Harri Renney^1,*, Maxim Nethercott¹, Nathan Renney², Peter Hayes¹

Journal on Artificial Intelligence, Vol.8, pp. 231-257, 2026, DOI:10.32604/jai.2026.078487 - 17 April 2026

Abstract This paper provides systemisation on the emerging design patterns and paradigms for Large Language Model (LLM)-enabled multi-agent systems (MAS), evaluating their practical utility across various domains, bridging academic research and industry practice. We define key architectural components, including agent orchestration, communication mechanisms, and control-flow strategies, and demonstrate how these enable rapid development of modular, domain-adaptive solutions. Three real-world case studies are tested in controlled, containerised pilots in telecommunications security, national heritage asset management, and utilities customer service automation. Initial empirical results show that, for these case studies, prototypes were delivered within two weeks and pilot-ready More >

Benedict Djouboussi^1,*, Elie Fute Tagne^1,2

Journal of Cyber Security, Vol.8, pp. 171-187, 2026, DOI:10.32604/jcs.2026.079617 - 15 April 2026

Abstract The Distributed Network Protocol 3 (DNP3) is widely deployed in SCADA-based microgrids; however, it was not originally designed to meet the cybersecurity requirements of modern decentralized energy infrastructures. Although DNP3 Secure Authentication (DNP3-SA) introduces HMAC-based session-level protection, it does not ensure fragment-level integrity, leaving the protocol vulnerable to fragmentation disruption, replay attacks, and sequence manipulation. Such vulnerabilities can cause desynchronization between master and outstation devices, compromising the operational reliability of distributed energy resources. This paper proposes DNP3Chain, a blockchain-enabled framework that provides real-time fragment-level validation and enforces end-to-end message integrity in DNP3 communications. An OpenDNP3-based… More >

Kuen-Suan Chen^1,2,3, Tsai-Sung Lin⁴, Ruey-Chyn Tsaur^4,*, Minh T. N. Nguyen⁵

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.87, No.3, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2026.079476 - 09 April 2026

Abstract As artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, edge computing, and blockchain are increasingly integrated into long-term care (LTC) services, policymakers face complex and often non-compensatory trade-offs among affordability, workforce sustainability, service reliability, and data governance. Conventional compensatory evaluation models tend to mask critical structural weaknesses and limiting their usefulness for Smart LTC policy assessment. This study proposes and applies a Fuzzy Trade-Off-Aware Scoring with Conflicts (Fuzzy TASC) framework to evaluate Smart LTC system performance. Four digital-integration configurations—conventional cloud-based LTC, AI+IoT, AI+Edge, and AI+Blockchain—were compared across 12 OECD countries. A Monte Carlo perturbation procedure was incorporated… More >

Waqar Ali¹, May Altulyan², Ghulam Farooque³, Siyuan Li⁴, Jie Shao^4,5,*

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.87, No.3, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2026.078599 - 09 April 2026

Abstract Federated recommender systems (FedRS) enable collaborative model training while preserving user privacy, yet they remain vulnerable to adversarial attacks, unreliable client updates, and misaligned incentives in decentralized environments. Existing approaches struggle to jointly preserve personalization, robustness, and trust when user data are highly non-IID and recommendation quality is governed by ranking-oriented objectives. To address these challenges, we propose a Trustworthy Federated Recommender System (T-FedRS) that extends federated neural collaborative filtering by integrating a ranking-aware reputation mechanism and a lightweight blockchain layer for transparent incentive allocation. Personalization is preserved through locally maintained user embeddings, while item parameters… More >

Taimoor Hassan¹, Ibrar Hussain^1,*, Hafiz Mahfooz Ul Haque², Hamid Turab Mirza³, Muhammad Nadeem Ali⁴, Byung-Seo Kim^4,*, Changheun Oh⁴

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.87, No.3, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2026.077510 - 09 April 2026

Abstract The expeditious proliferation of the smart computing paradigm has a remarkable upsurge towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistive reasoning with the incorporation of context-awareness. Context-awareness plays a significant role in fulfilling users’ needs whenever and wherever needed. Context-aware systems acquire contextual information from sensors/embedded sensors using smart gadgets and/or systems, perform reasoning using reinforcement learning (RL) or other reasoning techniques, and then adapt behavior. The core intention of using an RL-based reasoning strategy is to train agents to take the right actions at the right time and in the right place. Generally, agents are rewarded for… More >

Hamed Alqahtani¹, Gulshan Kumar^2,*

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.87, No.3, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2026.077367 - 09 April 2026

Abstract Large Language Models (LLMs) are becoming integral components of modern cybersecurity ecosystems, simultaneously strengthening defensive capabilities while giving rise to a new class of Artificial Intelligence–Generated Content (AIGC)-driven threats. This PRISMA-guided systematic review synthesises 167 peer-reviewed studies published between 2022 and 2025 and proposes a unified threat–defence–evaluation taxonomy as a central analytical framework to consolidate a previously fragmented body of research. Guided by this taxonomy, the review first examines AIGC-enabled threats, including automated and highly personalised phishing, polymorphic malware and exploit generation, jailbreak and adversarial prompting, prompt-injection attack vectors, multimodal deception, persona-steering attacks, and large-scale… More >

Chung-Wei Kuo^1,2,*, Cheng-Xuan Wu¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.87, No.3, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2026.076767 - 09 April 2026

Abstract The rapid proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) has not only reshaped the digital ecosystem but also significantly widened the attack surface, leading to a surge in network traffic and diverse security threats. Deploying effective defense mechanisms in such environments is challenging, as conventional Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) often struggle to balance computational efficiency with the reliable detection of low-frequency, high-impact threats, particularly within the tight resource constraints of edge devices. To address these limitations, we propose a lightweight, high-efficiency IDS framework specifically optimized for edge-based IoT applications, incorporating Mutual Information (MI)-based feature selection… More >

Malik Al-Essa^1,*, Mohammad Qatawneh^2,1, Ahmad Sami Al-Shamayleh³, Orieb Abualghanam¹, Wesam Almobaideen^4,1

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.87, No.3, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2026.076608 - 09 April 2026

Abstract Machine Learning (ML) intrusion detection systems (IDS) are vulnerable to manipulations: small, protocol-valid manipulations can push samples across brittle decision boundaries. We study two complementary remedies that reshape the learner in distinct ways. Adversarial Training (AT) exposes the model to worst-case, in-threat perturbations during learning to thicken local margins; Counterfactual Augmentation (CF-Aug) adds near-boundary exemplars that are explicitly constrained to be feasible, causally consistent, and operationally meaningful for defenders. The main goal of this work is to investigate and compare how AT and CF-Aug can reshape the decision surface of the IDS. eXplainable Artificial Intelligence More >

Jun Qi^1,*, Chao Yang², Xinliu Wang², Junyou Yang¹, Haixin Wang¹, Huaqin Chen^2,3, Zhenyan Li³

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.87, No.3, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2026.076511 - 09 April 2026

Abstract With the diversification of electricity trading forms driven by distributed energy technologies, the continuous growth of blockchain’s chained data structure poses dual challenges to traditional B+ tree indexes in terms of query efficiency and storage costs. This paper proposes a sliding window-based learned index construction method (SW-LI). The method consists of two key components. First, block timestamp–height samples are selected using a sliding window and used to train a linear regression model that captures the timestamp-to-height mapping. Second, an adaptive window adjustment mechanism is introduced: when the prediction error within a window exceeds a threshold,… More >

Raed Alotaibi^1,*, Muhammad Atta Othman Ahmed², Omar Reyad^3,4,*, Nahla Fathy Omran⁵

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.87, No.3, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2026.076156 - 09 April 2026

Abstract The widespread use of social media has made assessing users’ tastes and preferences increasingly complex and important. At the same time, the rapid dissemination of misinformation on these platforms poses a critical challenge, driving significant efforts to develop effective detection methods. This study offers a comprehensive analysis leveraging advanced Machine Learning (ML) techniques to classify news articles as fake or true, contributing to discourse on media integrity and combating misinformation. The suggested method employed a diverse dataset encompassing a wide range of topics. The method evaluates the performance of five ML models: Artificial Neural Networks… More >