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Malware analysis and antivirus signature creation
No full textThe rapid advances social media, educational tools and communications platforms available today have expanded the attack landscape through which the malicious user can propagate their work can carry out damaging attacks. Attacks against desktop, mobile and cloud-based systems have seen a sharp increase in recent years owing to recent advanced malware creation techniques and all the more worrying are the common misconceptions among end-users that anti-malware programs will safeguard against these threats. Progressive analysis of these malware specimens has prompted the security industry as a whole to take the matter more seriously but currently, appears to be reacting to threats rather than pro-actively building defences against the next wave of attacks. Significant difficulties are faced by the security industry in this respect. On this basis, the following work evaluates and analyses a Windows malware specimen in a controlled virtual environment to determine its purpose and function using a combination of static and dynamic code analysis. Results show that obfuscation strategies employed by malware writers ‘morph’ viruses into forms which evade detection even by complex heuristic detection algorithms. It is recommended that the security process including the policies, procedures and security awareness training programmes be actively developed in the corporate context and that end-users in the domestic case take greater care with downloading
What lurks beneath the event evaluation - Social media!
Full text linkIn August 2013 Northern Ireland hosted the World Police and Fire Games. The official event evaluation found that the games projected Northern Ireland in a positive light; however this survey does not tell the full story. Leading up to this event Northern Ireland experienced four months of civil unrest. Many consumers turned to social media to seek reassurance and guidance. However, the event organisers did not provide such support. In fact, by mismanaging concerns regarding political stability and visitor safety this event in effect reinforced the negative stereotypical images of Northern Ireland and because it happened on-line it was ignored in the official event evaluation. The two key lessons pertinent to event organisers and destination marketers from this case study are do not underestimate the power of social media especially in a time of crisis, and in this digital age an event evaluation must consider comments made on social media
The Wild Atlantic Way as a catalyst for tourism and sustainable employment development in the North West of Ireland.
Full text linkIn March 2014 Fáilte Ireland launched a new coastal drive, ‘The Wild Atlantic Way' (WAW). This new initiative provides a signposted route along the Atlantic coast from Kinsale in West Cork to Malin Head in County Donegal. The WAW presents a unique opportunity for peripheral areas that heretofore have failed to realise any substantial benefit from the tourism industry. For the first time an active campaign will direct tourists into areas that are often neglected and overlooked by tourism promoters (Fáilte Ireland 2014a).\ud
The focus of this study is to determine what efforts, if any, communities and business owners have made or intend to make, in order to take advantage of this new opportunity; to determine what level of co-operation, if any, exists between stakeholders; to examine what initiatives they are currently engaged in to take advantage of this unique opportunity and to uncover possible shortcomings in terms of readiness to take advantage of the WAW development by identifying strategic gaps.\ud
A key factor will be in determining the impact of the changes which key stakeholders will be encouraged to make. It is envisaged that these will involve elements of marketing, service delivery and customer service in the first instance and the research project will adopt or adapt established evaluation frameworks in order to do this
The phenomenon of online reviews - Digital headache or golden opportunity for the tourism sector?
Full text linkTechnology has brought many opportunities to organisations in the tourism sector, for example, with regard to the efficiencies achieved by embracing self-service technologies (SSTs), such as self-check-in online and mobile restaurant apps. Equally, the nature of the online environment, in terms of its connectivity, immediacy, access to information and facility for real-time sharing and collaboration has resulted in a more empowered consumer. One manifestation of such consumer empowerment is the growing phenomenon of consumers who are embracing the internet as a means of reviewing and communicating their tourism experiences in the form of online reviews (Ong, 2012).\ud
Online reviews essentially constitute a form of word-of-mouth presented on the internet (Mangold and Smith, 2012) and in a consumer context, represent a form of peer-to-peer information whereby consumers seek to document and share their experiences with others, on a range of online platforms. These platforms include social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter,) blogs, company websites, consumer review sites (e.g. Trip Advisor, Expedia) and search engine sites (e.g. Google).\ud
The influence of online reviews can be traced to their facility for assisting consumers to develop a balanced understanding of a given product, to identify a suite of criteria for evaluating the product, to arrive at a specific product choice, and to reduce the perceived risk of making that choice (Liu, Karahanna and Watson, 2011). Critically, it has also been noted that the opinions of fellow customers are deemed to hold stronger credibility than information and communications emanating from companies (Simonson and Rosen, 2014; Sheth, 1999).\ud
However, whilst there is widespread awareness of the surge in consumer online reviews, the literature sounds a note of caution regarding how companies are responding to this phenomenon. For example, Simonson and Rosen (2014) caution that many companies are simply ignoring the trend whilst Mangold and Smith (2012) suggest that there is a large gap in the literature regarding which product categories are most impacted upon by online reviews. Elsewhere, Ong (2012) highlights that whilst a number of studies has focused on the influence of online reviews in the context of tangible goods such as books and electronic items, there is relatively little literature addressing how consumers use reviews in service sectors.\ud
To that end, this paper presents a research agenda for tourism operators by examining the key issues that should be considered when addressing the phenomenon of online reviews. Specifically, the issues are as follows: What are tourist user motivations for posting online reviews (e.g. assisting others, self-promotion, seeking to negotiate a better deal with the operator)? What online platforms do tourism operators need to monitor for such reviews (e.g. tourism-specific sites such as Trip Advisor, search engine sites such as Google)? Are consumers more likely to post positive or negative reviews? Interestingly, there is a suggestion in the literature that positive reviews tend to prevail far more so, than negative reviews online (e.g. East, Hammond and Wright, 2007). Are service providers ‘listening’ and changing their operational processes, particularly regarding negative reviews? If positive reviews serve as credible and influential sources of information about the tourism product,\ud
how is the tourism provider including such reviews in corporate/marketing communications? For example, to what extent is a positive review being promoted on the company’s website / in advertising materials? What are the implications for the consumer decision-making process (e.g. the relative importance of tourism reviews for well-known tourist brands versus newly established offerings)? Are online reviews serving to dilute the perception of the tourism brand’s value
An appetite for social media in Irish SME food businesses?
Full text linkThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the current relationship between social media use and Irish SME food companies. The research seeks to determine if social media can effectively form an integral, and, ultimately, profitable part of their overall marketing approach. With the recent rapid advances in modern technology, the strategic use of social media as a means to increasing marketing reach and engagement makes the need for this research timely and apposite. The research design considered both qualitative and quantitative approaches and utilised the former in carrying out 17 in-depth interviews with those working within the Irish SME food industry.\ud
Findings, as outlined, indicate that there is an increase in food brands engaging with social media. In the case of early-stage Irish Food businesses, social media is the only marketing activity carried out; more established food brands adopt a more planned approach to social media.\ud
The main conclusion to be drawn from this research is that social media can help Irish SME food businesses to reach, engage with, and influence their key target markets. Social Media can assist in driving awareness and, more importantly, sales; however, effectiveness is dependent on social media being part of an overall marketing plan, which has been derived from the business objectives and strategy
Cluster development in rural tourism areas of South Kerry – Reflections on the process
Full text linkAccording to Melisidou et al (2013) clusters are considered as being efficient management and marketing tools for tourist destinations and as a local strategy for combating regional disparities and social inequality. A common element of many cluster definitions is the emphasis on networking and collaboration between companies and institutions as ‘groups defined by relationship, rather than membership’ (European Commission, 2008:9).\ud
South Kerry Development Partnership is a local area development company established to promote and support the development of sustainable, vibrant communities in the South Kerry area and region. Between 2008 and 2010, SKDP assisted in the establishment of enterprise clusters in 5 distinct rural areas within its area of responsibility. Each cluster had a vision for their region and rural communities that centred on economic development for social and cultural sustainability. Due to their location in a tourism intensive region, the development of tourism related experiences, activities and services were identified as potential opportunities that could be capitalised upon.\ud
In 2013 SKDP engaged the services of Boland Marketing, a consultancy company offering services in strategic enterprise development and community / social enterprise development. Their role was to offer facilitation to each cluster to self-evaluate, to identify private and public funding sources and to strategically plan a sustainable future by producing an action plan with agreed short and long term objectives. This facilitation was in the form of key actions including meetings, workshops, mentoring and networking events which focused on practical, results driven outcomes.\ud
As a result of the process, a template of good practice emerged for cluster development in rural areas which addresses 3 key areas - cluster development (remit, structure, communication) cluster operation (project planning, team development, training, implementation and evaluation) and cluster sustainability (building capabilities and skills, resilience, resources and support).\ud
The objective of this paper, which is the result of an academic / industry collaboration, is to present a template of good practice for the development of rural tourism clusters using the example from South Kerry as a basis for discussion
A comparison between Cloud Solutions with focus on DevOps tooling
Full text linkThe DevOps philosophy keeps gaining popularity due to its practices that allow\ud
companies to quickly deliver software changes to their customers. Along with this\ud
advent, Cloud Solutions continue to expand their customer base for\ud
InfrastructureAsAService\ud
(IaaS) and PlatformAsAService\ud
(PaaS) offerings. The\ud
amalgamation of these two concepts result in an opportunity to significantly reduce the\ud
risks of managing the integration and delivery processes involved in the Software\ud
Development Life Cycle, by relying on agile practices and the abstraction of complex\ud
infrastructure elements.\ud
This study illustrates how a Cloudbased\ud
DevOps environment can bring benefits to\ud
Enterprise level development teams through the comparison of two Cloud solutions:\ud
Google Cloud Platform and IBM Bluemix, by assembling a Deployment Pipeline on\ud
each one and exploring additional features that support DevOps tooling
Synthesis and characterisation of novel astaxanthin metal complexes
Full text linkAstaxanthin is produced in a wide range of organisms, its extractability from the native\ud
Irish brown crab (Cancer pagurus) was carried out using glacial acetic acid. The\ud
extractable natural astaxanthin yield is quantified using High performance liquid\ud
chromatography. In this research the possibility of yielding extractable astaxanthin\ud
from crustacean waste was examined to provide a natural source of the xanthophyll.\ud
Astaxanthin is popular in demand by the nutraceutical market due to its high radical\ud
scavenging activity. The question stands does this ability withstand the biochemical\ud
reactions undergone following ingestion. In order to assimilate these reactions\ud
examination of complex formation with transition metal salt were carried out a three\ud
temperatures of 20°C, 37 °C and 78 °C. Complexation with copper chloride proved\ud
successful at a higher activation energy (78 °C) as significant changes were confirmed\ud
in electronic spectra and cyclic voltammograms. Cobalt chloride proved unsuccessful\ud
in the formation of complexes with astaxanthin as no changes were observed apart from\ud
a stabilisation effect in cyclic voltammograms providing a two electron oxidation\ud
transfer. Astaxanthin is a natural powerful antioxidant but the involvement of the\ud
radical scavenging sites in biochemical reactions can hinder or improve it effects as\ud
proven in this research the metal chlorides exhibit a stabilisation effect on the molecules\ud
antioxidant activity but also changed the aggregation of the molecule when complexed\ud
with copper chloride at a higher temperature causing a more tight H-type packing.\ud
These effects require further examination before marketing this molecule as a\ud
nutraceutical as these reactions may negate it intake
An experimental evaluation of the device/arterial wall compliance mismatch for four stent-graft devices and a Multi-layer Flow Modulator (MFM) device for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms
Full text linkPurpose:\ud
To experimentally investigate the arterial wall/device compliance mismatch of four stent-graft devices and a multi-layer flow modulator within the supra- and infra-renal locations for the treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA).\ud
Methods:\ud
Five devices (MFM™, Endurant II™, Excluder™, Zenith™ and Fortron™) were tested under physiologically flow conditions within a flow simulator system comprising of a patient-specific thin-walled flexible AAA perfusion model with replicated intraluminal thrombus (ILT), supported by the spinal column. Devices were submitted to circumferential force tests and implanted in the perfusion model for circumferential arterial pressure/diameter measurements. Parameters, including: radial resistive force, supra-/infrarenal compliance, pulsatile arterial energy loss (PAEL), pulse wave velocity (PWV) and waves reflection coefficient (Γ), were computed to characterise the device performance.\ud
Results:\ud
The Zenith™ and Endurant II™ devices had the highest radial resistive force (up to 3 N/cm), while the Fortron™ device had the lowest (0.11 N/cm). The compliance varied between 6.9 to 5.1×10-4/mmHg (suprarenal), and between 4.8 to 5.4×10-4/mmHg (infrarenal). Two devices (Endurant II™ and Excluder™) significantly decreased the infrarenal compliance by 13 – 26% (p<0.001). Four devices increased the PAEL by 13 – 44% (p<0.006). The PWV ranged from 10.9 m/s (MFM™, p=0.164) to 15.1m/s (Endurant II™, p<0.001). There was an increase of 8 – 238% (p<0.001) in the reflection coefficient for all devices.\ud
Conclusions:\ud
\ud
Commercially available endovascular devices lower the aortic wall compliance after implatation. The MFM™ was found to be the most compliant in the surprarenal region, while the Fortron™ device was the most compliant in the infrarenal region
A review of solar and visible light active TiO2 photocatalysis for treating bacteria, cyanotoxins and contaminants of emerging concern
Full text linkResearchintothedevelopmentofsolarandvisiblelightactivephotocatalystshasbeensignificantlyincreased\ud
inrecentyearsduetoitswiderangeofapplicationsintreatingcontaminantsofemergingconcern(CECs),\ud
endocrine disruptingcompounds(EDCs), bacteriaandcyanotoxins.Solarphotocatalysisisfoundtobehighly\ud
effectiveintreatingawiderangeofCECsfromsourcessuchaspharmaceuticals,steroids,antibiotics,phthalates,\ud
disinfectants,pesticides,fragrances(musk),preservativesandadditives.Similarly,anumberofEDCsincluding\ud
polycyclicaromatichydrocarbons(PAHs),alkylphenols(APs),bisphenolA(BPA),organotins(OTs),volatileor-\ud
ganic compounds(VOCs),naturalandsyntheticestrogenicandandrogenicchemicals,pesticides,andheavy\ud
metalscanberemovedfromcontaminatedwaterbyusingsolarphotocatalysis.Photocatalysiswasalsofound\ud
effectiveintreatingawiderangeofbacteriasuchas Staphylococcusaureus,Bacillussubtilis,Escherichiacoli,\ud
Salmonellatyphi and Micrococcuslylae. Thecurrentreviewalsocomparestheeffectivenessofvariousvisible\ud
lightactivatedTiO2 photocatalystsfortreatingthesepollutants. Dopingorco-dopingofTiO2 usingnitrogen,\ud
nitrogen–silver,sulphur,carbon,copperandalsoincorporation ofgraphenenano-sheetsarediscussed.Theuse\ud
of immobilisedTiO2 for improvingthephotocatalyticactivityisalso presented.Decoratingtitaniaphotocatalyst\ud
withgrapheneoxide(GO)isofparticularinterestduetoGO'sabilitytoincreasethephotocatalyticactivityof\ud
TiO2. TheuseGOtoincreasethephotocatalyticactivityofTiO2 againstmicrocystin-LR(MC-LR)underUV-Aand\ud
solarirciationisdiscussed.TheenhancedphotocatalyticactivityofGO–TiO2 comparedtothecontrolmaterialis\ud
attributedtotheeffectiveinhibitionoftheelectron–holerecombinationbycontrollingtheinterfacialcharge\ud
transferprocess.Itisconcludedthatthereisacriticalneedforfurtherimprovementoftheefficiencyofthese\ud
materialsiftheyaretobeconsideredforbulkindustrialuse