Collaborative Domain Blocking: Using federated NLP To Detect Malicious Domains

Current content filtering and blocking methods are susceptible to various circumvention techniques and are relatively slow in dealing with new threats. This is due to these methods using shallow pattern recognition that is based on regular expression rules found in crowdsourced block lists. We propose a novel system that aims to remedy the aforementioned issues by examining deep textual patterns of network-oriented content relating to the domain being interacted with. Moreover, we propose to use federated learning that allows users to take advantage of each other's localized knowledge/experience regarding what should or should not be blocked on a network without compromising privacy. Our experiments show the promise of our proposed approach in real world settings. We also provide data-driven recommendations on how to best implement the proposed system

Інформаційна система аналізу та обробки статистичних даних інтернет магазину

Проєкт містить 63 с. тексту, 27 рисунків, 2 таблиці, посилання на 34 літературні джерела, додатки. Об’єктом дослідження є аналіз статистичних даних інтернет-магазину. Предметом дослідження є інформаційні системи для аналізу статистичних даних інтернет-магазину. Метою дослідження є проектування та розробка інформаційної системи аналізу статистичних даних інтернет-магазину. У дипломному проєкті були розглянуті алгоритми, які реалізують окремі блоки аналізу статистичних даних інтернет-магазину. Дані алгоритми були реалізовані в системі. Система реалізована на мові Python у вигляді веб-додатку, що знімає питання установки. Проведене тестування показало, що система працює у відповідності з вимогами. Практичне значення отриманих результатів полягає в побудові системи, яка дозволяє проаналізувати основні складові елементи діяльності підприємства, а саме, дохід, клієнтів та товари. Запропоноване рішення використовує внутрішню статистичну інформацію інтернет-магазину, на відміну, від існуючих сервісів, орієнтовано на внутрішні бізнес-процеси магазину, реалізовано у вигляді простого в управлінні веб-додатку.The project contains 63 pages. text, 27 figures, 2 tables, references to 34 literary sources, appendices. The object of the study is the analysis of statistical data of the online store. The subject of research is information systems for the analysis of statistical data of an online store. The purpose of the research is the design and development of an information system for the analysis of statistical data of an online store. Algorithms that implement separate blocks of statistical data analysis of an online store were considered in the diploma project. These algorithms were implemented in the system. The system is implemented in the Python language in the form of a web application, which eliminates installation issues. The conducted testing showed that the system works in accordance with the requirements. The practical significance of the obtained results lies in the construction of a system that allows analyzing the main components of the enterprise’s activity, namely, income, customers and goods. The solution uses the internal statistical information of the online store, in contrast to existing services, is focused on the internal business processes of the store, implemented in the form of an easy-to-manage web application

O papel da publicidade intrusiva online no uso de ad blockers em Portugal

O crescimento da publicidade online mostrou-se uma mais valia para a indústria publicitária, bem como para as marcas e empresas. Os diversos avanços tecnológicos potenciaram novas formas de fazer publicidade online e de atingir vastos públicos. Apesar de todos os benefícios apresentados pela publicidade online, existe um lado menos positivo e bastante impactante. A visão dos utilizadores e a relação que estes têm com a publicidade online. Existem diversos fatores que potenciam uma relação e visão negativa por parte dos utilizadores que são de relevância e devem ser discutidos. Pois, estes trazem consequências para o ecossistema publicitário e a sua eficácia online. A visão da publicidade como intrusiva impacta fortemente a relação dos utilizadores com a publicidade online e tem consequências visíveis na sua interação com a mesma. Como é o caso da evasão publicitária, que pode passar por simplesmente ignorar mensagens publicitárias para o uso de ad blockers, que as eliminam e bloqueiam dos websites e aplicações que os utilizadores visitam. Este trabalho tem como objetivo compreender se e de que forma a publicidade intrusiva influência a perceção dos utilizadores da comunicação publicitária e se resulta no consequente uso de ad blockers. De forma a cumprir e atingir este objetivo, foi aplicado um questionário aos utilizadores portugueses de forma a compreender a sua visão da publicidade online, bem como o possível impacto da publicidade intrusiva no uso de ad blockers. Este trabalho permitiu compreender a forma como os utilizadores veem a publicidade online e a relação que têm com esta, de forma a melhorar futuramente a comunicação de mensagens publicitárias com os utilizadores portugueses no futuro.The growth of online advertising has proven to be an asset to the advertising industry, as well as to brands and companies. The various technological advances enabled several new ways to advertise online and reach a wide audience. Despite all the benefits presented by online advertising, there is a less positive and quite impactful side. Users’ opinions and the relationship they have with online advertising. There are several factors that contribute to a negative relationship and users’ opinions that are of relevance and should be discussed. Because these bring consequences to the advertising ecosystem and its effectiveness online. The opinion of advertising as intrusive strongly impacts users' relationship with online advertising, and has visible consequences on their interaction with it. As is the case of advertising evasion, which can go from simply ignoring advertising messages to the use of ad blockers that eliminate and block them from the websites and apps that users visit. This study aims to understand if and how intrusive advertising influences users' perception of advertising communication and if it results in the consequent use of ad blockers. In order to fulfill and achieve this goal, a questionnaire was applied to Portuguese users in order to understand their view of online advertising, as well as the possible impact of intrusive advertising on the use of ad blockers. This work allowed us to understand how users see online advertising and the relationship they have with it, in order to improve the future communication of advertising messages with portuguese users in the future

Essays on digital marketing strategies: an analytical investigation

In the first paper, we have focused on the publisher strategies against ad-blockers. Ad-blocking technologies are increasingly adopted by consumers. For content producers whose major source of revenue is advertising, this creates a challenge for survival. Facing the threat from ad-blockers, content managers are implementing a range of strategies, ranging from declining to serve customers who install ad-blockers to asking them to be paid subscribers. In this study, we consider the impact of content managers’ strategies against the ad-blockers based on the differentiation of content in online media. Our findings suggest that publishers decide on their strategies against ad-blockers based on their content production cost and content differentiation. A publisher that produces differentiated content for a low cost, such as personal blogs, follows the “content wall” strategy where they do not give access to those who use ad-blockers while other publishers follow the “pay to avoid” strategy where they offer an ad-free version of the website. Content differentiation is also important for the publishers that produce content for a high cost. In this case, content production is profitable only when the content is differentiated. We also show that competition does not increase content quality all the time. A monopolistic company that produces its content for a low cost decreases its content quality when a new publisher produces substitutable content. Last but not least, when the ad-giving firm is a decision maker, the decision process of the publisher is restricted. In the second paper, we focus on discounting strategies through different sales channels. Customer engagement with mobile devices has changed customers’ habits in online purchasing, in particular the usage of mobile apps for shopping increases the customer lifetime value (CLV). Based on a quasi-field experiment, we show that once customers start using their mobile devices to purchase, they adopt this channel and keep purchasing through it. Also, we support the literature showing that purchasing over mobile apps increases the customer lifetime value (CLV). Hence, we suggest the idea that online retailers should steer their customers to the mobile channel by offering a permanent discount over the mobile app. Although this strategy decreases the short-term income, it may increase the CLV. Based on this suggestion, we develop a probability-based CLV model to show to what type of customers an online retailer should offer a discount over the mobile app as well as the optimal value of that discount. Following an analytical modeling approach, we are able to show that the online retailer should offer such a discount to a customer who is either very likely or unlikely to increase her purchasing probability. Also, the firm could offer such a discount to encourage the customer to switch to the mobile app. Online retailers should not offer the discount to those who already have a high purchasing probability because their CLV is already huge. Last but not least, an online retailer should not follow this strategy to gain new customers (customer acquisition) but rather apply it to increase customer retention

Students' intention to use in-app advertisements in Pakistan

With the proliferation of smartphone apps, in-app advertisements (ads) have emerged as an important communication and financial tool. However, there are limited studies conducted in the developing countries on how app features in in-app ads influence students' intention to use in-app ads. Therefore, this research aims to examine the influence of perceived collaboration, perceived usefulness, and perceived financial benefits on students' intention to use in-app ads. The mediating roles of attitude and perceived usefulness and the moderating role of self-efficacy were also examined. The underpinning theory used in this study was the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data were collected using the proportional stratified sampling technique among students from selected public universities in Pakistan. An online questionnaire was used for this purpose. Responses from 400 respondents were analyzed using the partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The results revealed that the most significant factor influencing students' intentions to use in-app ads was their attitude. Other contributing factors were perceived financial benefits, perceived collaboration, and perceived usefulness. Apart from that, attitude and perceived usefulness showed mediation effects, while self-efficacy demonstrated no moderating effect. The findings conclude that advertisers should effectively use app features and consider the target market's attitude in order to influence their intention to use in-app ads. Advertisers and in-app service providers should collaborate and provide financial benefits to customers for increased business activity. This research has extended the findings on in-app ads from a developing country's perspective. The suggestions for future research are also discussed

Diseño de una metodología cibermétrica de cálculo del éxito para la optimización de contenidos web

[EN] The object of this study is the design of a cybermetric methodology whose objectives are to measure the success of the content published in an online media and the possible prediction of the selected success variables. Framed in the field of digital journalism, it responds to the need to analyze the success of web content so that it can help in the decision-making of the editorial team of a digital medium. A line of research focused on the content itself, providing an innovative vision to that of previous research, and a methodology that serves as a basis for future scientific advances. It is about the contribution of valuable information, either from the statistical analysis of the data or from the possible prediction of the success indicators of greatest interest to the environment. In this way, it could be integrated as a feedback into the content strategy and thus favor its iterative optimization. The main objective, therefore, is the design of a cybermetric methodology for calculating the success of an online publication, having as specific objectives: to research the concept of success in digital journalism, the social network Twitter, web analytics and web advertising; design the methodology and determine what tools and reports are needed; extract and process data for statistical analysis; perform regressions that allow to obtain prediction equations of the selected success variables; and validate the prediction equations with test data and obtain their precision, serving this as a degree of confidence in the prediction. The design of the methodology has served to observe a significant over-dispersion in the data, as well as to demonstrate that the success of a web content has a strongly multifactorial nature, which causes a decrease in the variability calculated using the indicators proposed by previous research. This thesis serves, then, as the basis for a very interesting research framework both at an academic and business level: the prediction of the success of digital content.[ES] El objetivo de estudio es el diseño de una metodología cibermétrica para medir el éxito de los contenidos publicados en un medio de comunicación online y su posible predicción, de manera que se pueda orientar la optimización de los futuros contenidos publicados por el medio. Enmarcada en el ámbito del periodismo digital, responde a la necesidad de analizar el éxito de los contenidos web de manera que se pueda ayudar en la toma de decisiones del equipo editorial. Para ello, se ha realizado un extenso estudio de las publicaciones académicas versadas en las diferentes disciplinas que tienen lugar en esta tesis: la comunicación de contenidos digitales, Twitter, la difusión de las noticias en Twitter, la analítica web, la cibermetría, la analítica en Twitter, el análisis de tendencias en Twitter y la publicidad web. Con dicho marco, se ha obtenido información valiosa para la optimización futura de los contenidos digitales, ya sea procedente del análisis estadístico de los datos o de la posible predicción de los indicadores de éxito de mayor interés para el medio. De esta manera, se podría integrar de manera retroalimentada en la estrategia de contenidos y favorecer así su optimización iterativamente. Para ello, se han tenido en cuenta los siguientes objetivos específicos: investigar el concepto de éxito en el periodismo digital, la red social Twitter, la analítica web y la publicidad en la web; diseñar la metodología y determinar qué herramientas y reportes son necesarios; extraer y procesar los datos para su análisis estadístico; realizar regresiones que permitan obtener ecuaciones de predicción de las variables de éxito seleccionadas; y validar las ecuaciones de predicción con datos de test y obtener su precisión, sirviendo esta como grado de confianza en la predicción. El diseño de la metodología ha servido para observar una sobre dispersión significativa en los datos, así como demostrar que el éxito de un contenido web tiene un carácter fuertemente multifactorial, lo cual provoca una disminución en la variabilidad calculada mediante los indicadores propuestos por investigaciones previas. Esta tesis sirve, entonces, como base para una línea de investigación sobre la optimización de contenido digital basándose en la predicción estadística de su éxito.[CAT] L'objectiu d'estudi és el disseny d'una metodologia cibermètrica per a mesurar l'èxit dels continguts publicats en un mitjà de comunicació en línia i la seua possible predicció, de manera que es puga orientar l'optimització dels futurs continguts publicats pel mitjà. Emmarcada en l'àmbit del periodisme digital, respon a la necessitat d'analitzar l'èxit dels continguts web de manera que es puga ajudar en la presa de decisions de l'equip editorial. Per a això, s'ha realitzat un extens estudi de les publicacions acadèmiques versades en les diferents disciplines que tenen lloc en aquesta tesi: la comunicació de continguts digitals, Twitter, la difusió de les notícies en Twitter, l'analítica web, la cibermetría, l'analítica en Twitter, l'anàlisi de tendències en Twitter i la publicitat web. Amb aquest marc, s'ha obtingut informació valuosa per a l'optimització futura dels continguts digitals, ja siga procedent de l'anàlisi estadística de les dades o de la possible predicció dels indicadors d'èxit de major interés per al mitjà. D'aquesta manera, es podria integrar de manera retroalimentada en l'estratègia de continguts i afavorir així la seua optimització iterativament. Per a això, s'han tingut en compte els següents objectius específics: investigar el concepte d'èxit en el periodisme digital, la xarxa social Twitter, l'analítica web i la publicitat en la web; dissenyar la metodologia i determinar quines eines i reportes són necessaris; extraure i processar les dades per a la seua anàlisi estadística; realitzar regressions que permeten obtindre equacions de predicció de les variables d'èxit seleccionades; i validar les equacions de predicció amb dades de test i obtindre la seua precisió, servint aquesta com a grau de confiança en la predicció. El disseny de la metodologia ha servit per a observar una sobre dispersió significativa en les dades, així com demostrar que l'èxit d'un contingut web té un caràcter fortament multifactorial, la qual cosa provoca una disminució en la variabilitat calculada mitjançant els indicadors proposats per investigacions prèvies. Aquesta tesi serveix, llavors, com a base per a una línia d'investigació sobre l'optimització de contingut digital basant-se en la predicció estadística del seu èxit.Yeste Moreno, VM. (2021). Diseño de una metodología cibermétrica de cálculo del éxito para la optimización de contenidos web [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/176009TESI