Related papers: To Patch, or not To Patch? That is the Question: A…
In this paper, we question the common practice of assigning security impact ratings to OS updates. Specifically, we present evidence that ranking updates by their perceived security importance, in order to defer applying some updates,…
There is an overlooked iceberg of problems in end user computing. Spreadsheets are developed by people who are very skilled in their main job function, be it finance, procurement, or production planning, but often have had no formal…
Although system administrators are frequently urged to protect the machines in their network, the fact remains that the decision to protect is far from universal. To better understand this decision, we formulate a decision-theoretic model…
Bug fixing is a complex and time-consuming task in software development. Bug localization research tends to focus on the accuracy of automated tools that suggest source code files for developers to look at. However, little is known about…
The informativeness of security-related commit messages is crucial for patch triage: when high, it enables the rapid distribution and deployment of security fixes. Prior research (Reis et al., 2023) reported, however, that commit messages…
The latency reduction between the discovery of vulnerabilities, the build-up and dissemination of cyber-attacks has put significant pressure on cybersecurity professionals. For that, security researchers have increasingly resorted to…
Foraging is a widespread behavior, and being part of a group may bring several benefits compared to solitary foraging, such as collective pooling of information and reducing environmental uncertainty. Often theoretical models of collective…
Hardening computer systems against cyberattacks is crucial for security. However, past incidents illustrated, that many system operators struggle with effective system hardening. Hence, many computer systems and applications remain…
There are a number of forums where people participate under pseudonyms. One example is peer review, where the identity of reviewers for any paper is confidential. When participating in these forums, people frequently engage in "batching":…
Context: Contemporary code review tools are a popular choice for software quality assurance. Using these tools, reviewers are able to post a linkage between two patches during a review discussion. Large development teams that use a…
Developers of some safety critical systems construct a safety case. Developers changing a system during development or after release must analyse the change's impact on the safety case. Evidence might be invalidated by changes to the system…
System safety refers to a diverse engineering discipline assessing and improving various aspects of safety in socio-technical systems and their software-intensive sub-systems. While system safety has been a vital area of applied research…
We developed a simulation game to study the effectiveness of decision-makers in overcoming two complexities in building cybersecurity capabilities: potential delays in capability development; and uncertainties in predicting cyber incidents.…
In a software project, esp. in open-source, a contribution is a valuable piece of work made to the project: writing code, reporting bugs, translating, improving documentation, creating graphics, etc. We are now at the beginning of an…
Open source software (OSS) vulnerabilities threaten the security of software systems that use OSS. Vulnerability databases provide valuable information (e.g., vulnerable version and patch) to mitigate OSS vulnerabilities. There arises a…
Large-scale quantitative analyses have shown that individuals frequently talk to each other about similar things in different online spaces. Why do these overlapping communities exist? We provide an answer grounded in the analysis of 20…
Vulnerability management strategy, from both organizational and public policy perspectives, hinges on an understanding of the supply of undiscovered vulnerabilities. If the number of undiscovered vulnerabilities is small enough, then a…
Information sharing on social networks is ubiquitous, intuitive, and occasionally accidental. However, people may be unaware of the potential negative consequences of disclosures, such as reputational damages. Yet, people use social…
The authors' industry experiences suggest that compiler warnings, a lightweight version of program analysis, are valuable early bug detection tools. Significant costs are associated with patches and security bulletins for issues that could…
The increasing deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other autonomous algorithmic systems presents the world with new systemic risks. While focus often lies on the function of individual algorithms, a critical and underestimated…