The developments of satellite communication in network systems require strong and effective security plans. Attacks such as denial of service (DoS) can be detected through the use of machine learning techniques, especially under normal operational conditions. This work aims to provide an interruption detection strategy for Low Earth Orbit (\textsf{LEO}) satellite networks using deep learning algorithms. Both the training, and the testing of the proposed models are carried out with our own communication datasets, created by utilizing a satellite traffic (benign and malicious) that was generated using satellite networks simulation platforms, Omnet++ and Inet. We test different deep learning algorithms including Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), Gated Recurrent Units (GRU), and Long Short-term Memory (LSTM). Followed by a full analysis and investigation of detection rate in both binary classification, and multi-classes classification that includes different interruption categories such as Distributed DoS (DDoS), Network Jamming, and meteorological disturbances. Simulation results for both classification types surpassed 99.33% in terms of detection rate in scenarios of full network surveillance. However, in more realistic scenarios, the best-recorded performance was 96.12% for the detection of binary traffic and 94.35% for the detection of multi-class traffic with a false positive rate of 3.72%, using a hybrid model that combines MLP and GRU. This Deep Learning approach efficiency calls for the necessity of using machine learning methods to improve security and to give more awareness to search for solutions that facilitate data collection in LEO satellite networks.

A machine learning model, under the influence of observed or unobserved confounders in the training data, can learn spurious correlations and fail to generalize when deployed. For image classifiers, augmenting a training dataset using counterfactual examples has been empirically shown to break spurious correlations. However, the counterfactual generation task itself becomes more difficult as the level of confounding increases. Existing methods for counterfactual generation under confounding consider a fixed set of interventions (e.g., texture, rotation) and are not flexible enough to capture diverse data-generating processes. Given a causal generative process, we formally characterize the adverse effects of confounding on any downstream tasks and show that the correlation between generative factors (attributes) can be used to quantitatively measure confounding between generative factors. To minimize such correlation, we propose a counterfactual generation method that learns to modify the value of any attribute in an image and generate new images given a set of observed attributes, even when the dataset is highly confounded. These counterfactual images are then used to regularize the downstream classifier such that the learned representations are the same across various generative factors conditioned on the class label. Our method is computationally efficient, simple to implement, and works well for any number of generative factors and confounding variables. Our experimental results on both synthetic (MNIST variants) and real-world (CelebA) datasets show the usefulness of our approach.

In the classical setting of self-selection, the goal is to learn $k$ models, simultaneously from observations $(x^{(i)}, y^{(i)})$ where $y^{(i)}$ is the output of one of $k$ underlying models on input $x^{(i)}$. In contrast to mixture models, where we observe the output of a randomly selected model, here the observed model depends on the outputs themselves, and is determined by some known selection criterion. For example, we might observe the highest output, the smallest output, or the median output of the $k$ models. In known-index self-selection, the identity of the observed model output is observable; in unknown-index self-selection, it is not. Self-selection has a long history in Econometrics and applications in various theoretical and applied fields, including treatment effect estimation, imitation learning, learning from strategically reported data, and learning from markets at disequilibrium. In this work, we present the first computationally and statistically efficient estimation algorithms for the most standard setting of this problem where the models are linear. In the known-index case, we require poly$(1/\varepsilon, k, d)$ sample and time complexity to estimate all model parameters to accuracy $\varepsilon$ in $d$ dimensions, and can accommodate quite general selection criteria. In the more challenging unknown-index case, even the identifiability of the linear models (from infinitely many samples) was not known. We show three results in this case for the commonly studied $\max$ self-selection criterion: (1) we show that the linear models are indeed identifiable, (2) for general $k$ we provide an algorithm with poly$(d) \exp(\text{poly}(k))$ sample and time complexity to estimate the regression parameters up to error $1/\text{poly}(k)$, and (3) for $k = 2$ we provide an algorithm for any error $\varepsilon$ and poly$(d, 1/\varepsilon)$ sample and time complexity.

A key component of fact verification is thevevidence retrieval, often from multiple documents. Recent approaches use dense representations and condition the retrieval of each document on the previously retrieved ones. The latter step is performed over all the documents in the collection, requiring storing their dense representations in an index, thus incurring a high memory footprint. An alternative paradigm is retrieve-and-rerank, where documents are retrieved using methods such as BM25, their sentences are reranked, and further documents are retrieved conditioned on these sentences, reducing the memory requirements. However, such approaches can be brittle as they rely on heuristics and assume hyperlinks between documents. We propose a novel retrieve-and-rerank method for multi-hop retrieval, that consists of a retriever that jointly scores documents in the knowledge source and sentences from previously retrieved documents using an autoregressive formulation and is guided by a proof system based on natural logic that dynamically terminates the retrieval process if the evidence is deemed sufficient. This method is competitive with current state-of-the-art methods on FEVER, HoVer and FEVEROUS-S, while using $5$ to $10$ times less memory than competing systems. Evaluation on an adversarial dataset indicates improved stability of our approach compared to commonly deployed threshold-based methods. Finally, the proof system helps humans predict model decisions correctly more often than using the evidence alone.

Monitoring and managing Earth's forests in an informed manner is an important requirement for addressing challenges like biodiversity loss and climate change. While traditional in situ or aerial campaigns for forest assessments provide accurate data for analysis at regional level, scaling them to entire countries and beyond with high temporal resolution is hardly possible. In this work, we propose a method based on deep ensembles that densely estimates forest structure variables at country-scale with 10-meter resolution, using freely available satellite imagery as input. Our method jointly transforms Sentinel-2 optical images and Sentinel-1 synthetic-aperture radar images into maps of five different forest structure variables: 95th height percentile, mean height, density, Gini coefficient, and fractional cover. We train and test our model on reference data from 41 airborne laser scanning missions across Norway and demonstrate that it is able to generalize to unseen test regions, achieving normalized mean absolute errors between 11% and 15%, depending on the variable. Our work is also the first to propose a variant of so-called Bayesian deep learning to densely predict multiple forest structure variables with well-calibrated uncertainty estimates from satellite imagery. The uncertainty information increases the trustworthiness of the model and its suitability for downstream tasks that require reliable confidence estimates as a basis for decision making. We present an extensive set of experiments to validate the accuracy of the predicted maps as well as the quality of the predicted uncertainties. To demonstrate scalability, we provide Norway-wide maps for the five forest structure variables.

Current research on users` perspectives of cyber security and privacy related to traditional and smart devices at home is very active, but the focus is often more on specific modern devices such as mobile and smart IoT devices in a home context. In addition, most were based on smaller-scale empirical studies such as online surveys and interviews. We endeavour to fill these research gaps by conducting a larger-scale study based on a real-world dataset of 413,985 tweets posted by non-expert users on Twitter in six months of three consecutive years (January and February in 2019, 2020 and 2021). Two machine learning-based classifiers were developed to identify the 413,985 tweets. We analysed this dataset to understand non-expert users` cyber security and privacy perspectives, including the yearly trend and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied topic modelling, sentiment analysis and qualitative analysis of selected tweets in the dataset, leading to various interesting findings. For instance, we observed a 54% increase in non-expert users` tweets on cyber security and/or privacy related topics in 2021, compared to before the start of global COVID-19 lockdowns (January 2019 to February 2020). We also observed an increased level of help-seeking tweets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis revealed a diverse range of topics discussed by non-expert users across the three years, including VPNs, Wi-Fi, smartphones, laptops, smart home devices, financial security, and security and privacy issues involving different stakeholders. Overall negative sentiment was observed across almost all topics non-expert users discussed on Twitter in all the three years. Our results confirm the multi-faceted nature of non-expert users` perspectives on cyber security and privacy and call for more holistic, comprehensive and nuanced research on different facets of such perspectives.

The United States on Friday expressed alarm over a "full-scale defense partnership" between Russia and Iran, describing it as "harmful" to Ukraine, Iran's neighbors and the world. Iran stands accused by Western powers of supplying drones to Russia for its war against Ukraine, as Moscow batters the country's energy infrastructure in search of an advantage in the bloody conflict. Washington has previously condemned Iran-Russia security cooperation, but on Friday described an extensive relationship involving equipment such as drones, helicopters and fighter jets. "Russia is seeking to collaborate with Iran in areas like weapons development, training," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Moscow "is offering Iran an unprecedented level of military and technical support -- that is transforming their relationship into a fully fledged defense partnership," he said.

This Digital Health News industry roundup includes a new online course for young people to build skills for a future career in care, a milestone for digital-first healthcare-at-home company Cera and the integration of Ibex Medical Analytics' AI platform with Source BioScience's pathology network. A partnership between Babyl – a subsidiary of Babylon – and Novo Nordisk will help contribute to the expansion of diabetes awareness and care in Rwanda through community engagement and skills building using digital technology. Babyl's existing infrastructure and digital tech will be used to offer digital consultations to patients across Rwanda. Patients who then receive a confirmed diagnosis will be guided to the correct level of care by a doctor or nurse. This could include medication or a referral for further tests.

China plans to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in the fields of nuclear energy, nuclear security and space exploration, President Xi Jinping said on Friday, showcasing his nation's strengthening ties with a region that was once firmly in the U.S. sphere of influence. Mr. Xi was speaking in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, at a summit with rulers and officials from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates -- during a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia. Later on Friday, he held his third and final summit of the visit with other Arab and African leaders. Both China and Saudi Arabia described Mr. Xi's visit this week as a historic event ushering in a new era of relations between Beijing and the Middle East, a region that once had a mainly oil-based relationship with China, a major consumer of the Gulf's fossil fuel exports. Arab states are increasingly building broader ties with China that extend into arms sales, technology transfers and infrastructure projects.

Qatar's World Cup has seen the round-of-16 games. Now, it is time for the quarter-finals. Among the biggest shocks during the World Cup this year have been the games that former champions – Brazil, Spain, Argentina and Germany – did not win. This tournament also saw teams playing for Africa, Asia, and North America represented in the round of 16 along with traditional football powerhouses South America and Europe. But behind the great football spectacle, there has been a battle taking place at the Al Jazeera offices.