Command & Control: Understanding, Denying and Detecting - A review of malware C2 techniques, detection and defences

In this survey, we first briefly review the current state of cyber attacks, highlighting significant recent changes in how and why such attacks are performed. We then investigate the mechanics of malware command and control (C2) establishment: we provide a comprehensive review of the techniques used by attackers to set up such a channel and to hide its presence from the attacked parties and the security tools they use. We then switch to the defensive side of the problem, and review approaches that have been proposed for the detection and disruption of C2 channels. We also map such techniques to widely-adopted security controls, emphasizing gaps or limitations (and success stories) in current best practices.Comment: Work commissioned by CPNI, available at c2report.org. 38 pages. Listing abstract compressed from version appearing in repor

Feature generation for optimization of marketing campaign

Abstract. Utilizing the gaming data for optimizing the entire gaming paradigm has revolutionized the thought process of developers and gamers alike. The significance of the gaming data can be judged from the fact that it is being used productively by the marketing agencies to develop algorithms that could predict the behavior of a certain gamer and the reaction to updates. The core idea behind the solution proposed and implemented in this thesis is focused on making the marketing campaigns more impactful. According to the facts from credible online resources, i.e., Statista.com, the business-to-business (B2B) organizations spent over $12.3 billion on marketing campaigns. Since one of the major aims of a marketing campaign is customer acquisition, which is also referred to as demand generation, measuring the success rate of the marketing campaign is also of great importance. Besides, the conventional Customer Relation Managers (CRMs) don’t have such features using which, the businesses can monitor the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. The system this thesis proposes aims to analyze the gaming data, which can be used to extract features for refined marketing campaigns. To analyze and precisely classify the gaming data, this thesis proposes an algorithm running behind a full-fledged marketing campaign that can yield optimal results and which can be further refined to predict the future purchase behavior of the users in such marketing campaigns. To accomplish this task, the Random Forest Classifier is the one, which this thesis proposes and has been implemented to optimize feature selection in order to enhance the profit revenue of the business. The promising results of empirical research and studies have proven the capability of the random forest classifier, and after employing it in the research, it has been established that the mentioned classifier is absolutely capable of extracting significant features on the basis of the gaming data sets that were provided. More importantly, this study has indicated that the Random Forest classifier gives better results in predicting the purchase likelihood, which is an essential milestone for our project. It should be noted that the solution we have proposed does not only serve to predict the purchase likelihood, but it can also be preferably utilized for other aims and objectives which are related to optimizing the marketing campaigns

2005- 2008 UNLV McNair Journal

Journal articles based on research conducted by undergraduate students in the McNair Scholars Program Table of Contents Biography of Dr. Ronald E. McNair Statements: Dr. Neal J. Smatresk, UNLV President Dr. Juanita P. Fain, Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. William W. Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Retention and Outreach Mr. Keith Rogers, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach McNair Scholars Institute Staf

Multi-Dimensional-Personalization in mobile contexts

During the dot com era the word "personalisation” was a hot buzzword. With the fall of the dot com companies the topic has lost momentum. As the killer application for UMTS or the mobile internet has yet to be identified, the concept of Multi-Dimensional-Personalisation (MDP) could be a candidate. Using this approach, a recommendation of mobile advertisement or marketing (i.e., recommendations or notifications), online content, as well as offline events, can be offered to the user based on their known interests and current location. Instead of having to request or pull this information, the new service concept would proactively provide the information and services – with the consequence that the right information or service could therefore be offered at the right place, at the right time. The growing availability of "Location-based Services“ for mobile phones is a new target for the use of personalisation. "Location-based Services“ are information, for example, about restaurants, hotels or shopping malls with offers which are in close range / short distance to the user. The lack of acceptance for such services in the past is based on the fact that early implementations required the user to pull the information from the service provider. A more promising approach is to actively push information to the user. This information must be from interest to the user and has to reach the user at the right time and at the right place. This raises new requirements on personalisation which will go far beyond present requirements. It will reach out from personalisation based only on the interest of the user. Besides the interest, the enhanced personalisation has to cover the location and movement patterns, the usage and the past, present and future schedule of the user. This new personalisation paradigm has to protect the user’s privacy so that an approach supporting anonymous recommendations through an extended "Chinese Wall“ will be described

Phishing Attacks: A Security Challenge for University Students Studying Remotely

The emergence of the deadly global respiratory coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2019 claimed many lives and altered the way people live and behave as well as how companies operated. Considerable pressure was exerted on Institutions of Higher Learning (universities) to salvage the academic projects through the process of business model reconfiguration. Students were required to study remotely and were, therefore, exposed to phishing and scamming cyber-attacks. The effects of these attacks were examined in this study with the support of literature and empirical research leading to appropriate recommendations being proposed. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews from students at a selected public-funded university. Atlas.Ti was used for data analysis to identify usable and sensible themes. The study established that students were aware of the factors that exposed them to phishing and scamming attacks but lacked the skills to identify such attacks before becoming victims

Queer Rural Youth Online: A Digital Ethnography

This thesis is based on digital ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2023 within Queer subcommunities on the social media sites Reddit and Twitter (now known as X) and data collected from interviews with Queer rural youth members of these communities. The data reveal that social media use directly influences the lives and actions of Queer rural youth, who use the space to build social connections, shape their personal identities, and seek advice pertaining to their in-person lives and decisions. By using these spaces, Queer rural youth build both bonding and bridging social capital, learn to subvert restrictions to their Internet access, and express their identity by conforming to the norms of the broader Queer community. Often, this conformity involves changing their lifestyle to meet the ideal standards that social media influencers, advertisers, and users set. In particular, many Queer rural youth consume suggested media, change their behavior, and even migrate to coastal urban centers in order to fulfill their perceived ideal of Queer life. Although the Internet serves as a haven for many youth, it exposes them to dangers as well, many of which will shift and change with future technological advancements in AI. This research enhances anthropological understanding of the significance of virtual spaces in contemporary society and their potential to both empower and endanger minority communities

Regulatory Theory: Foundations and applications

This volume introduces readers to regulatory theory. Aimed at practitioners, postgraduate students and those interested in regulation as a cross-cutting theme in the social sciences, Regulatory Theory includes chapters on the social-psychological foundations of regulation as well as theories of regulation such as responsive regulation, smart regulation and nodal governance. It explores the key themes of compliance, legal pluralism, meta-regulation, the rule of law, risk, accountability, globalisation and regulatory capitalism. The environment, crime, health, human rights, investment, migration and tax are among the fields of regulation considered in this ground-breaking book. Each chapter introduces the reader to key concepts and ideas and contains suggestions for further reading. The contributors, who either are or have been connected to the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) at The Australian National University, include John Braithwaite, Valerie Braithwaite, Peter Grabosky, Neil Gunningham, Fiona Haines, Terry Halliday, David Levi-Faur, Christine Parker, Colin Scott and Clifford Shearing