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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Vulnerability Management'

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Published: 4 June 2021
Last updated: 8 June 2024

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1

White, Dominic Stjohn Dolin. "Limiting vulnerability exposure through effective patch management: threat mitigation through vulnerability remediation." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006510.

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This document aims to provide a complete discussion on vulnerability and patch management. The first chapters look at the trends relating to vulnerabilities, exploits, attacks and patches. These trends describe the drivers of patch and vulnerability management and situate the discussion in the current security climate. The following chapters then aim to present both policy and technical solutions to the problem. The policies described lay out a comprehensive set of steps that can be followed by any organisation to implement their own patch management policy, including practical advice on integration with other policies, managing risk, identifying vulnerability, strategies for reducing downtime and generating metrics to measure progress. Having covered the steps that can be taken by users, a strategy describing how best a vendor should implement a related patch release policy is provided. An argument is made that current monthly patch release schedules are inadequate to allow users to most effectively and timeously mitigate vulnerabilities. The final chapters discuss the technical aspect of automating parts of the policies described. In particular the concept of 'defense in depth' is used to discuss additional strategies for 'buying time' during the patch process. The document then goes on to conclude that in the face of increasing malicious activity and more complex patching, solid frameworks such as those provided in this document are required to ensure an organisation can fully manage the patching process. However, more research is required to fully understand vulnerabilities and exploits. In particular more attention must be paid to threats, as little work as been done to fully understand threat-agent capabilities and activities from a day to day basis.
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2

Persson, Andreas, and Lukas Landenstad. "Explaining change : Comparing network snapshots for vulnerability management." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för datalogi och datorsystemteknik, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-16710.

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Background. Vulnerability management makes it easier for companies to find, manage and patch vulnerabilities in a network. This is done by scanning the network for known vulnerabilities. The amount of information collected during the scans can be large and prolong the analysis process of the findings. When presenting the result of found vulnerabilities it is usually represented as a trend of number of found vulnerabilities over time. The trends do not explain the cause of change in found vulnerabilities.  Objectives. The objective of this thesis is to investigate how to explain the cause of change in found vulnerabilities, by comparing vulnerability scanning reports from different points in time. Another objective of this thesis is to create an automated system that connects changes in vulnerabilities to specific events in the network. Methods. A case study was conducted where three reports, from vulnerability scans of Outpost24's internal test network, were examined in order to understand the structure of the reports and mapping them to events. To complement the case study, an additional simulated test network was set up in order to conduct self defined tests and obtain higher accuracy when identifying the cause of change in found vulnerabilities. Results. The observations done in the case study provided us with information on how to parse the data and how to identify the cause of change with a rule-based system. Interpretation of the data was done and the changes were grouped into three categories; added, removed or modified. After conducting the test cases, the results were then interpreted to find signatures in order to identify the cause of change in vulnerabilities. These signatures were then made into rules, implemented into a proof-of-concept tool. The proof of concept tool compared scan reports in pairs in order to find differences. These differences were then matched with the rules and if it did not match any rule, the change in the report was flagged as an ''unexplained'' change. The proof-of-concept tool was then used to investigate the cause of change between the reports from the case study. The framework was validated by evaluating the rules gathered from the simulated test network on the data from the case study. Furthermore, a domain expert verified that the identified causes were accurate by manually comparing the vulnerability reports from the case study. Conclusions. It is possible to identify the cause of change in found vulnerabilities from vulnerability scan reports by constructing signatures for events and use these signatures as rules. This can also be implemented automatically, as a software, in order to identify the cause of change faster than manual labor.
Bakgrund. Sårbarhetshantering underlättar arbetet för företag att hitta, hantera och korrigera sårbarheter i ett nätverk. Det görs genom att skanna nätverket efter kända sårbarheter. Mängden information som samlas under skanningar kan vara stor och medföra till att analysprocessen av upptäckterna försenas. Resultaten av de upptäckta sårbarheterna brukar vanligtvis presenteras som en trend av antalet funna sårbarheter över ett tidsintervall. Trenderna förklarar dock inte andledningen till de funna sårbarheterna. Syfte. Målet med denna avhandling är att undersöka hur det är möjligt att identifiera anledningen till skillnaden i funna sårbarheter genom att jämföra sårbarhetsrapporter från olika tidpunkter. Ett andra mål är att utveckla ett automatiskt system som kopplar skillnaderna i funna sårbarheter till specifika händelser i nätverket. Metod. En fallstudie utfördes där tre sårbarhetsrapporter, från Outpost24s interna testnätverk, undersöktes för att få förståelse kring strukturen av rapporterna samt för att koppla upptäckter i rapporterna till händelser. För att komplementera fallstudien satte vi upp ett nytt, simulerat testnätverk för att kunna utföra egna tester samt för att uppnå en högre precision vid identifiering av förändringar. Resultat. Utifrån fallstudien fick vi förståelse för hur vi skulle tolka informationen från rapporterna samt för hur man kan ge orsak till förändring genom ett regelbaserad system. Informationen från rapporterna tolkades och förändringarna delades in i tre olika kategorier; tillagda, borttagna eller modifierade. Utifrån testerna från det simulerade nätverket byggdes signaturer som identifierar orsak till föränding av funna sårbarheter. Signaturerna användes sedan för att göra regler, vilka implementerades i ett konceptverktyg. Konceptverktyget jämförde sårbarhetsrapporter i par för att upptäcka skillnader. De identifierade skillnaderna försökte sedan matchas ihop med reglerna och skulle skillnaden inte matcha någon regel så flaggas skillnaden som ''oförklarad''. Konceptverktyget användes slutligen för att finna orsak till förändringar i rapporterna från fallstudien. Ramverket validerates genom att utvärdera hur reglerna byggda utifrån det simulerade nätverket presterade för fallstudien. En domänexpert verifierade att händelserna som presenterades och orsaken till förändringarna var korrekta genom att analysera sårbarhetsrapporterna från fallstudien manuellt. Slutsatser. Det är möjligt att identifiera orsak till förändringar i upptäckta sårbarheter i sårbarhetsrapporter genom att identifiera signaturer för händelser, och använda dessa signaturer i ett reglerbaserat system. Systemet är också möjligt att implementera automatiskt, i form av mjukvara, för att kunna identifiera orsaken till förändring snabbare än om det skulle gjorts manuellt.
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3

Yue, Yanchao. "Impact of Seismic Vulnerability on Bridge Management Systems." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Trento, 2011. https://hdl.handle.net/11572/368074.

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Motivated by the potential vulnerability of their road infrastructure, many national authorities and local Departments of Transportation are incorporating seismic risk assessment in their management systems. This Dissertation aims to develop methods and tools for seismic risk analysis that can be used in a Bridge Management System (BMS); helping bridge owners to assess the costs of repair, retrofit and replacement of the bridges under their responsibility. More specifically, these tools are designed to offer estimates of: (1) the seismic risk to single components of bridges and their expected performance after an earthquake. (2) the impact a priori (i.e. before an earthquake) of a given earthquake on the operation of a road network, in terms of connectivity between different locations. (3) the damage a posteriori (i.e. after an earthquake) to road network operation, based on prior knowledge of network vulnerability and on the observed damage to a small number of single bridges. The effectiveness of these methods is tested and validated in a specific case study, the bridge stock of the Autonomous Province of Trento (APT) in Italy. To address the first point, I will first introduce the fragility curve method for risk assessment of individual bridges. The Hazus model is chosen as the most appropriate and is applied to the bridges of the APT stock. Once the fragility curves for all the bridges have been generated, a risk analysis is performed for three earthquake scenarios (with return periods of 72, 475 and 2475 years) and four condition states (operational, damage, life safety and collapse limit state). Next, I will extend the results of the component level analysis to the network level: the APT road network is modeled in the form of a graph and the problem of connectivity between two locations is analyzed. A shortest path algorithm is introduced and implemented to identify the best path between any two given places. Correlation in capacity and demand among bridges is not considered at this stage. After reiterating the fundamentals of probability theory, the theory of Bayesian Networks is introduced. The Bayesian Network approach is used to incorporate mutual correlation in capacity and demand, in risk assessment of a bridge stock. The concept is first formulated and illustrated on a simple case (the ‘twin bridge problem’), then extended to the general case of a full stock. I will show how the same framework can be used in post-earthquake assessment problems, where the evidence of the state of one or more bridges affects the prediction of the performance of another bridge. The outcomes and the limits of this work are discussed at the end of the Thesis.
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4

Yue, Yanchao. "Impact of Seismic Vulnerability on Bridge Management Systems." Doctoral thesis, University of Trento, 2011. http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/792/1/YUEthesis_final20120530.pdf.

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Motivated by the potential vulnerability of their road infrastructure, many national authorities and local Departments of Transportation are incorporating seismic risk assessment in their management systems. This Dissertation aims to develop methods and tools for seismic risk analysis that can be used in a Bridge Management System (BMS); helping bridge owners to assess the costs of repair, retrofit and replacement of the bridges under their responsibility. More specifically, these tools are designed to offer estimates of: (1) the seismic risk to single components of bridges and their expected performance after an earthquake. (2) the impact a priori (i.e. before an earthquake) of a given earthquake on the operation of a road network, in terms of connectivity between different locations. (3) the damage a posteriori (i.e. after an earthquake) to road network operation, based on prior knowledge of network vulnerability and on the observed damage to a small number of single bridges. The effectiveness of these methods is tested and validated in a specific case study, the bridge stock of the Autonomous Province of Trento (APT) in Italy. To address the first point, I will first introduce the fragility curve method for risk assessment of individual bridges. The Hazus model is chosen as the most appropriate and is applied to the bridges of the APT stock. Once the fragility curves for all the bridges have been generated, a risk analysis is performed for three earthquake scenarios (with return periods of 72, 475 and 2475 years) and four condition states (operational, damage, life safety and collapse limit state). Next, I will extend the results of the component level analysis to the network level: the APT road network is modeled in the form of a graph and the problem of connectivity between two locations is analyzed. A shortest path algorithm is introduced and implemented to identify the best path between any two given places. Correlation in capacity and demand among bridges is not considered at this stage. After reiterating the fundamentals of probability theory, the theory of Bayesian Networks is introduced. The Bayesian Network approach is used to incorporate mutual correlation in capacity and demand, in risk assessment of a bridge stock. The concept is first formulated and illustrated on a simple case (the ‘twin bridge problem’), then extended to the general case of a full stock. I will show how the same framework can be used in post-earthquake assessment problems, where the evidence of the state of one or more bridges affects the prediction of the performance of another bridge. The outcomes and the limits of this work are discussed at the end of the Thesis.
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5

Flores, Ballesteros Luis. "Vulnerability and social risk management in India and Mexico." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45372.

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Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-116).
The development of effective community, regional and national risk-management strategies, especially for systemic risks, such as natural disasters, entails understanding the determinants of social vulnerability in individuals and groups, and the factors that foster the adoption of specific mechanisms of risk management and, thus, the elements that supports an efficient implementation process. This thesis contributes to this understanding in the context of communities in developing countries by using data from surveys conducted in the district of Kalahandi, state of Orissa, India, and three municipalities in Mexico, each with a different level of socioeconomic development: Villaflores, Chiapas; Ahome, Sinaloa; and Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato. Using regression modeling of binary response variables, I tested the statistical association between the adoption of formal social risk-management and a number of endogenous and exogenous household characteristics. The results indicate that the likelihood of adoption of formal risk-management strategies increases with the level of the household's association, i.e., its affiliation with local groups; in addition, proximity to roads, financial services and urban-mixed use areas (markets), is less strongly correlated with the likelihood of adoption of risk-management strategies than the level of association, particularly in less-developed environments. These findings are robust to a variety of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and environmental contexts. Keywords: risk, social risk management, social capital, vulnerability
by Luis Flores Ballesteros.
M.C.P.
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6

Washam, Ryan M. "Archaeology in Distress: Federal Land Management and Archaeological Vulnerability." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406820452.

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7

Lartey, Jerry. "Effective Vulnerability Management for Small Scale Organisations in Ghana." Thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Institutionen för system- och rymdteknik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-75809.

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Most Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana are notparticularly anxious about the consequences of inadequacy or lack of anyform of vulnerability management operation in their normal businesspractices. This case study research explores how a local Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) in Ghana and its local client-base can manage vulnerabilitieswith a targeted patch management practise integrated into their operations.To answer the research question “How can a SME local Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) in Accra, Ghana, assist their local customer base to integrateeffective cybersecurity vulnerability management into their operations?“,This case study comprised the Subject Matter Expert of one local ISP as well as4 other technical Subject Matter Experts of the ISP’s clients about their patchmanagement operations. This case study research revealed that most SMEs donot consider vulnerability management as a key concern in the operation oftheir organisation and therefore, proposes a way to highlight the importanceof vulnerability management whiles doing so at a cost-effective manner. Theimplications of targeted cybersecurity patch management for the local ISP andtheir client-base is also addressed by this thesis research.
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8

Afful-Dadzi, Anthony. "Robust Optimal Maintenance Policies and Charts for Cyber Vulnerability Management." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1354126687.

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9

Makoka, Donald. "Risk, risk management and vulnerability to poverty in rural Malawi /." Göttingen : Cuvillier, 2008. http://d-nb.info/99080948X/04.

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10

Barrère, Cambrún Martín. "Vulnerability management for safe configurations in autonomic networks and systems." Thesis, Université de Lorraine, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014LORR0048/document.

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Le déploiement d'équipements informatiques à large échelle, sur les multiples infrastructures interconnectées de l'Internet, a eu un impact considérable sur la complexité de la tâche de gestion. L'informatique autonome permet de faire face à cet enjeu en spécifiant des objectifs de haut niveau et en déléguant les activités de gestion aux réseaux et systèmes eux-mêmes. Cependant, lorsque des changements sont opérés par les administrateurs ou par les équipements autonomes, des configurations vulnérables peuvent être involontairement introduites. Ces vulnérabilités offrent un point d'entrée pour des attaques de sécurité. À cet égard, les mécanismes de gestion des vulnérabilités sont essentiels pour assurer une configuration sûre de ces environnements. Cette thèse porte sur la conception et le développement de nouvelles méthodes et techniques pour la gestion des vulnérabilités dans les réseaux et systèmes autonomes, afin de leur permettre de détecter et de corriger leurs propres expositions aux failles de sécurité. Nous présenterons tout d'abord un état de l'art sur l'informatique autonome et la gestion de vulnérabilités. Nous décrirons ensuite notre approche d'intégration du processus de gestion des vulnérabilités dans ces environnements, et en détaillerons les différentes facettes, notamment : extension de l'approche dans le cas de vulnérabilités distribuées, prise en compte du facteur temps en considérant une historisation des paramètres de configuration, et application en environnements contraints en utilisant des techniques probabilistes. Nous présenterons également les prototypes et les résultats expérimentaux qui ont permis d'évaluer ces différentes contributions
Over the last years, the massive deployment of computing devices over disparate interconnected infrastructures has dramatically increased the complexity of network management. Autonomic computing has emerged as a novel paradigm to cope with this challenging reality. By specifying high-level objectives, autonomic computing aims at delegating management activities to the networks themselves. However, when changes are performed by administrators and self-governed entities, vulnerable configurations may be unknowingly introduced. Nowadays, vulnerabilities constitute the main entry point for security attacks. Therefore, vulnerability management mechanisms are vital to ensure safe configurations, and with them, the survivability of any autonomic environment. This thesis targets the design and development of novel autonomous mechanisms for dealing with vulnerabilities, in order to increase the security of autonomic networks and systems. We first present a comprehensive state of the art in autonomic computing and vulnerability management. Afterwards, we present our contributions which include autonomic assessment strategies for device-based vulnerabilities and extensions in several dimensions, namely, distributed vulnerabilities (spatial), past hidden vulnerable states (temporal), and mobile security assessment (technological). In addition, we present vulnerability remediation approaches able to autonomously bring networks and systems into secure states. The scientific approaches presented in this thesis have been largely validated by an extensive set of experiments which are also discussed in this manuscript
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11

Barrère, Cambrún Martín. "Vulnerability management for safe configurations in autonomic networks and systems." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Université de Lorraine, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014LORR0048.

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Le déploiement d'équipements informatiques à large échelle, sur les multiples infrastructures interconnectées de l'Internet, a eu un impact considérable sur la complexité de la tâche de gestion. L'informatique autonome permet de faire face à cet enjeu en spécifiant des objectifs de haut niveau et en déléguant les activités de gestion aux réseaux et systèmes eux-mêmes. Cependant, lorsque des changements sont opérés par les administrateurs ou par les équipements autonomes, des configurations vulnérables peuvent être involontairement introduites. Ces vulnérabilités offrent un point d'entrée pour des attaques de sécurité. À cet égard, les mécanismes de gestion des vulnérabilités sont essentiels pour assurer une configuration sûre de ces environnements. Cette thèse porte sur la conception et le développement de nouvelles méthodes et techniques pour la gestion des vulnérabilités dans les réseaux et systèmes autonomes, afin de leur permettre de détecter et de corriger leurs propres expositions aux failles de sécurité. Nous présenterons tout d'abord un état de l'art sur l'informatique autonome et la gestion de vulnérabilités. Nous décrirons ensuite notre approche d'intégration du processus de gestion des vulnérabilités dans ces environnements, et en détaillerons les différentes facettes, notamment : extension de l'approche dans le cas de vulnérabilités distribuées, prise en compte du facteur temps en considérant une historisation des paramètres de configuration, et application en environnements contraints en utilisant des techniques probabilistes. Nous présenterons également les prototypes et les résultats expérimentaux qui ont permis d'évaluer ces différentes contributions
Over the last years, the massive deployment of computing devices over disparate interconnected infrastructures has dramatically increased the complexity of network management. Autonomic computing has emerged as a novel paradigm to cope with this challenging reality. By specifying high-level objectives, autonomic computing aims at delegating management activities to the networks themselves. However, when changes are performed by administrators and self-governed entities, vulnerable configurations may be unknowingly introduced. Nowadays, vulnerabilities constitute the main entry point for security attacks. Therefore, vulnerability management mechanisms are vital to ensure safe configurations, and with them, the survivability of any autonomic environment. This thesis targets the design and development of novel autonomous mechanisms for dealing with vulnerabilities, in order to increase the security of autonomic networks and systems. We first present a comprehensive state of the art in autonomic computing and vulnerability management. Afterwards, we present our contributions which include autonomic assessment strategies for device-based vulnerabilities and extensions in several dimensions, namely, distributed vulnerabilities (spatial), past hidden vulnerable states (temporal), and mobile security assessment (technological). In addition, we present vulnerability remediation approaches able to autonomously bring networks and systems into secure states. The scientific approaches presented in this thesis have been largely validated by an extensive set of experiments which are also discussed in this manuscript
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12

Goodwin, Michael S. "Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) vulnerability assessment and security." Thesis, Monterey California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/1939.

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"The proliferation of wireless computer equipment and Local Area Networks (LANs) create an increasingly common and growing threat to Marine Corps Network infrastructure and communication security (COMSEC). This threat requires a capable deterrent in order to mitigate risks associated with both official and un-official wireless LANs. The potential efficiencies gained by employing wireless technology within the Marine Corps and DoD is quite significant. The Marine Corps must leverage this relatively inexpensive technology to conduct operations cheaper, faster and more effectively. However, these same wireless LAN capabilities have introduced new ways in which critical information infrastructure can be viewed, altered or even denied. This thesis proposes the assessment of multiple installations within DoD in order to identify vulnerabilities and ensure secure employment of wireless technologies. These assessments will enable the development of adequate measures to secure existing wireless transmissions and protect future transmissions from observation, modification or denial of service. This thesis will assess threats posed to network infrastructure by wireless networks and evaluate WLANs that exist within the DoD to determine adequate measures to secure transmissions made by those networks. Vulnerability assessments of multiple services at different DoD installations will be conducted in order to gather a wide range of input. These assessments will provide an indication of how DoD installations are leveraging wireless capabilities to improve support to the operating forces. These vulnerability assessments will also provide insight into the current security posture within the DoD with regard to wireless communications. The practices employed by these services will be evaluated to determine the best means of standardizing wireless security procedures within the Marine Corps. In addition, a diverse assortment of wireless software and hardware tools will be tested in order to ascertain the best methods for monitoring and securing wireless networks within DoD. The evaluation of these software and hardware tools will facilitate the creation of an inexpensive and easily distributed WLAN tool kit which can be employed at installations across DoD. The final result desired is for this research is to improve the WLAN vulnerability assessment capability within the Marine Corps." p. i.
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13

Allodi, Luca. "Risk-Based Vulnerability Management. Exploiting the economic nature of the attacker to build sound and measurable vulnerability mitigation strategies." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Trento, 2015. https://hdl.handle.net/11572/367758.

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Vulnerability bulletins and feeds report hundreds of vulnerabilities a month that a system administrator or a Chief Information Officer working for an organisation has to take care of. Because of the load of work, vulnerability prioritisation is a must in any complex-enough organisation. Currently, the industry employs the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS in short) as a metric to prioritise vulnerability risk. However, the CVSS base score is a technical measure of severity, not of risk. By using a severity measure to estimate risk, current practices assume that every vulnerability is characterised by the same exploitation likelihood, and that vulnerability risk can be assessed through a technical analysis of the vulnerability. In this Thesis we argue that this is not the case, and that the economic forces that drive the attacker are a key factor in understanding vulnerability risk. In particular, we argue that attacker's rationality and the economic infrastructure supporting cybercrime's activities play a major role in determining which vulnerabilities will the attackers massively exploit, and therefore which vulnerabilities will represent a (substantially higher than the rest) risk. Our ultimate goal is to show that `risk-based' vulnerability management policies, as opposed to currently employed `criticality-based' ones, are possible and can outperform current practices in terms of patching efficiency without losing in effectiveness (i.e. reduction of risk in the wild). To this aim we perform an extensive data-collection work on vulnerabilities, proof-of-concept exploits, exploits traded in the cybercrime markets, and exploits detected in the wild. We further collaborated with Symantec to collect actual records of attacks in the wild delivered against about 1M machines worldwide. A good part of our data-collection efforts has been also dedicated in infiltrating and analysing the cybercrime markets. We used this data collection to evaluate four `running hypotheses' underlying our main thesis: vulnerability risk is influenced by the attacker's rationality (1), and the underground markets are credible sources of risk that provide technically proficient attack tools (2), are a mature (3) and sound (4) from an economic perspective. We then put this in practice and evaluate the effectiveness of criticality-based and risk-based vulnerability management policies (based on the aforementioned findings) in mitigating real attacks in the wild. We compare the policies in terms of the `risk reduction' they entail, i.e. the gap between `risk' addressed by the policy and residual risk. Our results show that risk-based policies entail a significantly higher risk reduction than criticality-based ones, and thwart the majority of risk in the wild by addressing only a small fraction of the patching work prescribed by current practices.
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14

Allodi, Luca. "Risk-Based Vulnerability Management. Exploiting the economic nature of the attacker to build sound and measurable vulnerability mitigation strategies." Doctoral thesis, University of Trento, 2015. http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/1431/1/phd-allodi-thesis.pdf.

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Vulnerability bulletins and feeds report hundreds of vulnerabilities a month that a system administrator or a Chief Information Officer working for an organisation has to take care of. Because of the load of work, vulnerability prioritisation is a must in any complex-enough organisation. Currently, the industry employs the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS in short) as a metric to prioritise vulnerability risk. However, the CVSS base score is a technical measure of severity, not of risk. By using a severity measure to estimate risk, current practices assume that every vulnerability is characterised by the same exploitation likelihood, and that vulnerability risk can be assessed through a technical analysis of the vulnerability. In this Thesis we argue that this is not the case, and that the economic forces that drive the attacker are a key factor in understanding vulnerability risk. In particular, we argue that attacker's rationality and the economic infrastructure supporting cybercrime's activities play a major role in determining which vulnerabilities will the attackers massively exploit, and therefore which vulnerabilities will represent a (substantially higher than the rest) risk. Our ultimate goal is to show that `risk-based' vulnerability management policies, as opposed to currently employed `criticality-based' ones, are possible and can outperform current practices in terms of patching efficiency without losing in effectiveness (i.e. reduction of risk in the wild). To this aim we perform an extensive data-collection work on vulnerabilities, proof-of-concept exploits, exploits traded in the cybercrime markets, and exploits detected in the wild. We further collaborated with Symantec to collect actual records of attacks in the wild delivered against about 1M machines worldwide. A good part of our data-collection efforts has been also dedicated in infiltrating and analysing the cybercrime markets. We used this data collection to evaluate four `running hypotheses' underlying our main thesis: vulnerability risk is influenced by the attacker's rationality (1), and the underground markets are credible sources of risk that provide technically proficient attack tools (2), are a mature (3) and sound (4) from an economic perspective. We then put this in practice and evaluate the effectiveness of criticality-based and risk-based vulnerability management policies (based on the aforementioned findings) in mitigating real attacks in the wild. We compare the policies in terms of the `risk reduction' they entail, i.e. the gap between `risk' addressed by the policy and residual risk. Our results show that risk-based policies entail a significantly higher risk reduction than criticality-based ones, and thwart the majority of risk in the wild by addressing only a small fraction of the patching work prescribed by current practices.
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15

Corlett, Sandra. "Professionals becoming managers : personal predicaments, vulnerability and identity work." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2009. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/2690/.

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This thesis explores identity work employed to secure stability and coherence of self-identity. This is achieved through an exploration of professionals becoming managers' experiences of vulnerability, conceived as personal predicaments, as they make a transition into and progress within management. This thesis takes up the invitation to dialogue with scholars from disparate philosophical orientations and epistemological commitments (Alvesson, Ashcraft and Thomas, 2008a; Smith and Sparkes, 2008) by reviewing critically the shared and contested views on self-identity. A theoretical framework is developed that conceptualises identity work within a fusion of symbolic interactionist positioning theory (Davies and Harr& 1990, 1999; Hart-6 and van Langenhove, 1991, 1999c) and relational social constructionist identity work processes (Beech and McInnes, 2006). This study's emergent focus on vulnerability, as experienced during role transitions (Hill, 1992, 2003; Watson and Harris, 1999) and ongoing personal predicaments (Schlenker, 1980), builds on the analytical importance of vulnerability (Sims, 2003), insecurity (Collinson, 2003), self-identity and identity work processes. Accounts of vulnerability as professionals make a transition into and progress within management are explored through a two-stage interview process with experienced public sector middle and senior managers from previously under-researched professional backgrounds (Cohen et al, 2002; Casey, 2008). Existing identity-related studies into professionals becoming managers (Hill, 1992, 2003; Ibarra, 1999; Watson and Harris, 1999) considered only the first year of transition into management. This research, therefore, adds to existing literature both through the type of participant and the extended nature of the study. The framework of self-identity presented is offered as a theoretical and methodological heuristic device. The thesis also offers refined conceptualisations of personal predicaments and of identity work processes, and insights into identity work strategies related to professional becoming managers' experiences of vulnerability.
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16

Engqvist, Markus, and Soto Karen Mori. "Defining a Process for Statistical Analysis of Vulnerability Management using KPI." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för datalogi och datorsystemteknik, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-14723.

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In todays connected society, with rapidly advancing technology, there is an interest in offering technical services in our day to day life. Since these services are used to handle sensitive information and money, there are demands for increased information security. Sometimes errors occur in these systems that risk the security for both parties. These systems should be secured to maintain secure operations even though vulnerabilities occur. Outpost24 is one company that specializes in vulnerability management. By using their scanning tool OUTSCAN™, Outpost24 can identify vulnerabilities in network components, such as firewalls, switches, printers, devices, servers, workstations and other computer systems. These results are then stored in a database. Within this study, the authors will work together with Outpost24 towards this data. The goal is to define a process for generation of vulnerability reports for the company. The process will perform a statistical analysis of the data and present the findings. To solve the task a report was created, during which the process was documented. The work began with a background study into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), in which the most common security KPIs were identified from similar works. A tool was also developed to help with the analysis. This resulted in a statistical analysis using Outpost24’s dataset. By presenting the data formatted by the KPIs, trends could be identified. This showed an overall trend of increasing vulnerabilities and the necessity for organizations to spend resources towards security. The KPIs offer other possibilities, such as creating a baseline for security evaluation using data from one year. In the future, one could use the KPIs to compare how the security situation has changed.
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17

Koffa, Morris Tennesse. "Emergency Management: A Qualitative Study of Flood Disaster Vulnerability in Liberia." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5018.

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Abstract Flood disasters have been a challenge in Liberia for the past 15 years. The result has been hardship for residents, which has created major disruptions to social and economic services. Global warming, poor environmental conditions and weak disaster management policies among other factors are largely blamed for the floods. The conceptual framework for this study was Barton's collective stress theory and Edwards' varied response theory, which guided this exploration of how flood victims perceive the effectiveness of the Liberian government's flood disaster management strategies. A total of 25 participants were recruited for this grounded theory study. Twenty participants were victims of flooding and 5 participants were managers from government and non-governmental organizations (NGO) entities. Data were collected from open-ended semistructured interviews with the participants. Multiple sources such as individuals and group interviews, field notes were used to support the study. Data analysis utilized descriptive coding. Results suggest community and government needs include: (a) policies on zonal regulations to reduce the problem of flooded drainages, (b) funding and other support for disaster emergency management institutions, (c) decentralizing and empowering local government agencies for disaster emergency management, and (d) empowering communities themselves through funding and training to become the first line of defense when floods occur. This dissertation may support positive social change by highlighting the need for government to strengthen disaster management policies to include zoning and building permit regulations, funding for disaster emergency management institutions, and flood control.
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18

Hanthorn, David Gordon. "Vulnerability analysis of an all-electric warship." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/4942.

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CIVINS
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
Traditional design processes usually rely on cost as the metric the designer uses to select among different alternatives. Sometimes when costs cannot be calculated we use weight, volume and efficiency as surrogates for cost. However minimizing costs does not necessarily give us the best design for a particular mission; this is particularly true for military ships. Proposals to include such considerations as quality of service and survivability as metrics to be used in a multi objective design process or as constraints have appeared in the literature. A tool that analyzes survivability of distributed systems at early stage design does not exist. In this thesis we develop a metric for survivability suitable for early stage design of destroyers.
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19

Rötzmeier-Keuper, Julia [Verfasser]. "Essays on consumer vulnerability in transformative service contexts / Julia Rötzmeier-Keuper." Paderborn : Universitätsbibliothek, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1221667726/34.

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20

Bongiovanni, Ivano. "Assessing vulnerability to safety and security disruptions in Australian airports." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/95964/1/Ivano_Bongiovanni_Thesis.pdf.

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In this thesis the potential determinants of organisational vulnerability are explored in Australian airports as complex sociotechnical systems. Findings of this qualitative study highlight that in spite of generally effective practices, attitudes and behaviors executed in the explored aerodromes, the interplay of specific individual, technological and organisational factors may have the potential to lead to sub-optimal performance. Findings of this study provide suggestions on areas for improvement in generally successful safety and security systems.
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21

Auletta, Jamie Lynn. "Disaster Vulnerability of University Student Populations." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3960.

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Student populations at Gulf Coast universities and colleges are subjected to multiple forces working together making them an especially vulnerable sub-group to hazards. Research has suggested that college students represent a segment of the population that hazards research has frequently overlooked and maybe not fully appreciated in university emergency planning. Most prior research has focused on university disaster experiences, highlighting what went wrong, and what should be done but little research focuses on what is actually taking place. The primary intent of this research was to gain better insight into university emergency planning and identify areas universities have neglected with respect to students' wellness. Interviews were conducted with various representatives from university Emergency Management, Student Affairs and Residence Life Offices at universities in the Florida State University System. Universities were found to have neglected concerns pertaining to student involvement, assessment of hazards perceptions, language barriers, mutual-aid agreements, emergency housing plans and personal emergency plans of key personnel. The results from this study will help fill gaps in hazards and emergency management research and provide useful suggestions for improving university emergency planning and areas for future research.
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22

Clouston, Beth. "Review of coastal vulnerability assessment for coastal zone management in metropolitan Adelaide /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1995. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ENV/09envc647.pdf.

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23

Roder, Giulia. "Flood dynamics, social vulnerability and risk perception: challenges for flood risk management." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3427296.

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The 2015 was a remarkable year in the global policy with the publication of three milestones: The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement for Climate Change. The global significance of such documents raised interest in the understanding of the interaction between humans, the Earth and the climate, and the past and current development of disasters. Anthropogenic landscapes are one of the most sensitive environments to hydrological extremes, fluctuations and changes. Here, hydrogeological disasters such as floods are considered one of the major threat of our time, bringing negative consequences to the whole societal system. However, while climate change and socio-economic development are important drivers of flood impacts, human behaviours can alter the potential effects of a flood by undertaking protective behaviours. In this regard, risk perceptions are potential drivers of behaviour. Thus, exploring individuals’ concern about natural hazards provide essential information about people willingness to take precautionary measures and can, therefore, identify the major reasons behind the unsatisfactory performance level of current disaster management practices. This suggests that advancing our understanding of the hazard perceptions by investigating personal, social and cultural influences can help in determining people preparedness. Limitations of personal action in front of the risk might come from social vulnerabilities, those factors that increase the fragility of individuals toward a particular threat. In light of this, there is the need to create people-oriented management strategies, with governments focused on vulnerable groups, able to recognise local capacities, foster communication and create awareness campaigns to empower the citizens and mitigate the undesirable effects of such events. For this reason, this thesis proposes an analysis of flood and human interactions using historical and land use change data, participatory approaches and analysis of social vulnerability. Furthermore, this thesis would suggest possible flood risk management actions and policies in different anthropogenic communities. Different study areas have been chosen in order to tackle site-specific flood dynamics and capture how the socio-political and unique cultural background of each community might affect individuals conceptualisation of risk.
Il 2015 è stato un anno chiave nella politica globale con la pubblicazione di tre documenti fondamentali: il Quadro di Sendai per la Riduzione dei Rischi Naturali, gli Obiettivi di Sviluppo Sostenibile e l'Accordo di Parigi sui cambiamenti climatici. Il significato globale di tali documenti ha suscitato interesse riguardo l'interazione tra uomo, Terra e clima simultaneamente alla frequenza dei disastri. I paesaggi antropici sono uno degli ambienti più sensibili agli eventi climatici estremi, alle loro fluttuazioni e mutamenti. Qui, i disastri idrogeologici, come le alluvioni, sono considerati una delle maggiori minacce del nostro tempo con conseguenze negative sull’intero apparato sociale. Tuttavia, mentre i cambiamenti climatici e lo sviluppo socio-economico sono fattori chiave che incidono sull’impatto delle inondazioni, i comportamenti umani possono anch’essi alterare e talvolta esasperare le conseguenze di tali eventi. A tal riguardo, la percezione del rischio di un individuo costituisce un elemento strategico per la definizione delle politiche di gestione poiché influenza la capacità del singolo di adottare misure precauzionali. Questa conoscenza permette di identificare le motivazioni che spingono le popolazioni ad agire (o non agire) in protezione da questi eventi. Si esaminano così le componenti personali, ma anche la struttura sociale, culturale e politica della comunità, che influenza tutto il processo cognitivo relazionato alle alluvioni. Tra i caratteri personali, ci possono essere degli elementi che amplificano la vulnerabilità verso tali eventi, rendendo l’individuo più esposto al pericolo e limitando la capacità di reazione. Tutti questi elementi sottolineano la necessità di una gestione integrata del rischio alluvionale, atto a riconoscere le capacità locali, aumentando la comunicazione, sensibilizzando la popolazione ad una cultura del rischio affinché possa prepararsi e mitigare gli effetti di tali eventi. Per questa ragione, questa tesi mira a proporre un approccio integrato alla gestione del rischio, proponendo analisi di dinamiche di piena e di cambiamento di uso del suolo, valutando il comportamento dell’uomo in relazione a tali eventi, attraverso analisi storiche, di vulnerabilità sociale e anche attraverso l’uso di approcci partecipativi. Inoltre, questa tesi suggerisce possibili azioni e politiche di gestione del rischio alluvionale in diversi territori antropizzati. Le aree di studio analizzate si differenziano tra loro al fine di comprendere come il contesto socio-politico e culturale unico di ogni comunità possa influenzare la comprensione del rischio e come si sono evolute le dinamiche di piena.
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24

DI, GUARDO ANDREA. "Environmental decision support systems (EDSS) for risk management of chemicals in agriculture." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/158191.

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Durante il corso di di dottorato abbiamo progettato, sviluppato e testato alcuni Sistemi di Supporto alle Decisioni in campo Ambientale (EDSS - Environmental Decision Support System) al fine di affrontare alcune sfide che l'introduzione di sostanze chimiche in agricoltura pone all'ambiente e, alla fine, agli esseri umani. Gli strumenti sviluppati contengono le principali caratteristiche di un generico EDSS: definiscono un dominio confinato dove le variabili ed i parametri ambientali sono descritti al più dettagliato livello possibile; incorporano expert knowledge che descrive i processi ambientali attraverso valutazioni di esperti o analisi modellistiche; rappresentano i processi ambientali con implicazioni territoriali attraverso GIS (Geographical Information System) e database spaziali collegati; possono essere usati su scenari di pianificazione, valutazione e ottimizzazione, e quindi possono essere usati per valutare l'efficacia di politiche future, gli scenari attuali o situazioni nel passato. Il primo EDSS sviluppato è stato ValorE, un sistema esperto per la valorizzazione degli effluenti di allevamento con il chiaro obiettivo di ridurre gli alti valori di azoto al campo nella regione Lombardia. Successivamente, è stato sviluppato lo EDSS VULPES (Vulnerability to Pesticide) per l'identificazione di aree vulnerabili per le acquie sotterranee alle sostanze chimiche, utilizzando modelli del gruppo FOCUS accoppiati con tecnologia GIS. Inoltre, VULPES è stato applicato alla valutazione del destino dei fitofarmaci insieme a dati di monitoraggio ottenuti da autorità pubbliche, ponendo le basi così per una nuova metodologia (approccio moni-modelling) per l'identificazione di aree vulnerabili. Ancora, VULPES è stato accoppiato al sistema esperto ValorE al fine di analizzare il destino ambientale dei farmaci veterinari nelle acque sotterranee. Infine, abbiamo sviluppato un nuovo indicatore per valutare l'impatto delle pratiche gestionali della vigna in una prospettiva di sostenibilità aziendale.
The three years PhD was intended to study, design and develop Environmental Decision Support Systems aiming at addressing some of the challenges that the introduction of chemical substances in agriculture poses to the environment and ultimately to human beings. Developed tools contain the main features an EDSS should expose: they define a finite domain where main environmental variables and parameters are described at the finest level; they rely on expert knowledge which describe the environmental processes by the means of expert judgements or environmental models; they represent processes at territorial level by the means of geographical information systems (GIS) and linked spatial databases; they can be used for planning, evaluating and optimising scenarios, hence they could be used to test the efficacy of policies, to evaluate the actual scenarios or to evaluate situations in the past. The first EDSS developed was ValorE, an expert system for the valorisation of manure from livestock with the clear objective to reduce the high values of nitrogen at the field in Lombardy region. Further, the EDSS VULPES for the identification of groundwater vulnerable areas to chemical substances has been implemented, taking advantage of actual modelling tools from the FOCUS workgroup coupled with GIS. Moreover, we developed a new methodology (moni-modelling approach) for the identification of vulnerable areas to chemical substances which couples modelling results from VULPES EDSS and existing monitoring data from public authorities. Again, VULPES has been coupled with the ValorE expert system in order to analyse the environmental fate of veterinary medicine products in the groundwater. Finally, we developed a new indicator to evaluate the impact of vineyard management practices in a perspective of farm sustainability.
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25

Ozcan, Gulbin. "A Generic Risk And Vulnerability Assessment Framework For International Construction Projects." Master's thesis, METU, 2008. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12609721/index.pdf.

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ABSTRACT A GENERIC RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS Ö
zcan, Gü
lbin M.Sc., Department of Civil Engineering Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. /rem Dikmen Toker Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. Talat Birgö
nü
l July 2008, 105 pages Project Risk Management (PRM) comprises of identification and assessment, analysis and mitigation of risk factors in order to meet the project objectives. Risk identification and assessment process has the greatest importance as the risk models are constructed based on previously defined risk sources and their interrelations. Although previous studies have concentrated on the relation between risk events and their consequences, the link between them must be modeled by considering the various chains of risk events and the capacity of a &ldquo
system&rdquo
to react to risk events simultaneously. The concept of &ldquo
risk paths&rdquo
should be used to identify chains of risk events by means of a Hierarchical Risk Breakdown Structure (HRBS) rather than defining individual risk factors. The &ldquo
system&rdquo
consists of the characteristics of the project, company and involved parties. The word &ldquo
vulnerability&rdquo
is used to describe the degree v to which a project is susceptible to adverse effects of change. The aim of the current study is to develop a common vocabulary and design a HRBS that integrates vulnerability factors with risk factors. A generic risk and vulnerability assessment framework for international construction projects is presented in this research. The justification of the factors considered within the breakdown structure has been achieved by referring to real construction projects carried out by Turkish contractors in international markets.
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26

Zamuee, Zanata Clarence. "International economic integration and financial contagion vulnerability : the case of South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/6409.

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Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The phenomenon of globalisation has seen the closer integration of the world's countries and people. The result of this, is that overall, the world economy has grown substantially. On the flip side, globalisation has greatly increased the exposure of individual countries to occurrences elsewhere in the world. This latter statement is witnessed by the events such as the spread of financial crises from source countries to third party countries that do not seem to have any obvious ties with the crisis-source countries. This has been termed financial contagion. This study seeks to break new ground by focussing on trade-related issues of contagion rather than presenting the usual macro-economic, financial, and political perspectives. A model that considers the trade pattern of countries as linkages tying together countries around the world as a whole (network) is used. This study uses the network approach to international trade as an integration measure and ascertains the occurrence of contagion in South Africa. These parameters will then be used to establish whether trade network integration can be used to explain financial contagion affecting South Africa (and extended to other countries). Two hypotheses are designed and tested in order to establish this. Two measures are used to determine the level of integration of the four study countries. The two measures are country centrality and country importance index. Comparative analysis done showed that all four countries are relatively highly integrated and are in close proximity for both degree centrality and importance. A summary of both indicators of integration measures relative to other countries in the trade network indicate that Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Thailand are well integrated in the network. Secondly the difference in ranking amongst these countries is not significant. Three financial crises are used namely, the Mexican Tequila (1994), the Asian Flu (1997) and the Russian Virus (1998). The contagion testing methodology applied uses the cross-market correlation coefficients between crisis-country and test-country. It is shown that there is no evidence to suggest that South Africa (JSE) was contagiously affected by any of the three financial crises. Only interdependence seems to have existed between the South African market and the crises countries. Evidence shows that countries that are, relatively, highly integrated with the crisis epicentre in terms of the international trade are more immune to episodes of contagion. It is shown further that the relative position of the crisis-suspect country to the crisis epicentre countries, in terms of integration in the international economic landscape, can provide susceptibility indications of that particular country.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die fenomeen van globalisering het gelei tot 'n groter integrasie van die wereld se lande en mense. Die gevolg hiervan is, dat oor die algemeen die wereld ekonomie beduidend gegroei het. Aan die ander kant het globalisering gelei tot die toename in blootstelling van individuele lande aan gebeurtenisse elders in die wereld. Die laasgenoemde stelling getuig van die gebeure, soos die verspreiding van finansiele krisisse vanaf die land van oorsprong tot 'n derde party land wat op die oog af geen ooglopende bande met die krisis-bron lande gehad het nie. Hierdie verskynsel word finansiele besmetting genoem. Hierdie studie beoog om nuwe lig te werp op die saak deur om te fokus op handelsverwante kwessies van besmetting eerders as om die gewone makro-ekonomiese, finansiele en politieke perspektiewe voor te le. 'n Model word gebruik wat die handelspatrone van lande voorstel as 'n samesnoering van lande dwarsoor die wereld as 'n netwerk. Hierdie studie gebruik die netwerk uitgangspunt vir internasionale handel, as 'n integrasie maatstaf en stel vas wat die voorkoms van besmetting in Suid-Afrika is. Hierdie parameters sal dan gebruik word om vas te stel handelsnetwerk integrasie gebruik kan word om die finansiele besmetting wat Suid Alrika (en verspreiding na ander lande) affekteer. Twee hipotese (veronderstellings) word ontwerp en getoets om bogenoemde te bewys. Twee maatstawwe word gebruik om die vlak van integrasie van die vier studie-lande te bepaal. Die twee maatstawwe is 'n land se sentralisasie en die land se belangrikheidsindeks. Vergelykende analise het gewys dat al vier lande relatief hoogs geintegreer is en parallel is in beide sentralisasie en belangrikheid. 'n Opsomming van beide aanduidings t.o.v. integrasie maatstawwe, relatief tot ander lande in die handelsnetwerk, toon dat Meksiko, Rusland en Thailand goed geintegreer is in die netwerk. Tweedens die verskil in rang tussen die lande is nie beduidend nie. Drie finansiele krisisse word gebruik naamlik die Meksikaanse Tequila (1994), die Asiatiese Griep (1997) en die Russiese Virus (1998). Die besmettings waarnemings metodologie gebruik die krisismark korrelasie medewerkende faktore tussen die krisisland en die toets-land. Dit wys dat daar geen getuienis is wat te kenne gee dat Suid Afrika (JSE) besmet is deur enige van die drie krisisse nie. Slegs onderlinge afhanklikheid kom voor tussen die Suid Afrikaanse mark en die krisislande. Dit is bewys dat lande, wat relatief hoog geintegreer is met die krisis episenter, in terme van internasionale handel, meer immuun teen episodes van besmetting is. Verder het dit bewys dat die relatiewe posisie van die krisis-vermeende land tot die krisis episenter lande, in terme van integrasie in die internasionale ekonomiese landskap, vatbare indikasies vir daardie spesifieke land kan verskaf.
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27

Mackenzie, Clara. "Future vulnerability of Modiolus modiolus reefs to climate change : from mechanisms to management." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10399/3313.

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This project was developed to address management needs for Modiolus modiolus reefs across the UK under the context of climate change. Investigations focused on reef populations at the southern limit of the range and northward over a latitudinal gradient including sites in Wales and the Isle of Man, off the coast of mainland Scotland and around Orkney and Shetland Islands. To improve understanding of species- and population-level vulnerabilities to warming and hypoxia, three key influences were studied: (1) environmental exposure, via collation of data on historical and future site conditions; (2) adaptive capacity, via determination of population genetic structure and connectivity; and (3) acclimatory ability, via investigation of oxidative stress response and energetic demands under climate change conditions. Results suggest that M. modiolus is vulnerable to future warming and hypoxia. However, vulnerability varies according to site conditions, stressor type, and exposure duration, and factors like feed availability and demographics may influence response. Consequently, it is concluded that populations face considerably different levels of climate change threat. Additionally, given moderate to high levels of connectivity between populations, adaptive capacity is likely to be low. Results are discussed collectively and implications for management, including contribution of evidence to management tools, are considered.
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28

Kodak, Cenkhan. "The vulnerability of technical secrets to reverse engineering : implications for company policy." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43117.

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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 81).
In this thesis I will explore the controversial topic of reverse engineering, illustrating with case examples drawn from the data storage industry. I will explore intellectual property rights issues including, users' fair-use provisions that permit reverse engineering. I will also explore the nature of the practice via several types of analyses including: the costs and benefits of reverse engineering; the practical limitations of reverse engineering; and a layered approach to reverse engineering as it applies to complex systems. I will conclude with a discussion of innovation and its relationship to reverse engineering
by Cenkhan Kodak.
S.M.
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29

Valdivia, Marco Sr. "Development of a water infrastructure vulnerability index (WIVI) using publically available data in New Jersey." Thesis, New Jersey City University, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3730741.

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This research advances a water infrastructure vulnerability index (WIVI) in order to assess levels of susceptibility within the water sector and its respective infrastructure system(s). WIVI provides an assessment tool that can assist decision makers and policymakers in making better investment decisions supported by a prudent data-driven instrument. The index is dependent upon individual water utility data that are publically available, making it a transparent process that is repeatable and reproducible. Normalization of the data was used to establish baselines, and indicators were developed to represent the different levels of a functional water utility. WIVI provides a quantifiable snapshot of a water utility’s past and present state of vulnerability. WIVI is a supportive tool that assists in data-driven decision management, which will determine the direction and allocation of financial infrastructure upgrades pertaining to a water system’s need to rehabilitate, replace, or abandon current water system infrastructure.

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30

McLaughlin, Suzanne. "Assessment and development of a coastal vulnerability index for Northern Ireland employing GIS techniques." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.232860.

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31

Cénophat, Sadrac [Verfasser], Martin [Akademischer Betreuer] Eisend, and Tomás [Akademischer Betreuer] Bayón. "Customer Relationship Vulnerability: A New Concept in Relationship Marketing / Sadrac Cénophat ; Martin Eisend, Tomás Bayón." Frankfurt (Oder) : Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt, 2018. http://d-nb.info/1160875626/34.

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32

Kovarik, Johanna L. "A Composite Spatial Model Incorporating Groundwater Vulnerability and Environmental Disturbance to Guide Land Management." Scholar Commons, 2015. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5863.

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Research has long recognized and studied the dynamics of groundwater processes. More recently, groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are being recognized for their diversity and vulnerability to anthropogenic impact. Groundwater in karst landscapes presents a distinctive situation where flow through the subsurface often moves rapidly on the scale of days and weeks as opposed to years or millennia in other systems. This distinctive situation of karst systems and their vulnerability to human impacts necessitate an integrated and multifaceted approach for the management of these important resources. However, development of such an approach is complicated by the difficulty of obtaining detailed data about the ecosystem, especially in remote areas of developing countries. Additionally, management difficulties related to political boundaries, jurisdictions, and land ownership can result in ineffective and inconsistent policies and practices across a single catchment. In order to address these issues, this dissertation creates a new composite model for groundwater dependent ecosystem (GDE) management in areas of karst development. Within this new composite model, the combination of the Karst Disturbance Index (KDI) and groundwater vulnerability mapping recognizes both human disturbance and how the physical nature of the karst will enhance this impact. These studies bridge the gap between science and management by connecting the final model to management strategies for a sub-catchment of the Rio la Venta watershed, the majority of which is within the Reserva de la Biosfera Selva el Ocote in Chiapas, Mexico. This composite model serves as an adaptable spatial tool for management planning and protection for all components of the karst environment.
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33

Aryal, Komal. "Getting down to local level : exploring vulnerability to improve disaster management systems in Nepal." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2012. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/9145/.

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This research explores disaster vulnerability in Nepal. Disaster vulnerability is increasing due to the following reasons: weak governance; demographic growth; rapid urban expansion; relatively weak land use planning; the growth of informal settlements; poor construction methods; steep land farming practices; the encroachment of river plains and forest areas; and environmental degradation. This research is divided into three parts; problem overview, mapping past disaster events and community vulnerability. Often disaster management practice at the national level has tended to focus on large-scale events. In Nepal, there is a history of government responses to large-scale disasters; however, evidence increasingly shows that small-scale disasters have a more significant impact on people’s livelihoods. This is the case in Nepal and it is unclear whether small-scale disasters have prompted policy change. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of small-scale disasters and to ascertain if there is any evidence of a shift in government disaster management policy. Local disasters seem to dominate the lived risk experience, but there is little understanding of how small-scale disasters can contribute to disaster risk reduction knowledge. Urban and rural communities differ in their understanding of small-scale disaster knowledge base, not least because both populations have little experience of the risks they take as a result of migration to new environments. This study captures 10 years of field experience in Nepal. This research has found that:- Small-scale disasters have a greater impact than larger disasters. Without an integrated policy and legislative framework approach from government and a focus on small-scale disasters, it is unlikely that effective disaster risk reduction measures will be integrated into sector development planning. People’s knowledge of, relationship to, and interactions with small-scale hazards in a changing climate produce new risks and vulnerabilities at the local level. This thesis concludes with recommendations for improving disaster risk reduction at the local level in Nepal.
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Tecchio, Samuele. "Mediterranean deep-sea ecosystems: Biodiversity, functioning and vulnerability = Ecosistemes profunds de la Mediterrània: Biodiversitat, funcionament i vulnerabilitat." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/124927.

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The Mediterranean Sea can be considered an excellent natural laboratory for benthic ecologists, due to its peculiar environmental conditions, its broad-scale gradients, and its deep-sea fauna. Primary production levels in the Mediterranean follow a longitudinal gradient, decreasing from west to east. The present thesis focused on the fine-mud benthos habitat of the Mediterranean Sea, on its bathyal and abyssal zones, and the compartment considered was demersal megafauna. The main objective of the present thesis was to describe and characterize the deep habitats of the Mediterranean Sea, relating their biodiversity and ecosystem functioning with the varying environmental conditions along the geographic, bathymetric, and temporal axes. The work was divided into four parts. In the first part, the patterns of distribution, biomass and abundance of bathyal and abyssal megafauna were studied, in relation with environmental variables, along longitudinal and bathymetric gradients. This was a large geographic scale study, across the three basins of the Mediterranean at depths of 1200-3000 m. Benthic biomass strongly decreased with depth and longitude (west-to-east). Results showed a significant correlation between the dynamics of surface layers, the amount of food available on the bottom, and the composition of benthos. In the second part, the seasonal fluctuations of benthic communities in the Catalan continental margin were observed. A highly replicated, multi-period study was conducted at depths of 900-1500 m. Total biomass followed an inverted U-shaped pattern, peaking at depths of 1050-1350 m. Range-related ecological forcings between shallower and deeper species may have caused this biomass accumulation at intermediate slope depths. The arrival of a new water mass from the deep basin to the slope in spring may have also driven an accumulation of biomass at 900-1050 m depth over the same period. An adjacent submarine canyon was also studied, comparing communities between the canyon and the open slope area. Analyses revealed higher diversity, but not biomass, inside the canyon than in the adjacent open slope, and a significantly different assemblage between the habitats. These results strengthen the concept of submarine canyons as hotspots of biodiversity and underline the importance of their conservation as diversity repositories. The third part is a study on trophic relations of deep-sea fauna, over the same large spatial transects considered in the first part, by means of natural-abundances stable isotopes analyses and the use of novel statistical methods to analyse heavy datasets all in once. Bulk-tissue d13C and d15N isotope ratios were analysed for benthic megafauna and associated surface and mesopelagic components from the 3 basins of the Mediterranean Sea. The trophic niche width and the amplitude of primary carbon sources were positively correlated with both primary and secondary surface production indicators. Moreover, mesopelagic organic matter utilization processes showed an intermediate position between surface and deep benthic components. Thus, both primary and secondary production processes taking place at surface layers are key drivers of deep-sea food web structuring. Finally, the fourth part integrates the whole collected dataset into the first ecotrophic model of a deep-water ecosystem in the Mediterranean Sea, evaluating the general ecosystem functioning as well as the degree of vulnerability of these ecosystems. The Ecopath with Ecosim approach was used to model the flows and biomasses of the Catalan Sea continental slope ecosystem at depths of 1000-1400 m. Network analysis identified low levels of consumer biomass cycling and low system omnivory index when compared with expected values of marine ecosystems, and higher cycling and omnivory when compared with available models of shallower areas of the Mediterranean. A simulation of the possible expansion of the red-shrimp benthic trawl fishery that currently operates at shallower depths, showed reductions in fish biomass and that the state of the deep continental slope ecosystem seems to be result of a long-term succession process, which has reached ecological stability, and is particularly vulnerable to human impact and, specifically, to fisheries exploitation.
En la presente tesis se han estudiado los patrones de biodiversidad, funcionamiento trófico y ecosistémico de los sistemas bentónicos de gran profundidad en el Mar Mediterráneo. El objetivo principal fue de describir y caracterizar los hábitats profundos, relacionando su biodiversidad y sus procesos de funcionamiento con los gradientes ambientales a lo largo de los ejes longitudinal, batimétrico y estacional. El estudio de la composición de comunidades y la respectiva recogida de muestras para los análisis tróficos se han realizado a través de arrastres profundos. Los resultados de análisis de composición de comunidades hallaron una correlación significativa entre las dinámicas de las capas oceánicas de superficie, la cantidad de alimento disponible en el fondo marino, y la composición de la megafauna estudiada. A escala reducida y considerando las variaciones estacionales, la biomasa bentónica mostró un patrón a U-invertida, con un pico a profundidades de 1000-1400 m. Una posible explicación de este fenómeno podría ser la combinación de forzajes ecológicos ligados a las diferentes distribuciones batimétricas de las especies. Para estudiar las relaciones tróficas en los ejes batimétricos y geográficos de gran escala, se utilizó el análisis de isotopos estables de las componentes bentónicas, de superficie, y de capas pelágicas intermedias. El amplitud de los nichos tróficos de las comunidades bentónicas se encontraron relacionados con indicadores de productividad de superficie, tanto primaria como secundaria. Asimismo, los procesos de utilización mesopelágica del carbono orgánico se hallaron en posición intermedia entre los de superficie y los del bentos profundo. Finalmente, un análisis ecosistémico a través de “Ecopath with Ecosim”, reveló que los ecosistemas de los taludes continentales del Mediterráneo son el resultado de un largo proceso de sucesión ecológica, han alcanzado un estado de estabilidad, y son particularmente vulnerables a factores de impacto humano, entre ellos, la explotación pesquera.
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35

Hale, Nathan, Kate E. Beatty, and Michael Smith. "The Intersection of Residence, Community Vulnerability, and Premature Mortality." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12318.

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Purpose: Rural communities often experience higher rates of mortality than their urban counterparts, with gaps widening in the foreseeable future. However, the underlying level of socioeconomic vulnerability (area deprivation) among rural communities can vary widely. This study examines rural‐urban differences in mortality‐related outcomes within comparable levels of deprivation. Methods: Rural‐urban differences in Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL), derived from the County Health Rankings, were examined across comparable levels of area deprivation using a quantile regression approach. Rural‐urban differences in YPLL were estimated at the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles across levels of deprivation. Findings: Compared to the reference population (urban counties/least deprived) a clear increase in YPLL among both rural and urban counties was noted across levels of deprivation, with the highest level of YPLL occurring in counties with the most deprivation. While YPLL increased across levels of deprivation, the magnitude of these differences was markedly higher in rural counties compared to urban, particularly among the most deprived counties. Rural counties experienced an advantage at the lowest percentiles and levels of deprivation. However, this advantage quickly deteriorated, revealing significant rural disparities at the highest level of deprivation. Conclusions: This study noted a differential effect in mortality‐related outcomes among rural counties within comparable levels of community deprivation. Findings contribute to evidence that many, but not all rural communities face a double disadvantage. This underscores the need for a continued focus on the development and implementation of multiple policies aimed at reducing differences in poverty, education, and access to care.
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36

Brien, Lynn Ferrara. "Modeling eutrophication vulnerability in coastal Louisiana wetlands impacted by freshwater diversion: a remote sensing approach." Diss., Kansas State University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/18999.

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Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Geography
Kevin P. Price
A major strategy in response to rapid degradation and loss of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands has been the construction of siphon diversion projects. The diversions are designed to reintroduce nutrient enriched freshwater from the Mississippi River into wetland ecosystems to combat saltwater intrusion and stimulate marsh growth. The lack of consensus regarding the effects of river diversions on nutrient enrichment of wetland ecosystems is coupled with major concerns about eutrophication. Locating, assessing, and monitoring eutrophic marsh vegetation represent major challenges to understanding the impacts of freshwater diversions. As a result, this study was undertaken to investigate the feasibility of modeling eutrophication vulnerability of a coastal Louisiana marsh receiving turbid Mississippi River water. The major objective was to integrate remotely sensed data with field measurements of vegetation biophysical characteristics and historical ecosystem survey data to delineate landscape patterns suggestive of vulnerability to eutrophication. The initial step in accomplishing this goal was to model the spatial distribution of freshwater impacts using satellite image-based turbidity frequency data associated with siphon diversion operation. Secondly, satellite and spectroradiometer band combinations and vegetation indices optimal for modeling marsh biophysical characteristics related to nutrient enrichment were identified. Finally, satellite image data were successfully integrated with measures of historical and concurrent marsh biophysical characteristics to model the spatial distribution of eutrophication vulnerability and to elucidate the impacts of freshwater diversions.
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37

Jiang, Fan. "Three Essays on the Behavioral Responses to Coastal Hazards and Vulnerability." FIU Digital Commons, 2018. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3759.

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This dissertation consists of three papers in environmental and natural resource economics. The first paper estimates the value of statistical lives (VSL) from hurricane evacuation behavior through an empirical analysis. I present empirical models that predict individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for avoiding hurricane risks revealed through their evacuation behavior. Using survey data from Texas residents (who were affected by Hurricane Ike), I analyze the individuals’ hurricane evacuation decisions and their corresponding WTP for evacuation. I also estimate the individuals' WTP for avoiding hurricane risks under both voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders and calculate the associated VSL. The findings can be useful to emergency management agencies for evacuation planning. In the second paper, I study market responses to multiple hurricanes based on evidence from real estate sales data. Unlike earlier studies that examined the effect of hurricane exposures on property value, the present study considers how multiple hurricane hits affect the home value. I use repeat sales data from three counties in Florida from 2000 to 2010 and develop a hedonic price model. The findings identify the determinants that influence the property value and provide valuable insights for homebuyers and sellers. The study also provides useful insights regarding the benefits of hurricane mitigations to Florida residents and beyond. The third paper investigates the time preference and the dynamics of evacuation behavior based on evidence from Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Sandy. This paper contributes to the literature on households’ evacuation timing decisions by investigating the factors influencing people’s time preference for evacuation behavior. Unlike other studies, I examine the residents’ evacuation behavior across the Gulf coast as well as the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts from a comparative perspective. I use one survey dataset from Texas residents who experienced Hurricane Ike and another survey dataset from the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic US states that were affected by Hurricane Sandy. The results provide insights for future hurricane evacuation planning and emergency management.
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38

Haas, Alysa Dupuy. "The Hidden Healing of Hot-Spotting| Addressing Structural Vulnerability at the Ground Level." Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1563560.

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It has been shown on both local and national scales in the US that there is a small number of people whose healthcare costs make up a significantly disproportionate amount of total healthcare costs. Much of the costs that these "high-utilizers of care" incur come from emergency department visits and inpatient hospital admissions for health problems that would be treated more economically by primary and specialist care. Numerous "hot-spotting" intervention programs have been created over the last decade in attempts to both lower costs and improve the quality of care and health outcomes of "high-utilizers" by actively connecting patients with the existing primary and specialist care system and the social services system. Initial quantitative analyses have shown that this approach appears to largely accomplish these aims. However, there is a need for complementary research that seeks to understand the processes behind such important outcomes.

This study takes a closer look at one program's process of connecting patients to services, using "structural vulnerability" theory to frame its findings. Qualitative data from open-ended, semi-structured interviews with 17 participants (including patients, patient family members, program staff, and healthcare providers) were coded using qualitative analysis software. Resulting themes are used to first describe the problems faced by both patients and providers, emphasizing how these problems are exacerbated or caused by structural factors. Second, the program's process of connecting patients and providers is illustrated, paying particular attention to themes that showed discrepancies in participant responses and that point to the existence of incidental services provided by outreach workers. Ultimately, results show how the connection process is more than simply training patients and providers to work together, but in fact requires bandaging and sometimes healing "structural wounds" and other systemic problems before productive connections can be made and sustained.

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39

Helton, Erin King. "Archaeological Site Vulnerability Modeling for Cultural Resources Management Based on Historic Aerial Photogrammetry and LiDAR." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2015. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804925/.

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GIS has been utilized in cultural resources management for decades, yet its application has been largely isolated to predicting the occurrence of archaeological sites. Federal and State agencies are required to protect archaeological sites that are discovered on their lands, but their resources and personnel are very limited. A new methodology is evaluated that uses modern light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and historic aerial photogrammetry to create digital terrain models (DTMs) capable of identifying sites that are most at risk of damage from changes in terrain. Results revealed that photogrammetric modeling of historic aerial imagery, with limitations, can be a useful decision making tool for cultural resources managers to prioritize conservation and monitoring efforts. An attempt to identify key environmental factors that would be indicative of future topographic changes did not reveal conclusive results. However, the methodology proposed has the potential to add an affordable temporal dimension to future digital terrain modeling and land management. Furthermore, the methods have global applicability because they can be utilized in any region with an arid environment.
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40

Williams, Brian Don. "An Investigation of the Impact of Social Vulnerability Research on the Practice of Emergency Management." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2017. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1011783/.

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This dissertation examines the extent to which social vulnerability, as studied by researchers across multiple disciplines, has influenced the practice of emergency management at the local level. This study addresses two major research questions to accomplish this goal. First, how do local emergency managers perceive and define social vulnerability? Second, what strategies do local emergency managers employ to reach and meet the needs of socially vulnerable populations? Semi-structured interviews were conducted in person or by phone with a sample of local emergency managers, city managers, and American Red Cross personnel from the Houston - Galveston and the South East Texas regions as defined by the respective Councils of Government. A modified grounded theory approach was used with a constant comparative method to identify themes for each research question. Triangulation was accomplished through secondary census data and supplemental interviews. The interview data reveal that social vulnerability research has had an indirect influence on the practice of emergency management at the local level. This influence is facilitated through state and federal policy, training, and plans development. Based on the interview data, four themes were identified that capture the various ways in which local emergency management officials perceive and define social vulnerability. These include vulnerability as poverty and culture, vulnerability as a lack of security, vulnerability as a moral imperative, and vulnerability as a lack of awareness and knowledge. In terms of strategies employed to address social vulnerability, the data suggest four themes: leaving it to the professionals, bringing in volunteers, leveraging protocols to build buy-in, and fostering flexibility. The findings reveal the importance in closing the knowledge gap between research and practice, because increased damage, harm, and death can occur when the social inequalities of everyday life are not addressed in the planning process by emergency managers. The findings also reveal that state and federal policy, training, and plans development are the most trusted sources by emergency managers to transfer knowledge to practice. Additionally, with the proliferation of emergency management degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, higher education can potentially play a more active and visible role in bridging the gap between research and practice, particularly as it relates to social vulnerability.
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Ma, Jia Ji Wei. "A geospatial methodology for assessing wetland vulnerability under anthropogenic pressures at a watershed scale." Diss., UMK access, 2006.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Dept. of Geosciences and School of Computing and Engineering. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2006.
"A dissertation in geoscience and software architecture." Advisor: Wei Ji. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed Nov. 13, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 248-261). Online version of the print edition.
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42

Smith, Jason Richard. "Seral stage, site conditions, and the vulnerability of understory plant communities to forest harvesting /." Burnaby B.C. : Simon Fraser University, 2005. http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/2024.

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Research Project (M.R.M.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005.
Theses (School of Resource and Environmental Management) / Simon Fraser University. Research Project (School of Resource and Environmental Management) / Simon Fraser University.
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43

Smith, Erica Rose. "High Place at The Water’S Edge: A Coastal Vulnerability Assessment of the Kiskiak Landscape." W&M ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1530192381.

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Coastal archaeological sites are threatened by a host of environmental change processes, including sea level rise, land subsidence, and shoreline erosion. The rates at which these processes have been occurring are increasing, exacerbated by climate change, and are expected to increase even more rapidly in the future. This will cause further loss of archaeological sites and with them, the loss of our knowledge of how coastal inhabitants lived and interacted with their landscape. My research assesses the vulnerability of prehistoric and Contact period Native American sites situated around Indian Field Creek in Virginia. This area saw multiple prehistoric occupations, culminating in the protohistoric village of Kiskiak, which was part of the Powhatan chiefdom at the time of European contact. Recent archaeological excavations and the careful study of shell middens found in this area have added to our knowledge of how the Kiskiak people dwelled within this landscape and interacted with their environment. However, field observations have revealed that these midden deposits are actively being eroded. My research takes into consideration a variety of environmental and cultural variables to determine which sites in this area are most at risk from the natural environment and which would be the greatest loss to our understanding of the past if they were washed away from the archaeological record. The results of this research presented here provide guidance for environmental and cultural managers to best preserve the archaeological record and our knowledge of the native people of this region.
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44

Indrakanti, Saratchandra. "Computational Methods for Vulnerability Analysis and Resource Allocation in Public Health Emergencies." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2015. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804902/.

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POD (Point of Dispensing)-based emergency response plans involving mass prophylaxis may seem feasible when considering the choice of dispensing points within a region, overall population density, and estimated traffic demands. However, the plan may fail to serve particular vulnerable sub-populations, resulting in access disparities during emergency response. Federal authorities emphasize on the need to identify sub-populations that cannot avail regular services during an emergency due to their special needs to ensure effective response. Vulnerable individuals require the targeted allocation of appropriate resources to serve their special needs. Devising schemes to address the needs of vulnerable sub-populations is essential for the effectiveness of response plans. This research focuses on data-driven computational methods to quantify and address vulnerabilities in response plans that require the allocation of targeted resources. Data-driven methods to identify and quantify vulnerabilities in response plans are developed as part of this research. Addressing vulnerabilities requires the targeted allocation of appropriate resources to PODs. The problem of resource allocation to PODs during public health emergencies is introduced and the variants of the resource allocation problem such as the spatial allocation, spatio-temporal allocation and optimal resource subset variants are formulated. Generating optimal resource allocation and scheduling solutions can be computationally hard problems. The application of metaheuristic techniques to find near-optimal solutions to the resource allocation problem in response plans is investigated. A vulnerability analysis and resource allocation framework that facilitates the demographic analysis of population data in the context of response plans, and the optimal allocation of resources with respect to the analysis are described.
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45

Lioupras, Ioannis, and Eleni Manthou. "Don’t let my Heart bleed! : An event study methodology in Heartbleed vulnerability case." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för informatik, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-90126.

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Due to the rapid evolution of technology, IT software has become incredibly complex. However the human factor still has a very important role on the application of it, since people are responsible to create software. Consequently, software vulnerabilities represent inevitable drawbacks, found to cost extremely large amounts of money to the companies. “Heartbleed” is a recently discovered vulnerability with no prior investigation that answers questions about the impact it has to the companies affected. This paper focuses on the impact of it on the market value of the companies who participated in the vulnerability disclosure process with the help of an event study methodology. Furthermore our analysis investigates if there is a different affection to the value of the company based on the roles those companies had in the process. Our results suggest that the market did not punish the companies about the existence of vulnerability. However the general negative reaction of the market to the incident reflects the importance of a strategic vulnerability disclosure plan for such cases.
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46

Brewster, Fozlo Leo Stanley. "Application of littoral vulnerability assessment into the integrated coastal zone management process of Barbados, West Indies." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2005. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/55962/.

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This research focuses on applying littoral vulnerability assessment (LVA) into the coastal management process of Barbados, W. I. using a multipurpose rapid assessment technique, making the most of limited data and process knowledge. The conceptual and theoretical components of coastal vulnerability assessment set the context on which the LVA process is built. Three environmental sensitivity indices (ESIs) have been developed to using to a selection of the variables to characterise the coastline. Seventy four coastal locations are described according to the following ESIs: - Wave Exposure Index, Coastal Sensitivity Index, and Beach Aesthetic Index. These respectively represent the coastline being 92% being sheltered 64% having a high to very high sensitivity to oil pollution and 51% being of good to very good aesthetic quality Factor and cluster analyses were used to develop Coastal Vulnerability and Degree of Risk Indices. Twenty three coastal segments were analysed of which 52% were considered to be high to very highly vulnerable to erosion and potential storm wave damage. The south coast's most vulnerable locations are Casuarina, Dover and St Lawrence while west coast locations are Fitts Village, Paynes Bay and Sandy Lane. The highest degrees of risk locations identified were Casuarina, St. Lawrence. Batts Rock. Dover and Carlisle Bay. The research has also interpreted case studies using GIS and available socio economic information to quantify property vulnerability based on potential economic loss value. These results show that 88% of the coast is fully urbanized, with 63% being used in tourism infrastructure and having the greatest land value. The thesis also includes the construction of LVA profile model, which is intended to: 1) contribute to the formulation of future coastal management policies in Barbados and 2) provide an easy to implement monitoring procedure for small islands embarking on coastal management initiatives. The research demonstrates the use of scientifically valid yet inexpensive methods of quantitative shoreline monitoring and assessment, which could be of practical value in the coastal management of Small Island Developing States.
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47

Lane, Lucille Richards. "Hazard Vulnerability in Socio-Economic Context: An Example from Ecuador." [Tampa, Fla. : s.n.], 2003. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000076.

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48

Senavattanagul, Thanahathai. "Vulnerability and Resilience of the Bang Luang Community to Flooding from the Chao Phraya River." The University of Waikato, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10289/2297.

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Flooding is a natural phenomenon and in the past Thai people have adapted to flood events. However over the years land degradation, deforestation and bad urban practices have exacerbated the impact of flood disasters. This study of flood management in Thailand shows how human activities and interventions have impacted on the river basin system. This research focuses on the vulnerability to flood hazard of the people living or working near the Chao Phraya River. The case study is of the community living or working in the proximity of Wat Bang Luang (Bang Luang Temple) of the Pathum Thani Province, Thailand. This research explores the capacity of communities to live with or cope with floods. Their adaptations to changes in flood regimes will depend on several factors: political (especially when Thailand has a long history of preoccupation with engineering and technological solutions as the main approach to disaster response), economic, ecological (human modification to flood plains), social (kin-based networks) and cultural factors. The data collected from the target community showed a power struggle between Thai culture and the dominant hazard management paradigm. This research put a human face on natural disaster and looked at the issue of flooding from the experiences of ordinary people. The findings showed that some members of the community are resilient while others are passive and are more vulnerable to floods. However, it is important not to label any individual or group as either vulnerable or resilient as people can be both at the same time and policy makers need to build on the strengths, rather than focus on the weaknesses and on offering emergency relief.
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49

Ozyurt, Gulizar. "Fuzzy Vulnerability Assessment Model Of Coastal Areas To Sea Level Rise." Phd thesis, METU, 2010. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612653/index.pdf.

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Climate change and anticipated impacts of sea level rise such as increased coastal erosion, inundation, flooding due to storm surges and salt water intrusion to freshwater resources will affect all the countries but mostly small island countries of oceans and low-lying lands along coastlines. Turkey having 8333 km of coastline including physically, ecologically and socio-economically important low-lying deltas should also prepare for the impacts of sea level rise as well as other impacts of climate change while participating in adaptation and mitigation efforts. Thus, a coastal vulnerability assessment of Turkey to sea level rise is needed both as a part of coastal zone management policies for sustainable development and as a guideline for resource allocation for preparation of adaptation options for upcoming problems due to sea level rise. In this study, a fuzzy coastal vulnerability assessment model (FCVI) of a region to sea level rise using physical and human activity indicators of impacts of sea level rise which use commonly available data are developed. The results enable decision makers to compare and rank different regions according to their vulnerabilities to sea level rise, to prioritize impacts of sea level rise on the region according to the vulnerability of the region to each impact and to determine the most vulnerable parameters for planning of adaptation measures to sea level rise. The sensitivity and uncertainty analysis performed for the results of the model (FCVI) is the first time application of a fuzzy uncertainty analysis model to coastal vulnerability assessments. These analysis ensure that the decision makers could be able to interpret the results of such vulnerability assessments based primarily on expert perceptions accurately enough. This in turn, would increase the confidence levels of adaptation measures and as well as accelerate implementation of adaptation of coastal areas to climate change. The developed coastal vulnerability assessment model is applied successfully to determine the vulnerability of Gö
ksu, Gö
cek and Amasra regions of Turkey that have different geological, ecological and socio-economical properties. The results of the site studies show that Gö
ksu has high vulnerability, Gö
cek has moderate vulnerability and Amasra shows low vulnerability to sea level rise. These results are in accordance with the general literature on impacts of sea level rise at different geomorphological coastal areas thus the applicability of fuzzy vulnerability assessment model (FCVI) to coastal areas is validated.
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50

Wherry, Susan Amelia. "Climate Change Effects and Water Vulnerability in the Molalla Pudding River Basin, Oregon, USA." PDXScholar, 2012. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/556.

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Water management plans are typically developed using historical data records and historical return periods for extreme events, such as floods or droughts. Since these analyses of return periods typically assume a certain degree of stationarity (constant mean, standard deviation, distribution) in hydrologic variables, the potential future impacts of climate change are excluded. In developing water management plans, predicted changes to climate variables should be considered to evaluate the degree of non-stationarity that may exist in the future. In this way, regions most sensitive to climate change can be identified and managed appropriately. This study performed such a task by using predicted climate data that were downscaled from general circulation models (GCM) by regional climate models (RCM) to compare climate variables in the historical period of 1971-1998 to the future period of 2041-2068. The study evaluated the precipitation and minimum/maximum temperature data from five different GCM/RCM combinations: 1) CCSM/CRCM; 2) CCSM/WRFG; 3) CGCM3/CRCM; 4) CGCM3/WRFG; and 5) HadCM3/HRM3. The five datasets were then used to calculate drought indices and drive a calibrated PRMS model of the Molalla Pudding river basin in order to evaluate changes in droughts and streamflow. The predicted changes in droughts and streamflow were then evaluated with social/economic factors for twelve cities in the Molalla Pudding river basin by two different water vulnerability indices. The index values were used to determine a rank for each city that indicated its relative vulnerability to water scarcity as compared to the other cities. In this study, three out of the five datasets predicted increased precipitation (+97-115 mm/year) over the Molalla Pudding basin and the two datasets using the CCSM GCM data predicted either no change or slightly decreased precipitation (-60 mm/year) over the Molalla Pudding basin in 2041-2068. All datasets predicted increased minimum and maximum average temperature of +1.5°C and +1.4°C respectively, and all datasets displayed increasing trends in temperature. The drought indices predicted fewer drought events (-2.4 events) over 2041-2068 with no change in duration, and no change to the number of serious drought events over 2041-2068 but with increased durations (+1.9 months). Results from the hydrologic modeling predicted increased streamflow (+4-249 cfs) in four out of the five future datasets. Using the predicted changes in hydrologic variables and social/economic census data from 2000, two types of water vulnerability indices were calculated for the twelve cities of interest. The results suggested that cities in the western portion of the basin would be more susceptible to current and future water vulnerability due to high irrigation demands for water and high social vulnerability as determined by minority populations and higher poverty, while the small cities with less dependence on agriculture would be less vulnerable.
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