bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Henry Holdship Ware: a U.S. Military Interpreter, a Soviet Spy, and an Economist
Authors: Naimushin Boris
Published: June 2024

This article looks at the life of Henry Holdship Ware (1908-1999), the grandson of the founder of Atlanta University. Captain Henry H. Ware was an aide and interpreter to Major General John Deane, Chief of the U.S. Military Mission to the Soviet Union during World War 2. In this capacity, he was an interpreter with the U.S. Army assigned to the Tripartite Conference in Moscow (1943) and Conferences at Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945), and a liaison officer and interpreter during Operation Frantic, a joint American-Soviet campaign of shuttle bombing missions in Poltava, Ukraine, in June–September 1944. He was also present at the official surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany at Karlshorst on May 8, 1945, and interpreted toasts at the banquet of celebration after the ceremony. Henry Ware learnt Russian during his five-year stay as a student at Plekhanov Institute in Moscow, where he studied economics and was recruited by the NKVD to report on the American community in Moscow. Back in the USA, he was independently recruited by the Golos-Bentley Soviet espionage network under the codename ‘Vick”. In 1975, probably inspired by his study of the Soviet economy, he founded the Useful Services Exchange (USE), a community-based organization in Reston, Virginia, enabling neighbors to help each other through the exchange of services. The discussion draws on available visuals, memoirs, newspaper sources, and declassified documents.
Catalytic reduction of para nitrophenol by green-fabricated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Solanum lycopersicum L. leaf extracts
Authors: Hamza Ima Nishal Mohamed , Kandiah Mathivathani
Published: June 2024

Green-fabricated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in applications spanning from healthcare to industries due to their unique physicochemical, optical and catalytic properties. With that being said, they have recently been gaining widespread attention from the scientific community for their role in environmental remediation (also known as nanoremediation). Green synthesized AgNPs have shown to be efficient catalysts in the degradation of organic pollutants with one such example being para nitrophenol (PNP). PNP is a toxic organic compound and contaminant released in industry wastewater streams into water bodies like rivers and oceans which may harm aquatic life and even humans. The present study aims to synthesize AgNPs from the leaves of five Sri Lankan varieties of Solanum lycopersicum L. (tomato) and assess their ability to catalyze the degradation of PNP while also investigating if they pose cytotoxicity towards aquatic organisms. Four out of five varieties formed AgNPs under the optimum heating condition 90°C 60min as characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. When subjected to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, AgNPs appeared spherical with an average diameter of approximately 40nm. Their bandgap energy was 2.70eV, classing them as semiconductors. Phytochemical analysis on leaf extracts revealed the presence of several phytoconstituents such as flavonoids, phenols, tannins and alkaloids required for the formation of AgNPs via bio-reduction. Catalytic activity was tested by the ability of AgNPs to degrade para nitrophenol (PNP) in the presence of NaBH4 and findings demonstrate that AgNPs catalyzed the degradation of PNP in under 75mins along with the formation of para aminophenol (PAP). Cytotoxicity of 4mg/mL and 1mg/mL AgNPs was studied in Artemia salina and results revealed 0% mortality of A. salina following 24h of exposure to AgNPs. Solanum lycopersicum L. is hence considered a good source of eco-friendly, non-toxic and biocompatible AgNPs that can efficiently degrade para nitrophenol. Synthesizing these AgNPs in large commercial quantities can help enhance environmental remediation efforts and effective wastewater management.
Educating New Military Leaders to be Robust against Influence Operations: A Case Study
Authors: Østby Knut , Helkala Kirsi , Aasen Ole Joachim
Published: June 2024

Influence operations and cognitive warfare are part of the new complex threat picture that Norway and other nations face. In general, military education and leadership education have traditions in place to build robustness against war demands, but how to build robustness against influence operations is still almost non-existing. In this case study, we show how an educational module on influence operations was conducted at the Norwegian Defence University College’s Cyber Academy department and how this module contributed to strengthening robustness against cognitive warfare. The impact of the educational module was evaluated by a questionnaire and a short group interview, and the results are shown in this paper. The findings indicate a positive development in the cadets' own perceived robustness. In addition, we also discuss and suggest some personal and organizational factors that can strengthen military leaders' robustness against influence operations. The findings and the discussions can be used as inspiration when educational modules are designed both in military and civilian education.
Placing Behavior in Context: Political Interpretations of Individual Behavior in Countering Information Warfare in Finland
Authors: Häkkinen Teemu , Grahn Hilkka
Published: June 2024

Malign information influence often targets large segments of the population, with the intent to manipulate individual behavior for the benefit of the actors disseminating this harmful information. However, in a liberal society like Finland, individual behavior is closely tied to personal freedoms and liberties, making the commentary and regulation of individual behavior for the sake of security a complex endeavor. This paper investigates how Finnish politicians and officials perceive individual behavior within the context of information warfare. We examine the emergence of particular discourses that interpret, critique, and potentially seek to influence individual behavior. Our research draws from parliamentary debates and legislative documents, as well as executive branch materials, providing insight into contemporary political thought. By exploring the evolving landscape of political discourse in Finland, our paper contributes to a better understanding of the environment in which countermeasures against information warfare are developed and the roots of national security policy. It underscores the intricate challenges of safeguarding cognitive security while respecting individual freedoms in a modern democratic society.
Unpacking the Complex Socio-Technical Systems Assemblages in Cybersecurity
Authors: Thinyane Mamello
Published: June 2024

The ensuing digital transformation means that cybersecurity solutioning increasingly occurs in the context of complex intractable socio-technical systems comprising non-technical elements, including human, social, and societal factors. These evolving cybersecurity ecosystem dynamics, at the confluence of cyber-physical-social spaces, present several challenges to techno-centric cybersecurity solutions including for risk assessment, threat modelling, and incident analysis. This paper unpacks the complexity of the cybersecurity domain and illustrates the associated socio-technical systems assemblages through a case study and situational analysis of a cybersecurity incident. It then reviews socio-technical systems analysis approaches from the safety management domain and discusses the alignment with and relevance for cybersecurity. The utility of these approaches is demonstrated by applying the functional resonance analysis method to the said cybersecurity incident. The situational analysis surfaces the diverse set of factors, including human, non-human, cultural, economic, institutional, and global, that directly played a role in the unfolding of the incident, and which need to be considered in risk assessment and incident analysis. Further, analysing the incident through the functional resonance analysis method shows the functional dependencies and cascade of performance variability between the different elements in this situation, which goes beyond simple, root-cause, linear causality, and purely technical explanations. Overall, the paper explicates the need for cybersecurity risk assessment and incident analysis that is commensurate with the complexity of underlying socio-technical cyber systems.
Comprehensive Artificial Intelligence Vulnerability Taxonomy
Authors: Pispa Arttu , Halunen Kimmo
Published: June 2024

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and machine learning (ML), there is a need for a comprehensive vulnerability framework that takes into account the specifics of AI systems. A review of the currently available frameworks shows that even though there have been some efforts to create AI specific frameworks, the end results have been flawed. Previous work analysed for this paper include AVID, Mitre ATLAS, Google Secure AI Framework, Attacking Artificial Intelligence, OWASP AI security and privacy guide, and ENISA Multilayer framework for good cybersecurity practices in AI. While only AVID is intended to be an AI/ML focused vulnerability framework, it has some weaknesses that are discussed further in the paper. Of the other works especially the ENISA framework has a valuable way of determining AI domains that can be affected by vulnerabilities. In our taxonomy proposal the first part of the evaluation process is determining the location in the AI system lifecycle that the vulnerability affects. The second part is determining which attributes of technical AI trustworthiness are compromised by the vulnerability. The third part is determining the possible impact of the vulnerability being exploited on a seven-step scale from the AI system functioning correctly, to it performing unintended, attacker directed actions outside the bounds it is supposed to function in. We also evaluate two known AI vulnerabilities based on our taxonomy proposal to showcase the benefits in comparison to existing frameworks.
Cognitive Security in a Changing World: Citizen Perceptions During Finland's NATO Joining Process
Authors: Grahn Hilkka , Häkkinen Teemu , Taipalus Toni
Published: June 2024

Contemporary conflicts are multifaceted and no longer fit the traditional war-and-peace dichotomy due to digital dimensions and the role of the human mind. The concept of warfare has transformed significantly: it's no longer solely reliant on physical capabilities but increasingly fought within digital environments and individuals' minds. These persistent, intertwined crises and psychological information influence present challenges to cognitive security. Psychological influence shapes opinions, attitudes, emotions, behaviors, and decision-making in individuals, groups, and societies using various methods, often involving digital tools to manipulate cognitive processes. It aims to shape the human mind, going beyond altering information to influence how the human brain processes received information. To safeguard human cognition, cognitive security is crucial. It involves the capability to detect, recognize, control, and counter negative psychological information influence aimed at an individual. Cognitive security plays a critical role in enabling individuals and society to recognize, understand, and manage a wide range of threats and risks. The rapidly changing world, driven by technology, politics, and the environment, poses new challenges for citizens' cognitive security. As warfare evolves, individuals struggle to understand the complex threats, including cyber and information influence. Hence, this study aims to ascertain whether individuals' feeling of security has changed and if they are perceiving psychological information influence. The study investigates the sense of security among Finnish people using survey data collected during two significant time periods: after Finland announced its intention to join NATO (N = 1080) and after it officially became a NATO member (N = 1047). Additionally, whether an increase in hostile online influence and disruptions in the cyber environment was noticed by Finnish people during these same time frames is being investigated. The results indicate a statistically significant decrease in the feeling of security and a significant increase in the awareness of hostile influences. This implies that these phenomena warrant further investigation to gain a better understanding of citizens' cognitive security status and to explore ways to improve it.
Exploring Cyber Fraud within the South African Cybersecurity Legal Framework
Authors: Watney Murdoch
Published: June 2024

All countries are globally struggling with the challenges cybercrime presents to the cybersecurity legal framework. Fraud is not a new crime and existed long before the internet. The internet provides a threat actor access to a lot of potential victims and the use of various threat vectors to gain access to personal information by means of social engineering. It is therefore not surprising that cyber fraud has become a serious threat which continues to escalate globally. In 2021, around $100 million was lost in Canada due to online fraud. The United Kingdom (UK) Finance indicated that cyber fraud costs consumers more than £1.2 billion in 2022. The South African (SA) Fraud Prevention Services noted a 356% surge in identity fraud between April 2022 and April 2023. The cybersecurity threat landscape is ever-evolving with the UK Finance warning that the number of cyber frauds could surge out of control as threat actors begin to incorporate the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) to make their operations far more sophisticated and not as easily detected. In 2023 the United States (US) also warned that the irresponsible use of AI could exacerbate societal harms such as fraud. Cyber fraud, also referred to as a “white collar” or commercial crime, is an umbrella term to describe the commission of different types of cyber fraud by means of the use of various threat vectors. The threat vector used to commit the different type of fraud is continuously evolving, such as the use of sophisticated phishing to quishing and deep fakes which are aimed at deceiving the recipient in sharing information. The information obtained from a data breach may be used to commit cyber fraud. Irrespective of the threat vector used to commit fraud, all types of fraud present with the same elements, namely a threat actor who unlawfully and intentionally deceives a victim to benefit and cause harm. The discussion focuses on cyber fraud in general and not a specific type of cyber fraud. The purpose of the discussion is to provide an overview of the challenges cyber fraud present to the South African cybersecurity legal landscape.
Unmasking the Subconscious Fallacies Within Critical Infrastructure Protection
Authors: Stephens Marion
Published: June 2024

Cybersecurity, a vital challenge in today’s ever-changing digital world, it has gained prominence with the global shift towards cyber-enabled critical infrastructures. Critical infrastructure protection efforts are fundamental for the continuation of essential services. Traditionally constituted as separate sectors, these infrastructures are increasingly interconnected, leading to potential domino effects during security breaches. For instance, failures within the power grid could have cascading effects on multiple sectors that depend on electricity for their operations, creating large-scale failures that affect functions on which society depends. The multidimensional nature of the infrastructures presents complex challenges for solutions, given their status as long-established legacy systems needing further development and enhancements to withstand the digital world. The lack of a concerted and focused infrastructure enhancement strategy has led to incremental approaches versus a comprehensive revamp to ensure a holistic cyber protection program. A lack of national focus has created inconsistencies that can lead to potentially catastrophic consequences. Understanding the decision-making processes within a complex environment is critical to the mission success. One significant risk is the cognitive roadblocks that have the potential to influence one’s judgements as this often outweighs balanced decisions. This study aims to investigate the subconscious biases that arise from a perceived resolution of the problem which can lead to de-prioritization within the decision-making processes. The study employs a convergent parallel mixed methods design to collect and analyse the data. The study then will compare the results allowing for the exploration of various aspects of the research. This approach is aligned to provide a thorough understanding of the challenges associated with protecting the infrastructures and the underlying subconscious fallacies in the digital age, thereby devising effective mitigation strategies, and fostering a more sustainable and resilient critical infrastructure that is useful for a variety of stakeholders, including policymakers, infrastructure owners and operators, cybersecurity professionals, and researchers
Utilizing Vector Database Management Systems in Cyber Security
Authors: Taipalus Toni , Grahn Hilkka , Turtiainen Hannu , Costin Andrei
Published: June 2024

The rising popularity of phenomena such as ubiquitous computing and IoT poses increasingly high demands for data management, and it is not uncommon that database management systems (DBMS) must be capable of reading and writing hundreds of operations per second. Vector DBMSs (VDBMS) are novel products that focus on the management of vector data and can alleviate data management pressures by storing data objects such as logs, system calls, emails, network flow data, and memory dumps in feature vectors that are computationally efficient in both storage and information retrieval. VDMBSs allow efficient nearest neighbour similarity search on complex data objects, which can be used in various cyber security applications such as anomaly, intrusion, malware detection, user behaviour analysis, and network flow analysis. This study describes VDBMSs and some of their use cases in cyber security.
Innovating Cybersecurity Education Through AI-augmented Teaching
Authors: Joon  , Simmons Ryan
Published: June 2024

In traditional teaching frameworks, instructors face significant obstacles in offering current and synchronized learning materials and examples, especially when the course is taught by multiple instructors. This situation can affect the quality of the course's learning outcomes. These challenges become more pronounced in today’s higher education, because of the heightened complexity arising from the need to cover a range of course materials, diverse student backgrounds, varying skill levels, and different student expectations—all within the constraints of a fixed teaching and learning schedule. Furthermore, due to resource constraints, not every instructor has the availability of a teaching assistant (TA). Especially, while the demand for cybersecurity continues to rise, the dynamic nature of the cybersecurity field leads to the frequent emergence of new issues and incidents. To address these challenges, we examine the capabilities of generative AI to innovate teaching techniques and methods for cybersecurity curricula. We further explore the novel challenges introduced by generative AI, including issues related to privacy, data ownership, transparency, and other associated concerns, underscoring the need for comprehensive solutions. Our work further examines the teaching and learning capabilities of dynamically generated, up-to-date class materials in a personalized study environment augmented by AI. The adaptability of AI-augmented teaching across various disciplines will bring innovation to higher
Towards a Framework for Analysing Complex Interdependence in Digital Espionage Markets
Authors: Datta Ahana
Published: June 2024

Cyber power indices have dominated discourse in recent years as measuring the relative power of nation-states in cyberspace to exercise their cyber capabilities for offensive and defensive purposes. These indices adapt a variety of methodologies, but their effectiveness in mobilising cyber power remains limited. Indices based on dynamic systems frameworks explain power consolidation arising from network-effects, but are too broad to implement due to complexity. In this article, we analyse cyber power through access to digital espionage capabilities, using the theory that states weaponise complex interdependence of information flows. Instead of proposing an index, we set up a case study contrasting the Chinese system, where the state mediates technology vulnerabilities, with the Five Eyes system, where vulnerability disclosures are a common occurrence. The Chinese system exhibits a “chokepoint” effect, in contrast to the Five Eyes’ “panopticon” mediation of information flows.
Extant cyber espionage analyses range over themes such as economic vis-a-vis open and closed vulnerability markets; legal, in relation to the circulation of tools like spyware; or strategic and case-based. Given this confluence, we posit a framework of information flows between ecosystems of actors. Exploit vendors, state-backed offensive operators, nation-states, and tech platforms are networked through interdependent information flows, consolidating power in private actors. The political economy of a nation-state provides useful heuristics in articulating strategic aims behind its espionage activities, as well as its approach in controlling the flow of knowledge of vulnerabilities between the private actors of which the state may be a customer. In highlighting this tension between nation-states’ political economies defining their roles as both mediator and customer, we offer security scholars nuanced considerations in theorising cyber power. We conclude that while this tension amplifies private power, policymakers must intervene to reshape interdependent networks that influence and counter it.
Applications of Post-Quantum Cryptography
Authors: Bagirovs Emils , Provodin Grigory , Sipola Tuomo , Hautamäki Jari
Published: June 2024

With the constantly advancing capabilities of quantum computers, conventional cryptographic systems relying on complex math problems may encounter unforeseen vulnerabilities. Unlike regular computers, which are often deemed cost-ineffective in cryptographic attacks, quantum computers have a significant advantage in calculation speed. This distinction potentially makes currently used algorithms less secure or even completely vulnerable, compelling the exploration of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) as the most reasonable solution to quantum threats. This review aims to provide current information on applications, benefits, and challenges associated with the PQC. The review employs a systematic scoping review with the scope restricted to the years 2022 and 2023; only articles that were published in scientific journals were used in this paper. The review examined the articles on the applications of quantum computing in various spheres. However, the scope of this paper was restricted to the domain of the PQC because most of the analyzed articles featured this field. Subsequently, the paper is analyzing various PQC algorithms, including lattice-based, hash-based, code-based, multivariate polynomial, and isogeny-based cryptography. Each algorithm is being judged based on its potential applications, robustness, and challenges. All the analyzed algorithms are promising for the post-quantum era in such applications as digital signatures, communication channels, and IoT. Moreover, some of the algorithms are already implemented in the spheres of banking transactions, communication, and intellectual property. Meanwhile, despite their potential, these algorithms face serious challenges since they lack standardization, require vast amounts of storage and computation power, and might have unknown vulnerabilities that can be discovered only with years of cryptanalysis. This overview aims to give a basic understanding of the current state of post-quantum cryptography with its applications and challenges. As the world enters the quantum era, this review not only shows the need for strong security methods that can resist quantum attacks but also presents an optimistic outlook on the future of secure communications, guided by advancements in quantum technology. By bridging the gap between theoretical research and practical implementation, this paper aims to inspire further innovation and collaboration in the field.
Backward-compatible Software Upgrades for ADS-B and AIS To Support ECDSA-Secured Protocols
Authors: Saleem Ahsan , Turtiainen Hannu , Costin Andrei , Hämäläinen Timo
Published: June 2024

During the past few decades, the aviation, maritime, aerospace, and search-and-rescue domains have witnessed tremendous improvement thanks to technological, digitalization and Internet of Things (IoT) advances such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) (e.g., Aviation IoT, Airports IoT) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) (e.g., Maritime IoT). All these are high-profile examples of new digital communication protocols combined with IoT devices that make efficient use of wide-area earth and space radio communications to provide real-time, truly globally interoperable, and optimised services required by these domains. However, the protocols and technologies mentioned above, both from an architectural and implementation point of view, exhibit fundamental cybersecurity weaknesses (both at protocol and IoT device level). These weaknesses make them an easy target for potential attackers. The two fundamental flaws of these protocols are the lack of digital signatures (i.e., integrity and authenticity) and the lack of encryption (i.e., confidentiality and privacy). The risks associated with these, and other weaknesses have been over the last decade repeatedly demonstrated with ease by ethical cybersecurity researchers. In this paper, we design, propose, and discuss a single generic PKI-enabled message integrity and authenticity scheme that works seamlessly for any of the ADS-B, and AIS, with the possibility of easy extension and integration into other protocols (e.g., ACARS). Our scheme can be added as backward-compatible software upgrades (e.g., third-party library) to existing systems without requiring expensive architectural redesign, upgrades, and retrofitting. Our present work is aimed to serve as a bootstrap to securing such insecure protocols without completely replacing or redesigning the systems. It also aims to provide a discussion background of advantages and limitations of such backward-compatible securing methods.
Implications of Large Language Models for OSINT: Assessing the Impact on Information Acquisition and Analyst Expertise in Prompt Engineering
Authors: Černý Jan
Published: June 2024

This paper explores the potential use of large language models (LLMs) in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), with a focus on integrating information acquisition and the increasing importance of prompt engineering for analysts. The research includes a comprehensive literature review, which highlights the widespread use of AI in OSINT and the related challenges, such as data validity and ethical concerns. The study emphasizes the significance of prompt engineering as a crucial skill that demands a profound comprehension of LLMs to generate validated intelligence. A model of the OSINT lifecycle that incorporates LLMs is proposed. The paper further discusses updated training in critical thinking, search techniques, and prompt engineering for intelligence professionals. The findings indicate a noteworthy shift in OSINT procedures, highlighting the importance of continuous research and education to fully utilize AI in intelligence gathering.
Measuring Societal Impacts of Cybersecurity
Authors: Heinonen Jarmo , Ruoslahti Harri
Published: June 2024

Cybersecurity is more important than ever. All facets of society, including critical sectors such as financial, healthcare, energy, and transportation, are very reliant on cyberspace. Information and communications technology have become more and more relevant in organizations and are crucial elements in organizational learning and networked development and resilience.
This study focuses on the analysis and findings of a cybersecurity questionnaire on the quantitative side of the survey contemplate mainly cybersecurity competences of the personnel in the participants’ companies. The data was analysed with principal component, correspondence analysis, and the Euclidean distance two-dimensional figures.
The extraction method was Principal component analysis to extract 11 factors, with more than 25 iterations. Correspondence analysis shows that the private and public non-authority sectors prefer workers with communication and collaboration skills and an ability for situational awareness. Private subsidiaries prefer leadership skills.
The results show that the Societal Impact Assessment Toolkit questionnaire can be used in organizations or projects to assess the societal impact of their cybersecurity products and services. The questionnaire will be developed to-ward a standardized method, which will require collecting answers from larger numbers of respondents for further evaluation and testing it with ap-propriate qualitative methods. This will add to the body of knowledge on the societal impacts of cybersecurity. The tool is a very practical contribution for companies, while the continued use and the ensuing analysed data that be-comes collected from large numbers of respondents becomes a contribution to theory.
Psychological Effects of Continuity Threatening Cyber Incidents
Authors: Virtanen Toni
Published: June 2024

Working in the field of cybersecurity has been compared to working in a warlike environment. Understanding what types of psychological strain cyber attacks cause to the defending organisations’ workforce can aid in developing methods and processes for mitigating those stressors. This paper discusses the first-hand psychological effects of experiencing an operational continuity threatening cyber incident caused by a real threat actor. The results are based on 19 interviews from IR professionals and IT security practitioners to decision makers, CISO’s and other top executives. These individuals were working in multi-national corporations, hospitals, central government, financial sector, local government or educational institutions at the time of the incident. The interviews followed critical incident paradigm to focus on significant events during the cyber incidents, while also being semi-structured to compensate for the diversity of the incidents. Most of the interviewees raise up feelings of disbelief and despair as their first emotional response to the realization of being hit by ransomware, data theft or another severe cyber incident that could threaten operational or business continuity. Feelings of guilt and self-doubt were present, especially in those considered to be responsible for securing the network.  However, at the same time, feelings of purpose and self-efficacy were also reported by some. Having scalable resources available in the time of need, with well-defined roles and responsibilities for the core incident response teams and protecting them from unnecessary inquiries seemed to alleviate the stressors and anxiety of the Incident Response (IR) team during the event. Good leadership and internal communication were seen as important to maintain the necessary situational awareness and focus during the active incident mitigation and resolve phase. Long-term negative effects of the cyber incident were increased cynicism, fear of the situation recurring, and thoughts of changing career. These negative outcomes were mitigated by increased trust in colleagues, processes and systems with experience of self-efficacy. This paper discusses what types of mental strain cyber incidents introduce to cybersecurity professionals and top executives. It deepens understanding on what factors need to be considered in developing and enhancing the overall resilience of organisations against cyber attacks.
Addressing the Digital Resilience Challenge in the Electricity Sector in Nigeria: From Risk to Resilience
Authors: Achuama Maduakonam Pius
Published: June 2024

The electricity sector in Nigeria stands at the crossroads of an ever-evolving digital landscape and the pressing need for resilience in the face of dynamic challenges. This paper explores Nigeria's electricity sector, navigating its evolving digital landscape with a focus on resilience amid growing challenges. Shifting from risk reduction to resilience building, the study utilizes stakeholder interviews to assess cyber resilience. Unveiling technological advancements, it addresses interdependencies, vulnerabilities, and cyber threats in the connected grid. The study discusses some enabling practices to solve these issues including the role of policy and regulatory frameworks in fostering a culture of resilience and collaboration among various stakeholders. Amid the digital revolution, it advocates readiness, responsiveness, and rehabilitation for Nigeria's electricity sector. The study serves as a strategic roadmap for public and private decision-makers to tackle digital resilience challenges.
Using Wargaming to Model Cyber Defense Decision-Making: Observation-Based Research in Locked Shields
Authors: Sarjakivi Pietari , Ihanus Jouni , Moilanen Panu
Published: June 2024

Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) in complex environments, such as cyber wargames, require in-depth cybersecurity knowledge and the ability to make quick decisions. In a typical DCO, execution rarely follows a pre-planned path because of extensive adversary influence, challenging an already complex decision-making environment. Decision-making models have been extensively studied from perspectives of military operations and business management, but they are not sufficiently researched in the context of cyber. This paper responds to this need by examining the decision-making models of DCO leaders in a live-fire wargame environment. This study was conducted by observing leaders of cyber operations during the world's largest live-fire cyber exercise, NATO Locked Shield 2023. In this exercise, the blue teams plan and execute their defensive cyber operation in a realistic operational environment, while the red team conducts attacks against the defended environment. The large-scale, wargaming-style environment of Locked Shield is one of the best environments for modelling DCO decision-making models; in this exercise, the DCO is broad and multi-faceted, a perspective which cannot be achieved in a typical capture-the-flag competition or a single security incident. DCO leaders must be able to manage two distinct decision-making processes with different sets of required skills to be successful in the mission. While the primary process relates to the execution and evolution of the pre-designed plan with traditional operational leadership skills, the secondary process deals with unplanned and deliberately caused cyber-related events that require a deep understanding of cybersecurity. In this respect, the main contribution of this research is the constructed decision-making model of the DCO leader. This model is based on observations collected and presented in the context of multiple well-known decision-making frameworks. This model can be further used to train future DCO leaders and assess artificial intelligence's usability to support and automate decision-making in such operations.
Brain-Computer Interface Integration With Extended Reality (XR): Future, Privacy And Security Outlook
Authors: Lahtinen Tuomo , Costin Andrei , Suarez-Tangil Guillermo
Published: June 2024

The Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) is a rapidly evolving technology set to revolutionize our perception of the Internet of Things (IoT). BCI facilitates direct communication between the brain and external devices, enabling the control or interaction of devices without physical intervention. BCI technology is becoming more sophisticated, allowing third-party software embedded in emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) to access sensors that read brain activity. These can be grouped under the umbrella term Extended Reality (XR). While BCI technology is disrupting the way data is collected, interpreted, and utilized within IoT networks, it is important to consider the potential privacy and security threats that it poses. Previous and not-so-recent cybersecurity research only scratched the surface in terms of security and privacy aspects of the then-emerging neural and brain-connecting technologies. However, recent advances in reconstructing language, music tracks, and imagery solely based on decoding neural signals pose a significant risk of mental privacy invasion and cybersecurity abuse. In this paper, we present an analysis of the potential threats posed by the integration of BCI with VR, AR, and MR. We analyze the involvement of major technological players in shaping BCI and XR advancements, examining the potential for these technologies to create detailed user profiles and reshape the monetization of user data in the ever-more-aggressive data-driven economy. We also outline a position view on the cybersecurity aspects that are not related to privacy and profiling per se, for example, cybersecurity attacks on the brain (e.g., ``brain rewriting'' attacks) facilitated by potentially vulnerable XR-BCI devices and software. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for further research on the privacy and security implications of XR-BCI integration and inviting deeper exploration of the topic beyond theoretical papers and toward a more applied experimental setup.
Evaluating Zero-Shot Chatgpt Performance on Predicting CVE Data From Vulnerability Descriptions
Authors: Costin Andrei , Turtiainen Hannu , Yousefnezhad Narges , Bogulean Vadim , Hämäläinen Timo
Published: June 2024

Vulnerability management is a critical industry activity driven by compliance and regulations aiming to allocate best-fitted resources to address vulnerabilities efficiently. The increasing number of vulnerabilities reported and discovered by a diverse community results in varying quality of the reports and differing perspectives. To tackle this, machine learning (ML) has shown promise in automating vulnerability assessments. While some existing ML approaches have demonstrated feasibility, there is room for improvement. Additionally, gaps remain in the literature to understand how the specific terminology used in vulnerability databases and reports influences ML interpretation. Large Language Model (LLM) systems, such as ChatGPT, are praised for their versatility and high applicability to any domain. However, how well or poorly a state-of-the-art LLM system performs on existing vulnerability datasets at a large scale and across different scoring metrics needs to be clarified or well-researched. This paper aims to close several such gaps and present a more precise and comprehensive picture of how ChatGPT performs on predicting vulnerability metrics based on NVD's CVE vulnerability database. We analyze the responses from ChatGPT on a set of 113,228 (~50% out of all NVD vulnerabilities) CVE vulnerability descriptions and measure its performance against NVD-CVE as ground truth. We measure and analyze the predictions for several vulnerabilities in metadata and calculate performance statistics.
Risk Assessment of Large Language Models Beyond Apocalyptic Visions
Authors: Maathuis Clara , Chockalingam Sabarathinam
Published: June 2024

The remarkable development of Large Language Models (LLMs) continues to revolutionize various human activities in different societal domains like education, communications, and healthcare. While facilitating the generation of coherent and contextually relevant text across a diverse plethora of topics, LLMs became a set of instruments available in different toolboxes of decision makers. In this way, LLMs moved from a hype to an actual underlying mechanism for capturing valuable insights, revealing different perspectives on topics, and providing real-time decision-making support. As LLMs continue to increase in sophistication and accessibility, both societal and academic effort from AI and cyber security is projected in this direction, and a general societal unrest is seen due to their unknown consequences. Nevertheless, an apocalyptic vision towards their risks and impact does not represent a constructive and realistic approach. Contrarily, this could be an impediment to building LLMs that are safe, responsible, trustworthy, and have a real contribution to the overall societal well-being. Hence, understanding and addressing the risks of LLMs is imperative for building them in an ethical, social, and legal manner while making sure to consider control mechanisms for avoiding, mitigating, accepting, and transferring their risks and harmful consequences. Taking into consideration that these technological developments find themselves in an incipient phase, this research calls for a multi-angled perspective and proposes a realistic theoretical risk assessment method for LLMs.
Iran’s digital authoritarianism as the Blueprint for National Sovereignty
Authors: Kapsokoli Eleni
Published: June 2024

As the technological landscape undergoes continuous transformation, nations are seizing the combination of technology, governance, and sovereignty in their strategies. Following the Arab Spring, a movement primarily focused on overthrowing oppressive regimes in the Middle East, Iran took a distinctive turn by establishing a digital authoritarian model. Fueled by concerns stemming from democratic reforms worldwide - especially those facilitated by the Internet and social media, which have played a pivotal role in the collection and dissemination of information - the Iranian government perceived a potential threat to its national security and sovereignty as well as its political survival. In response to the above, Tehran implemented a range of strategies and measures in Internet governance, which represent a form of oppressive control. To regulate the Internet and control the flow of data, Iran established the National Information Network, known as the ‘Halal Internet’. This effort aims to safeguard national sovereignty through persistent control, shield political ideology, and promote a particular religious behavior within cyberspace. These developments have a noteworthy impact on individual rights, liberties, and privacy. This paper aims to explore the methods through which Iran exercises digital authoritarianism.
Exploring Zero-Day Attacks on Machine Learning and Deep Learning Algorithms
Authors: Kovářová Marie
Published: June 2024

In the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms have emerged as powerful tools for solving complex problems in various domains, including cyber security. However, as these algorithms become increasingly prevalent, they also face new security challenges. One of the most significant of these challenges is the threat of zero-day attacks, which exploit unknown and unpredictable vulnerabilities in the algorithms or the data they process.
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of zero-day attacks on ML/DL algorithms, exploring their types, causes, effects, and potential countermeasures. The paper begins by introducing the concept and definition of zero-day attacks, providing a clear understanding of this emerging threat. It then reviews the existing research on zero-day attacks on ML/DL algorithms, focusing on three main categories: data poisoning attacks, adversarial input attacks, and model stealing attacks. Each of these attack types poses unique challenges and requires specific countermeasures.
The paper also discusses the potential impacts and risks of these attacks on various application domains. For instance, in facial expression recognition, an adversarial input attack could lead to misclassification of emotions, with serious implications for user experience and system integrity. In object classification, a data poisoning attack could cause the algorithm to misidentify critical objects, potentially endangering human lives in applications like autonomous driving. In satellite intersection recognition, a model stealing attack could compromise national security by revealing sensitive information.
Finally, the paper presents some possible protection methods against zero-day attacks on ML/DL algorithms. These include anomaly detection techniques to identify unusual patterns in the data or the algorithm’s behaviour, model verification and validation methods to ensure the algorithm’s correctness and robustness, federated learning approaches to protect the privacy of the training data, and differential privacy techniques to add noise to the data or the algorithm’s outputs to prevent information leakage.
The paper concludes by highlighting some open issues and future directions for research in this area, emphasizing the need for ongoing efforts to secure ML/DL algorithms against zero-day attacks.
Revisiting Past Cyber Security Recommendations: Lessons we Have Failed to Learn
Authors: Schulze Matthias , Silomon Jantje
Published: June 2024

Cyber-security is constantly evolving as new technologies introduce new vulnerabilities and threat actors constantly develop new techniques to penetrate systems. Much focus in scholarship is on the cyber-offense, while few analyse changes in the cyber-defence posture. Since its inception, defensive information security has evolved and introduced a plethora of new security controls to either prevent, detect, mitigate, or respond to new cyber-attacks. When studying cyber-incidents, a paradox becomes apparent: often, low-end security fails are responsible for most breaches, such as default system configurations and credentials or violations of the principle of least privileges. Even security sensitive organisations such as the US DoD or IT companies suffer from this paradox, as a recent NSA/CISA report indicates: large sums are spent on high-end security programs only to be compromised by low-end attacks. This paradox becomes even more pronounced when introducing a longitudinal historical perspective: many of these issues have been known for decades, as reports from the 1970s show. These include inadequate hardware and software not designed with security in mind, the issue of managing resource access controls in a multi-user environment that includes remote terminals (aka a cloud infrastructure), malicious insider threats that bypass security controls, as well as the issue of applying timely software patches. In sum: while the IT security industry is rushing to introduce new high-level security controls and technologies, the main issues seem to be age-old problems and the failure to learn lessons from the past, warranting a historical approach. In this paper, the origin of security controls is examined, shedding light on relevant best practices, recommendations and why they emerged. Starting in the 1960s, we analyse the emerging technologies of each subsequent decade, explore what changes in IT-security controls these new technologies necessitated, and how IT and later cyber-security changed over the years. Furthermore, reference is made to the aftermath of selected cyber-attacks to further highlight is analysed to explore potential shifts in security paradigms beyond those introduced by technology itself.