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The design of software products or services with good user experience (UX) requires a good understanding of the people the product is intended for. One of the design processes that places emphasis on the needs of the people is the user-centered design process. This study creates a serious game as a tool to learn the user-centered design process in order to create awareness of user-centered design practices among UX and non-UX practitioners. To accomplish this, design science research methodology is adopted to allow creation of the game by describing the problem, defining the game requirements, designing and developing the game and finally demonstrating and evaluating it. The evaluation of the game was conducted in three main areas, one to assess the content of the game, the second to assess the functionality of the game and the third to assess the learning potential of the game. Based on the results of the evaluation conducted it is revealed that the content presented is adequate and the participants are able gain concepts about the user-centered design activities, the roles involved in such a process and the various UX techniques employed.

This thesis examines the vulnerabilities due to low-level implementation deficiencies of otherwise secure communication protocols in smart-cards. Smart-cards are considered to be one of the most secure, tamper-resistant, and trusted devices for implementing confidential operations, such as authentication, key management, encryption and decryption for financial, communication, security and data management purposes. The self-containment of smart-cards makes them resistant to attacks as they do not depend on potentially vulnerable external resources. As such, smart-cards are often incorporated in formally-verified protocols that require strong security of the cryptographic computations. Such a setting consists of a smart-card which is responsible for the execution of sensitive operations, and an Application Programming Interface (API) which implements a particular protocol. For the smart-card to execute any kind of operation there exists a confidential low-level communication with the API, responsible for carrying out the protocol specifications and requests. This communication is kept secret on purpose by some vendors, under the assumption that hiding implementation details enhances the system’s security. The work presented in this thesis analyses such low-level protocol implementations in smart-cards, especially those whose implementation details are deliberately kept secret. In particular, the thesis consists of a thorough analysis of the implementation of PKCS#11 and Bitcoin smart-cards with respect to the low-level communication layer. Our hypothesis is that by focusing on reverse-engineering the low-level implementation of the communication protocols in a disciplined and generic way, one can discover new vulnerabilities and open new attack vectors that are not possible when looking at the highest levels of implementation, thereby compromising the security guarantees of the smart-cards. We present REPROVE, a system that automatically reverse-engineers the low-level communication of PKCS#11 smart-cards, deduces the card’s functionalities and translates PKCS#11 cryptographic functions into communication steps. REPROVE deals with both standard-conforming and proprietary implementations, and does not require access to the card. We use REPROVE to reverse-engineer seven commercially available smart-cards. Moreover, we conduct a security analysis of the obtained models and expose a set of vulnerabilities which would have otherwise been unknown. To the best of our knowledge, REPROVE is the first system to address proprietary implementations and the only system that maps cryptographic functions to communication steps and on-card operations. To that end, we showcase REPROVE’s usefulness to a security ecosystem by integrating it with an existing tool to extract meaningful state-machines of the card’s implementations. To conduct a security analysis of the results we obtained, we define a threat model that addresses low-level PKCS#11 implementations. Our analysis indicates a series of implementation errors that leave the cards vulnerable to attacks. To that end, we showcase how the discovered vulnerabilities can be exploited by presenting practical attacks. The results we obtained from the PKCS#11 smart-card analysis showed that proprietary implementations commonly hide erroneous behaviours. To test the assumption that the same practice is also adopted by other protocols, we further examine the low-level implementation of the only available smart-card based Bitcoin wallets, LEDGER. We extract the different protocols that the LEDGER wallets implement and conduct a through analysis. Our results indicate a set of vulnerabilities that expose the wallets as well as the processed transactions to multiple threats. To that end, we present how we successfully mounted attacks on the LEDGER wallets that lead to the loss of the wallet’s ownership and consequently loss of the funds. We address the lack of well-defined security properties that Bitcoin wallets should conform to by introducing a general threat model. We further use that threat model to propose a lightweight fix that can be adopted by other, not necessarily smart-card-based, wallets.

[pt] O mercado de cartão de crédito no Brasil cresce ano após ano e as formas de utilização dos cartões também estão se modificando com o passar do tempo. Na atualidade, o cartão de crédito se tornou um meio de pagamento capaz de multiplicar a capacidade financeira de seu usuário, ou seja, se tornou um instrumento de alavancagem financeira. Dentro deste contexto, os estudantes universitários são um nicho extremamente atraente para a indústria dos cartões de crédito. Este estudo piloto objetivou elaborar um questionário para avaliar as variáveis determinantes do endividamento de estudantes universitários no cartão de crédito, adaptando a literatura estrangeira para a realidade do mercado de cartão de crédito brasileiro. O questionário elaborado foi aplicado em seis diferentes universidades no estado do Rio de Janeiro, no Brasil, e resultou em uma amostra de trinta e dois estudantes. Os dados coletados foram tabulados e tratados estatisticamente através do método de regressão linear múltipla. Os resultados apontaram que apenas uma das variáveis independentes elencadas teve significado estatístico e pode ser considerada como preditora do grau de alavancagem financeira dos estudantes. Esta variável foi o meio de pagamento de preferência. Em resumo, os estudantes que declararam preferir o cartão de crédito como meio de pagamento de preferência apresentaram maiores níveis de endividamento. / [en] The credit card market in Brazil is growing year after year and the way to use the cards is also changing over the time. Currently, the credit card has become a payment method which can multiply the financial capacity of its holder, in other words, it became an instrument of financial leverage. In this context, college students are a very attractive niche for the credit card industry. This initial study aimed to develop a questionnaire to evaluate the determinant variables of college student`s indebtedness in credit cards by adapting the foreign literature to the Brazilian credit card market reality. The questionnaire developed was distributed to students of six different colleges in the State of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, and resulted in a sample of thirty-two students. The collected data were tabulated and statistically treated by the multiple linear regression method. The results showed that only one of the independent variables listed was statistically significant and could be considered a predictor of the degree of financial leverage of the students. This variable was the preferred payment method. In short, students who expressed the preference for credit cards as a payment method had higher levels of indebtedness.

Submitted by Diogo Barreiros (diogo.barreiros@ufba.br) on 2017-02-09T18:53:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Castelo Branco Caldas Neto.pdf: 3406573 bytes, checksum: 989e2168ab7188877e29843add45876b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vanessa Reis (vanessa.jamile@ufba.br) on 2017-02-10T11:24:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Castelo Branco Caldas Neto.pdf: 3406573 bytes, checksum: 989e2168ab7188877e29843add45876b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-10T11:24:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Castelo Branco Caldas Neto.pdf: 3406573 bytes, checksum: 989e2168ab7188877e29843add45876b (MD5) / Atualmente, diversas transações que envolvem utilização de serviços governamentais, bancários ou comerciais são realizados eletronicamente e assinados de forma digital. No Brasil, desde 2001, documentos assinados com certificados digitais ICP-Brasil têm validade legal e, recentemente, têm se difundido muito devido a ações de fomento realizadas pelo governo que são visíveis em leis, normas e na utilização de documentos como e-CPF, e-CNPJ e doravante o Registro Único de Identidade Civil (RIC). Os documentos supracitados são cartões inteligentes (ou smart cards) que armazenam certificados digitais e, consequentemente, podem ser usados para realizar assinatura digital. Embora leitores de smart cards (também conhecidos como CAD – Card Acceptance Device) estejam populares e venham sendo utilizados, como é possível constatar, por exemplo, na Receita Federal e na Justiça Superior, a grande maioria os leitores de cartões inteligentes atualmente disponíveis funcionam apenas ligados a computadores pessoais. A grande popularização de tablets e telefones celulares inteligentes (ou smart phones) tem gerado uma forte tendência de utilização destes dispositivos móveis para a realização de transações eletrônicas como compras, transferências bancárias, envio de e-mails e outros. Dessa forma, é desejável assinar documentos digitalmente, através de um certificado digital armazenado em um cartão inteligente, a partir de um dispositivo móvel, como por exemplo, um celular. Este trabalho apresenta o projeto e implementação de um dispositivo leitor e escritor portátil de cartões inteligentes, denominado SCREADMOD (Smart Card Reader for Mobile Devices). Ele foi desenvolvido para ser acoplado e/ou utilizado de forma integrada com objetos inteligentes (celulares, computadores pessoais, tablets PC?s, etc.), que possam se comunicar utilizando a tecnologia de comunicação sem fios Bluetooth. Para demonstrar a viabilidade técnica do protótipo, um exemplo de aplicativo que executa sobre o sistema operacional móvel Android foi desenvolvido.

Esta Dissertação dedicou-se a problematizar as políticas governamentais do campo da saúde, as quais tomam como campo de intervenção a criança e a família. Desta forma, realiza uma análise do documento denominado Caderneta de Saúde da Criança. A construção da pesquisa e a formulação das indagações desta Dissertação de Mestrado buscaram sustentação teórica nos estudos realizados por Michel Foucault e/ou outros autores que trabalham dentro de uma perspectiva do pós-estruturalismo, bem como se inscreve dentro da Linha de Pesquisa Estudos sobre Infâncias. Buscando problematizar alguns dos enunciados sobre a saúde, educação e direitos da criança presentes no material de investigação desta Dissertação, a pesquisa objetivou analisar como tais políticas se tornam produtoras de verdades, configurando identidades tanto sobre infâncias quanto sobre suas famílias, por meio de múltiplos discursos. Através deste estudo, percebeu-se que tais discursividades, presentes na Caderneta se Saúde as Criança, podem ser compreendidas como ações de educação da família quanto ao manejo com a criança, de forma a garantir que esta administração sobre suas vidas constitua-se em um modo de „fazer viver‟ essa criança, investindo efetivamente em seu cuidado, gerência e proteção. / This Dissertation aims at problematizing government policies in the health field that take both the family and their children as a field for intervention. It carries out the analysis of a document called Child Health Card. The theoretical support for both the construction of this research and the formulation of questions of this Master‟s Dissertation are the studies by Michel Foucault and or other authors that work from the post-structuralist perspective. This work is linked to the Research Line called Studies of Childhoods. In an attempt to problematize some utterances about children‟s health, education and rights that are found in the investigation material of this Dissertation, the aim is to analyze how such policies have become truth producers, shaping identities of childhoods and families by means of multiple discourses. Through this study, one may notice that the discursivities found in the Child Health Card may be understood as actions for family education as to their ways of dealing with children, so as to make sure that this management of their lives becomes a way of “making these children live” by effectively investing in their care, management and protection.

The present study aimed at investigating the neuropsychological sequelae of transient ischaemic attacks. Transient ischaemic attacks are defined as those neurological disorders in which there is complete resolution of neurological symptoms within twenty·four hours. Transient ischaemic attacks may or may not reveal evidence of brain infarcts on imaging studies. In the present study, the neuropsychological sequelae of transient ischaemic attacks in the carotid circulation were investigated since, within the perspective of cognitive neuropsychology, it was assumed that localized changes in cognitive functions could be demonstrated.Since several psychological, medical and neurological factors are known to influence scores·on neuropsychological tests, regression analyses were performed to determine which factors contributed significantly to the variance of scores on neuropsychological tests in the transient ischaemic attack and control groups. Two transient ischaemic attack groups, each comprising forty left and forty right hemisphere involvement patients, were then compared with each other and with a control group of forty general medical patients. Stenosis of the carotid artery formed a significant predictor of test scores in the combined transient ischaemic attack group. When the groups were·analyzed independently, in the left transient ischaemic attack group stenosis predicted performance on the same tests reaching significance for the combined group, and for the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Perseverative Score). In the right transient ischaemic attack group, stenosis significantly predicted performance on Digits Forward, Backward and Total, the PASAT (2.4 seconds) and Trails B. On the other hand, education formed a significant predictor of performance on Digits Forward, Digits Backward and Digits Total and the PASAT (all levels) in the control group. Multivariate comparisons revealed that the left and right transient ischaemic attack groups performed worse than the controls on tests of attention, concentration and conceptual flexibi1ity. The left transient ischaemic attack group performed worse than the right transient ischaemic attack group on all tests of attention and concentration, but there was a significantly better performance of the former group on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (Trial 1), Block Designs and Verbal Fluency. The findings on the PASAT that left transient ischaemic attack patients performed significantly worse than the right hemisphere group ·were considered to be relatively unreported previously in the literature on transient ischaemic attacks. The findings obtained are discussed from a neurocognitive perspective of neuropsychological functioning in transient ischaemic attacks. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)

This study examines how the adoption of transformational leadership by the patriarchs in GCC elevates learning, innovative capabilities and competencies of employees to deliver differentiated products and retain competitive advantage. It aims to explain how the adoption of the following attributes allows a patriarch in a family firm to abandon autocratic practices, attain performance excellence and sustain growth: To explore the above, mixed method of research is used. It leads to the utilization of a questionnaire and indepth interview schedule. It facilitates the use of a Survey of 179 respondents and an interview of 12 participants. Multiple Regression Analysis and Content Analysis are used to assess the validity of the data obtained from the responses. The findings of the study reveal that the patriarchs in family firms realize the importance of embracing transformational leadership qualities to change and connect to employees emotionally, win their trust and loyalty. Focus these stimulates their passion to mentor employees, encourage creativity, demonstrate admirable behaviour, display of convictions, articulate vision, challenge assumptions, encourage creativity. The findings also clarify that over reliance on such leadership qualities may not help patriarch and family firms in the GCCC. Such reliance breeds a false sense of power and leadership, weakening unity of command, and promoting indiscipline and disorderly actions. They dampen collective competence and impair the desire to act in time and attain goals set. Such failure constricts abilities of family firms to compete and sustain growth in the region. Finally the study highlights the necessity to control such weaknesses. The motivation to alter these leads patriarchs to adopt transactional leadership qualities, namely contingent rewards and management-by exception, in conjunction with transformational leadership qualities. Their combined application influences the passion of employees to pursue judicious innovation, orderly measures to excel, surpass benchmarks set, compete and establish leadership in the GCC.

Em cenários políticos e socioeconômicos turbulentos e altamente competitivos, a Inteligência faz-se necessária como um processo que ajuda as organizações a reduzirem as incertezas durante a tomada de decisão e anteciparem mudanças que podem afetar sua performance e sustentabilidade competitiva. Apesar da relevância da atividade, o monitoramento de informações contínuo e estruturado ainda não é realidade na maior parte das companhias, devido à dificuldade de implantação, entendimento ou formalização do seu processo. Avaliar fatores que antecedem a adoção de uma atividade estruturada de Inteligência permite que as empresas reconheçam suas capacidades de realização do monitoramento, visando adicionalmente aprimorá-lo ou implementá-lo. Reconhece-se igualmente uma lacuna em termos de modelos avaliativos de condições que impedem ou impulsionam a prática de Inteligência. Neste sentido, foram levantados, a partir da literatura específica de pré-adoção de Sistemas de Informação e de Inteligência, construtos organizacionais, informacionais, individuais e tecnológicos/físicos que antecedem a implementação de um processo estruturado de Inteligência. Seis modelos de diagnóstico são apresentados e utilizados na consolidação de um framework com os principais fatores de préadoção, identificados e validados por meio de card sorting. Adicionalmente, utilizou-se o método Delphi para explorar a opinião de especialistas da área sobre quais desses fatores deveriam ser explorados em um roteiro de diagnóstico. Como resultado, uma lista de questões é proposta para que seja aplicada em organizações que desejam implantar ou aprimorar o processo de Inteligência. Avaliar previamente o apoio da alta gerência, a motivação dos profissionais envolvidos e a consciência sobre as oportunidades e ameaças que emergem do ambiente externo são alguns dos fatores de maior concordância entre os respondentes. / In turbulent and highly competitive scenarios, Intelligence is a major process that helps organizations to reduce uncertainties during decision making and anticipate changes that can affect their performance and sustainability. Despite the relevance of the activity, continuous and structured scanning processes are not a reality in most companies, due to the difficulty of implementing, understanding or formalizing it. Evaluate the factors that precede the adoption of a structured Intelligence activity allows companies to recognize their capabilities to perform monitoring, in order to further improve or implement it. A gap is also recognized in terms of tools to evaluate conditions that block or boosts the Intelligence process. Thus, organizational, informational, individual and technological/physical constructs that precede the implementation of a structured process of Intelligence have been drawn from the specific literature on the Information Systems and Intelligence pre-adoption. Six diagnostic models are presented to consolidate a framework with the main pre-adoption factors identified and validated by card sorting technique. The Delphi method was used to exploit opinions among experts to define which of these factors should compose a diagnostic question script. As a result, a list of issues is proposed to be applied to organizations that wish to deploy or enhance their Intelligence process. Prior evaluation of top management support, the motivation of people involved and consciousness from opportunities and threats that emerge from external environment are some of the pre-adoption factors of greater agreement among respondents.

This thesis deals with the issue of payment cards. The current situation of payment cards on the Czech market is described and statistically verified in the practical part. The analysisis performed using a questionnaire survey of customer and retailers. The aim of this thesis is using its own research to determine to what extent the payment cards in the Czech Republic used in retail.