10,654 research outputs found

    The Viability and Potential Consequences of IoT-Based Ransomware

    Get PDF
    With the increased threat of ransomware and the substantial growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) market, there is significant motivation for attackers to carry out IoT-based ransomware campaigns. In this thesis, the viability of such malware is tested. As part of this work, various techniques that could be used by ransomware developers to attack commercial IoT devices were explored. First, methods that attackers could use to communicate with the victim were examined, such that a ransom note was able to be reliably sent to a victim. Next, the viability of using "bricking" as a method of ransom was evaluated, such that devices could be remotely disabled unless the victim makes a payment to the attacker. Research was then performed to ascertain whether it was possible to remotely gain persistence on IoT devices, which would improve the efficacy of existing ransomware methods, and provide opportunities for more advanced ransomware to be created. Finally, after successfully identifying a number of persistence techniques, the viability of privacy-invasion based ransomware was analysed. For each assessed technique, proofs of concept were developed. A range of devices -- with various intended purposes, such as routers, cameras and phones -- were used to test the viability of these proofs of concept. To test communication hijacking, devices' "channels of communication" -- such as web services and embedded screens -- were identified, then hijacked to display custom ransom notes. During the analysis of bricking-based ransomware, a working proof of concept was created, which was then able to remotely brick five IoT devices. After analysing the storage design of an assortment of IoT devices, six different persistence techniques were identified, which were then successfully tested on four devices, such that malicious filesystem modifications would be retained after the device was rebooted. When researching privacy-invasion based ransomware, several methods were created to extract information from data sources that can be commonly found on IoT devices, such as nearby WiFi signals, images from cameras, or audio from microphones. These were successfully implemented in a test environment such that ransomable data could be extracted, processed, and stored for later use to blackmail the victim. Overall, IoT-based ransomware has not only been shown to be viable but also highly damaging to both IoT devices and their users. While the use of IoT-ransomware is still very uncommon "in the wild", the techniques demonstrated within this work highlight an urgent need to improve the security of IoT devices to avoid the risk of IoT-based ransomware causing havoc in our society. Finally, during the development of these proofs of concept, a number of potential countermeasures were identified, which can be used to limit the effectiveness of the attacking techniques discovered in this PhD research

    One Small Step for Generative AI, One Giant Leap for AGI: A Complete Survey on ChatGPT in AIGC Era

    Full text link
    OpenAI has recently released GPT-4 (a.k.a. ChatGPT plus), which is demonstrated to be one small step for generative AI (GAI), but one giant leap for artificial general intelligence (AGI). Since its official release in November 2022, ChatGPT has quickly attracted numerous users with extensive media coverage. Such unprecedented attention has also motivated numerous researchers to investigate ChatGPT from various aspects. According to Google scholar, there are more than 500 articles with ChatGPT in their titles or mentioning it in their abstracts. Considering this, a review is urgently needed, and our work fills this gap. Overall, this work is the first to survey ChatGPT with a comprehensive review of its underlying technology, applications, and challenges. Moreover, we present an outlook on how ChatGPT might evolve to realize general-purpose AIGC (a.k.a. AI-generated content), which will be a significant milestone for the development of AGI.Comment: A Survey on ChatGPT and GPT-4, 29 pages. Feedback is appreciated ([email protected]

    A Design Science Research Approach to Smart and Collaborative Urban Supply Networks

    Get PDF
    Urban supply networks are facing increasing demands and challenges and thus constitute a relevant field for research and practical development. Supply chain management holds enormous potential and relevance for society and everyday life as the flow of goods and information are important economic functions. Being a heterogeneous field, the literature base of supply chain management research is difficult to manage and navigate. Disruptive digital technologies and the implementation of cross-network information analysis and sharing drive the need for new organisational and technological approaches. Practical issues are manifold and include mega trends such as digital transformation, urbanisation, and environmental awareness. A promising approach to solving these problems is the realisation of smart and collaborative supply networks. The growth of artificial intelligence applications in recent years has led to a wide range of applications in a variety of domains. However, the potential of artificial intelligence utilisation in supply chain management has not yet been fully exploited. Similarly, value creation increasingly takes place in networked value creation cycles that have become continuously more collaborative, complex, and dynamic as interactions in business processes involving information technologies have become more intense. Following a design science research approach this cumulative thesis comprises the development and discussion of four artefacts for the analysis and advancement of smart and collaborative urban supply networks. This thesis aims to highlight the potential of artificial intelligence-based supply networks, to advance data-driven inter-organisational collaboration, and to improve last mile supply network sustainability. Based on thorough machine learning and systematic literature reviews, reference and system dynamics modelling, simulation, and qualitative empirical research, the artefacts provide a valuable contribution to research and practice

    Comedians without a Cause: The Politics and Aesthetics of Humour in Dutch Cabaret (1966-2020)

    Get PDF
    Comedians play an important role in society and public debate. While comedians have been considered important cultural critics for quite some time, comedy has acquired a new social and political significance in recent years, with humour taking centre stage in political and social debates around issues of identity, social justice, and freedom of speech. To understand the shifting meanings and political implications of humour within a Dutch context, this PhD thesis examines the political and aesthetic workings of humour in the highly popular Dutch cabaret genre, focusing on cabaret performances from the 1960s to the present. The central questions of the thesis are: how do comedians use humour to deliver social critique, and how does their humour resonate with political ideologies? These questions are answered by adopting a cultural studies approach to humour, which is used to analyse Dutch cabaret performances, and by studying related materials such as reviews and media interviews with comedians. This thesis shows that, from the 1960s onwards, Dutch comedians have been considered ‘progressive rebels’ – politically engaged, subversive, and carrying a left-wing political agenda – but that this image is in need of correction. While we tend to look for progressive political messages in the work of comedians who present themselves as being anti-establishment rebels – such as Youp van ‘t Hek, Hans Teeuwen, and Theo Maassen – this thesis demonstrates that their transgressive and provocative humour tends to protect social hierarchies and relationships of power. Moreover, it shows that, paradoxically, both the deliberately moderate and nuanced humour of Wim Kan and Claudia de Breij, and the seemingly past-oriented nostalgia of Alex Klaasen, are more radical and progressive than the transgressive humour of van ‘t Hek, Teeuwen and Maassen. Finally, comedians who present absurdist or deconstructionist forms of humour, such as the early student cabarets, Freek de Jonge, and Micha Wertheim, tend to disassociate themselves from an explicit political engagement. By challenging the dominant image of the Dutch comedian as a ‘progressive rebel,’ this thesis contributes to a better understanding of humour in the present cultural moment, in which humour is often either not taken seriously, or one-sidedly celebrated as being merely pleasurable, innocent, or progressively liberating. In so doing, this thesis concludes, the ‘dark’ and more conservative sides of humour tend to get obscured

    People make Places

    Get PDF
    For centuries Glasgow, as a bucolic fishing village and ecclesiastical centre on the banks of the River Clyde, held little of strategic significance. When success and later threats came to the city, it was as a consequence of explosive growth during the industrial era that left a significant civic presence accompanied by social and environmental challenges. Wartime damage to the fabric of the city and the subsequent implementation of modernist planning left Glasgow with a series of existential threats to the lives and the health of its people that have taken time to understand and come to terms with. In a few remarkable decades of late 20th century regeneration, Glasgow began to be put back together. The trauma of the second half of the 20th century is fading but not yet a distant memory. Existential threats from the climate emergency can provoke the reaction “what, again?” However, the resilience built over the last 50 years has instilled a belief that a constructive, pro-active and creative approach to face this challenge along with the recognition that such action can be transformational for safeguarding and improving people’s lives and the quality of their places. A process described as a just transition that has become central to Glasgow’s approach. Of Scotland’s four big cities, three are surrounded by landscape and sea only Glasgow is surrounded by itself. Even with a small territory, Glasgow is still the largest of Scotland’s big cities and by some margin. When the wider metropolitan area is considered, Glasgow is – like Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool – no mean city. People make Places begins with a review of the concept and complexities of place, discusses why these matter and reviews the growing body of evidence that place quality can deliver economic, social and environmental value. The following chapters focus on the history and evolution of modern Glasgow in four eras of 19th and early 20th century industrialisation, de- industrialisation and modernism in mid 20th century, late 20th century regeneration and a 21st century recovery towards transition and renaissance, and document the process, synthesis and the results of a major engagement programme and to explore systematic approaches to place and consensus building around the principal issues. The second half of the work reflects on a stocktaking of place in contemporary Glasgow, looking at the city through the lenses of an international, metropolitan and everyday city, concluding with a review of the places of Glasgow and what may be learned from them revealing some valuable insights presented in a series of Place Stories included. The concluding chapter sets out the findings of the investigation and analysis reviewing place goals, challenges and opportunities for Glasgow over the decades to 2030 and 2040 and ends with some recommendations about what Glasgow might do better to combine place thinking and climate awareness and setting out practical steps to mobilise Glasgow’s ‘place ecosystem’

    Subsidiary Entrepreneurial Alertness: Antecedents and Outcomes

    Get PDF
    This thesis brings together concepts from both international business and entrepreneurship to develop a framework of the facilitators of subsidiary innovation and performance. This study proposes that Subsidiary Entrepreneurial Alertness (SEA) facilitates the recognition of opportunities (the origin of subsidiary initiatives). First introduced by Kirzner (1979) in the context of the individual, entrepreneurial alertness (EA) is the ability to notice an opportunity without actively searching. Similarly, to entrepreneurial alertness at the individual level, this study argues that SEA enables the subsidiary to best select opportunities based on resources available. The research further develops our conceptualisation of SEA by drawing on work by Tang et al. (2012) identifying three distinct activities of EA: scanning and search (identifying opportunities unseen by others due to their awareness gaps), association and connection of information, and evaluation and judgement to interpret or anticipate future viability of opportunities. This study then hypothesises that SEA leads to opportunity recognition at the subsidiary level and further hypothesises innovation and performance as outcomes of opportunity recognition. This research brings these arguments together to develop and test a comprehensive theoretical model. The theoretical model is tested through a mail survey of the CEOs/MDs of foreign subsidiaries within the Republic of Ireland (an innovative hub for foreign subsidiaries). This method was selected as the best method to reach the targeted respondent, and due to the depth of knowledge the target respondent holds, the survey can answer the desired question more substantially. The results were examined using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The study’s findings confirm two critical aspects of subsidiary context, subsidiary brokerage and subsidiary credibility are positively related to SEA. The study establishes a positive link between SEA and both the generation of innovation and the subsidiary’s performance. This thesis makes three significant contributions to the subsidiary literature as it 1) introduces and develops the concept of SEA, 2) identifies the antecedents of SEA, and 3) demonstrates the impact of SEA on subsidiary opportunity recognition. Implications for subsidiaries, headquarters and policy makers are discussed along with the limitations of the study

    Sponsorship of individual athletes in relation to the company’s marketing strategy

    Get PDF
    Abstract. Sports marketing is constantly evolving and its importance as a marketing tool is strengthening worldwide. As a result, sponsorship of individual athletes and personal brands have become strategic marketing tools for companies. The marketing strategy of companies should follow and support the overall strategy of the company, therefore marketing measures, such as, sponsorship should also follow and support the overall strategy. Previous research has examined sponsorship from the perspective of value creation as well as from the perspective of how sponsorship affects the corporate image and the benefits of sponsorship for stakeholders. In terms of strategy, sponsorship has been examined from the perspective of what kind of sponsorship strategies companies have. Sponsorship in general and the sponsorship of individual athletes as its sub-theme are still very little studied themes in Finland. Therefore, comprehensive data is required on how sponsorship can be utilized as a strategic tool in marketing. The aim of the study is to investigate how the sponsorship of individual athletes in Finland is linked to the marketing strategy of companies. Interviewing Finnish companies is of primary importance for researching this topic. The research follows an abductive process, which means that the existing literature is studied first, and the empirical analysis is conducted based on the formed theoretical framework. The research is a qualitative multiple-case study, and the empirical data is collected through five semi-structured interviews with company representatives of large and medium-sized enterprises of various business sectors. Based on the data, companies perceive individual athlete sponsorship either as an embedded part of a marketing strategy, as partially embedded marketing measure, or as not in relation to marketing strategy. This is influenced by factors, such as, industry, the size of the sponsorship agreement, the athletes’ own motivation, and the companies’ ability or inability to utilize individual athletes in the company’s marketing communications. Sponsorship of individual athletes was seen as a regionally significant factor from the perspective of corporate social responsibility

    An investigation of the geothermal potential of the Upper Devonian sandstones beneath eastern Glasgow

    Get PDF
    The urban development of the city of Glasgow is a consequence of its economic development, in part fuelled by local coalfields which exploited rocks in the same sedimentary basin within which geothermal resources in flooded abandoned mine workings, and deeper hot sedimentary aquifers (HSA), are present. This creates an opportunity to provide geothermal heating to areas of dense urban population with high heat demand. The depth of the target HSA geothermal resource, in Upper Devonian aged sandstones of the Stratheden Group, beneath eastern Glasgow was determined by gravity surveying and structural geological modelling. The estimated depth of the geothermal resource ranged from c.1500-2000 m, in the eastward deepening sedimentary basin. To reliably estimate the temperature of the geothermal resource, rigorous corrections to account for the effects of palaeoclimate and topography on heat flow were applied to boreholes in the Greater Glasgow area. The mean regional corrected heat flow was calculated as 75.7 mW m-2, an increase of 13.8 mW m-2 from the uncorrected value of 61.9 mW m-2, emphasising the extent to which heat flow was previously underestimated. Extrapolation of the geothermal gradient, calculated from the mean regional corrected heat flow, results in aquifer temperatures of c. 64-79 °C at depths of c.1500-2000 m beneath eastern Glasgow. The geothermal resource may, therefore, be capable of supporting a wide variety of direct heat use applications if sufficient matrix permeability or fracture networks are present. However, diagenetic effects such as quartz and carbonate cementation were found to restrict the porosity in Upper Devonian sandstones in a borehole and outcrop analogue study. These effects may likewise reduce porosity and intergranular permeability in the target aquifer, although this crucial aspect cannot be fully understood without deep exploratory drilling. To quantify the magnitude of the deep geothermal resource, the indicative thermal power outputs of geothermal doublet wells located in Glasgow’s East End were calculated for the first time, with outputs ranging from 1.3-2.1 MW dependent upon the aquifer depth. This, however, is predicated upon an aquifer permeability of c. 40 mD, which if reduced to 10 mD or less due to the effects of diagenesis, significantly reduces the thermal power outputs to 230-390 kW. The lack of assured project-success, given uncertainties related to the aquifer properties at depth, coupled with high capital costs of drilling, pose barriers to the development of deep geothermal energy in Glasgow. Further investigation of the economic viability of geothermal exploration, and alternative technological solutions is therefore required to mitigate the technical and economic risks. However, if sufficient matrix permeability or fracture networks are present at depth in the Upper Devonian sandstone sequence, then the potential contribution that geothermal energy could make to meeting local heat demand, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and addressing the ‘energy trilemma’ in Glasgow is significant

    Post-Millennial Queer Sensibility: Collaborative Authorship as Disidentification in Queer Intertextual Commodities

    Get PDF
    This dissertation is examining LGBTQ+ audiences and creatives collaborating in the creation of new media texts like web shows, podcasts, and video games. The study focuses on three main objects or media texts: Carmilla (web series), Welcome to Night Vale (podcast), and Undertale (video game). These texts are transmedia objects or intertextual commodities. I argue that by using queer gestures of collaborative authorship that reaches out to the audience for canonical contribution create an emerging queer production culture that disidentifies with capitalism even as it negotiates capitalistic structures. The post-millennial queer sensibility is a constellation of aesthetics, self-representation, alternative financing, and interactivity that prioritizes community, trust, and authenticity using new technologies for co-creation. Within my study, there are four key tactics or queer gestures being explored: remediation, radical ambiguity and multi-forms as queer aesthetics, audience self-representation, alternative financing like micropatronage & licensed fan-made merchandise, and interactivity as performance. The goal of this project is to better understand the changing conceptions of authorship/ownership, canon/fanon (official text/fan created extensions), and community/capitalism in queer subcultures as an indicator of the potential change in more mainstream cultural attitudes. The project takes into consideration a variety of intersecting identities including gender, race, class, and of course sexual orientation in its analysis. By examining the legal discourse around collaborative authorship, the real-life production practices, and audience-creator interactions and attitudes, this study provides insight into how media creatives work with audiences to co-create self-representative media, the motivations, and rewards for creative, audiences, and owners. This study aims to contribute towards a fuller understanding of queer production cultures and audience reception of these media texts, of which there is relatively little academic information. Specifically, the study mines for insights into the changing attitudes towards authorship, ownership, and collaboration within queer indie media projects, especially as these objects are relying on the self-representation of both audiences and creatives in the formation of the text
    corecore