A Formal Approach to Exploiting Multi-Stage Attacks based on File-System Vulnerabilities of Web Applications (Extended Version)

Web applications require access to the file-system for many different tasks. When analyzing the security of a web application, secu- rity analysts should thus consider the impact that file-system operations have on the security of the whole application. Moreover, the analysis should take into consideration how file-system vulnerabilities might in- teract with other vulnerabilities leading an attacker to breach into the web application. In this paper, we first propose a classification of file- system vulnerabilities, and then, based on this classification, we present a formal approach that allows one to exploit file-system vulnerabilities. We give a formal representation of web applications, databases and file- systems, and show how to reason about file-system vulnerabilities. We also show how to combine file-system vulnerabilities and SQL-Injection vulnerabilities for the identification of complex, multi-stage attacks. We have developed an automatic tool that implements our approach and we show its efficiency by discussing several real-world case studies, which are witness to the fact that our tool can generate, and exploit, complex attacks that, to the best of our knowledge, no other state-of-the-art-tool for the security of web applications can find

3D bio-inspired hierarchical discontinuous CFRP with enhanced ductility

Discontinuous Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (DCFRPs), due to their increased drapability, allow manufacturing of complex components that continuous CFRPs are unable to replicate. However, these materials might have reduced mechanical properties given by the loss of reinforcement continuity. This paper proposes a new bio-inspired pattern configuration of DCFRPs for the improvement of the mechanical properties (e.g. strain to failure and toughness) by exploiting failure mechanisms such as crack deflection and fibres pull-out, while preserving the high formability of DCFRPs. Resin pockets are introduced and arranged in specific three-dimensional patterns to mimic the hierarchical distribution of hard and soft phases typical of several biological systems. Finite Element models for three-point bending and Low-velocity impact tests were developed to optimise patterns and understand failure mechanisms experienced during static and dynamic tests. Experimental tests were carried out on the 3D hierarchical structures to prove its effectiveness in unidirectional and cross-ply CFRP stacking sequences. Good agreement was obtained between the numerical and experimental results especially in the prediction of the absorbed impact energy. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the bio-inspired solution in improving the absorbed impact energy of CFRP while increasing drapability of existing prepreg materials.</p

Orchestrating Forest Policy in Italy: Mission Impossible?

In the Italian political and economic agenda the forest sector occupies a marginal role. The forest sector in Italy is characterized by a high institutional fragmentation and centralized decision-making processes dominated by Public Forest Administrations. Public participation in forest policy processes has been implemented since the 1990s at national, regional and local levels in several cases. However, today no significant changes have been observed in the overall governance of the forest sector and stakeholders' involvement in Italian forest policy decision-making is still rather limited. The aims of this paper are to describe the state of forest-related participatory processes in Italy at various levels (national, regional and local) and identify which factors and actors hinder or support the establishment and implementation of participatory forest-related processes in the country. The forest-related participatory processes are analyzed adopting a qualitative-based approach and interpreting interactive, complex and non-linear participatory processes through the lens of panarchy theory

Integrating Aerial Base Stations for sustainable urban mobile networks

The extensive densification of mobile networks is increasing the network energy consumption and leading to remarkable economical and sustainability concerns. At the same time, regulatory and physical constraints, especially in urban environments, may limit the network expansion and the free installation of Base Stations (BSs). In this context, High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPSs) are emerging as a promising solution to host aerial BSs that can provide additional capacity over a wide geographical area, to offload the on-ground mobile network and support a sustainable transition towards the 6G era. This paper investigates the potential of HAPS offloading to reduce the energy demand from the grid and the operational cost of mobile networks. Our results highlight the effectiveness of HAPS offloading in reducing the size of the RE supply that is required to achieve grid energy reduction on the terrestrial network, thus enhancing the feasibility of a sustainable evolution towards 6G networks. Different allocation strategies are designed and analyzed under several configuration settings, to dynamically adapt the HAPS capacity to the traffic variability in space and over time. A fine tuning of the strategy settings is proved effective in trading off physical constraints, operational cost, sustainability goals, and Quality of Service

Advanced composite materials in precision machine tools sector - Applications and perspectives

The most recent R&D activities and applications of advanced materials for designing and fabrication of light and damped structures of precision machine tools (MT), are here presented. These new solutions include carbon fibres reinforced polymers (CFRP), hybrid sandwiches and novel multifunctional smart structures

Damage tolerance of bio-inspired helicoidal composites under low velocity impact

It is well known that laminated composite materials are prone to impact damage caused by foreign objects and exhibit poor damage resistance in through the thickness direction. By drawing inspiration from naturally occurring impact resistant structures, such as dactyl clubs of mantis shrimp, enhanced damage tolerance and impact energy absorption can be achieved with traditional CFRP layers by creatively arranging them into bio-inspired configurations, called helicoidal or Bouligand structures. Through an extensive numerical analyses of low velocity impact (LVI) supported by the experimental results, a further insight into the possibilities that these structures can offer in terms of damage resistance was attained. By comparing the results of three square plates with different planar sizes, it was shown that the helicoidal layups are more effective at absorbing energy while minimising through the thickness failure than standard quasi-isotropic and cross-ply laminates. Although the helicoidal composites generally exhibited a higher degree of delamination in LVI tests, the standard lamination schemes displayed higher degree of perforation, which resulted in a reduced residual strength in the compression after impact (CAI) testing of a quasi-isotropic laminate compared to several helicoidal ones subjected to 40 J and 80 J impact energy. Furthermore, using advanced finite element analysis (FEA) code LS-DYNA® for simulating LVI and CAI events, it was revealed that the helicoidal arrangement endured the least amount of fibre damage.</p

A multilayer microperforated panel prototype for broadband sound absorption at low frequencies

Microperforated panel (MPP) absorbers are one of the most promising alternatives to porous sound absorbing materials. However, these structures cannot achieve high and broadband absorption at low frequencies. To be effective, once defined the material properties the geometrical parameters of the absorber need to be optimized to match the prescribed absorption level. This paper presents a multiple layer MPP absorber with a high sound absorption coefficient and broadband absorption at low frequencies. An electro-acoustical equivalent circuit model was used for a parametric analysis to study the relationships between the absorption mechanism and the absorbers geometrical parameters in the proposed multilayer MPP. A prototype of this absorber was machined and tested in an impedance tube test ring and the experimental acoustical properties in terms of absorption coefficient were extracted using the transfer function method. It was demonstrated that the five-layer MPP absorber was capable of guaranteeing a high absorption (constantly over 90%) in a frequency range from 400 to 2000 Hz. The results indicate that the proposed multilayer MPP absorber provides a good alternative for sound absorption applications.</p