Posts By Erisa Karafili

Abstract: Cyber-physical systems and their smart components have a pervasive presence in all our daily activities. Unfortunately, identifying the potential threats and issues in these systems and selecting enough protection is challenging given that such environments combine human, physical and cyber aspects to the system design and implementation. Current threat models and analysis do not take into consideration all three aspects of the analyzed system, how they can introduce new vulnerabilities or protection measures to each other. In this work, we introduce a novel threat model for cyber-physical systems that combines the cyber, physical, and human aspects. Our model represents the system's components relations and security properties by taking into consideration these three aspects. Together with the threat model we also propose a threat analysis method that allows understanding the security state of the system's components. The threat model and the threat analysis have been implemented into an automatic tool, called TAMELESS, that automatically analyzes threats to the system, verifies its security properties, and generates a graphical representation, useful for security architects to identify the proper prevention/mitigation solutions. We show and prove the use of our threat model and analysis with three cases studies from different sectors.

Abstract: The Tor browser is a popular tool that is used by many users around the world. The browser is common among cyber criminals who use the tool to hide their activities. Until now, little research has been conducted by forensics researchers on the Tor browser, its application, and the data that can be obtained from the artefacts generated from its execution. In this work, we present a forensics analysis of the footprint left by the Tor application in the Windows environment. Our analysis focuses on three critical areas that are examined: network, memory, and hard disk. We provide a methodology that allows a structured forensic investigation. In this work, we examine multiple tools’ abilities in obtaining artefacts. The artefacts were identified not only when the Tor browser was running, but also when it was closed and uninstalled. We provide a methodology to analyse Tor applications with a focused case study of the Tor browser, allowing investigators to analyse Tor browsers and reproduce our results.

In the CyberKit4SME project, we are using Blockchain technology for the Cyber Threat Intelligence sharing platform.   Chosen Blockchain Technology We are using Service Ledger (SL) that is a blockchain-as-a-service platform offering programmable blockchain-enabled services that can be adapted to several application scenarios. In the CyberKit4SME project, SL enables the sharing of Cyber Threat Intelligence […]

Abstract: We are currently seeing an increase in the use of voice assistants which are used for various purposes. These assistants have a wide range of inbuilt functionalities with the possibility of installing third-party applications. In this work, we will focus on analyzing and identifying vulnerabilities that are introduced by these third-party applications. In particular, we will build third-party applications (called Skills) for Alexa, the voice assistant developed by Amazon. We will analyze existing exploits, identify accessible data and propose an adversarial framework that deceives users into disclosing private information. For this purpose, we developed four different malicious Skills that harvest different pieces of private information from users. We perform a usability analysis on the Skills and feasibility analysis on the publishing pipeline for one of the Skills.

You are invited to take part in a survey about awareness of cybersecurity risks in SMEs (companies with fewer than 250 employees). Your participation will contribute to building up a knowledge base for developing tools to assist SMEs in cybersecurity management. Who should attend? All employees in SMEs across all industry sectors (no prior knowledge […]