Adaptive just-in-time code diversification

We present a method to regenerate diversified code dynamically in a Java bytecode JIT compiler, and to update the diversification frequently during the execution of the program. This way, we can significantly reduce the time frame in which attackers can let a program leak useful address space information and subsequently use the leaked information in memory exploits. A proof of concept implementation is evaluated, showing that even though code is recompiled frequently, we can achieved smaller overheads than the previous state of the art, which generated diversity only once during the whole execution of a program

The Mole & The Snake

This article starts from the Foucaultanian notions of biopower and discipline, deal- ing with the strategies of the modern and contemporary capitalism. Introducing the term biopower into his research, Foucault is alluding to a series of transformations re- lated to the capitalist system: life enters into the scope of power in terms of \u201ccontrolled insertion of bodies\u201d in the social apparatus of production, as well as in terms of an \u201cadaptation of population phenomena to economic processes\u201d. It involves the exchange of services on which the Fordist social pact was founded in the twentieth century. The life that is claimed in and against the relationship of capital concerns \u201cneeds\u201d that refer to a \u201cconcrete essence of man\u201d. In the undeniable awareness of a \u201ctriangulation\u201d between sovereignty, discipline and biopower, the author, as a criterion for reading the dynamics of contemporary power, analyzes the theme of control referring to Deleuze. This is de- lineated in the double form of \u201cbiopolitical algorithms\u201d and of the normalization that by means of the selection and targeted processing of big data and information packages, incessantly produced by social activity in and on the network, capture forms of life at the service of capitalism

Secure and efficient application monitoring and replication

Memory corruption vulnerabilities remain a grave threat to systems software written in C/C++. Current best practices dictate compiling programs with exploit mitigations such as stack canaries, address space layout randomization, and control-flow integrity. However, adversaries quickly find ways to circumvent such mitigations, sometimes even before these mitigations are widely deployed. In this paper, we focus on an "orthogonal" defense that amplifies the effectiveness of traditional exploit mitigations. The key idea is to create multiple diversified replicas of a vulnerable program and then execute these replicas in lockstep on identical inputs while simultaneously monitoring their behavior. A malicious input that causes the diversified replicas to diverge in their behavior will be detected by the monitor; this allows discovery of previously unknown attacks such as zero-day exploits. So far, such multi-variant execution environments (MVEEs) have been held back by substantial runtime overheads. This paper presents a new design, ReMon, that is non-intrusive, secure, and highly efficient. Whereas previous schemes either monitor every system call or none at all, our system enforces cross-checking only for security critical system calls while supporting more relaxed monitoring policies for system calls that are not security critical. We achieve this by splitting the monitoring and replication logic into an in-process component and a cross-process component. Our evaluation shows that ReMon offers same level of security as conservative MVEEs and run realistic server benchmarks at near-native speeds

CHORUS Deliverable 4.5: Report of the 3rd CHORUS Conference

The third and last CHORUS conference on Multimedia Search Engines took place from the 26th to the 27th of May 2009 in Brussels, Belgium. About 100 participants from 15 European countries, the US, Japan and Australia learned about the latest developments in the domain. An exhibition of 13 stands presented 16 research projects currently ongoing around the world

Drought Adaptation and Coping Strategies Among the Turkana Pastoralists of Northern Kenya

This study highlights drought characteristics and the many responses to drought stresses employed by Turkana pastoralists of northwestern Kenya. Multiple data sources, including socioeconomic interviews with 302 households, focus group discussions, and informal interviews with pastoralists were used to capture various aspects of drought and drought adaptation and coping practices. Standardized precipitation index derived from long-term rainfall data obtained from the Kenya Meteorological Service was used to quantify different degrees of drought intensity between 1950 and 2012. Results revealed that extreme drought events were increasingly frequent, and have impacted negatively on pastoral livelihoods. In order to adapt to or cope with climatic anomalies, households are using a variety of strategies. In addition to the traditional short-term coping mechanisms, the long-term adaptation strategies used include diversification of livelihood sources; livestock mobility to track forage and water resources; diversification of herd composition to benefit from the varied drought and disease tolerance, as well as fecundity of diverse livestock species; and sending children to school for formal education as a long term investment expected to pay back through income from employment. Policies and development interventions that reduce risks, diminish livelihood constraints, and expand opportunities for increased household resilience to drought are critical complements to the existing pastoral strategies

CHORUS Deliverable 2.2: Second report - identification of multi-disciplinary key issues for gap analysis toward EU multimedia search engines roadmap

After addressing the state-of-the-art during the first year of Chorus and establishing the existing landscape in multimedia search engines, we have identified and analyzed gaps within European research effort during our second year. In this period we focused on three directions, notably technological issues, user-centred issues and use-cases and socio- economic and legal aspects. These were assessed by two central studies: firstly, a concerted vision of functional breakdown of generic multimedia search engine, and secondly, a representative use-cases descriptions with the related discussion on requirement for technological challenges. Both studies have been carried out in cooperation and consultation with the community at large through EC concertation meetings (multimedia search engines cluster), several meetings with our Think-Tank, presentations in international conferences, and surveys addressed to EU projects coordinators as well as National initiatives coordinators. Based on the obtained feedback we identified two types of gaps, namely core technological gaps that involve research challenges, and “enablers”, which are not necessarily technical research challenges, but have impact on innovation progress. New socio-economic trends are presented as well as emerging legal challenges

Resource box for resilient seed systems: handbook

The resource box for resilient seed systems, developed by a multidisciplinary team of Bioversity International researchers, is a tool that supports research and capacity building on resilient seed systems in the context of adaptation to climate change. The eight modules of the box represent eight steps of a participatory research cycle from situational analysis to knowledge sharing and communication. The handbook complements the online version which can be found at: http://www.seedsresourcebox.org The Resilient Seed Systems Handbook Second Edition, published in 2019, includes a new module on seed production and distribution and incorporates several of more recent useful ideas, examples of good practices and the latest references. See https://hdl.handle.net/10568/73256 Vernooy, R.; Bessette, G.; Otieno, G. (eds.) (2019) Resilient seed systems: handbook. Second edition. Rome (Italy): Bioversity International, 158 p. ISBN: 978-92-9255-138-