1,256 research outputs found
Characterizing Key Stakeholders in an Online Black-Hat Marketplace
Over the past few years, many black-hat marketplaces have emerged that
facilitate access to reputation manipulation services such as fake Facebook
likes, fraudulent search engine optimization (SEO), or bogus Amazon reviews. In
order to deploy effective technical and legal countermeasures, it is important
to understand how these black-hat marketplaces operate, shedding light on the
services they offer, who is selling, who is buying, what are they buying, who
is more successful, why are they successful, etc. Toward this goal, in this
paper, we present a detailed micro-economic analysis of a popular online
black-hat marketplace, namely, SEOClerks.com. As the site provides
non-anonymized transaction information, we set to analyze selling and buying
behavior of individual users, propose a strategy to identify key users, and
study their tactics as compared to other (non-key) users. We find that key
users: (1) are mostly located in Asian countries, (2) are focused more on
selling black-hat SEO services, (3) tend to list more lower priced services,
and (4) sometimes buy services from other sellers and then sell at higher
prices. Finally, we discuss the implications of our analysis with respect to
devising effective economic and legal intervention strategies against
marketplace operators and key users.Comment: 12th IEEE/APWG Symposium on Electronic Crime Research (eCrime 2017
Adversarial behaviours knowledge area
The technological advancements witnessed by our society in recent decades have brought
improvements in our quality of life, but they have also created a number of opportunities for
attackers to cause harm. Before the Internet revolution, most crime and malicious activity
generally required a victim and a perpetrator to come into physical contact, and this limited
the reach that malicious parties had. Technology has removed the need for physical contact
to perform many types of crime, and now attackers can reach victims anywhere in the world, as long as they are connected to the Internet. This has revolutionised the characteristics of crime and warfare, allowing operations that would not have been possible before. In this document, we provide an overview of the malicious operations that are happening on the Internet today. We first provide a taxonomy of malicious activities based on the attackerâs motivations and capabilities, and then move on to the technological and human elements that adversaries require to run a successful operation. We then discuss a number of frameworks that have been proposed to model malicious operations. Since adversarial behaviours are not a purely technical topic, we draw from research in a number of fields (computer science, criminology, war studies). While doing this, we discuss how these frameworks can be used by researchers and practitioners to develop effective mitigations against malicious online operations.Published versio
Psychological Profiling of Hacking Potential
This paper investigates the psychological traits of individualsâ attraction to engaging in hacking behaviors (both ethical and illegal/unethical) upon entering the workforce. We examine the role of the Dark Triad, Opposition to Authority and Thrill-Seeking traits as regards the propensity of an individual to be interested in White Hat, Black Hat, and Grey Hat hacking. A new set of scales were developed to assist in the delineation of the three hat categories. We also developed a scale to measure each subjectâs perception of the probability of being apprehended for violating privacy laws. Engaging in criminal activity involves a choice where there are consequences and opportunities, and individuals perceive them differently, but they can be deterred if there is a likelihood of punishment, and the punishment is severe. The results suggest that individuals that are White Hat, Grey Hat and Black Hat hackers score high on the Machiavellian and Psychopathy scales. We also found evidence that Grey Hatters oppose authority, Black Hatters score high on the thrill-seeking dimension and White Hatters, the good guys, tend to be Narcissists. Thrill-seeking was moderately important for White Hat hacking and Black hat hacking. Opposition to Authority was important for Grey Hat hacking. Narcissism was not statistically significant in any of the models. The probability of being apprehended had a negative effect on Grey Hat and Black Hat hacking. Several suggestions will be made on what organizations can do to address insider threats
Dark Traits and Hacking Potential
This paper investigates the psychological traits of individuals' attraction to engaging in hacking behaviors (both ethical and illegal/unethical) upon entering the workforce. A new set of scales have been developed to assist in the delineation of the three hat categories. We have also developed a scale to measure each subject's perception of the probability of being apprehended for violating privacy laws. The results suggest that white hat, grey hat, and black hat hackers score high on the Machiavellian and psychopathy scales. We also found evidence that grey hatters oppose authority, black hatters score high in the thrill-seeking dimension, and white hatters, the good guys, tend to be narcissists. Thrill-seeking was moderately important for white hat and black hat hacking, and opposition to authority was significant for grey hat hacking. Narcissism was not statistically significant in any of the models. A perceived probability of being apprehended had a negative effect on both grey hat and black hat hacking. Additional models were explored to examine the relationships among the research variables
Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns
Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse
Distributed Ledger Technologies for Network Slicing: A Survey
Network slicing is one of the fundamental tenets of Fifth Generation (5G)/Sixth Generation (6G) networks. Deploying slices requires end-to-end (E2E) control of services and the underlying resources in a network substrate featuring an increasing number of stakeholders. Beyond the technical difficulties this entails, there is a long list of administrative negotiations among parties that do not necessarily trust each other, which often requires costly manual processes, including the legal construction of neutral entities. In this context, Blockchain comes to the rescue by bringing its decentralized yet immutable and auditable lemdger, which has a high potential in the telco arena. In this sense, it may help to automate some of the above costly processes. There have been some proposals in this direction that are applied to various problems among different stakeholders. This paper aims at structuring this field of knowledge by, first, providing introductions to network slicing and blockchain technologies. Then, state-of-the-art is presented through a global architecture that aggregates the various proposals into a coherent whole while showing the motivation behind applying Blockchain and smart contracts to network slicing. And finally, some limitations of current work, future challenges and research directions are also presented.This work was supported in part by the Spanish FormaciĂłn Personal Investigador (FPI) under Grant PRE2018-086061, in part by the TRUE5G under Grant PID2019-108713RB-C52/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and in part by the European Union (EU) H2020 The 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5GPPP) 5Growth Project 856709.Publicad
Reframing the Role of Companies in Sustainability: Toward business sustainability transitions
KestÀvÀstÀ tulevaisuudesta on tullut ÀÀneen lausuttu yhteiskunnallinen tavoite. Ottaen huomioon yritysten merkittÀvÀn aseman tÀmÀn pÀivÀn yhteiskunnissa, se, miten ne kehystÀvÀt oman roolinsa suhteessa kestÀvÀÀn kehitykseen ja kÀsillÀ oleviin kestÀvyyden haasteisiin, kuten ilmastonmuutokseen, ihmisoikeusrikkomuksiin ja tautipandemioihin, vaikuttaa keskeisesti tavoitteen toteutumiseen.
KestÀvÀn tulevaisuuden tavoittelu edellyttÀÀ laaja-alaisia muutoksia nykyisiin tuotantoja kulutustapoihin, mikÀ johtaa myös yritysten roolin uudelleentarkasteluun. Tutkimukseen perustuva ymmÀrryksemme yritysten uudenlaisista rooleista ja toimista kestÀvyyden edistÀmiseksi on kuitenkin vielÀ jÀsentymÀtön. Vaikka kestÀvyys nÀkyykin yhÀ useamman yrityksen arvoissa, ovat yritysten aikaansaamat parannukset kestÀvyyden kentÀssÀ vielÀ melko pienimuotoisia ja siten usein riittÀmÀttömiÀ. Myös kestÀvyyteen kytkeytyvÀt liiketoimintamahdollisuudet pysyvÀt useimpien yritysten ulottumattomissa.
TÀmÀ tutkimus tarkastelee yritysten roolia suhteessa kestÀvyyteen moninÀkökulmaisesti. NeljÀ toisiaan tÀydentÀvÀÀ nÀkökulmaa (strategia, johtaminen, yhteisluominen ja holistisuus) luodaan erillisjulkaisuissa, jotka yhdessÀ tÀmÀn kokoomaosion kanssa muodostavat vÀitöskirjan. Erillisjulkaisut tarttuvat tutkimusilmiöön eri metodologisin keinoin, jotka sosiaalisen konstruktionismin paradigma ja laadullinen tutkimusote sitovat yhteen. Teoreettisesti yritysten roolia tarkastellaan markkinointi- ja transitiokirjallisuuden muodostamien linssien lÀpi.
Kokonaisuutena vÀitöstutkimus tarjoaa nÀkökulmia siihen, miten yritykset voivat uudelleenkehystÀÀ (reframe) roolinsa suhteessa kestÀvyyteen kolmella keskeisellÀ osa-alueella. NÀmÀ osa-alueet; liiketoimintastrategia, johtamisen aktiviteetit ja yhteisluomisen kÀytÀnteet, toimivat joko uudistumisen lÀhteenÀ tai sen esteenÀ yrityksissÀ. Tutkimus ehdottaa, ettÀ uudelleenkehystÀmÀllÀ roolinsa yritykset voivat vahvistaa strategista asemaansa tulevaisuuden markkinoilla sekÀ edistÀÀ nykyisten tuotanto- ja kulutustapojen siirtymiÀ kohti taloudellista, ekologista ja sosiaalista kestÀvyyttÀ markkinoilla tapahtuvan vuorovaikutuksen kautta.
NĂ€itĂ€ siirtymiĂ€ kuvaamaan tutkimuksessa luodaan kĂ€site liiketoiminnan transitio kestĂ€vyyteen, joka muodostaa työn teoreettisen kontribuution. Liikkeenjohtajille vĂ€itöskirja tuo uusia keinoja tarttua yhteiskuntia ja liike-elĂ€mÀÀ koetteleviin kestĂ€vyyden ongelmiin ja mahdollisuuksiin. Tutkimuksessa luodaan uudelleenkehystĂ€misen kuutio, joka toimii metaforisena työkaluna johtajille. Kuutio kokoaa yhteen kestĂ€vyyden eri osa-alueet, jotka yritysjohtajien tulee tunnistaa ja saattaa tasapainoon, ja joiden avulla he voivat johtaa liiketoiminnan transitioita kohti kestĂ€vyyttĂ€. VĂ€itöstutkimuksen tuloksia hyödyntĂ€mĂ€llĂ€ yritykset voivat menestyksekkÀÀsti kasvaa kestĂ€vĂ€n tulevaisuuden ajureiksi.The ways in which companies address sustainability today shape the future for businesses, societies, and ecosystems at large. Yet, companies keep addressing the worldâs most serious evolving challenges with varying degrees of concern, urgency, and strategic importance for as long as their role in relation to sustainability remains unclear. To develop a broader business commitment to sustainability and participate in tackling grand challenges such as climate change, human rights violations, the widening wealth gap, and disease outbreaks, companies need to rethink their current role of being in relation with the world that is facing mounting environmental, social, and economic pressures.
The purpose of this dissertation is, therefore, to explore the role of companies in relation to sustainability from multiple viewpoints. The four articles comprising the dissertation represent such viewpointsâstrategy, management, co-creation, and holisticâthat, together with this introductory part, provide a broad and timely outlook on companiesâ role.
Theoretically, this dissertation combines the previously disconnected fields of marketing and sustainability transition to create a lens through which companiesâ role is explored.
Methodologically, the articles use different methods but are bound together by a social constructionist research philosophy and a qualitative research strategy. Altogether, the primary data were generated from interviews with 13 managers and top executives and 25 millennial consumers in the Finnish business environment. The secondary data consist of annual reports, sustainability documents, and other public materials.
Basing on the insights gleaned from the articles, this dissertation proposes reframing as a method for companies to break out of their old roles and enact new responses to sustainability. Reframing can expand horizons and capacity for action by bringing the two frames of business and sustainability together. Reframingâthat is, making new interpretations of a current situation and creating novel responsesâis suggested to be particularly useful in three organizational areas, namely business strategies, management activities, and co-creation practices.
By conceptualizing a new construct, business sustainability transition, the dissertation makes its main theoretical contribution to the sustainability transition literature. The new construct captures the fundamental, system-wide sustainability improvements that companies can initiate in their business environment through purposeful marketplace interactions.
The key managerial takeaways are provided in the form of the Reframing Cube. As a metaphorical tool, the Cube can help managers think and address sustainability in new ways that can readily be translated into actions. While letting go of the old ways of being in relation with the world is not easy, it is suggested that by reframing their role in sustainability, companies can reap strategic advantages while facilitating much-needed business sustainability transitions. Therefore, companies are key actors in shaping our common future for economically healthier, environmentally friendlier, and socially more balanced modes of production and consumption
The Influencer Industry: Constructing And Commodifying Authenticity On Social Media
The most buzzed-about figure in twenty-first century marketing thus far has been the âdigital influencer,â industry vernacular for the bloggers, Instagrammers, Pinners, and other social media users whoâagainst the backdrop of widespread economic and professional instabilityâdeliver curated content to audiences on social media and earn income by collaborating with major brands. Driving the rise of this phenomenon have been (1) individuals who want to be recognized as persuasive online (2) advertisers who increasingly direct their budgets to social media, where influencersâ âauthentic,â personality-inflected content has proven potent for selling product (3) social media
companies whose tools and rules both advance and encumber these activities and (4) marketing agencies and other marketing-related entities, such as talent agencies and trend forecasters, that build metrics platforms to measure influence, select influencers for advertising campaigns, negotiate deals between influencers and retail brands, and espouse the many benefits of expressing oneself âauthenticallyâ online in tandem with corporate sponsors. The precipitous development of an industry around these activities has, since the late 2000s, propelled billions of dollars into the social media economy and helped instigate a chain of events that have and continue to fundamentally change the production of culture. Drawing on 28 in-depth interviews, an analysis of more than 2000 press articles, and participant observation at industry events, this dissertation examines how the above stakeholders construct and negotiate the meaning, value, and practical use of digital influence as they reimagine it as a commodity for the social media ageâa commodity whose value shifts in accordance with ever-changing industrial rubrics for cultivating and evaluating authenticity. The dissertation also provides necessary historical-cultural context to the rise of the influencer industry, elucidating its complex roots that predate the digital era. Throughout, I show how in an era where authenticity is increasingly elusive, and trustâs and influenceâs meanings as cultural ideals and functions as social
processes are muddied, the influencer industry struggles to pin these concepts down, stabilize and define them, and make money off of these definitions. To this end, the actors involved in the influencer system work together in a variety of ways both intentional and unintentional, with social, industrial, and cultural consequences. These consequences include who can succeed, the shape of technological innovation and regulation, and products themselves. The study offers theoretical and methodological provocations to scholars of influence and authenticity to consider these conceptsâ industrially constructed, contextually dependent nature. It also sheds light on practical issues impacted by social- and data-driven consumerism
- âŠ