DeltaPhish: Detecting Phishing Webpages in Compromised Websites

The large-scale deployment of modern phishing attacks relies on the automatic exploitation of vulnerable websites in the wild, to maximize profit while hindering attack traceability, detection and blacklisting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that specifically leverages this adversarial behavior for detection purposes. We show that phishing webpages can be accurately detected by highlighting HTML code and visual differences with respect to other (legitimate) pages hosted within a compromised website. Our system, named DeltaPhish, can be installed as part of a web application firewall, to detect the presence of anomalous content on a website after compromise, and eventually prevent access to it. DeltaPhish is also robust against adversarial attempts in which the HTML code of the phishing page is carefully manipulated to evade detection. We empirically evaluate it on more than 5,500 webpages collected in the wild from compromised websites, showing that it is capable of detecting more than 99% of phishing webpages, while only misclassifying less than 1% of legitimate pages. We further show that the detection rate remains higher than 70% even under very sophisticated attacks carefully designed to evade our system.Comment: Preprint version of the work accepted at ESORICS 201

Ileo-psoas muscle metastasis from pulmonary carcinoma

Metastatic disease to muscle is rare and may be misdiagnosed when it is the presenting symptom, particularly in the absence of a known primary tumor. Skeletal muscle metastasis as a mode of presentation of primary lung cancer is an unusual phenomenon. Here, we report a case of ileo-psoas muscle metastasis from lung cancer as the initial clinical manifestation in a 58 year-old male with a personal history of heavy smoking. Excisional biopsy of the mass in the ileo-psoas muscle revealed metastatic adenocarcinoma. Computed tomography scan of the chest for a primary search was done and found to be pulmonary carcinoma. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jpn.v2i3.6033 JPN 2012; 2(3): 251-253</jats:p

Stress factors and stress management interventions: the heuristic of “bottom up” an update from a systematic review

Organizations have increasingly sought to adopt innovative interventions to prevent stress-related issues. In the field of manufacturing, however, the effectiveness of these interventions remains unclear because a systematic and specific review of existing primary evidence has not been undertaken. The present systematic literature review sought to address the foregoing limitation in the literature by summarizing the main source of stress and effectiveness of stress management interventions as grounded in the context of manufacturing. Our review was limited to only randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies and concerned employees from the manufacturing sector. Twenty-two studies on primary, secondary and tertiary interventions across four continents (Asia, Europe, USA and South America) were selected and analyzed in terms of stress factors, methodological properties and outcomes. Most of these were RCT studies (68% Vs 32%) with a majority of secondary interventions (N = 11, 50%), followed by primary (N = 5, 22%), tertiary (N = 3, 13%), and two (9%) mixed interventions. The main outcomes included an improvement of psychological wellbeing, decreased stress reactivity and an increment of general health. There was a predominance of interventions utilizing skills programs and/or cognitive-behavioral techniques. The main source of stress reported related to professional identity, organizational deficiencies, interpersonal conflicts, physical complaints and poor work environment. Taken together, the findings provide important theoretical and practical implications for advancing the study of stress factors and the use of stress management interventions in the workplace. The prerequisite for a successful intervention is to address the real problems experienced by professionals and help them to cope with their difficult situations. The strategy of “bottom-up” offers a potential means of enhancing employees’ health and well-being; however, the most effective means of implementing these interventions needs to be understood better

Laying foundations for transformation: Insights from local government engagement on climate-resilient rural water services in Nepal

Transformative change in how local governments support rural water services is required to accommodate the increasingly extreme effects of climate change on water service systems. This study explores the potential for contextualised soft systems thinking activities to prepare local government officials with responsibilities pertaining to rural water services in Nepal to shift towards more transformative thinking. First, the study presents the findings of focus group discussions in two rural districts of Nepal that identified common climate-related problems for rural water access including water shortages, contamination, and unequal burden of impacts. Second, we facilitated workshops with local government and non-government stakeholders, drawing on the focus group findings to frame the challenges for rural water linked to climate change that require local government response. We designed the workshops drawing on ‘transformative spaces’ concepts and included soft systems thinking activities to foster systemic perspectives. Participants learned about worldviews, leverage points, rich pictures, root cause analysis, and theory-of-change based action planning. Following the workshops, the study team participated in reflective sensemaking in which they deliberated on their experiences and notes from facilitating the workshops to assess the extent to which the participants demonstrated transformative thinking about rural water systems. The workshop approach showed promise in shifting how local government participants think about rural water services beyond technical fixes towards addressing deep-seated issues. However, further work is required to foster new relationships necessary to support transformation and grapple with ethical dilemmas pertaining to power dynamics at community and government levels. Nevertheless, the approach presented here is a replicable, low-cost way to prepare local government stakeholders in Nepal for transforming their thinking and systems to ways that enable sustainable rural water service delivery under threats of climate change.</jats:p

Evaluation of seasonal variation in the incidences of bacterial infection among surgical patients

Introduction: Although a lot of attention has been paid to the prevention of nosocomial infections, surgical site infections (SSIs) continue to comprise a major proportion of all adverse events in surgical patients. So this study is designed to evaluate the common pathogens prevalent in surgical patients and find its seasonal trend. &#x0D; Method: This is a prospective analytical study of all operated cases in General Surgery Unit III, Bir Hospital fromMarch 2010 to February 2011. Evaluation of bacteriological culture pattern among patients with wound infection 0 to 30 days after the operation was done. &#x0D; Result: There were total of 564 elective and 292 emergency operations. Surgical site infection rate was 12.1%, 18.2%, 12.2% and 10.7% respectively in spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons. Staphylococcus and Enterococcus were the most common gram positive organisms isolated which were lower in colder seasons as compared to the other seasons while gram negative E coli, Acenatobacter, Pseudomonas and Enterobacter showed predominance in the warmer season. &#x0D; Conclusion: If further validated, our findings could have important implications for future infection prevention intervention studies and for choice of empirical antimicrobial therapy among hospitalized adults.</jats:p

Unusual intra abdominal mass

It is common for an intra - abdominal testes to be malignant. But rarely does it present as peritonitis. We present a case of a 30 year old man who presented with features of peritonitis, where laparotomy revealed a soft tissue mass arising from the small bowel, encroaching on to the mesentry with gangrenous small bowel and perforation. The intraoperative impression was a small bowel mass, most probably a GIST. However histopathological examination revealed a mixed germ cell tumor (embryonal cell carcinoma with seminoma). Post operative re – examination showed absence of right testes.</jats:p

Unusual intra abdominal mass

It is common for an intra - abdominal testes to be malignant. But rarely does it present as peritonitis. We present a case of a 30 year old man who presented with features of peritonitis, where laparotomy revealed a soft tissue mass arising from the small bowel, encroaching on to the mesentry with gangrenous small bowel and perforation. The intraoperative impression was a small bowel mass, most probably a GIST. However histopathological examination revealed a mixed germ cell tumor (embryonal cell carcinoma with seminoma). Post operative re – examination showed absence of right testes.</jats:p

Comparison of Holmium Laser and Pneumatic Lithotripsy in treatment of ureteral stones

Introduction: To compare the effectiveness and complications of treatment of ureteric stones by holmium laser lithotripsy and pneumatic lithotripsy. &#x0D; Methods: Comparison of 100 patients with ureteric stones, 50 of whom were treated with pneumatic lithotripsy and 50 with holmium laser lithotripsy was done and effectiveness and complications of the two were analysed. &#x0D; Results: Both the groups were similar in respect to sex, age, stone size and location of the stones. Successful stone fragmentation occurred in 94 % on pneumatic group and in 92 % on laser group. On following the patients for a month, stone free rate was 98 % in both the groups. None of the patients had any complications relating to the procedures. &#x0D; Conclusion: Although pneumatic lithotripsy has more retrograde migration of ureteric stones, the results are comparable to holmium laser. Other complications are very rare.</jats:p

Comparison of Holmium Laser and Pneumatic Lithotripsy in treatment of ureteral stones

Introduction: To compare the effectiveness and complications of treatment of ureteric stones by holmium laser lithotripsy and pneumatic lithotripsy. &#x0D; Methods: Comparison of 100 patients with ureteric stones, 50 of whom were treated with pneumatic lithotripsy and 50 with holmium laser lithotripsy was done and effectiveness and complications of the two were analysed. &#x0D; Results: Both the groups were similar in respect to sex, age, stone size and location of the stones. Successful stone fragmentation occurred in 94 % on pneumatic group and in 92 % on laser group. On following the patients for a month, stone free rate was 98 % in both the groups. None of the patients had any complications relating to the procedures. &#x0D; Conclusion: Although pneumatic lithotripsy has more retrograde migration of ureteric stones, the results are comparable to holmium laser. Other complications are very rare.</jats:p