Cybersecurity issues in software architectures for innovative services

The recent advances in data center development have been at the basis of the widespread success of the cloud computing paradigm, which is at the basis of models for software based applications and services, which is the "Everything as a Service" (XaaS) model. According to the XaaS model, service of any kind are deployed on demand as cloud based applications, with a great degree of flexibility and a limited need for investments in dedicated hardware and or software components. This approach opens up a lot of opportunities, for instance providing access to complex and widely distributed applications, whose cost and complexity represented in the past a significant entry barrier, also to small or emerging businesses. Unfortunately, networking is now embedded in every service and application, raising several cybersecurity issues related to corruption and leakage of data, unauthorized access, etc. However, new service-oriented architectures are emerging in this context, the so-called services enabler architecture. The aim of these architectures is not only to expose and give the resources to these types of services, but it is also to validate them. The validation includes numerous aspects, from the legal to the infrastructural ones e.g., but above all the cybersecurity threats. A solid threat analysis of the aforementioned architecture is therefore necessary, and this is the main goal of this thesis. This work investigate the security threats of the emerging service enabler architectures, providing proof of concepts for these issues and the solutions too, based on several use-cases implemented in real world scenarios

Effects of Al substitution on goethite formation

Goethites containing up to 32.7 mole % Al were synthesized and characterized through diffractometry, spectrometry, DSC and chemical techniques. Results indicate that crystal growth was favoured or hindered depending on the percentage of aluminum incorporated into the structure. Goethites to which 5-10 mole % Al were initially added crystallized best, as shown by the highest crystallite dimensions calculated from X-ray and Mössbauer analyses, and by the lowest surface areas values. Over such substitution degree goethite crystallization was hindered and for sample synthesized in presence of 40 mole % Al the separation of a discrete amount of gibbsite and bayerite occurred. Both crystallinity and Al-substitution degree influenced the goethite dehydroxylation endothermic peak temperature playing a competitive action in the peak shift. In fact, the increase in the thermal stability induced by the presence of Al3+ ions into the structure was counteracted by the decrease due to the particle size reduction. The stabilizing effect of aluminum was confirmed by the oxalate treatment which removed from the Al-free sample a Fe amount higher than that from the sample containing about 20 mole % Al, although both had similar crystallinity

The remuneration of independent directors in the UK and Italy: An empirical analysis based on agency theory

This study investigates independent non-executive directors’ remuneration from an agency theory perspective, taking into account both optimal contracting and managerial power perspectives. Using a sample of 1733 independent non-executive directors’ year observations in Italian and UK non-financial firms listed in the period 2007–2009, we find that in both countries independent non-executive directors’ remuneration is mainly based on the observable effort they exert and their responsibilities. Our findings also show that independent non-executive directors who do not fulfil formal independence criteria, as stated in the respective national corporate governance codes, seem to be paid more than those who do fulfil such criteria, particularly in the UK. Our findings contribute to the existing literature by providing evidence on the determinants of independent non-executive directors’ remuneration in two major European economies and offer insights to policy-makers by questioning the effectiveness of adopting non-binding criteria when assessing non-executive directors’ independence

Integration of CSR Criteria Into Executive Compensation Contracts: A Cross-Country Analysis

This study examines the relationship between the degree of external social and environmental regulatory pressures and firms’ integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) criteria into executive compensation contracts. Building on the notion that firms operate in settings in which external regulatory pressures and internal corporate governance conditions interact, we investigate how internal corporate governance mechanisms moderate the relationship between external regulatory pressures and adoption of CSR criteria in executive compensation contracts. The analysis of a worldwide, longitudinal sample of 2,328 firms listed in 37 countries during 2003 through 2015 reveals that the degree of regulatory pressure on firms to operate in socially and environmentally sound ways positively influences their adoption of CSR criteria in executive compensation contracts (i.e., conformity effect). Regulatory pressures evoke heterogeneous responses among firms within a country though, depending on their interaction in the corporate governance bundle. Corporate governance mechanisms have moderating effects: a greater degree of board independence strengthens the conformity effect, whereas blockholder ownership weakens it. This study advances understanding of how the corporate governance bundle of external regulatory pressures and internal corporate governance mechanisms affects the adoption of a relatively recent, important corporate governance practice in the boardroom

Influenza della presenza di metalli e antiossidanti sullo sviluppo e decorso clinico della poliposi rinosinusale

Aim: Prevalence of nasal polyposis is about 4%, but its pathogenesis is still unknown. The aim of this work is to evaluate the presence of metals in nasal polyps tissues and to investigate the role of trace elements and antioxidants on nasal polyposis developing and clinic. The metals and antioxidant enzyme levels measured in nasal polyps of 58 patients were compared with the levels measured in nasal biopsies of healthy patients. Methods: 58 adult patients with nasal polyposis and 29 healthy patients were prospectively enrolled from June 2012 to August 2014. Clinical disease severity was measured by computed tomography and endoscopy (Stammberger score). Polyp samples and nasal mucosa were collected by outpatient biopsy during FESS and analysed through electron microscopy TEM and SEM to analyze ultra-structural morphology. In each sample we searched metals (cadmium, copper, aluminium, zinc, lead, manganese, selenium, cobalt and iron) through high resolution mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS). Results: With electron microscopy we observed significant ultrastructural alterations in the samples of polyps compared to samples of healthy mucous. All metals have been detected in high concentrations in healthy samples compared to polyps samples (p< 0,001). Conclusion: Results analyzed by the various methods used in the study may be a demonstration of an improvement of oxidative stress that can influence rhinosinusal polyposis developing and clinic

Thermal boundary resistance from transient nanocalorimetry: a multiscale modeling approach

The Thermal Boundary Resistance at the interface between a nanosized Al film and an Al_{2}O_{3} substrate is investigated at an atomistic level. A room temperature value of 1.4 m^{2}K/GW is found. The thermal dynamics occurring in time-resolved thermo-reflectance experiments is then modelled via macro-physics equations upon insertion of the materials parameters obtained from atomistic simulations. Electrons and phonons non-equilibrium and spatio-temporal temperatures inhomo- geneities are found to persist up to the nanosecond time scale. These results question the validity of the commonly adopted lumped thermal capacitance model in interpreting transient nanocalorimetry experiments. The strategy adopted in the literature to extract the Thermal Boundary Resistance from transient reflectivity traces is revised at the light of the present findings. The results are of relevance beyond the specific system, the physical picture being general and readily extendable to other heterojunctions.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Green or Greed? An Alternative Look at CEO Compensation and Corporate Environmental Commitment

This study relies on environmental stewardship, a stakeholder-enlarged view of stewardship theory, and institutional theory to analyze the relationship between CEO compensation and firms’ environmental commitment in a worldwide sample of 520 large listed firms. Our findings show that environment friendly firms pay their CEOs less total compensation and rely less on incentive-based compensation than environment careless firms. This negative relationship is stronger in institutional contexts where national environmental regulations are weaker. Our findings have important theoretical meaning and practical implications. Results show that CEOs do not necessarily act opportunistically; rather some of them may be willing to act as stewards of the natural environment and accept a lower, less incentive-based compensation from environment friendly firms. This study also provides evidence of the important influence of the institutional context in setting-up CEO compensation as the relationship is stronger when national environmental regulations are weaker. Our findings question the universal validity of agency theory in explaining CEO compensation. Compensation based on pecuniary incentives might be less indicated to motivate CEOs who feel rewarded by playing a stewardship role for environment friendly firms. When designing compensation for CEOs, compensation committees and external compensation advisors should consider psychological and institutional factors that might affect CEO motivation

Insider Threats in Emerging Mobility-as-a-Service Scenarios

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) applies the everything-as- \ a-service paradigm of Cloud Computing to transportation: a MaaS \ provider offers to its users the dynamic composition of solutions of \ different travel agencies into a single, consistent interface. \ Traditionally, transits and data on mobility belong to a scattered \ plethora of operators. Thus, we argue that the economic model of \ MaaS is that of federations of providers, each trading its resources to \ coordinate multi-modal solutions for mobility. Such flexibility comes \ with many security and privacy concerns, of which insider threat is \ one of the most prominent. In this paper, we follow a tiered structure \ — from individual operators to markets of federated MaaS providers \ — to classify the potential threats of each tier and propose the \ appropriate countermeasures, in an effort to mitigate the problems

When Operation Technology Meets Information Technology: Challenges and Opportunities

Industry 4.0 has revolutionized process innovation while facilitating and encouraging many new possibilities. The objective of Industry 4.0 is the radical enhancement of productivity, a goal that presupposes the integration of Operational Technology (OT) networks with Information Technology (IT) networks, which were hitherto isolated. This disruptive approach is enabled by adopting several emerging technologies in Enterprise processes. In this manuscript, we discuss what we believe to be one of the main challenges preventing the full employment of Industry 4.0, namely, the integration of Operation Technology networking and Information Technology networking. We discuss the technical challenges alongside the potential tools while providing a state-of-the-art use case scenario. We showcase a possible solution based on the Asset Administration Shell approach, referring to the use case of camera synchronization for collaborative tasks