Security Analysis of Parlay/OSA Framework

This paper analyzes the security of the Trust and Security Management (TSM) protocol, an authentication protocol which is part of the Parlay/OSA Application Program Interfaces (APIs). Architectures based on Parlay/OSA APIs allow third party service providers to develop new services that can access, in a controlled and secure way, to those network capabilities offered by the network operator. Role of the TSM protocol, run by network gateways, is to authenticate the client applications trying to access and use the network capabilities features offered. For this reason potential security flaws in its authentication strategy can bring to unauthorized use of network with evident damages to the operator and to the quality of the services. This paper shows how a rigorous formal analysis of TSM underlines serious weaknesses in the model describing its authentication procedure. This usually means that also the original system (i.e., the TSM protocol itself) hides the same flaws. The paper relates about the design activity of the formal model, the tool-aided verification performed and the security flaws discovered. This will allow us to discuss about how the security of the TSM protocol can be generally improve

Genomic epidemiology of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli from Argentinian pig and dairy farms reveals animal-specific patterns of co-resistance and resistance mechanisms

Control measures are being introduced globally to reduce the prevalence of antibiotic resistance (ABR) in bacteria on farms. However, little is known about the current prevalence and molecular ecology of ABR in bacterial species with the potential to be key opportunistic human pathogens, such as Escherichia coli, on South American farms. Working with 30 dairy cattle farms and 40 pig farms across two provinces in central-eastern Argentina, we report a comprehensive genomic analysis of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-R) E. coli, which were recovered from 34.8% (cattle) and 47.8% (pigs) of samples from fecally contaminated sites. Phylogenetic analysis revealed substantial diversity suggestive of long-term horizontal and vertical transmission of 3GC-R mechanisms. CTX-M-15 and CTX-M-2 were more often produced by isolates from dairy farms, while CTX-M-8 and CMY-2 and co-carriage of amoxicillin/clavulanate resistance and florfenicol resistance were more common in isolates from pig farms. This suggests different selective pressures for antibiotic use in these two animal types. We identified the β-lactamase gene blaROB, which has previously only been reported in the family Pasteurellaceae, in 3GC-R E. coli. blaROB was found alongside a novel florfenicol resistance gene, ydhC, also mobilized from a pig pathogen as part of a new composite transposon. As the first comprehensive genomic survey of 3GC-R E. coli in Argentina, these data set a baseline from which to measure the effects of interventions aimed at reducing on-farm ABR and provide an opportunity to investigate the zoonotic transmission of resistant bacteria in this region

Viaggio in Egitto. L'Ottocento riscopre la terra dei faraoni

Catalogo della mostra, da me curata al Castello di Miradolo (S. Secondo di Pinerolo, Torino: 1 ottobre 2011-29 gennaio 2012), sulla riscoperta dell'Egitto da parte di viaggiatori, egittologi, fotografi, cercatori di antichità... nel corso dell'Ottocento