current M-banking applications used by banks are facing security challenges for payment transfer banks are using secure payment gateway and other security measures which increases cost and infrastructure for bank but major day-to-day banking applications are inquiries, notifications and alerts. The problem with current banking applications is that they send data directly to customer in plain te xt form compromising with security. We present SMS based secure mobile banking which enhances security with minimum cost.In this approach bank hides customer transaction data is secure SMS using AES symmetric cryptographic algorithm and send it customer application supported handset. Customer application decrypts data in secure manner. Keywords: M-banking, MD5, AES, MPIN I. INTRODUCTION M-banking system is one which provides all daily banking operations to customer with one click of his mobile handset with supported application. M-banking system has potential to provide access or delivery of very specific and highly necessary information to customer as given in [2].Growth in the M-Banking is driven by various facilities like convenience of banking operations, greater reach to consumers and Integration of other m-commerce services with mobile banking. In M-banking there is no place restriction, it is highly penetration coefficient as growth of mobile phones are more than computers, i t is fully personalized and private increasing transaction authenticity and is 100% available all the time with users. However, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to completely utilize the benefits of the M-Banking like handset compatibility, security, scalability, reliability.Due to increase in use of mobile handsets for many m-commerce applications, Chances of mobile hacking for financial benefits are heavily increased. Currently mostly all banks in India and outside are sending text SMS directly to the customer handset for basic bank services without any security which can be accessed by any malicious person and can use this information for getting access to customer account. OTA (Over-the-air) mobile data can be hacked in network path from bank to customer mobile handset including MPIN, a password use for user identification in M-banking.Thus there is a need of secure and cost effective solution which can be easily provided on all types of handsets. Our objec tive is to provide cost effective, secure, fast M-banking solution combining features of cryptography. In this paper we have presented SMS based secure mobile banking with minimum cost using cryptography. II. M-BANKING CHANNELS M-banking can be executed using various channels like SMS, USSD, GPRS, WAP; Phone based Application, SIM Application. All of these channels are used separately or combined for various banking operations ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 472Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 A. Short Message Service (SMS) SMS is the simplest form of mobile banking. It is largely used for information-based services. SMS has the maximum reach amongst consumers since all the mobile phones support SMS. Short messages are stored and forwarded by SMS centres. These messages have some security issues. B. Unstructured Supplementary Services Delivery (USSD) USSD is a technology unique to GSM. It is a capability built into t he GSM standard for support of transmitting information over the signalling channels of the GSM network.USSD provides session-based communication. Turnaround response times for interactive applications are shorter for USSD than SMS. In USSD, the interaction is in the form of a continuous session as opposed to SMS. USSD is available on all handsets. C. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) GPRS is a packet-switched data service available to GSM users. GPRS enables services such as WAP access, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access in mobile phones. . WAP is wireless application protocol used over GPRS. It is similar to Internet banking.The consumerââ¬â¢s handset needs to be WAP enabled. WAP banking is open to similar threats as Internet banking. D. Phone-based Application Phone based applications are developed in various languages like J2ME, . NET having advantages that it can use GPRS, USSD or SMS, MMS to carry the consumer data/instruction in an encrypted format and it is operator independent. These are secure application which resides on supported handset. E. SIM Application Tool Kit The SIM Application Toolkit allows for the service provider or bank to house the consumerââ¬â¢s mobile banking menu within the SIM card. STK is the most secure method of mobile banking.It allows the bank to load its own encryption keys onto the SIM card with the bankââ¬â¢s own developed application. III. CURRENT M-BANKING Even though various channels are available for M-banking most of the banks uses SMS as basic and cheap channel for basic banking operations. Currently all banks in India like ICICI, HSBC, SBI etc are not using any encryption techniques in SMS based M-banking system. They are using simple text based SMS for customer queries in which they directly send account information to customer only hiding some digits of account number which can be easily ha cked by any hacker or seen by anyone from message inbox.Even though some banks do provide some other channel like GPRS and WAP but cost of implementation is more and these facilities are not available on all types of mobile handset thus there is a need of secure and cost effective solution which can be easily provided on all types of handsets. A. Issues in M-banking 1) Lack of Standards: The lack of standards gives rise to lot of local and fragmented versions of m-payments offered by different stakeholders. Standards need to address security and privacy concerns of customers as well as interoperability between various implementations. ) Device constraints: There are technical issues related to the mobile devices . The mobile phones suffers from various constrains like less processing power and memory, bandwidth, short battery life , frequent disconnections, tiny screens, poor resolution and privacy issues. 3) Security Issues: Securing m-Commerce is even more difficult than wired tra nsaction. Device constraints raise the questions as to whether there will be adequate security for users without compromising the ease of use and speed.Current real time M-banking application of various banks uses plain text messages without any security algorithm for sending data hence any malicious user can access customer important data on mobile and used it for malicious purpose thus direct sending of data is not suggestible for M-banking. SMS are prone to spoofing and there are issues related to SMS encryption. However technology manufacturers are developing improved security for applications with authentication and encryption technologies and many claims that the ISSN : 0975-4024Dec 2011- Jan 2012 473 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 transaction using mobile device is fully secure. There are many techniques for secure M-banking operations but major research work has been done on Cryptography and steganography techn iques. Cryptography is a process of converting plaintext data into cipher text using cryptographic algorithms. They insure basic security requirements like authentication, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation. B. Basics of Short Message ServiceShort Message Service (SMS) is the ability to send and receive text messages to and from mobile telephones. SMS was launched as a part of GSM1 standard. Each short message is up to 160 characters in length. The 160 characters can comprise of words, numbers, or punctuation symbols. Short Message Service is a store and forward service; this means that messages are not sent directly to the recipient but via a network SMS Centre. SMS comprises two basic point-to-point services as Mobile-originated short message (MO-SM) and Mobile-terminated short message (MT-SM).Mobile-originated short messages are transported from MOcapable handset to SMSC whereas Mobile-terminated short messages are transported from SMSC to the handsets. The figure no. 1 shows a typical organization of network elements in a GSM network supporting SMS. Fig. 1. Basic model of SMS based M-banking The benefits of SMS to subscribers are convenience, flexibility, and seamless integration of messaging services and data access, delivery of notifications and alerts, guaranteed message deliver, reliable, low-cost communication mechanism, increased subscriber productivity, delivery of messages to ultiple subscribers at a time. The SMSC (Short Message Service Centre) is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives or sends SMS. The SMSC usually has a configurable time limit for how long it will store the message. SMS Gateway SMS Gateway is an interface between software applications mobile networks.An SMS Gateway allows interfacing software applications to send and /or receive SMS messages over mobile network. A GSM Modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to signals for a GSM network and demodulates the incoming GSM signal and converts it to a digital signal for the computer or other digital device. IV. PROPOSED SOLUTION Current real time M-banking application of various banks uses plain text messages without any security algorithm for sending data in SMS banking hence any malicious user can access customer important data on mobile.Proposed secure M-banking is based on symmetric cryptographic techniques where common secret key is shared among bank customer and bank server. Proposed Architecture consists of 4 components as Customer Mobile application, Bank Server application, Bank side mobile / GSM Modem, Bank database and wireless OTA [1]. Our solution uses windows mobile as client application platform and . NET framework as server side software. Customer interested in using M-Banking facilities has to make registration only once with corresponding bank. Bank has all necessary details of customer in database.Bank sends Customerââ¬âside mobile application developed for windows mobile to user. Application will be installed once on windows mobile supported handset. This application consists of Login screen along with get session key option, menu screen for bank services options, and encryption and decryption screens for outgoing and incoming secure SMS and send message screen to send SMS to server GSM handset /Modem. Application will be updated as and when bank updates it. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 474 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479Bank will have GSM mobile Handset / GSM modem connected to bank application server. GSM handset will be connected to application server using either Bluetooth or USB cable having SIM card installed in it which has task of receiving, processing and replying customer SMS continuou sly. GSM handset/ modem are cheaper and can be easily installed but have slow speed for message handling which can be increased by connecting modem with SMSC centre over internet. Secure M-Banking server side application is developed in windows compatible environment like VB. NET which can be installed on bank application server.Application is consisting of SMS Service, Information Manage, Account Details Manage, User Request modules to receive and process secure encrypted message from customer mobile. SMS Service module is responsible for retrieving and replying secure SMS automatically whenever they reaches server GSM handset / Modem. Bank database consists of various tables storing customer details pertaining to his personal information, Account information and transaction information. Bank database stores customer confidential information like his MPIN, Mobile identification pin and encryption keys in encrypted and secure manner.We have discussed various major types of M-Banking channels as SMS, GPRS, WAP and USSD out of which every channel has own advantages and disadvantages. WAP and GPRS are good and provide session based security but they are handset dependent and also in rural part of India all mobile operators are not providing respective services. USSD is used along with SMS and requires separate infrastructure. Thus SMS channel is simple, easy to implement, cheaper and widely used channel which is device independent. Current SMS based M-banking service has many drawbacks s SMS is inherently developed in GSM for non-sensitive message transfer among users. Mutual authentication, text encryption, end-to-end security and non-repudiation is not present in design of GSM architecture [16]. Major issues with SMS based banking are SMS Spoofing which is an attack where malicious user sends out SMS message which appears to be sent by original sender. Current SMS architecture allows hiding original senderââ¬â¢s address by altering respective field in origin al SMS header. Also SMS has encryption only during path from base transreceiver station and mobile station. End-to-end encryption is not available.V. IMPLEMENTATION We have implemented proposed solution in . NET platform for windows mobile in windows environment. Customer mobile application in . NET framework runs on supported windows mobile handset for which we have used HTC mobile and bank server application is running in . NET along with any GSM handset connected in Bluetooth / USB mode to it. We have added secure SMS structure which provides extra security along with satisfying security parameters. This secure SMS will add extra security features like cryptographic and hashing algorithm to satisfy confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non-repudiation.Our system is based on secure SMS protocol and it uses SMS as media to send and receive encrypted information. . A. Secure SMS Message Structure The secured SMS message is divided into multiple fieldsââ¬â¢s to accommodat e for the various security checks required for the protocol. Figure no. 2 shows the structure overview for a secure SMS message. The use of each labelled structure is explained below. Account No. Session Key Cipher Text (6 digit) (Generated From MPIN) (Plain Text + MPIN) Message Digest Fig. 2. Secure SMS message Structure Secure SMS message structure proposed by us consists of 4 fieldsââ¬â¢s as shown in above figure.Account Number: ââ¬â It is customer account number in bank which is first field used for authentication purpose. This information is stored in plain test format so that at the server end, information can be retrieved to get required keys from database. Session key: ââ¬â It is onetime key randomly generated from customer MPIN inputted in bank server database during M-Banking registration process. This key is stored in 2nd field of message. Customer makes a request to get session key from his handset to bank server. Bank server will reply this with encrypted ses sion keys stored in file, which will be stored on customer handset. ISSN : 0975-4024Dec 2011- Jan 2012 475 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Cipher Text: ââ¬â This text is created from combination of plain text and MPIN and stored in 3rd filed of message structure. Main idea behind this is to protect data from malicious attacker. As MPIN is most important data and from which session keys are created to be used for encryption and decryption purpose, hence it s send in encrypted manner. Message Digest: ââ¬â Message digest is used for checking integrity. Customer message digest is calculated from combination of plain text and MPIN and stored in 4th field of secure SMS.MD5 algorithm is used to calculate message digest on both ends. This received digest will be compared with calculated digest at bank server end , if not found of same size then message will be discarded as fake transaction and no message will be send to mobile handset from which request is sent. B. Sending Secure SMS from Client Mobile Whenever customer wish to make any transaction using M-banking, he will run application installed on handset and provide all necessary details. We have used 6 transactions for testing purpose and information collected from user on his handset is used to generate secure SMS.After registration customer will get mobile application installed once on his windows mobile. Customer will enter 4-digit MPIN which will be stored in server database in encrypted format using his password. For non-repudiation purpose we have added concept of one time session key. Server uses customer MPIN to generate session key randomly and again stored them in encrypted format. Customer runs the banking application and feed details of 6-digit account number, 4-digit MPIN and 4digit password and click button to get session key. Server sends generated session key to customer handset which will be stored in encrypted format on his handset.Customer goes to menu screen, chooses requires account type and type of transaction he wish to perform and goes to next screen. Mobile client application shows 4 entries on next screen consisting of session key received, generated fixed plain text message depending upon transaction chosen, cipher text created from combination of plain text and MPIN and 4-part secure message. Secure SMS contains account number in plain text, session key in encrypted format, cipher text created from plain text and MPIN and message digest calculated from message.Customer will send message to sever using as normal message. C. Receiving and Replying Secure SMS from Server Module Proposed Server is running on computer installed with required software like VB. NET, Windows mobile device centre and SDK, . NET compact framework, MS-access and Server side application. Server side application has four modules as SMS Service, Information Manage, Transaction Manage and User Requests. SMS service module retrieves SMS received at Server side handset and decode it to get original query send by customer.Server application process query, get required data from bank database and then sends it in encrypted format to customer mobile through bank side modem. Whenever Customer sends any secure SMS containing his transaction query to server side GSM Modem, Server application automatically retrieves secure SMS and deletes it from server attached handset to avoid flooding of message inbox. We have used ActiveX control for this purpose. Bank Server application splits received secure SMS in same 4-parts. Server reads first part, a plain text 6-digit account number and compares it with database stored account number.If match is not found, it will send message ââ¬Å"Wrong Account Numberâ⬠to customer handset. If account match is found then server uses 2nd part of secure SMS, which is session key send by user to decrypt 3rd part of received secure SMS. After decrypting 3rd part of SMS, server application gets combination of plaintext as customer original transaction query followed by 4-digit MPIN. Server application compares received MPIN with stored MPIN from server table if a match is not found, will send message ââ¬Å"Wrong Pin Numberâ⬠to customer handset.Server calculates message digest of 3rd part received using MD5 algorithm and compare it with received massage digest, 4th part of secure SMS to check for message integrity. If match is not found, server generates message on server side ââ¬Å"Fake Transactionâ⬠and sends nothing to customer side handset as it may be off any malicious user. If all security checks are proper, Server application process query of customer and get required data from database encrypts data using session key received from customer and sends automatically to customer handset.VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS We have developed two applications for client and server side. Mobile client application is developed using . NET compact framewor k and VB. NET, installed on windows mobile supported HTC mobile device. This application is used by customer for various M-banking transactions to send encrypted secure SMS to bank ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 476 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Server and gets back encrypted reply from bank Server.Client and Server side application performs symmetric encryption and decryption using 256-bit AES symmetric encryption algorithm. MD5 algorithm is used for hashing purpose. Server side bank application is developed using VB. NET it uses SMS toolkit, an ActiveX control to retrieve and process secure SMS automatically. Server side application also contains certain modules for database management of customer account and transactions Normally symmetric cryptographic algorithm donââ¬â¢t have non-repudiation as both party shares common secret key but we have used session key concept for maintaining non-repudiation propert y of encryption.Since Session key is used only once and created randomly, no two users can have common session key and it is created from MPIN, a master key which customer only knows so he cannot deny that he has done transaction. We have carried out 6 types of transaction including Account Balance, Mini transactions, Cheque Book Request, Cheque Stop request, Pay Bill and Fund Transfer. Following are some sample client application module. The figure no. 3 shows session key, user query in fixed plain text format, cipher text generated from combination of plain text and his MPIN and 4-part secure SMS message generated as per format discussed.This last message is sent to server. Fig. 3. Generating 4-Part Secure Message This secure SMS is retrieved by server side SMS service module. Server application split message and decrypt it to get original transaction query of customer. This query is processed to get response data from database which is firstly encrypted and then send to customer handset. Customer handset get auto reply from server side in cipher text, which is decrypted on mobile by client side application to get server response in plain text. The Figure no. 4 shows response obtained automatically from server for account balance.This reply consists of 3 parts. First part is common session key used by server and client. Second part is cipher text received from server application in secure manner. Third part is plain text message obtained after decrypting secure message received from server. Client mobile application uses 256-bit AES algorithm to decrypt message using common session key. This message will be hidden from customer and he will only get final query results in plain text format but for result purpose we have shown this screen. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 477Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Fig. 4. Secure Reply from Server To be a secure system, it must satisfy Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity and Non-Repudiation Secure SMS system maintains confidentiality using AES cryptography and Non-Repudiation using session key. Here 3-factor authentication is used for authentication and security purpose whereas Message integrity is carried out using MD5 algorithm. VII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK We have implemented a secure SMS based Mobile Banking system.The system allows user to carry out all banking transaction securely from anywhere, anytime. All messages from user windows mobile are sent in encrypted format to bank server. Bank server decrypt message, process query and encrypt result in SMS. Server sends message to customer which will be decrypted on his handset. The evaluation of the system was studied for varying banking transaction and under various security threatening malicious activities were recorded. Performance of the transaction is studied. We have executed few banking transaction from HTC windows mobile and using VB.Net server side applicati on. We have used LG GSM mobile as server attached mobile device. Experiments shows that secure SMS Mobile banking provides cost effective and secure system with satisfying Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity and Non-Repudiation using symmetric cryptography. Application can be used on any windows mobile supported handset from anywhere as no GPRS and WAP are required. We have implemented system using symmetric key AES algorithm. In future better power consumption algorithm like blowfish can be tried out.Steganogrpahy can also be applied for secure M-banking transactions. We can use concept of STK, SIM application toolkit where bank can stored the application and encryption keys on SIM. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza and M. Hassan Shirali-Shahreza, ââ¬Å"Mobile banking Services in bank areaâ⬠, SICE Annual Conference 2007, Japan Martinez Borreguero, F. Javier and Chaparro Pelaez, Julian,â⬠Spanish Mobile Banking Services: An Adoption Studyâ⬠, Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Business 2005.Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza,â⬠Improving Mobile Banking Security Using Steganography ââ¬Å", International Conference On Information Technology. Przemyslaw Krol, Przemyslaw Nowak, Bartosz Sakowicz,â⬠Mobile Banking Services Based On J2ME/J2EEâ⬠, CADSMââ¬â¢2007. Yousuf S. AlHinai, Sherah Kurnia and Robert B. Johnston,â⬠Adoption of Mobile, Commerce Services by Individuals: A Meta-Analysis of the Literatureâ⬠, Sixth International Conference on the Management of Mobile Business . ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 478 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. (6), 2011, 472-479 [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] T N T Nguyen, P Shum and E H Chua,â⬠Secure end-to-end mobile payment Systemâ⬠. Ashutosh Saxena, Manik Lal Das and Anurag Gupta,â⬠MMPS: A Versatile Mobile-to-Mobile Payment Systemâ⬠, Proceedings of the International Conference On Mobile Business 2005. Iuon-Chang Lin and Yang-Bin Lin,â⬠An Efficient Steganography Scheme for M- Commerceâ⬠. Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza and M. Hassan Shirali-Shahreza, â⬠Text Steganography in SMSâ⬠, 2007 International Conference on Convergence Information Technology.Sandeep Singh Ghotra, Baldev Kumar Mandhan, Sam Shang Chun Wei, Yi Song, Chris Steketee, â⬠Secure Display and Secure Transactions Using a Handsetâ⬠, Sixth International Conference on the Management of Mobile Business. Jiehua Wang, Song Yuan, ââ¬Å"A Novel Security Mobile Payment System Based On Watermarked Voice Chequeâ⬠. M. Shirali-Shahreza, ââ¬Å"Stealth Steganography in SMSâ⬠, Proceedings of the third IEEE and IFIP International Conference on Wireless and Optical Communications Networks 2006.Kewin Chikomo, Ming Ki Chong, Alpan Arnab, Andrew Hutchison, ââ¬Å"Security of Mobile Bankingâ⬠. Dilla Salama Abdul Minaam. Hatem M. Abdul Kadir, Mohily Mohamed Hadhoud ,â⬠Evaluating the effects of Symmetric Cryptographic algorithms on Power Consumption for different data typesâ⬠, International Journal of Network Security, Volume 11, September 2010. Managing the Risk of Mobile Banking Technologies, Bankable Frontier Associates. Deshpande Neeta, kamalapur Snehal,â⬠Implementation of LSB Steganography and its Evaluation for various bitsâ⬠. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 479 Sms Banking Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 SMS BASED SECURE MOBILE BANKING Manoj V, Bramhe Department of Information Technology, RTM Nagpur university St. Vincent Pallotti College of Engg. And Technology, Nagpur, India [emailà protected] com Abstractââ¬â M-banking has emerged as one of the main division of m-commerce. Mobile banking services consists of information inquiry, notifications and alerts, applications and payment transfer. Mobile based application is used for connecting customer handset with bank server for all such services.Current M-banking applications used by banks are facing security challenges for payment transfer banks are using secure payment gateway and other security measures which increases cost and infrastructure for bank but major day-to-day banking applications are inquiries, notifications and alerts. The problem with current banking applications is that they send data directly to customer in plain te xt form compromising with security. We present SMS based secure mobile banking which enhances security with minimum cost.In this approach bank hides customer transaction data is secure SMS using AES symmetric cryptographic algorithm and send it customer application supported handset. Customer application decrypts data in secure manner. Keywords: M-banking, MD5, AES, MPIN I. INTRODUCTION M-banking system is one which provides all daily banking operations to customer with one click of his mobile handset with supported application. M-banking system has potential to provide access or delivery of very specific and highly necessary information to customer as given in [2].Growth in the M-Banking is driven by various facilities like convenience of banking operations, greater reach to consumers and Integration of other m-commerce services with mobile banking. In M-banking there is no place restriction, it is highly penetration coefficient as growth of mobile phones are more than computers, i t is fully personalized and private increasing transaction authenticity and is 100% available all the time with users. However, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to completely utilize the benefits of the M-Banking like handset compatibility, security, scalability, reliability.Due to increase in use of mobile handsets for many m-commerce applications, Chances of mobile hacking for financial benefits are heavily increased. Currently mostly all banks in India and outside are sending text SMS directly to the customer handset for basic bank services without any security which can be accessed by any malicious person and can use this information for getting access to customer account. OTA (Over-the-air) mobile data can be hacked in network path from bank to customer mobile handset including MPIN, a password use for user identification in M-banking.Thus there is a need of secure and cost effective solution which can be easily provided on all types of handsets. Our objec tive is to provide cost effective, secure, fast M-banking solution combining features of cryptography. In this paper we have presented SMS based secure mobile banking with minimum cost using cryptography. II. M-BANKING CHANNELS M-banking can be executed using various channels like SMS, USSD, GPRS, WAP; Phone based Application, SIM Application. All of these channels are used separately or combined for various banking operations ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 472Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 A. Short Message Service (SMS) SMS is the simplest form of mobile banking. It is largely used for information-based services. SMS has the maximum reach amongst consumers since all the mobile phones support SMS. Short messages are stored and forwarded by SMS centres. These messages have some security issues. B. Unstructured Supplementary Services Delivery (USSD) USSD is a technology unique to GSM. It is a capability built into t he GSM standard for support of transmitting information over the signalling channels of the GSM network.USSD provides session-based communication. Turnaround response times for interactive applications are shorter for USSD than SMS. In USSD, the interaction is in the form of a continuous session as opposed to SMS. USSD is available on all handsets. C. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) GPRS is a packet-switched data service available to GSM users. GPRS enables services such as WAP access, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access in mobile phones. . WAP is wireless application protocol used over GPRS. It is similar to Internet banking.The consumerââ¬â¢s handset needs to be WAP enabled. WAP banking is open to similar threats as Internet banking. D. Phone-based Application Phone based applications are developed in various languages like J2ME, . NET having advantages that it can use GPRS, USSD or SMS, MMS to carry the consumer data/instruction in an encrypted format and it is operator independent. These are secure application which resides on supported handset. E. SIM Application Tool Kit The SIM Application Toolkit allows for the service provider or bank to house the consumerââ¬â¢s mobile banking menu within the SIM card. STK is the most secure method of mobile banking.It allows the bank to load its own encryption keys onto the SIM card with the bankââ¬â¢s own developed application. III. CURRENT M-BANKING Even though various channels are available for M-banking most of the banks uses SMS as basic and cheap channel for basic banking operations. Currently all banks in India like ICICI, HSBC, SBI etc are not using any encryption techniques in SMS based M-banking system. They are using simple text based SMS for customer queries in which they directly send account information to customer only hiding some digits of account number which can be easily ha cked by any hacker or seen by anyone from message inbox.Even though some banks do provide some other channel like GPRS and WAP but cost of implementation is more and these facilities are not available on all types of mobile handset thus there is a need of secure and cost effective solution which can be easily provided on all types of handsets. A. Issues in M-banking 1) Lack of Standards: The lack of standards gives rise to lot of local and fragmented versions of m-payments offered by different stakeholders. Standards need to address security and privacy concerns of customers as well as interoperability between various implementations. ) Device constraints: There are technical issues related to the mobile devices . The mobile phones suffers from various constrains like less processing power and memory, bandwidth, short battery life , frequent disconnections, tiny screens, poor resolution and privacy issues. 3) Security Issues: Securing m-Commerce is even more difficult than wired tra nsaction. Device constraints raise the questions as to whether there will be adequate security for users without compromising the ease of use and speed.Current real time M-banking application of various banks uses plain text messages without any security algorithm for sending data hence any malicious user can access customer important data on mobile and used it for malicious purpose thus direct sending of data is not suggestible for M-banking. SMS are prone to spoofing and there are issues related to SMS encryption. However technology manufacturers are developing improved security for applications with authentication and encryption technologies and many claims that the ISSN : 0975-4024Dec 2011- Jan 2012 473 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 transaction using mobile device is fully secure. There are many techniques for secure M-banking operations but major research work has been done on Cryptography and steganography techn iques. Cryptography is a process of converting plaintext data into cipher text using cryptographic algorithms. They insure basic security requirements like authentication, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation. B. Basics of Short Message ServiceShort Message Service (SMS) is the ability to send and receive text messages to and from mobile telephones. SMS was launched as a part of GSM1 standard. Each short message is up to 160 characters in length. The 160 characters can comprise of words, numbers, or punctuation symbols. Short Message Service is a store and forward service; this means that messages are not sent directly to the recipient but via a network SMS Centre. SMS comprises two basic point-to-point services as Mobile-originated short message (MO-SM) and Mobile-terminated short message (MT-SM).Mobile-originated short messages are transported from MOcapable handset to SMSC whereas Mobile-terminated short messages are transported from SMSC to the handsets. The figure no. 1 shows a typical organization of network elements in a GSM network supporting SMS. Fig. 1. Basic model of SMS based M-banking The benefits of SMS to subscribers are convenience, flexibility, and seamless integration of messaging services and data access, delivery of notifications and alerts, guaranteed message deliver, reliable, low-cost communication mechanism, increased subscriber productivity, delivery of messages to ultiple subscribers at a time. The SMSC (Short Message Service Centre) is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives or sends SMS. The SMSC usually has a configurable time limit for how long it will store the message. SMS Gateway SMS Gateway is an interface between software applications mobile networks.An SMS Gateway allows interfacing software applications to send and /or receive SMS messages over mobile network. A GSM Modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to signals for a GSM network and demodulates the incoming GSM signal and converts it to a digital signal for the computer or other digital device. IV. PROPOSED SOLUTION Current real time M-banking application of various banks uses plain text messages without any security algorithm for sending data in SMS banking hence any malicious user can access customer important data on mobile.Proposed secure M-banking is based on symmetric cryptographic techniques where common secret key is shared among bank customer and bank server. Proposed Architecture consists of 4 components as Customer Mobile application, Bank Server application, Bank side mobile / GSM Modem, Bank database and wireless OTA [1]. Our solution uses windows mobile as client application platform and . NET framework as server side software. Customer interested in using M-Banking facilities has to make registration only once with corresponding bank. Bank has all necessary details of customer in database.Bank sends Customerââ¬âside mobile application developed for windows mobile to user. Application will be installed once on windows mobile supported handset. This application consists of Login screen along with get session key option, menu screen for bank services options, and encryption and decryption screens for outgoing and incoming secure SMS and send message screen to send SMS to server GSM handset /Modem. Application will be updated as and when bank updates it. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 474 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479Bank will have GSM mobile Handset / GSM modem connected to bank application server. GSM handset will be connected to application server using either Bluetooth or USB cable having SIM card installed in it which has task of receiving, processing and replying customer SMS continuou sly. GSM handset/ modem are cheaper and can be easily installed but have slow speed for message handling which can be increased by connecting modem with SMSC centre over internet. Secure M-Banking server side application is developed in windows compatible environment like VB. NET which can be installed on bank application server.Application is consisting of SMS Service, Information Manage, Account Details Manage, User Request modules to receive and process secure encrypted message from customer mobile. SMS Service module is responsible for retrieving and replying secure SMS automatically whenever they reaches server GSM handset / Modem. Bank database consists of various tables storing customer details pertaining to his personal information, Account information and transaction information. Bank database stores customer confidential information like his MPIN, Mobile identification pin and encryption keys in encrypted and secure manner.We have discussed various major types of M-Banking channels as SMS, GPRS, WAP and USSD out of which every channel has own advantages and disadvantages. WAP and GPRS are good and provide session based security but they are handset dependent and also in rural part of India all mobile operators are not providing respective services. USSD is used along with SMS and requires separate infrastructure. Thus SMS channel is simple, easy to implement, cheaper and widely used channel which is device independent. Current SMS based M-banking service has many drawbacks s SMS is inherently developed in GSM for non-sensitive message transfer among users. Mutual authentication, text encryption, end-to-end security and non-repudiation is not present in design of GSM architecture [16]. Major issues with SMS based banking are SMS Spoofing which is an attack where malicious user sends out SMS message which appears to be sent by original sender. Current SMS architecture allows hiding original senderââ¬â¢s address by altering respective field in origin al SMS header. Also SMS has encryption only during path from base transreceiver station and mobile station. End-to-end encryption is not available.V. IMPLEMENTATION We have implemented proposed solution in . NET platform for windows mobile in windows environment. Customer mobile application in . NET framework runs on supported windows mobile handset for which we have used HTC mobile and bank server application is running in . NET along with any GSM handset connected in Bluetooth / USB mode to it. We have added secure SMS structure which provides extra security along with satisfying security parameters. This secure SMS will add extra security features like cryptographic and hashing algorithm to satisfy confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non-repudiation.Our system is based on secure SMS protocol and it uses SMS as media to send and receive encrypted information. . A. Secure SMS Message Structure The secured SMS message is divided into multiple fieldsââ¬â¢s to accommodat e for the various security checks required for the protocol. Figure no. 2 shows the structure overview for a secure SMS message. The use of each labelled structure is explained below. Account No. Session Key Cipher Text (6 digit) (Generated From MPIN) (Plain Text + MPIN) Message Digest Fig. 2. Secure SMS message Structure Secure SMS message structure proposed by us consists of 4 fieldsââ¬â¢s as shown in above figure.Account Number: ââ¬â It is customer account number in bank which is first field used for authentication purpose. This information is stored in plain test format so that at the server end, information can be retrieved to get required keys from database. Session key: ââ¬â It is onetime key randomly generated from customer MPIN inputted in bank server database during M-Banking registration process. This key is stored in 2nd field of message. Customer makes a request to get session key from his handset to bank server. Bank server will reply this with encrypted ses sion keys stored in file, which will be stored on customer handset. ISSN : 0975-4024Dec 2011- Jan 2012 475 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Cipher Text: ââ¬â This text is created from combination of plain text and MPIN and stored in 3rd filed of message structure. Main idea behind this is to protect data from malicious attacker. As MPIN is most important data and from which session keys are created to be used for encryption and decryption purpose, hence it s send in encrypted manner. Message Digest: ââ¬â Message digest is used for checking integrity. Customer message digest is calculated from combination of plain text and MPIN and stored in 4th field of secure SMS.MD5 algorithm is used to calculate message digest on both ends. This received digest will be compared with calculated digest at bank server end , if not found of same size then message will be discarded as fake transaction and no message will be send to mobile handset from which request is sent. B. Sending Secure SMS from Client Mobile Whenever customer wish to make any transaction using M-banking, he will run application installed on handset and provide all necessary details. We have used 6 transactions for testing purpose and information collected from user on his handset is used to generate secure SMS.After registration customer will get mobile application installed once on his windows mobile. Customer will enter 4-digit MPIN which will be stored in server database in encrypted format using his password. For non-repudiation purpose we have added concept of one time session key. Server uses customer MPIN to generate session key randomly and again stored them in encrypted format. Customer runs the banking application and feed details of 6-digit account number, 4-digit MPIN and 4digit password and click button to get session key. Server sends generated session key to customer handset which will be stored in encrypted format on his handset.Customer goes to menu screen, chooses requires account type and type of transaction he wish to perform and goes to next screen. Mobile client application shows 4 entries on next screen consisting of session key received, generated fixed plain text message depending upon transaction chosen, cipher text created from combination of plain text and MPIN and 4-part secure message. Secure SMS contains account number in plain text, session key in encrypted format, cipher text created from plain text and MPIN and message digest calculated from message.Customer will send message to sever using as normal message. C. Receiving and Replying Secure SMS from Server Module Proposed Server is running on computer installed with required software like VB. NET, Windows mobile device centre and SDK, . NET compact framework, MS-access and Server side application. Server side application has four modules as SMS Service, Information Manage, Transaction Manage and User Requests. SMS service module retrieves SMS received at Server side handset and decode it to get original query send by customer.Server application process query, get required data from bank database and then sends it in encrypted format to customer mobile through bank side modem. Whenever Customer sends any secure SMS containing his transaction query to server side GSM Modem, Server application automatically retrieves secure SMS and deletes it from server attached handset to avoid flooding of message inbox. We have used ActiveX control for this purpose. Bank Server application splits received secure SMS in same 4-parts. Server reads first part, a plain text 6-digit account number and compares it with database stored account number.If match is not found, it will send message ââ¬Å"Wrong Account Numberâ⬠to customer handset. If account match is found then server uses 2nd part of secure SMS, which is session key send by user to decrypt 3rd part of received secure SMS. After decrypting 3rd part of SMS, server application gets combination of plaintext as customer original transaction query followed by 4-digit MPIN. Server application compares received MPIN with stored MPIN from server table if a match is not found, will send message ââ¬Å"Wrong Pin Numberâ⬠to customer handset.Server calculates message digest of 3rd part received using MD5 algorithm and compare it with received massage digest, 4th part of secure SMS to check for message integrity. If match is not found, server generates message on server side ââ¬Å"Fake Transactionâ⬠and sends nothing to customer side handset as it may be off any malicious user. If all security checks are proper, Server application process query of customer and get required data from database encrypts data using session key received from customer and sends automatically to customer handset.VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS We have developed two applications for client and server side. Mobile client application is developed using . NET compact framewor k and VB. NET, installed on windows mobile supported HTC mobile device. This application is used by customer for various M-banking transactions to send encrypted secure SMS to bank ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 476 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Server and gets back encrypted reply from bank Server.Client and Server side application performs symmetric encryption and decryption using 256-bit AES symmetric encryption algorithm. MD5 algorithm is used for hashing purpose. Server side bank application is developed using VB. NET it uses SMS toolkit, an ActiveX control to retrieve and process secure SMS automatically. Server side application also contains certain modules for database management of customer account and transactions Normally symmetric cryptographic algorithm donââ¬â¢t have non-repudiation as both party shares common secret key but we have used session key concept for maintaining non-repudiation propert y of encryption.Since Session key is used only once and created randomly, no two users can have common session key and it is created from MPIN, a master key which customer only knows so he cannot deny that he has done transaction. We have carried out 6 types of transaction including Account Balance, Mini transactions, Cheque Book Request, Cheque Stop request, Pay Bill and Fund Transfer. Following are some sample client application module. The figure no. 3 shows session key, user query in fixed plain text format, cipher text generated from combination of plain text and his MPIN and 4-part secure SMS message generated as per format discussed.This last message is sent to server. Fig. 3. Generating 4-Part Secure Message This secure SMS is retrieved by server side SMS service module. Server application split message and decrypt it to get original transaction query of customer. This query is processed to get response data from database which is firstly encrypted and then send to customer handset. Customer handset get auto reply from server side in cipher text, which is decrypted on mobile by client side application to get server response in plain text. The Figure no. 4 shows response obtained automatically from server for account balance.This reply consists of 3 parts. First part is common session key used by server and client. Second part is cipher text received from server application in secure manner. Third part is plain text message obtained after decrypting secure message received from server. Client mobile application uses 256-bit AES algorithm to decrypt message using common session key. This message will be hidden from customer and he will only get final query results in plain text format but for result purpose we have shown this screen. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 477Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Fig. 4. Secure Reply from Server To be a secure system, it must satisfy Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity and Non-Repudiation Secure SMS system maintains confidentiality using AES cryptography and Non-Repudiation using session key. Here 3-factor authentication is used for authentication and security purpose whereas Message integrity is carried out using MD5 algorithm. VII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK We have implemented a secure SMS based Mobile Banking system.The system allows user to carry out all banking transaction securely from anywhere, anytime. All messages from user windows mobile are sent in encrypted format to bank server. Bank server decrypt message, process query and encrypt result in SMS. Server sends message to customer which will be decrypted on his handset. The evaluation of the system was studied for varying banking transaction and under various security threatening malicious activities were recorded. Performance of the transaction is studied. We have executed few banking transaction from HTC windows mobile and using VB.Net server side applicati on. We have used LG GSM mobile as server attached mobile device. Experiments shows that secure SMS Mobile banking provides cost effective and secure system with satisfying Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity and Non-Repudiation using symmetric cryptography. Application can be used on any windows mobile supported handset from anywhere as no GPRS and WAP are required. We have implemented system using symmetric key AES algorithm. In future better power consumption algorithm like blowfish can be tried out.Steganogrpahy can also be applied for secure M-banking transactions. We can use concept of STK, SIM application toolkit where bank can stored the application and encryption keys on SIM. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza and M. Hassan Shirali-Shahreza, ââ¬Å"Mobile banking Services in bank areaâ⬠, SICE Annual Conference 2007, Japan Martinez Borreguero, F. Javier and Chaparro Pelaez, Julian,â⬠Spanish Mobile Banking Services: An Adoption Studyâ⬠, Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Business 2005.Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza,â⬠Improving Mobile Banking Security Using Steganography ââ¬Å", International Conference On Information Technology. Przemyslaw Krol, Przemyslaw Nowak, Bartosz Sakowicz,â⬠Mobile Banking Services Based On J2ME/J2EEâ⬠, CADSMââ¬â¢2007. Yousuf S. AlHinai, Sherah Kurnia and Robert B. Johnston,â⬠Adoption of Mobile, Commerce Services by Individuals: A Meta-Analysis of the Literatureâ⬠, Sixth International Conference on the Management of Mobile Business . ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 478 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. (6), 2011, 472-479 [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] T N T Nguyen, P Shum and E H Chua,â⬠Secure end-to-end mobile payment Systemâ⬠. Ashutosh Saxena, Manik Lal Das and Anurag Gupta,â⬠MMPS: A Versatile Mobile-to-Mobile Payment Systemâ⬠, Proceedings of the International Conference On Mobile Business 2005. Iuon-Chang Lin and Yang-Bin Lin,â⬠An Efficient Steganography Scheme for M- Commerceâ⬠. Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza and M. Hassan Shirali-Shahreza, â⬠Text Steganography in SMSâ⬠, 2007 International Conference on Convergence Information Technology.Sandeep Singh Ghotra, Baldev Kumar Mandhan, Sam Shang Chun Wei, Yi Song, Chris Steketee, â⬠Secure Display and Secure Transactions Using a Handsetâ⬠, Sixth International Conference on the Management of Mobile Business. Jiehua Wang, Song Yuan, ââ¬Å"A Novel Security Mobile Payment System Based On Watermarked Voice Chequeâ⬠. M. Shirali-Shahreza, ââ¬Å"Stealth Steganography in SMSâ⬠, Proceedings of the third IEEE and IFIP International Conference on Wireless and Optical Communications Networks 2006.Kewin Chikomo, Ming Ki Chong, Alpan Arnab, Andrew Hutchison, ââ¬Å"Security of Mobile Bankingâ⬠. Dilla Salama Abdul Minaam. Hatem M. Abdul Kadir, Mohily Mohamed Hadhoud ,â⬠Evaluating the effects of Symmetric Cryptographic algorithms on Power Consumption for different data typesâ⬠, International Journal of Network Security, Volume 11, September 2010. Managing the Risk of Mobile Banking Technologies, Bankable Frontier Associates. Deshpande Neeta, kamalapur Snehal,â⬠Implementation of LSB Steganography and its Evaluation for various bitsâ⬠. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 479
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