Privileged Access Research Articles

Enhancing Privacy and Security in Large-Language Models: A Zero-Knowledge Proof Approach

The explosive growth of Large-Language Models (LLMs), particularly Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models, has revolutionised fields ranging from natural language processing to creative writing. Yet, their reliance on vast, often unverified data sources introduces a critical vulnerability: unreliability and security concerns. Traditional GPT models, while impressive in their capabilities, struggle with limited factual accuracy and susceptibility to manipulation by biased or malicious data. This poses a significant risk in professional and personal environments where sensitive or mission-critical data is paramount. This work tackles this challenge head-on by proposing a novel approach to enhance GPT security and reliability: leveraging Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs). Unlike traditional cryptographic methods that require sensitive data exchange, ZKPs allow one party to convincingly prove the truth of a statement, without revealing the underlying information. In the context of GPTs, ZKPs can validate the legitimacy and quality of data sources used in GPT computations, combating data manipulation and misinformation. This ensures trustworthy outputs, even when incorporating third-party data (TPD). ZKPs can securely verify user identities and access privileges, preventing unauthorised access to sensitive data and functionality. This protects critical information and promotes responsible LLM usage. ZKPs can identify and filter out manipulative prompts designed to elicit harmful or biased responses from GPTs. This safeguards against malicious actors and promotes ethical LLM development. ZKPs facilitate training specialised GPT models on targeted datasets, resulting in deeper understanding and more accurate outputs within specific domains. This allows the creation of ‘expert-GPT’ applications in specialised fields like healthcare, finance, and legal services. The integration of ZKPs into GPT models represents a crucial step towards overcoming trust and security barriers. Our research demonstrates the viability and efficacy of this approach, with our ZKP-based authentication system achieving promising results in data verification, user control, and malicious prompt detection. These findings lay the groundwork for a future where GPTs, empowered by ZKPs, operate with unwavering integrity, fostering trust and accelerating ethical AI development across diverse domains.

Introduction to Privileged Access Management

Privileged Access Management (PAM) plays a crucial role in modern cybersecurity. Organizations can significantly enhance their security posture and protect valuable assets by addressing the issues and risks associated with privileged accounts. Implementing a combination of robust policies, technologies, and best practices will help organizations manage the risks effectively while ensuring the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of their systems and data.This article introduces the concepts of managing privileged access and will touch on non-human accounts, including those that are both interactive and non-interactive. It will show that not all privileged access accounts should be treated in the same way. It will explore the scenarios in which PAM solutions can help organizations gain control of privileged access. Different use cases for PAM solutions are explained and illustrated with architecture diagrams. Critically, even when implementing PAM systems, practitioners cannot neglect the human factor (which requires policy, training, and controls). This article concludes with best practices for implementation, adoption considerations, and core guiding principles.

Power asymmetry in repeated play of provision and appropriation games

This paper studies the effect of power asymmetry on resolution of social dilemmas in repeated play of linear public good games. The experiment uses a 2 × 2 design that crosses power symmetry or asymmetry in payoff-equivalent provision and appropriation games with positive (provision) or negative (appropriation) externalities. Power asymmetry combines privileged access to information with extended opportunity sets that allow for taking a public good provided or not-appropriated by others. Our data suggest that power asymmetry has a detrimental effect on efficiency, with the effect being more pronounced in the asymmetric-power appropriation game. Individual allocations to the public good increase in others’ allocations, suggesting that individual allocations are not strategic substitutes. With power asymmetry, first movers earn less than the second mover in the appropriation game but not in the provision game.

Basic Security Mechanisms in Linux

The article provides an overview of the key security aspects of the Linux operating system. The relevance of this work lies in the fact that in light of the rapid development of technology and increased threats in the field of information security, special attention is paid to mechanisms that ensure stable protection of data and system resources. The article begins by reviewing basic security principles such as the principle of least privilege and need-based access. Next, we look at modern authentication and authorization mechanisms, including the role of Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) and Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) multi-user rules. Particular attention is paid to access control systems, including mechanisms for managing access rights to files through the Discretionary Access Control (DAC) and Mandatory Access Control (MAC). The iptables and firewalld firewalls are analyzed as key tools for ensuring the security of network interactions. The article also covers current Linux security trends and challenges, as well as an overview of the latest kernel and software updates. Ultimately, the reader will gain a comprehensive understanding of Linux security mechanisms, allowing him to make informed decisions to effectively protect his systems and data.

Comparative analysis of identity management, access control, and authorization practices in public and private universities

Background This research delves into the critical aspects of identity management, access control, and authorization practices within the domains of public and private universities. Identity management involves the meticulous management and control of user identities, encompassing the establishment and maintenance of user profiles, role assignments, and access privileges. Access control is the practice of defining and enforcing policies that govern who can access an IT system or application and which resources they can interact with. Authorization, meanwhile, determines the specific actions and privileges granted to users based on their roles and permissions. Methods To understand the variances in identity management and access control approaches, we conducted a comparative analysis between public and private universities. Our investigation scrutinized the user populations with access to university systems, the enforcement of access limitations, authentication methods, and password policies. Additionally, we examined the nuances of authorization processes, levels of authorization, access approval authorities, user status and role changes, unique user account management, account deletion procedures, user authentication methods, password complexity and expiration policies, password storage methods, and session termination policies. Results This study revealed that both public and private universities prioritize these security measures, with a common categorization of these processes. Nevertheless, there exist disparities, such as the inclusion of contractors and vendors in the user population at private universities, the manual deletion of user accounts in private institutions, and variations in password policies and storage methods. Private universities tend to enforce stricter password policies, employ more secure password storage methods, and implement automatic session termination features. Conclusions This research provides valuable insights into the practices and approaches adopted by public and private universities to safeguard their digital environments. The findings serve as a valuable resource for enhancing identity management, access control, and authorization protocols, enabling institutions to fortify their cybersecurity defenses in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Evaluating Journalistic Routines in Kuwait: The Use of Information Sources

ABSTRACT This study investigates the use of information sources in Kuwait and the influence of ownership, newsroom size, and media type on the gatekeeping routines. Using a sample of 1,868 news articles from nine different news outlets, including television, radio, print, and online media, we examine the sources and actors present in the news coverage. The results of the study demonstrate the strong dominance of political sources in the construction of news, highlighting the crucial role of the government in shaping media content. The findings also support previous research that indicates top-down or elite actors have more privileged news access compared to non-elite actors such as citizens. Surprisingly, state-owned media outlets used fewer and narrower ranges of information sources compared to private media outlets. Additionally, a significant proportion of the news articles analyzed had no sources cited or presented unilateral coverage of the news. Likewise, our study challenges conventional assumptions about online media´s role in promoting a greater diversity of sources and perspectives in news reporting. Our findings indicate that online media platforms do not necessarily enhance diversity in news reporting.

Topological Single‐stranded DNA Encoding and Programmable Assembly of Molecular Nanostructures for NIR‐II Cancer Theranostics

AbstractMolecular nanotechnology promises to offer privileged access to developing NIR‐II materials with precise structural and functional manipulation for transformable theranostic applications. However, the lack of an affordable, yet general, method makes this goal currently inaccessible. By virtue of the intriguing nucleic acid chemistry, here we present an artificial base‐directed topological single‐strand DNA encoding design that enables one‐step synthesis of valence‐controlled NIR‐II molecular nanostructures and spatial assembly of these nanostructures to modulate their behaviors in living systems. As proof‐of‐concept studies, we construct ultrasmall Ag2S quantum dots and pH‐responsive, size‐tunable CuS assemblies for in vivo NIR‐II fluorescence imaging and deep tumor photothermal therapy. This work paves a new way for creating functionally diversified architectures and broadens the scope of DNA‐encoded material engineering.

Topological Single-stranded DNA Encoding and Programmable Assembly of Molecular Nanostructures for NIR-II Cancer Theranostics.

Molecular nanotechnology promises to offer privileged access to developing NIR-II materials with precise structural and functional manipulation for transformable theranostic applications. However, the lack of an affordable, yet general, method makes this goal currently inaccessible. By virtue of the intriguing nucleic acid chemistry, here we present an artificial base-directed topological single-strand DNA encoding design that enables one-step synthesis of valence-controlled NIR-II molecular nanostructures and spatial assembly of these nanostructures to modulate their behaviors in living systems. As proof-of-concept studies, we construct ultrasmall Ag2 S quantum dots and pH-responsive, size-tunable CuS assemblies for in vivo NIR-II fluorescence imaging and deep tumor photothermal therapy. This work paves a new way for creating functionally diversified architectures and broadens the scope of DNA-encoded material engineering.

Privileged information access, analyst consensus building, and stock return volatility: Evidence from the JOBS Act

This study examines whether allowing select analysts private access to management before an IPO affects analyst consensus building and subsequently post-IPO stock return volatility. The 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act creates many exemptions to reduce the cost of going public for smaller issuers that qualify as an Emerging Growth Company (EGC). One set of provisions allows analysts affiliated with an EGC's underwriters to communicate privately with management and potential investors before the IPO. Using a sample of IPOs during 2001–2022, we find that the dispersion in affiliated analysts' initiation forecasts is significantly higher for EGCs than similar IPOs in the pre-JOBS period. A path analysis reveals that the JOBS Act indirectly contributes to the heightened post-IPO stock return volatility through the mediating role of forecast dispersion among affiliated analysts. Our exploratory analyses suggest that more significant variations in affiliated analysts' social connections and their workload tend to be associated with higher forecast dispersion. Overall, our findings indicate that having privileged access to management could reduce consensus among analysts, which can increase post-IPO stock return volatility in EGCs.

Legislative science advice in Chile: exploring twelve years of knowledge producers participation in environmental committee discussions

ABSTRACT Exploring who participates in Congress committee hearings is key to assess how diverse and representative these spaces are. This article focuses on participation in Congress committees during the discussion of environmental bills in the last twelve years (2010-22) in Chile, specifically concentrating on the sub-group of knowledge producers – higher education, experts and think tanks – as committee hearings are a privileged access mechanism for science to reach the law-making process. Results show limited participation in addition to gender and geographical location biases in this sub-group of knowledge producers, raising concerns regarding the quantity and diversity of who provides evidence and research knowledge to Congress committees. These findings suggest further attention should be given to the way the participation of a more diverse group of knowledge producers to these privileged deliberative arenas can be improved.

Zero trust architecture logical components and implementation approaches

Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is a contemporary cybersecurity approach that challenges the traditional perimeter-based security model. In the zero-trust model, organizations do not automatically trust any user or device, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the corporate network. Instead, it assumes that threats can come from both internal and external sources, and it verifies every user and device attempting to access resources. Here are the key principles of this software development trend: • Identity verification: individuals need to authenticate their identity before gaining access to resources. This often includes multifactor authentication and reliable verification methods. • Least privilege access: users are granted the minimum access required to perform their tasks. Access is limited only to essential elements, reducing the potential impact of a security breach. • Micro-segmentation: involves segmenting the network at a granular level, allowing isolation and protection of individual resources. • Data encryption: encryption is applied both during transmission and at rest to safeguard data from unauthorized access. • No implicit trust: applying the principle of "never trust, always verify," meaning verification is necessary at every stage of access. The article discusses modern challenges and approaches to cybersecurity amidst the rapid development of cloud technologies. Specifically, it analyzes the shift in container usage in software deployment and its impact on the cybersecurity model. Security approaches based on the concept of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) are highlighted in the context of new demands and opportunities. The article elaborates on key logical components of ZTA, such as policy mechanism and policy administrator, pointing out their interaction in creating a secure environment. It also provides an overview of data sources used for creating access policy rules and their consideration in ZTA mechanisms. Additionally, approaches to implementing ZTA for operational workflows in corporate environments are proposed: enhanced identity management, logical micro-segmentation, and network-based segmentation. Each of these approaches has its advantages and is considered based on the needs of individual organizations.

Comparative analysis of identity management, access control, and authorization practices in public and private universities.

This research delves into the critical aspects of identity management, access control, and authorization practices within the domains of public and private universities. Identity management involves the meticulous management and control of user identities, encompassing the establishment and maintenance of user profiles, role assignments, and access privileges. Access control is the practice of defining and enforcing policies that govern who can access an IT system or application and which resources they can interact with. Authorization, meanwhile, determines the specific actions and privileges granted to users based on their roles and permissions. To understand the variances in identity management and access control approaches, we conducted a comparative analysis between public and private universities. Our investigation scrutinized the user populations with access to university systems, the enforcement of access limitations, authentication methods, and password policies. Additionally, we examined the nuances of authorization processes, levels of authorization, access approval authorities, user status and role changes, unique user account management, account deletion procedures, user authentication methods, password complexity and expiration policies, password storage methods, and session termination policies. This study revealed that both public and private universities prioritize these security measures, with a common categorization of these processes. Nevertheless, there exist disparities, such as the inclusion of contractors and vendors in the user population at private universities, the manual deletion of user accounts in private institutions, and variations in password policies and storage methods. Private universities tend to enforce stricter password policies, employ more secure password storage methods, and implement automatic session termination features. This research provides valuable insights into the practices and approaches adopted by public and private universities to safeguard their digital environments. The findings serve as a valuable resource for enhancing identity management, access control, and authorization protocols, enabling institutions to fortify their cybersecurity defenses in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Location based Access Privileges and Controlling the Clustering in Sustainable 5G Challenges

Considering the new gathering of enlisting and communicated interchanges propels with the immense advancement of the Internet, the Web, and Adaptable Correspondences, the accompanying stage is supposed to be the Convenient Web. The central responsibility of the Compact Web is to satisfy client needs for wherever, at whatever point induction to information and organizations, including Region Based Organizations (LBS). An original LBS management that is relevant to the Flexible Promoting sector is presented in this paper. Numerous Web-enabled terminals will be transported, making the Versatile Web a reality for the vast majority of users. Mobile terminals and/or mobile networks can now pinpoint the terminal's location on Earth with increasing precision. The paper presents a model for collaborating on area scopes with services, an engineering to facilitate the Web-based disclosure of area scopes with services, a map of object handles to one or more contact addresses, and the possibility for a mobile client to select different types of information results for yielding in accordance with their momentum. These key research challenges are essential for advancing the development of LBS and establishing an examination plan for LBS to positively shape the future of our portable data society. These research challenges include issues related to the center of LBS development (such as positioning, displaying, and correspondence), evaluation, and analysis of LBS-produced information, as well as friendly, moral, and behavioural issues that arise as LBS become a part of people's daily lives

DtyPAM: Kurumsal Destek Firmaları için Önerilmiş Konteynır Tabanlı Ayrıcalıklı Erişim Yönetim Sistemi

Bilişim alanında önceki zamanlarda da uygulanan uzaktan destek ve uzaktan çalışma kavramları, 2019 yılında başlayan ve tüm dünyayı etkisi altına alan COVID-19 salgını ile hemen hemen tüm sektörler tarafından uygulanmaya başlamıştır. Ölçeği ne olursa olsun bütün girişimler dijital uygulamaları kullanmakta ya da kullanma planı yapmaktadır. Özellikle holding düzeyindeki firmalar, birçok iş sürecini karmaşık kurumsal kaynak planlama uygulamaları üzerinden yürütmektedir. Bu uygulamalar içinse genellikle dış kaynaklardan destek almakta ve bu destekler günümüzde sıklıkla uzaktan yapılmaktadır. Bu aşamada kurumlar güçlü bir erişim yönetim sistemine ihtiyaç duymaktadırlar. Bahsedilen sebeplerden ötürü çalışmamızda uzaktan bağlantı ve destek süreçlerinin sanal masaüstü alt yapısı kullanarak otomatik olarak yapılabileceği bir ayrıcalıklı erişim yönetim sistemi önerilmiştir. Tasarlanan sistem ile kullanıcılara, bağlantı sağlanacak sunucuda yapılacak olan iş için en az düzeyde ayrıcalık verilmesi hedeflenmektedir. Bir sunucuya yapılan bağlantıların geriye dönük takibinin rahatlıkla yapılabilmesi için, çalışma sonucu önerilmiş olan ayrıcalıklı erişim yönetim uygulamasına güçlü bir kayıt defteri sistemi (log) eklenmiştir. Eklenecek olan bu kayıt sistemi sayesinde önermiş olduğumuz sistem veri madenciliği ve iş zekâsı gibi analizlere de uyumlu olacaktır. Bahsedilen tüm özelliklerin yanı sıra önerilen sistemin ölçeklenebilir ve mikro-servis tabanlı olması, literatürde var olan yöntemlerden farklılık göstermesini sağlamaktadır.

Recognize your audience: Stakeholders' coaptation work to improve political representation in innovation programs

AbstractManagers often exclude some stakeholders from innovation programs, believing they would be “dangerous” for the purpose and pace of new product/service development. The exclusion of “dangerous” stakeholders, however, has negative implications on innovation, as it prevents access to key knowledge and connections. Our study investigates how “dangerous” stakeholders can overturn their exclusion, and gain key decision‐making responsibilities. Theoretically, we import the “general theory of political representation” from Rehfeld (2006) to derive insight into agency of five actors: selection agents, strategic constellation and representatives (on the side of innovators), represented and “audience” (on the side of stakeholders). Empirically, we undertake a 4‐year longitudinal case study of a digital innovation program in an English public hospital. Our study highlighted that only an elite “audience” of clinical leads enacted a strategy of “coaptation work” to overturn their exclusion from the innovation program, and ascend to a role of selection agents. Through “coaptation work,” the clinical leads used their privileged access to clinical resources to first create fractures within the community of innovators, and then embed clinical stakeholders in key decision‐making roles to heal them. Our results challenge established “hub‐and‐spoke” interpretations of innovation programs, and emphasize the importance of political representation work to understand how stakeholders exert their influence.

Financing small and innovative firms during COVID-19

ABSTRACT Previous research on the financing of smaller innovative firms has established that being small per se creates problems in accessing finance, but being small and innovative adds another layer of difficulty. This new research explicitly questions whether the Covid-19 crisis has added to the debt access problems of an already disadvantaged group of firms. Using a unique Covid-19 period dataset of 9000 UK SMEs, we find that the most innovative firms had the highest demand for loans during the Covid-19 crisis and evidence that those firms trying to introduce new products and services faced more severe borrowing constraints. As the vast majority of Covid-19 loans in the UK were government guaranteed, we also find that several classes of innovative firms found it more difficult to access government supported loans. It was also not the case that those most impacted by the crisis had the most privileged access to government loan schemes despite a greater need for liquidity. These findings have potential implications for financing innovative firms in the post-Covid-19 world, such as proposing a specific innovation loan guarantee scheme with higher than conventional guarantee rates.

Emerging patterns of accumulation in land redistribution in South Africa

AbstractThis article contributes to the wider debates on the impacts and outcomes of state efforts to create agrarian capitalists in land reform and agriculture in most countries of the global South. Specifically, this article presents empirical evidence on South Africa's State Land Lease and Disposal Policy (SLLDP) and analyses emerging accumulation dynamics in land redistribution. The evidence presented demonstrates that most of the SLLDP farm beneficiaries are capitalists from non‐agrarian sectors who increasingly see land reform as the new frontier for accumulation with significant opportunities to access state land and production support. Other agrarian capitalists leverage political influence and accumulate through privileged access to public resources. In contrast, accumulation from below through the reinvestment of farming proceeds remains constrained. Promoting a small segment of already wealthy capitalists greatly limits the potential of land reform to transform social relations in property in favour of historically marginalised social classes.

Digital Privilege

Abstract: "Digital Privilege" examines Shakespeare and performance during the most restrictive years of COVID-19, when his work was, by necessity, digitally delivered. The essay addresses the privilege of the audiences for these online experiences—viewers characterized by the technological privilege of access to a quality and reliable internet connection as well as to suitable hardware. Yet, at the same time, the distribution of performances online allowed access to "live" performance to communities for whom the physical act of theatergoing is complicated, rare, and/or impossible, particularly for geographically remote and disabled audiences. The digital delivery of online performance, typically at no or low cost to the viewer, underscored the economic privilege assumed by ticket prices for in-person performances at major theaters.

Insider Dealing by Outsiders in the U. S. and EU

692The prohibition of insider dealing has its origins in U. S. law, the structural features of which have also influenced EU insider law. Today the dogmatic approaches of the two insider law systems differ diametrically. Particularly in dealing with investors outside the issuer, so-called outsiders, the two legal systems differ in terms of both the manner and the scope of covered transactions. According to our understanding outsiders are investors who, neither through their position within the issuer nor through the exercise of a profession for the issuer, have a relationship with the issuer that allows privileged access to inside information. We will lay out the differences between EU and U. S. law by reference to the recent decision of a U. S. Court in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Panuwat, where the court approved the so-called shadow trading theory of the SEC. Whereas this decision has attracted a lot of attention in the U. S., we argue, that shadow trading is undoubtedly covered by EU insider law due to the broad principle of information parity. However, because of its broad scope EU insider law applies basically to all investors who possess inside information and hence may also prohibit transactions by outsiders which might be useful for capital markets, such as trading by financial analysts or whistle blowers. We will therefore scrutinize whether and how far financial analysts or whistleblowers are privileged by Recital 28 of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), which only applies to research based on publicly available data, but does not specify when information is publicly available.Whereas in regard to outsiders, the EU insider dealing law goes sometimes too far at the substantive level, in enforcement matters it is too restrictive on the other side. This becomes obvious when we look at politicians which are involved in legislation and hence have access to material information for many issuers. In the U. S., the SEC – acting as a driving force in the U. S. when it comes to the enforcement of the insider dealing prohibition – but also the legislator itself have already become active. Against this background, we examine what instruments EU insider law might provide to detect insider dealing by politicians and other outsiders and show that adapting and extending the existing rules may be a feasible way forward.

The “European Yellowstone”: Entrepreneurs of the Wilderness and Transnational Elites in the Romanian Carpathians

AbstractCarpathia—dubbed the “European Yellowstone”—is a private nature conservation project in Romania. Its establishment activates a critical linkage between entrepreneurs of the wilderness and transnational conservation elites. We indicate the contribution of entrepreneurialism to the expansion and adaptation of neoliberal conservation and reveal how biographical contingencies are involved in the making of conservation projects. At the same time, the focus on transnationalism reveals how local projects are designed, scaled‐up, and connected to global neoliberal conservation networks. Carpathia reveals the adaptability of neoliberal conservation and its expansion into the Eastern European peripheries through transnational elites. Its establishment illustrates how private conservation projects become essential sites for securing privileged access to nature in times of global ecological crises and uncovers the varieties of the global geographies of capitalist conservation.