Peyton Kelly Research Notebook

[pkelly55]

Welcome to my research notebook.

Idea: Using django to build a framework for IP address authentication and security.

[pkelly55]

Update: 9/29

Tasks completed:

• have my login form built using django.
• the modules that I am using for my geolocation data for the ips are set up in my code
• site is able to be hosted locally
• data to cross reference the input IP address is found.

I met with OBC on Monday of this week and we discussed new ideas and routes this project may take. Currently it is being built as a framework to look at IPs and see the risk that could be associated with an incoming connection and see if those IP addresses are allowed to be looking at the information past the login.

[pkelly55]

My next tasks include finding more literature on cutting edge tech in this field.

[pkelly55]

Network Social Hour 9/29:
I spoke to numerous peers, faculty, and alumni. I was able to speak with President Ron about his opinion on remote vs in-person work. He said he is much more inclined to work in person because of the connection and Wi-Fi as we know right now is unstable. I was able to meet with OBC about my project as well and give an update to my projects status, providing the status with the virtual environment and how to ultimately package the final product via Docker possibly. I was also able to speak with Colton McCurdy about his time in the industry and how he was helpful in Software Engineer where he was our industry professional for the class.

[pkelly55]

October 6 Project feasibility week: My project site is up locally with the login forms with basic authentication. I have my functions to gain the meta data from the user request. They are properly implemented except I am at a wall with how the data is stored in the django db.sqlite3. Once by that obstacle, I will add the data from IP2Location data sets that were found weeks previous. The upcoming time to try and finish a prototype would be to meet with TLs and first and second readers, about the database entry from django and data flow of the user meta data.

[pkelly55]

Update Jan 29: Many things have changed in my project since my last writing but it is important to note that the overarching ideas have not changed. I have built Django application and have it working on all environments using a virtual environment to begin running the server. The Database will be primarily used as a place to store business reports. The reasons behind making it for business purchasing is because my boss was kicking the idea around of having a solution to remove the paper waste for purchasing reports that need to be secure. Surprisingly the coding part has gotten less stressful because the tool does not just break for whatever reasons. MYSql and its Workbench have helped me in visualizing the verification processes and finding out malicious login attempts.

[pkelly55]

UPDATE: Jan 31 After my meeting with OBC yesterday we were able to come up with a feasible tract to get my project to have more physical security to the database.The future features to my project that will be getting implemented will be: a form of two factor Authentication, a requests listener for checking for unusual activity and the responsibility of the Administrator.

[pkelly55]

Update Feb 5: My project can now be built using docker and waiting for more testing to be done to see how others can build the project. I am think about using Heroku to deploy the site online and have a basic Procfile. Would need to be granted access to organization to deploy. The logic to block certain IP's and locations to the site is rudimentary but it works. Would like to talk more about methods section in upcoming meetings.

[pkelly55]

Update Feb 9: After my meeting with OBC earlier in the week we discussed my methods and how it can be constructed and what parts are needed. After thoughtful discussion I mapped out a slight draft of my methods and what can others can follow to reproduce the work. Along with discussion of future implementations or future work of machine learning and diagnostics that could be done to enhance the project.

[pkelly55]

Update Feb 20: I was unable to meet OBC on today's date because of a conflict. However there are some updates that would be good to note. Experiments section/ with results is being completed. Along with the finishing up of experimental testing. I have used some of the tools like figma to draft up some images and work flows of how my project is maintained and at a macro level, trying to showcase what the tools are and how they interact with each other.

[pkelly55]

Update Feb 12: After discussion with Professor Kapfhammer, we discussed my evaluation metrics along with possible future use with FastAPI. The discussion was very informative and helpful in reducing worries about the comp itself. With discussion about why to use Django for its out of the box dashboards. Also another future implementation that was brought up in the talk was single sign on (SSO) using google or another source like google that would authenticate the user because of the linked account. I described my reasoning for not using SSO because if this was to be used, accounts would be made my the admin who has secure access to the dashboard and create accounts for the needed user.

[pkelly55]

After meeting with OBC on Friday the 22nd of March, I began to map out my presentation slides for the defense. I have the ideas of Explaining IP and its creator Vint Cerf followed by the methods of my project, Evaluation metrics, and results with a conclusion. After experimenting with taking out the block logic in production I gained some real data about visitors to the site that include bad actors and probable bot activity from Poland. With this taking out the logic resulted in no bad accounts being created or no data was maliciously added.

[pkelly55]

I have gone through and combed through the data collected and created a graph that will be used to explain results, This graph will be added to the thesis upon getting feedback after I give the defense.