Abstract In this paper, we shed light on shared hosting services’ security and trust implications and measure their attack surfaces. To do so, we analyzed 30 shared hosters and found that all of them might leak relevant information, which could be abused unnoticed. An adversary could use this attack surface to covertly extract data from various third parties registered with a shared hoster. Furthermore, we found that most hosters suffer from vulnerabilities that can be used by an internal attacker (i.e., someone using the service) to compromise other hosted services or the entire system.

Abstract This paper challenges the conventional assumption in cybersecurity that users act as rational actors. Despite numerous technical solutions, awareness campaigns, and organizational strategies aimed at bolstering cybersecurity, these often overlook the prevalence of non-rational user behavior. Our study, involving a survey of 208 participants, empirically demonstrates this aspect. We found that a significant portion of users (55.3%) would accept a substantial risk (35%) to click on a potentially malicious link or attachment. This propensity increases to 61% when users are led to believe there is a 65% chance of facing no adverse consequences. To address this irrationality, we explored the efficacy of nudging mechanisms within email systems. Our qualitative user study revealed that incorporating a simple colored nudge in the email intably enhance the ability of users to discern malicious emails, improving decision-making accuracy by an average of 10%.

Experiencing relational devaluation at work through social stressors has been linked to various detrimental outcomes. In the current study, we investigate the role of hardiness and mindfulness as personal resources which help employees to effectively cope with such stressors and thereby prevent burnout. We focus on trait mindfulness as the innate capacity of paying and maintaining attention to present-moment experiences with an open and nonjudgmental attitude. It has been shown to promote concentration and well-being and to facilitate decision making; it is often seen as an important resource for overcoming challenges in everyday work life. Hardiness also constitutes a personality profile of dispositional resilience that describes how people deal with stressful events and includes the core aspects of challenge (conviction that challenges offer opportunities), engagement (actively tackling tasks and challenges) and a sense of control (conviction of influence over one's own life circumstances). People with high hardiness show better health and higher job satisfaction and performance. We build our hypothesis according to the extended version of the Job Demands–Resources model, which states that personal resources protect employees from burnout, because they shape employees’ perceptions of and reactions towards their work environment. In a similar vein, stress theory suggests that personal resources mitigate burnout through lower stress appraisals, greater use of adaptive coping, and flexibility in matching coping to appraisals. We measured social stressors at work with the scale developed by Frese et al and further asked participants to work on the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale and the short version of the Revised Norwegian Dispositional Resilience (Hardiness) Scale. Our cross-sectional study was based on a sample of N = 174 employees from a broad range of organizations and job types. Statistical Analyses revealed significant negative correlations of both personal resources with reported symptoms of burnout and the perception of social stressors as well. However, in line with prior research, they indeed did not attenuate the relationship between social stressors and emotional exhaustion at work. Theoretical and practical implications as well as limitations and avenues for future research are discussed.

When organizing intercultural and interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning (PBL) activities across Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), the organizational and resource implications, along with the associated financial challenges, soon become crucial. Even promising approaches may not take off as a simple ‘return on investment’ view and funding decision may not fully address their various impacts on students, staff, institutions and society. This paper explores the experiences within a distributed interdisciplinary project-based learning program run from 2020 to 2023 and involving more than 150 students from four continents learning 21st century skills by collaborating over one semester to address real-world problems faced by clients in partner countries. While the primary goal of this distributed interdisciplinary and intercultural project-based learning program was to offer students a truly Global Intercultural Project Experience (GIPE), this paper explores its broader impact. We found that the program significantly influenced both the academic and administrative staff at all partner universities. Furthermore, we examine the program's effect on the participating institutions themselves over the four-year period. Our conclusion is that the invaluable benefits of such interdisciplinary project-based learning extend well beyond financial metrics. They include enhanced student learning experiences, strengthened cooperation and mutual learning between academics and administrative staff, improved institutional reputation, and positive societal impact. Thus, we worked hard to convince both our university management and the world's largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers to grant financial support for another 3-year period in 2025 to 2027 during which the GIPE concept will be further developed and a permanent organizational structure shall be established based on an extended network of partner institutions and sponsors around the world.

This paper discusses the experiences of a distributed interdisciplinary project-based learning program for students across continents. For the years 2020 until 2023, we received seed-funding for four annual projects to engage students from Germany (Europe), Namibia (Africa), Indonesia (Asia), and Peru (Latin-America) to collaborate over one semester on interdisciplinary projects contributing to the solution of some real-life client’s problems in the partner countries. During this period, more than 150 students embarked on these projects with 116 of them being selected for a scholarship for an international mobility. With the guidance and support by academics from all partner universities, the students success-fully completed each project expressing deep appreciation for the learning opportunities while over¬coming challenges of working across widespread time zones, different cultures, changing requirements, and various technical difficulties. While the primary aim of this distributed interdisciplinary and intercultural project-based learning program was to provide students with a truly Global Intercultural Project Experience (GIPE), in this paper we investigate on its impact in a broader sense as it was observed that this program also had a significant impact on both academic and administrative staff at all partner universities. Finally, we also reveal the impact of this four-year-program on the participating institutions themselves and conclude that the invaluable returns of such interdisciplinary project-based learning extend far beyond financial metrics. It encompasses enhanced student learning experiences, strengthened cooperation and mutual learning between academics and administrative staff, as well as institutional reputation, and societal impact.