This document outlines a framework for understanding digital astroturfing. It begins with defining digital astroturfing as manufactured, deceptive, strategic online activity by political actors meant to mimic grassroots activity. It then presents a typology that categorizes different types of digital astroturfing based on the target, initiating actor, and goal. Next, it describes the tools, venues, and actions used in digital astroturfing. The document discusses both restrictive and incentivizing countermeasures and notes the challenges of researching digital astroturfing given its clandestine nature.
Oracle UCM Security: Challenges and Best PracticesBrian Huff
Information on how to "harden" your content server to make it less susceptible to security attacks. Covers risks, vulnerabilities, and countermeasures.
Patent Risk and Countermeasures Related to Open Management in Interaction DesignYosuke Sakai
2012 10th International Conference of Asia Digital Art and Design Association & 6th International Conference of Taiwan Association of Digital Media Design
O termo Cyberpunk ou Ciberpunk foi cunhado por Bruce Bethke, amigo de Gibson cujo computador havia sido alvo de ataques de hackers a quem ele chamou de cyberpunks, numa analogia entre o ato cibernética e o ato punk de detonar com tudo. Não poderia ter sido melhor. A premissa geral do subgênero ganhou força em outras mídias como as Hqs e o cinema, nos quais houve muitos desdobramentos além da Literatura, bem como a criação de novos conceitos até o surgimento de pós-Cyberpunk nos últimos anos do século XX com obras como a trilogia Matrix que copia na cara dura o termo utilizado por Gibson para se referir ao Cyberespaço, o mundo Virtual de Neuromancer.
Oracle UCM Security: Challenges and Best PracticesBrian Huff
Information on how to "harden" your content server to make it less susceptible to security attacks. Covers risks, vulnerabilities, and countermeasures.
Patent Risk and Countermeasures Related to Open Management in Interaction DesignYosuke Sakai
2012 10th International Conference of Asia Digital Art and Design Association & 6th International Conference of Taiwan Association of Digital Media Design
O termo Cyberpunk ou Ciberpunk foi cunhado por Bruce Bethke, amigo de Gibson cujo computador havia sido alvo de ataques de hackers a quem ele chamou de cyberpunks, numa analogia entre o ato cibernética e o ato punk de detonar com tudo. Não poderia ter sido melhor. A premissa geral do subgênero ganhou força em outras mídias como as Hqs e o cinema, nos quais houve muitos desdobramentos além da Literatura, bem como a criação de novos conceitos até o surgimento de pós-Cyberpunk nos últimos anos do século XX com obras como a trilogia Matrix que copia na cara dura o termo utilizado por Gibson para se referir ao Cyberespaço, o mundo Virtual de Neuromancer.
Skyjacking A Cisco Wlan Attack Analysis And CountermeasuresAirTight Networks
This presentation will deconstruct the skyjacking vulnerability - explaining why the vulnerability occurs in Cisco WLANs, which Cisco access points are affected, how skyjacking can be exploited to launch potent attacks, and what are the best practices to proactively protect your enterprise network against such zero-day vulnerabilities and attacks.
Identifying Web Servers: A First-look Into the Future of Web Server Fingerpri...Jeremiah Grossman
Identifying Web Servers: A First-look Into the Future of Web Server Fingerprinting
Jeremiah Grossman, Founder & Chairman of WhiteHat Security, Inc.
Many diligent security professionals take active steps to limit the amount of system specific information a publicly available system may yield to a remote user. These preventative measures may take the form of modifying service banners, firewalls, web site information, etc.
Software utilities such as NMap have given the security community an excellent resource to discover what type of Operating System and version is listening on a particular IP. This process is achieved by mapping subtle, yet, distinguishable nuances unique to each OS. But, this is normally where the fun ends, as NMap does not enable we user's to determine what version of services are listening. This is up to us to guess or to find out through other various exploits.
This is where we start our talk, fingerprinting Web Servers. These incredibly diverse and useful widespread services notoriously found listening on port 80 and 443 just waiting to be explored. Many web servers by default will readily give up the type and version of the web server via the "Server" HTTP response header. However, many administrators aware of this fact have become increasingly clever in recent months by removing or altering any and all traces of this telltale information.
These countermeasures lead us to the obvious question; could it STILL possible to determine a web servers platform and version even after all known methods of information leakage prevention have been exhausted (either by hack or configuration)?
The simple answer is "yes"; it is VERY possible to still identify the web server. But, the even more interesting question is; just how much specific information can we obtain remotely?
Are we able to determine?
* Supported HTTP Request Methods.
* Current Service Pack.
* Patch Levels.
* Configuarations.
* If an Apache Server suffers from a "chunked" vulnerability.
Is really possible to determine this specific information using a few simple HTTP requests? Again, the simple answer is yes, the possibility exists.
Proof of concept tools and command line examples will be demonstrated throughout the talk to illustrate these new ideas and techniques. Various countermeasures will also be explored to protect your IIS or Apache web server from various fingerprinting techniques.
Prerequisites:
General understanding of Web Server technology and HTTP.
This short seminar presentation discusses the basic idea of my dissertation. It uncovers the main ideas of a three players conflict in missile guidance with bounded controls.
VoIP: Attacks & Countermeasures in the Corporate WorldJason Edelstein
Discusses VoIP security threats and countermeasures with a specific focus on the Cisco Call Manager implementations.
Additional information can be found at: http://www.senseofsecurity.com.au
Thomas Lang, University of California San Francisco: "Bone Loss in Long-Duration Spaceflight: Measurements and Countermeasures." Presented at the 2013 International Space Station Research and Development Conference, http://www.astronautical.org/issrdc/2013.
Penetration Test (Teste de invasão) – Saiba como ser um Hacker ético na praticaCampus Party Brasil
Com as exigências da regulamentação PCI, realizar PEN TEST torna-se obrigatório para empresas que fazem transações com cartão de credito, por isto Ethical Hacker tornou-se uma profissão. Saiba como tornar-se um profissional certificado com validade internacional e quais ferramentas pode-se usar. Faremos demonstração de como estas ferramentas funcionam.
**Return-oriented programming** bezeichnet eine gewiefte IT-Angriffstechnik, die im Prinzip eine Verallgemeinerung von *return-to-libc*-Attacken ist, welche wiederum zu den *stack buffer overflow exploits* gehören.
Wem das alles nichts sagt - keine Angst: Im Vortrag werden zunächst die Grundlagen von Puffer-Überläufen und deren Angriffspotential erläutert und einige historische Beispiele aufgezeigt, bevor schrittweise die Brücke zu **ROP** geschlagen wird. Zum Abschluss werden kurz einige Abwehrmaßnahmen vorgestellt und im Hinblick auf Umsetzbarkeit und Wirkungsgrad bewertet.
So die Demo-Götter es wollen, wird live u.A. ein Beispiel-Programm mithilfe von **ROP**-Tools gecrackt.
Designing Countermeasures For Tomorrows ThreatsDarwish Ahmad
Abstract:
Internet and network security is the most important and top priority issues for almost all types of organizations, for instance, military divisions, ministries, banks, other public and private sectors, and even to everyone who concerns it.
These organizations may use security mechanisms to protect their assets safe against evil and attackers, but most of the security countermeasures that they use are based on known attacks, threats and vulnerabilities. They hardly pay attention to protect their assets against unknown and new types of attacks, threats and vulnerabilities. Most of the organizations faced to challenges the new types of unknown attacks and threats.
This research paper's main aim is to focus and study approaches and solutions against the unknown attacks and threats, and therefore, titled Designing Countermeasures for Tomorrows Threats to make the organizations enable to detect new types attacks, threats or vulnerabilities before they damage their assets or systems.
In addition, the outcome of this research paper will give the chance to the organizations to learn who is attacking their systems, how they are being attacked, and what the attackers are trying to achieve. The concepts that this research paper (thesis) used for Designing Countermeasures for Tomorrows Threats are Honeypot and Honeynet systems.
Honeypot and Honeynet Systems are one of the most interesting and well-known concepts for all the security professionals to know their enemies and identify their weakness. Worth mentioning that most of the countries i.e. Iran, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Polish are using these concepts to protect their internal networks and assets against the attackers. Besides, there are a great number of security organizations and communities that use these concepts for research to learn and educate public about new types of attacks, threats and vulnerabilities naming Honeynet Project, Norse, FireEye, WorldMap and Global Botnet Threat Activity.
This thesis implemented most of the existed-based technologies on the concept of Honeypot and Honeynet systems both open source and close source. Finally suggest and recommend the best solution for Afghanistan to protect its internal networks especially important organizations like Ministry of Interior and other ministries and sectors.
The term Massively Parallel BigData Processor names a recent advance in bigdata processing technology which has advanced from the traditional distributed processing represented by Hadoop to modern parallel processing represented by various multicore and manycore architectures. The problem in massively parallel systems is the irregularity which is when a single item -- can be referred to as a blackswan -- incurs much more processing cost than the majority of items. This paper discusses the respective countermeasures divided into (1) distribution and (2) runtime models and optimizations. The differences between multicore and manycore cases is also discussed, where the latter is represented by the currently default design with tiles and n-neighbor switching.
Spot the Future is a project to figure out what is happening at the edge of change in Armenia, Egypt and Georgia. It is a collaboration between UNDP-CIS Innovation Unit and Edgeryders. In this presentation I explain why we do it, how we do it, and some early results.
How will the future of politics and political campaigning look like? Who will be the heroes in the future political battles? Where will the battle take place - on the streets or in the virtual world? What weapons will the future political parties use?
In this report, the Institute of Customer Experience raises many of such questions and presents possible scenarios that might become a reality given the present trends.
Skyjacking A Cisco Wlan Attack Analysis And CountermeasuresAirTight Networks
This presentation will deconstruct the skyjacking vulnerability - explaining why the vulnerability occurs in Cisco WLANs, which Cisco access points are affected, how skyjacking can be exploited to launch potent attacks, and what are the best practices to proactively protect your enterprise network against such zero-day vulnerabilities and attacks.
Identifying Web Servers: A First-look Into the Future of Web Server Fingerpri...Jeremiah Grossman
Identifying Web Servers: A First-look Into the Future of Web Server Fingerprinting
Jeremiah Grossman, Founder & Chairman of WhiteHat Security, Inc.
Many diligent security professionals take active steps to limit the amount of system specific information a publicly available system may yield to a remote user. These preventative measures may take the form of modifying service banners, firewalls, web site information, etc.
Software utilities such as NMap have given the security community an excellent resource to discover what type of Operating System and version is listening on a particular IP. This process is achieved by mapping subtle, yet, distinguishable nuances unique to each OS. But, this is normally where the fun ends, as NMap does not enable we user's to determine what version of services are listening. This is up to us to guess or to find out through other various exploits.
This is where we start our talk, fingerprinting Web Servers. These incredibly diverse and useful widespread services notoriously found listening on port 80 and 443 just waiting to be explored. Many web servers by default will readily give up the type and version of the web server via the "Server" HTTP response header. However, many administrators aware of this fact have become increasingly clever in recent months by removing or altering any and all traces of this telltale information.
These countermeasures lead us to the obvious question; could it STILL possible to determine a web servers platform and version even after all known methods of information leakage prevention have been exhausted (either by hack or configuration)?
The simple answer is "yes"; it is VERY possible to still identify the web server. But, the even more interesting question is; just how much specific information can we obtain remotely?
Are we able to determine?
* Supported HTTP Request Methods.
* Current Service Pack.
* Patch Levels.
* Configuarations.
* If an Apache Server suffers from a "chunked" vulnerability.
Is really possible to determine this specific information using a few simple HTTP requests? Again, the simple answer is yes, the possibility exists.
Proof of concept tools and command line examples will be demonstrated throughout the talk to illustrate these new ideas and techniques. Various countermeasures will also be explored to protect your IIS or Apache web server from various fingerprinting techniques.
Prerequisites:
General understanding of Web Server technology and HTTP.
This short seminar presentation discusses the basic idea of my dissertation. It uncovers the main ideas of a three players conflict in missile guidance with bounded controls.
VoIP: Attacks & Countermeasures in the Corporate WorldJason Edelstein
Discusses VoIP security threats and countermeasures with a specific focus on the Cisco Call Manager implementations.
Additional information can be found at: http://www.senseofsecurity.com.au
Thomas Lang, University of California San Francisco: "Bone Loss in Long-Duration Spaceflight: Measurements and Countermeasures." Presented at the 2013 International Space Station Research and Development Conference, http://www.astronautical.org/issrdc/2013.
Penetration Test (Teste de invasão) – Saiba como ser um Hacker ético na praticaCampus Party Brasil
Com as exigências da regulamentação PCI, realizar PEN TEST torna-se obrigatório para empresas que fazem transações com cartão de credito, por isto Ethical Hacker tornou-se uma profissão. Saiba como tornar-se um profissional certificado com validade internacional e quais ferramentas pode-se usar. Faremos demonstração de como estas ferramentas funcionam.
**Return-oriented programming** bezeichnet eine gewiefte IT-Angriffstechnik, die im Prinzip eine Verallgemeinerung von *return-to-libc*-Attacken ist, welche wiederum zu den *stack buffer overflow exploits* gehören.
Wem das alles nichts sagt - keine Angst: Im Vortrag werden zunächst die Grundlagen von Puffer-Überläufen und deren Angriffspotential erläutert und einige historische Beispiele aufgezeigt, bevor schrittweise die Brücke zu **ROP** geschlagen wird. Zum Abschluss werden kurz einige Abwehrmaßnahmen vorgestellt und im Hinblick auf Umsetzbarkeit und Wirkungsgrad bewertet.
So die Demo-Götter es wollen, wird live u.A. ein Beispiel-Programm mithilfe von **ROP**-Tools gecrackt.
Designing Countermeasures For Tomorrows ThreatsDarwish Ahmad
Abstract:
Internet and network security is the most important and top priority issues for almost all types of organizations, for instance, military divisions, ministries, banks, other public and private sectors, and even to everyone who concerns it.
These organizations may use security mechanisms to protect their assets safe against evil and attackers, but most of the security countermeasures that they use are based on known attacks, threats and vulnerabilities. They hardly pay attention to protect their assets against unknown and new types of attacks, threats and vulnerabilities. Most of the organizations faced to challenges the new types of unknown attacks and threats.
This research paper's main aim is to focus and study approaches and solutions against the unknown attacks and threats, and therefore, titled Designing Countermeasures for Tomorrows Threats to make the organizations enable to detect new types attacks, threats or vulnerabilities before they damage their assets or systems.
In addition, the outcome of this research paper will give the chance to the organizations to learn who is attacking their systems, how they are being attacked, and what the attackers are trying to achieve. The concepts that this research paper (thesis) used for Designing Countermeasures for Tomorrows Threats are Honeypot and Honeynet systems.
Honeypot and Honeynet Systems are one of the most interesting and well-known concepts for all the security professionals to know their enemies and identify their weakness. Worth mentioning that most of the countries i.e. Iran, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Polish are using these concepts to protect their internal networks and assets against the attackers. Besides, there are a great number of security organizations and communities that use these concepts for research to learn and educate public about new types of attacks, threats and vulnerabilities naming Honeynet Project, Norse, FireEye, WorldMap and Global Botnet Threat Activity.
This thesis implemented most of the existed-based technologies on the concept of Honeypot and Honeynet systems both open source and close source. Finally suggest and recommend the best solution for Afghanistan to protect its internal networks especially important organizations like Ministry of Interior and other ministries and sectors.
The term Massively Parallel BigData Processor names a recent advance in bigdata processing technology which has advanced from the traditional distributed processing represented by Hadoop to modern parallel processing represented by various multicore and manycore architectures. The problem in massively parallel systems is the irregularity which is when a single item -- can be referred to as a blackswan -- incurs much more processing cost than the majority of items. This paper discusses the respective countermeasures divided into (1) distribution and (2) runtime models and optimizations. The differences between multicore and manycore cases is also discussed, where the latter is represented by the currently default design with tiles and n-neighbor switching.
Spot the Future is a project to figure out what is happening at the edge of change in Armenia, Egypt and Georgia. It is a collaboration between UNDP-CIS Innovation Unit and Edgeryders. In this presentation I explain why we do it, how we do it, and some early results.
How will the future of politics and political campaigning look like? Who will be the heroes in the future political battles? Where will the battle take place - on the streets or in the virtual world? What weapons will the future political parties use?
In this report, the Institute of Customer Experience raises many of such questions and presents possible scenarios that might become a reality given the present trends.
Digital Keepers: Ethics of Saving Online Data About Latin American Social Mo...Itza Carbajal
Research presented at the 2017 Institute of Latin American Studies Student Association “The Struggle is the Air We Breathe”: Resilience, Resistance, and Empowerment in Latin America
Toward an ethical framework for the digital societyJillian York
I presented this keynote at the German Green Party's Netzpolitischer Kongress #NK16 on October 28, 2016. In this talk, I discussed a framework for developing a more ethical future society.
digital marketing advertising campaign ethicsLeigh Roessler
digital marketing advertising campaign ethics
social media and digital marketing have made campaigns weird. there's no two ways about it. but, we can still aim to be ethical.
Networks, swarms and policy. The future of policy making in a complex systems...Alberto Cottica
Modern policy making arose in the 20th century as a series of techniques to optimise a simple system, like a machine. There are now signs that 21st century policy makers are starting to view societies and economies as a complex system instead: one of them is the adoption of network modelling by senior decision makers.
The presentation looks at some of the emerging consequences of this new world view for public policies, including a new set of policy tools for smart swarms of citizens. I conclude by trying to paint a big picture of the shift in modern policy making and the role of the state.
Presentation at the INSITE final conference, 9-10May 2014, Venice.
Brute force effects of mass media presence and social media activity on elect...Marko Kovic
Note: This presentation was given ath the 69th annual conference of the World Association of Public Opinion Research in Austin, Texas, on May 11, 2016.
---
In this study, we analyze whether the mere volume of presence in mass media and the mere volume of activity on social media conveys advantages to candidates in parliamentary elections. Based on the theoretical model of bounded rationality, we call these potential effects \textit{brute force effects}. During the last month of the election campaign of the Swiss general election of 2015, we have tracked the presence of all 873 candidates from the canton of Zurich in a broad sample of mass media as well as their activity on Facebook and Twitter. The results of our multilevel Bayesian estimates show that neither direct activity on social media nor indirect resonance on social media has substantial effects. Mass media presence, in contrast, has consistent small, but substantial effects. Our results suggest that the brute force effect of mass media presence can have a tangible impact, but only a small one.
Essay on Mahatma Gandhi [100, 150, 200, 300, 500 Words]. MAHATMA GANDHI: Essays and Reflections. Essay on Mahatma Gandhi in English for Students and Teachers Download.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE SAMPLE RETURN.Sérgio Sacani
The return of a sample of near-surface atmosphere from Mars would facilitate answers to several first-order science questions surrounding the formation and evolution of the planet. One of the important aspects of terrestrial planet formation in general is the role that primary atmospheres played in influencing the chemistry and structure of the planets and their antecedents. Studies of the martian atmosphere can be used to investigate the role of a primary atmosphere in its history. Atmosphere samples would also inform our understanding of the near-surface chemistry of the planet, and ultimately the prospects for life. High-precision isotopic analyses of constituent gases are needed to address these questions, requiring that the analyses are made on returned samples rather than in situ.
Richard's aventures in two entangled wonderlandsRichard Gill
Since the loophole-free Bell experiments of 2020 and the Nobel prizes in physics of 2022, critics of Bell's work have retreated to the fortress of super-determinism. Now, super-determinism is a derogatory word - it just means "determinism". Palmer, Hance and Hossenfelder argue that quantum mechanics and determinism are not incompatible, using a sophisticated mathematical construction based on a subtle thinning of allowed states and measurements in quantum mechanics, such that what is left appears to make Bell's argument fail, without altering the empirical predictions of quantum mechanics. I think however that it is a smoke screen, and the slogan "lost in math" comes to my mind. I will discuss some other recent disproofs of Bell's theorem using the language of causality based on causal graphs. Causal thinking is also central to law and justice. I will mention surprising connections to my work on serial killer nurse cases, in particular the Dutch case of Lucia de Berk and the current UK case of Lucy Letby.
Seminar of U.V. Spectroscopy by SAMIR PANDASAMIR PANDA
Spectroscopy is a branch of science dealing the study of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflect spectroscopy in the UV-VIS spectral region.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy is an analytical method that can measure the amount of light received by the analyte.
Slide 1: Title Slide
Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Slide 2: Introduction to Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Definition: Extrachromosomal inheritance refers to the transmission of genetic material that is not found within the nucleus.
Key Components: Involves genes located in mitochondria, chloroplasts, and plasmids.
Slide 3: Mitochondrial Inheritance
Mitochondria: Organelles responsible for energy production.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA): Circular DNA molecule found in mitochondria.
Inheritance Pattern: Maternally inherited, meaning it is passed from mothers to all their offspring.
Diseases: Examples include Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and mitochondrial myopathy.
Slide 4: Chloroplast Inheritance
Chloroplasts: Organelles responsible for photosynthesis in plants.
Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA): Circular DNA molecule found in chloroplasts.
Inheritance Pattern: Often maternally inherited in most plants, but can vary in some species.
Examples: Variegation in plants, where leaf color patterns are determined by chloroplast DNA.
Slide 5: Plasmid Inheritance
Plasmids: Small, circular DNA molecules found in bacteria and some eukaryotes.
Features: Can carry antibiotic resistance genes and can be transferred between cells through processes like conjugation.
Significance: Important in biotechnology for gene cloning and genetic engineering.
Slide 6: Mechanisms of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Non-Mendelian Patterns: Do not follow Mendel’s laws of inheritance.
Cytoplasmic Segregation: During cell division, organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts are randomly distributed to daughter cells.
Heteroplasmy: Presence of more than one type of organellar genome within a cell, leading to variation in expression.
Slide 7: Examples of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Four O’clock Plant (Mirabilis jalapa): Shows variegated leaves due to different cpDNA in leaf cells.
Petite Mutants in Yeast: Result from mutations in mitochondrial DNA affecting respiration.
Slide 8: Importance of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Evolution: Provides insight into the evolution of eukaryotic cells.
Medicine: Understanding mitochondrial inheritance helps in diagnosing and treating mitochondrial diseases.
Agriculture: Chloroplast inheritance can be used in plant breeding and genetic modification.
Slide 9: Recent Research and Advances
Gene Editing: Techniques like CRISPR-Cas9 are being used to edit mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA.
Therapies: Development of mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) for preventing mitochondrial diseases.
Slide 10: Conclusion
Summary: Extrachromosomal inheritance involves the transmission of genetic material outside the nucleus and plays a crucial role in genetics, medicine, and biotechnology.
Future Directions: Continued research and technological advancements hold promise for new treatments and applications.
Slide 11: Questions and Discussion
Invite Audience: Open the floor for any questions or further discussion on the topic.
Introduction:
RNA interference (RNAi) or Post-Transcriptional Gene Silencing (PTGS) is an important biological process for modulating eukaryotic gene expression.
It is highly conserved process of posttranscriptional gene silencing by which double stranded RNA (dsRNA) causes sequence-specific degradation of mRNA sequences.
dsRNA-induced gene silencing (RNAi) is reported in a wide range of eukaryotes ranging from worms, insects, mammals and plants.
This process mediates resistance to both endogenous parasitic and exogenous pathogenic nucleic acids, and regulates the expression of protein-coding genes.
What are small ncRNAs?
micro RNA (miRNA)
short interfering RNA (siRNA)
Properties of small non-coding RNA:
Involved in silencing mRNA transcripts.
Called “small” because they are usually only about 21-24 nucleotides long.
Synthesized by first cutting up longer precursor sequences (like the 61nt one that Lee discovered).
Silence an mRNA by base pairing with some sequence on the mRNA.
Discovery of siRNA?
The first small RNA:
In 1993 Rosalind Lee (Victor Ambros lab) was studying a non- coding gene in C. elegans, lin-4, that was involved in silencing of another gene, lin-14, at the appropriate time in the
development of the worm C. elegans.
Two small transcripts of lin-4 (22nt and 61nt) were found to be complementary to a sequence in the 3' UTR of lin-14.
Because lin-4 encoded no protein, she deduced that it must be these transcripts that are causing the silencing by RNA-RNA interactions.
Types of RNAi ( non coding RNA)
MiRNA
Length (23-25 nt)
Trans acting
Binds with target MRNA in mismatch
Translation inhibition
Si RNA
Length 21 nt.
Cis acting
Bind with target Mrna in perfect complementary sequence
Piwi-RNA
Length ; 25 to 36 nt.
Expressed in Germ Cells
Regulates trnasposomes activity
MECHANISM OF RNAI:
First the double-stranded RNA teams up with a protein complex named Dicer, which cuts the long RNA into short pieces.
Then another protein complex called RISC (RNA-induced silencing complex) discards one of the two RNA strands.
The RISC-docked, single-stranded RNA then pairs with the homologous mRNA and destroys it.
THE RISC COMPLEX:
RISC is large(>500kD) RNA multi- protein Binding complex which triggers MRNA degradation in response to MRNA
Unwinding of double stranded Si RNA by ATP independent Helicase
Active component of RISC is Ago proteins( ENDONUCLEASE) which cleave target MRNA.
DICER: endonuclease (RNase Family III)
Argonaute: Central Component of the RNA-Induced Silencing Complex (RISC)
One strand of the dsRNA produced by Dicer is retained in the RISC complex in association with Argonaute
ARGONAUTE PROTEIN :
1.PAZ(PIWI/Argonaute/ Zwille)- Recognition of target MRNA
2.PIWI (p-element induced wimpy Testis)- breaks Phosphodiester bond of mRNA.)RNAse H activity.
MiRNA:
The Double-stranded RNAs are naturally produced in eukaryotic cells during development, and they have a key role in regulating gene expression .
Digital Astroturfing: Definition, typology, and countermeasures.
1. Digital Astroturfing: Definition, typology,
and countermeasures
Marko Kovic1; Adrian Rauchfleisch2; Marc Sele3
May 11, 2016
ZIPAR
Zurich Institute of Public Affairs Research
1
ZIPAR / marko.kovic@zipar.org
2
ZIPAR; Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich
3
ZIPAR
4. ZIPAROutline
What I’m about to talk about
We need to get Digital Astroturfing right, conceptually.
Definition
5. ZIPAROutline
What I’m about to talk about
We need to get Digital Astroturfing right, conceptually.
Definition
Typology
6. ZIPAROutline
What I’m about to talk about
We need to get Digital Astroturfing right, conceptually.
Definition
Typology
Repertoires
7. ZIPAROutline
What I’m about to talk about
We need to get Digital Astroturfing right, conceptually.
Definition
Typology
Repertoires
Countermeasures
8. ZIPAROutline
What I’m about to talk about
We need to get Digital Astroturfing right, conceptually.
Definition
Typology
Repertoires
Countermeasures
Research prospects
11. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
During his 2012 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney gained
more than 100,000 Twitter followers in a single weekend,
despite averaging only 4,000 new followers a day previously.
(His campaign denied having bought any fakes.)
The Week, «Inside a counterfeit Facebook farm».
13. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
In another governor’s race, in Tabasco, Sepúlveda set up fake
Facebook accounts of gay men claiming to back a
conservative Catholic candidate representing the PAN, a
stunt designed to alienate his base.
15. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
I found her through the Anonymous International leak,
which included emails she had sent to her bosses, reporting
on the pro-Putin comments she left on sites like The Blaze
and Politico. One of her assignments had been to write an
essay from the point of view of an average American woman.
16. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Figure: Freedom House, «China’s growing army of paid internet
commentators».
17. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Private citizens are paid by the government to pretend to be
“ordinary” netizens while in fact promoting the CCP line and
seeking, in a nontransparent fashion, to guide public opinion
in a particular direction.
18. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
These examples are very different from each other.
19. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
These examples are very different from each other.
Yet, they have some things in common:
20. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
These examples are very different from each other.
Yet, they have some things in common:
It’s about online activities.
21. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
These examples are very different from each other.
Yet, they have some things in common:
It’s about online activities.
They are initiated by political actors.
22. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
These examples are very different from each other.
Yet, they have some things in common:
It’s about online activities.
They are initiated by political actors.
They are deceptive.
23. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
These examples are very different from each other.
Yet, they have some things in common:
It’s about online activities.
They are initiated by political actors.
They are deceptive.
They’re not jokes, but have real political consequences!
24. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
These examples are very different from each other.
Yet, they have some things in common:
It’s about online activities.
They are initiated by political actors.
They are deceptive.
They’re not jokes, but have real political consequences!
25. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
These examples are very different from each other.
Yet, they have some things in common:
It’s about online activities.
They are initiated by political actors.
They are deceptive.
They’re not jokes, but have real political consequences!
These are all examples of Digital Astroturfing.
29. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Digital Astroturfing matters:
Online activities are a big part of modern politics.
30. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Digital Astroturfing matters:
Online activities are a big part of modern politics.
The Internet has greatly reduced transition costs for many
forms of political activity.
31. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Digital Astroturfing matters:
Online activities are a big part of modern politics.
The Internet has greatly reduced transition costs for many
forms of political activity.
The Internet is fertile ground for bottom-up political activity.
32. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Digital Astroturfing matters:
Online activities are a big part of modern politics.
The Internet has greatly reduced transition costs for many
forms of political activity.
The Internet is fertile ground for bottom-up political activity.
Digital Astroturfing is cunning political deception.
33. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Digital Astroturfing matters:
Online activities are a big part of modern politics.
The Internet has greatly reduced transition costs for many
forms of political activity.
The Internet is fertile ground for bottom-up political activity.
Digital Astroturfing is cunning political deception.
It fools us into believing «the people» are expressing themselves.
34. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Digital Astroturfing matters:
Online activities are a big part of modern politics.
The Internet has greatly reduced transition costs for many
forms of political activity.
The Internet is fertile ground for bottom-up political activity.
Digital Astroturfing is cunning political deception.
It fools us into believing «the people» are expressing themselves.
If we want to do something about Digital Astroturfing, we need
to think about digital astroturfing in a systematic way.
35. ZIPARIntroduction
We need a clear concept of Digital Astroturfing
Digital Astroturfing matters:
Online activities are a big part of modern politics.
The Internet has greatly reduced transition costs for many
forms of political activity.
The Internet is fertile ground for bottom-up political activity.
Digital Astroturfing is cunning political deception.
It fools us into believing «the people» are expressing themselves.
If we want to do something about Digital Astroturfing, we need
to think about digital astroturfing in a systematic way.
This paper offers a framework that does just that.
38. ZIPARDefinition
What Digital Astroturfing is and isn’t
A complete definition of Digital Astroturfing:
Digital astroturfing is a form of manufactured, deceptive and
strategic top-down activity on the Internet initiated by political
actors that mimics bottom-up activity by autonomous
individuals.
45. ZIPARDefinition
What Digital Astroturfing is and isn’t
Let’s break that down:
Manufactured
Deceptive
Strategic
Top-down; political actors
mimicry
autonomous individuals
48. ZIPARDefinition
What Digital Astroturfing is and isn’t
Digital Astroturfing is not the same as:
Trolling
Trolls troll for the sake of trolling; they are not agents.
49. ZIPARDefinition
What Digital Astroturfing is and isn’t
Digital Astroturfing is not the same as:
Trolling
Trolls troll for the sake of trolling; they are not agents.
Regular Astroturfing
50. ZIPARDefinition
What Digital Astroturfing is and isn’t
Digital Astroturfing is not the same as:
Trolling
Trolls troll for the sake of trolling; they are not agents.
Regular Astroturfing
Regular astroturfing is less clear-cut.
53. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
54. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
55. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
56. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
The initiating actor.
57. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
The initiating actor.
Government
58. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
The initiating actor.
Government
Political party
59. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
The initiating actor.
Government
Political party
Individual politician
60. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
The initiating actor.
Government
Political party
Individual politician
Interest group
61. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
The initiating actor.
Government
Political party
Individual politician
Interest group
The goal of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
62. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
The initiating actor.
Government
Political party
Individual politician
Interest group
The goal of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
Support for / opposition to policy
63. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
There are three type-relevant dimensions:
The target of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
The public
Other political actors
The initiating actor.
Government
Political party
Individual politician
Interest group
The goal of the Digital Astroturfing effort.
Support for / opposition to policy
Support for / opposition to political actors
64. ZIPARTypology
Different flavors of Digital Astroturfing
Target Initiating political actor
Goal: Support for or opposition to:
policy political actors
The public
Government 1 2
Political party 3 4
Individual politician 5 6
Interest group 7 8
Political actors
Government 9 10
Political party 11 12
Individual politician 13 14
Interest group 15 16
66. ZIPARRepertoires
The toolset of Digital Astroturfing
The ways in which Digital Astroturfing manifests can be described
in terms of three dimensions:
67. ZIPARRepertoires
The toolset of Digital Astroturfing
The ways in which Digital Astroturfing manifests can be described
in terms of three dimensions:
Tools
68. ZIPARRepertoires
The toolset of Digital Astroturfing
The ways in which Digital Astroturfing manifests can be described
in terms of three dimensions:
Tools
Venues
69. ZIPARRepertoires
The toolset of Digital Astroturfing
The ways in which Digital Astroturfing manifests can be described
in terms of three dimensions:
Tools
Venues
Actions
70. ZIPARRepertoires
The toolset of Digital Astroturfing
Tools Venues Actions
sock puppets social media creating content
click farms websites signaling (dis-)approval
sympathizers comment sections
paid supporters direct messages
73. ZIPARCountermeasures
How to curb Digital Astroturfing
Normatively, Digital Astroturfing is problematic.
There are two general strategies for fighting Digital Astroturfing:
74. ZIPARCountermeasures
How to curb Digital Astroturfing
Normatively, Digital Astroturfing is problematic.
There are two general strategies for fighting Digital Astroturfing:
Restrictive countermeasures
75. ZIPARCountermeasures
How to curb Digital Astroturfing
Normatively, Digital Astroturfing is problematic.
There are two general strategies for fighting Digital Astroturfing:
Restrictive countermeasures
Incentivizing countermeasures
77. ZIPARCountermeasures
How to curb Digital Astroturfing
Restrictive vs. incentivizing countermeasures:
Restrictive: Limit activities.
78. ZIPARCountermeasures
How to curb Digital Astroturfing
Restrictive vs. incentivizing countermeasures:
Restrictive: Limit activities.
Incentivizing: Promote honesty.
79. ZIPARCountermeasures
How to curb Digital Astroturfing
Restrictive vs. incentivizing countermeasures:
Restrictive: Limit activities.
Incentivizing: Promote honesty.
E.g., through nudging.
80. ZIPARCountermeasures
How to curb Digital Astroturfing
Restrictive vs. incentivizing countermeasures:
Restrictive: Limit activities.
Incentivizing: Promote honesty.
E.g., through nudging.
Generally, incentives are preferable to restrictions.
81. ZIPARCountermeasures
How to curb Digital Astroturfing
Restrictive vs. incentivizing countermeasures:
Restrictive: Limit activities.
Incentivizing: Promote honesty.
E.g., through nudging.
Generally, incentives are preferable to restrictions.
Restrictions are not actually solutions.
84. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
85. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
Purely inductive case-study research is not enough.
86. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
Purely inductive case-study research is not enough.
E.g., because of the «survival bias».
87. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
Purely inductive case-study research is not enough.
E.g., because of the «survival bias».
We need a conceptual framework that acts as a compass.
88. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
Purely inductive case-study research is not enough.
E.g., because of the «survival bias».
We need a conceptual framework that acts as a compass.
We need different research designs:
89. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
Purely inductive case-study research is not enough.
E.g., because of the «survival bias».
We need a conceptual framework that acts as a compass.
We need different research designs:
Case studies to document instances of Digital Astroturfing.
90. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
Purely inductive case-study research is not enough.
E.g., because of the «survival bias».
We need a conceptual framework that acts as a compass.
We need different research designs:
Case studies to document instances of Digital Astroturfing.
Algorithmic means to identify Digital Astroturfing.
91. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
Purely inductive case-study research is not enough.
E.g., because of the «survival bias».
We need a conceptual framework that acts as a compass.
We need different research designs:
Case studies to document instances of Digital Astroturfing.
Algorithmic means to identify Digital Astroturfing.
Micro-level testing of incentive effectiveness.
92. ZIPARResearch prospects
Dead on arrival?
Research on Digital Astroturfing is inherently difficult.
Digital Astroturfing is clandestine activity.
Purely inductive case-study research is not enough.
E.g., because of the «survival bias».
We need a conceptual framework that acts as a compass.
We need different research designs:
Case studies to document instances of Digital Astroturfing.
Algorithmic means to identify Digital Astroturfing.
Micro-level testing of incentive effectiveness.
We need to work with the operators of the relevant venues.