Towards a Threat Intelligence Informed Digital Forensics Readiness Framework

Digital Forensic Readiness (DFR) has received little attention by the research community, when compared to the core digital forensic investigation processes. DFR was primarily about logging of security events to be leveraged by the forensic analysis phase. However, the increasing number of security incidents and the overwhelming volumes of data produced mandate the development of more effective and efficient DFR approaches. We propose a DFR framework focusing on the prioritisation, triaging and selection of Indicators of Compromise (IoC) to be used in investigations of security incidents. A core component of the framework is the contextualisation of the IoCs to the underlying organisation, which can be achieved with the use of clustering and classification algoriihms and a local IoC database

PETROLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY AND GEOTECTONIC SETTING OF THE TITAROS OPHIOLITE AND ASSOCIATED PELAGONIAN BASEMENT ROCKS IN THE AREA NW OF MT. OLYMPOS, GREECE

To οφιολιθικό σύμπλεγμα του όρους Τίταρος στην περιοχή ΒΔ του Ολύμπου βρίσκεται επωθημένο σε Περμο-Αιθανθρακοφόρους γρανιτικούς ορθογνεύσιους και άγνωστης ηλικίας αμφιβολίτες στο ανατολικό περιθώριο της Πελαγονικής μάζας. Αποτελείται από μανδυακό περιδοτίτη χαρτσβουργιτικής σύστασης με κατά τόπους εμφανίσεις χρωμίτη και ένα καλά ανεπτυγμένο μαγματικό θάλαμο με κυκλικές ενότητες σωρειτικών πετρωμάτων δουνίτη-λερζόλιθου-βερλίτη-πυροξενίτη που μεταβαίνουν σε συμπαγείς γάββρους με φωλιές πλαγιογρανιτών και διαβασικές φλέβες στα ανώτερα τμήματα τους. Χημικές αναλύσεις ορυκτών και ολικού πετρώματος φανερώνουν συνθήκες γένεσης του οφιόλιθου σε ένα καθαρά ωκεάνειο περιβάλλον επάνω από μία ζώνη κατάδυσης πλάκας και την περιστασιακή συμμετοχή τηγμάτων προερχόμενων από καταδυθέντα ιζήματα. Οι αμφιβολίτες του κρυσταλλικού υπόβαθρου δείχνουν σαφή χημική συγγένεια προς θολεϊίτες εσωτερικού πλάκας με μια ελαφρά επίδραση από ρευστά καταδυόμενης πλάκας. Εφελκυστικές γραμμώσεις ορυκτών και κινηματικοί δείκτες στους ορθογνεύσιους και αμφιβολίτες υποδηλώνουν φορά μετακίνησης του οφιόλιθου προς τα ΑΝΑ. Προτείνεται ότι οι βασαλτικοί πρωτόλιθοι των αμφιβολιτών τοποθετήθηκαν κατά τη διαμπερή ρήξη του Α. περιθωρίου της Πελαγονικής στο Περμο-Τριαδικό η οποία και κατέληξε στη μετέπειτα δημιουργία του ωκεανού του Βαρδάρη. Ο οφιόλιθος του Τίταρου σχηματίσθηκε όταν ο ωκεανός του Βαρδάρη άρχισε να κλείνει μέσω μιας διαδικασίας ενδο-ωκεάνειας κατάδυσης πλάκας με φορά προς τα ΒΑ και επακόλουθη τοποθέτηση του προς τα ΝΑ επάνω στο Α. περιθώριο της Πελαγονικής, πιθανόν κατά το Κατώτερο Κρητιδικό.The Titaros ophiolite in Greece is a coherent thrust sheet of oceanic rocL· that lies atop Permo-Carboniferous granitic orthogneisses and amphibolites of unknown age of the eastern Pelagonian margin in the area NW of Mt. Olympos. It comprises a harzburgite tectonite mantle sequence with chromite mineralisation and a welldeveloped magma chamber with cyclic units ofdunite-lherzolite-wehrlite-pyroxenite that pass upwards into massive gabbros cut by diabase dykes and locally containing plagiogranite ponds. Ophiolite mineral and whole-rock chemistry are strongly in favour of a supra-subduction zone origin in a purely oceanic setting with the occasional brawny signature of melts from subducted sediments. By contrast, the basement amphibolites display a clear within-plate tholeiitic affinity with a slight imprint of subduction-zone fluids. Mineral stretching lineations and kinematics indicators of the orthogneisses and amphibolites suggest a consistent transport direction to the WSW. It is proposed that the basaltic protoliths of the amphibolites were emplaced during Permo-Triassic rifting of the eastern Pelagonian margin that led to the subsequent formation of the Vardar Ocean. The Titaros ophiolite was formed during closure of the Vardar Ocean via northeast-directed intra-oceanic subduction and subsequent obduction towards the southwest onto the eastern Pelagonian margin, probably in the Lower Cretaceous

Improving Forensic Triage Efficiency through Cyber Threat Intelligence

The complication of information technology and the proliferation of heterogeneous security devices that produce increased volumes of data coupled with the ever-changing threat landscape challenges have an adverse impact on the efficiency of information security controls and digital forensics, as well as incident response approaches. Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)and forensic preparedness are the two parts of the so-called managed security services that defendants can employ to repel, mitigate or investigate security incidents. Despite their success, there is no known effort that has combined these two approaches to enhance Digital Forensic Readiness (DFR) and thus decrease the time and cost of incident response and investigation. This paper builds upon and extends a DFR model that utilises actionable CTI to improve the maturity levels of DFR. The effectiveness and applicability of this model are evaluated through a series of experiments that employ malware-related network data simulating real-world attack scenarios. To this extent, the model manages to identify the root causes of information security incidents with high accuracy (90.73%), precision (96.17%) and recall (93.61%), while managing to decrease significantly the volume of data digital forensic investigators need to examine. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it indicates that CTI can be employed by digital forensics processes. Second, it demonstrates and evaluates an efficient mechanism that enhances operational DFR

Actionable Threat Intelligence for Digital Forensics Readiness

The purpose of this paper is to formulate a novel model for enhancing the effectiveness of existing Digital Forensic Readiness (DFR) schemes by leveraging the benefits of cyber threat information sharing. This paper employs a quantitative methodology to identify the most popular Threat Intelligence elements and introduces a formalized procedure to correlate these elements with potential digital evidence resulting in the quick and accurate identification of patterns of malware activities. While threat intelligence exchange steadily becomes a common practice for the prevention or detection of security incidents, the proposed approach highlights its usefulness for the digital forensics domain. The proposed model can help organizations to improve their digital forensic readiness posture and thus minimize the time and cost of cybercrime incident

Altered expression pattern of integrin alphavbeta3 correlates with actin cytoskeleton in primary cultures of human breast cancer

Background: Integrins are transmembrane adhesion receptors that provide the physical link between the actin cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix. It has been well established that integrins play a major role in various cancer stages, such as tumor growth, progression, invasion and metastasis. In breast cancer, integrin alphavbeta3 has been associated with high malignant potential in cancer cells, signaling the onset of widespread metastasis. Many preclinical breast cancer studies are based on established cell lines, which may not represent the cell behavior and phenotype of the primary tumor of origin, due to undergone genotypic and phenotypic changes. In the present study, short-term primary breast cancer cell cultures were developed. Integrin alphavbeta3 localization was studied in correlation with F-actin cytoskeleton by means of immunofluorescence and immunogold ultrastructural localization. Integrin fluorescence intensities were semi-quantitatively assessed by means of computerized image analysis, while integrin and actin expression was evaluated by Western immunoblotting. Results: In the primary breast cancer epithelial cells integrin alphavbeta3 immunofluorescence was observed in the marginal cytoplasmic area, whereas in the primary normal breast epithelial cells it was observed in the main cell body, i.e. in the ventrally located perinuclear area. In the former, F-actin cytoskeleton appeared well-formed, consisting of numerous and thicker stress fibers, compared to normal epithelial cells. Furthermore, electron microscopy showed increased integrin alphavbeta3 immunogold localization in epithelial breast cancer cells over the area of stress fibers at the basal cell surface. These findings were verified with Western immunoblotting by the higher expression of integrin beta3 subunit and actin in primary breast cancer cells, revealing their reciprocal relation, in response to the higher motility requirements, determined by the malignant potential of the breast cancer cells. Conclusion: A model system of primary breast cancer cell cultures was developed, in an effort to maintain the closest resembling environment to the tumor of origin. Using the above system model as an experimental tool the study of breast tumor cell behavior is possible concerning the adhesion capacity and the migrating potential of these cells, as defined by the integrin alphavbeta3 distribution in correlation with F-actin cytoskeleton

Photodynamic therapy in retinal angiomatous proliferation stage I

PURPOSE. To report a case of photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment in an 85-year-old patient with retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) stage I. METHODS. According to Treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration with Photodynamic Therapy and Verteporfin in Photodynamic Therapy study guidelines, two sessions of PDT with verteporfin were performed, which was activated by a diode laser light at 690 nm. RESULTS. The left eye was treated with PDT because of RAP stage I. Even in the early stage of RAP, PDT treatment did not alter the natural course of the disease. In particular, the lesion evolved towards stage III, being initially in stage I, with the final result of development of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) tear after the second session of PDT treatment. CONCLUSIONS. Even in the early stage of RAP, PDT treatment did not alter the natural course of the disease, with the final result of RPE tear after the second session of PDT treatment

Pliocene tourmaline rhyolite dykes from Ikaria Island in the Aegean back-arc region: Geodynamic implications

Very rare rhyolite dykes cross-cutting a Miocene I-type biotite-granite were discovered on Ikaria Island in the Aegean back-arc region. Their intrusion postdates exhumation of the granite to brittle crust at about 6.0-3.6 Ma; hence a Pliocene age is inferred. Penological, geochemical and isotopic arguments indicate an origin through melting of crustal lithologies (tourmaline greywackes/semipelites) with no detectable contribution from asthenospheric sources. Strontium isotope ratios are relatively low unlike values for sediments entering the Hellenic trench but similar to those for certain Miocene Cycladic I-type granites and low-Rb Permo-Carboniferous Cycladic basement acid orthogneisses. Crust-mantle Sr-Nd isotopic mixing modelling also requires a low-Sr crustal end-member. The presence of Pliocene rhyolitic volcanism in the Aegean back-arc region in places distant from any possible subduction zone influence is attributed to slab tear at the eastern end of the Hellenic trench and attendant entrance and lateral displacement of asthenosphere through the thus formed slab window that, in turn, brought about kinematically mismatched continental escape in the subduction hangingwall. Extension along the boundary between the differentially moving Aegean and Anatolian blocks caused the intrusion of basaltic sills at middle crustal levels and the formation of acid anatectic melts from low-Sr, B-bearing quartzofeldspathic metasedimentary protoliths. © 2009 Lavoisier SAS. All rights reserved