Publications

Scientific output

35 publications across journals, conferences, and workshops in software engineering, reliability, and cybersecurity.

Journal articles

  1. Reading between the Lines: Context-Aware AI-based Generation of Software Exploits
    Improta, C., Liguori, P., Natella, R., Cukic, B., Cotroneo, D.
    Empirical Software Engineering, Springer, 31(3), Article 60, 2026
    Q1DOI
  2. cAPTure dataset: How fast can you detect APT threats?
    Puccetti, T., De Vivo, S., Zhang, D., Liguori, P., Natella, R., Ceccarelli, A.
    Computer Networks, Elsevier, vol. 287, 112570, 2026
    Q1DOI
  3. CGP-Tuning: Structure-Aware Soft Prompt Tuning for Code Vulnerability Detection
    Feng, R., Pearce, H., Liguori, P., Sui, Y.
    IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. 51, pp. 2533–2548, 2025
    Q1DOI
  4. Enhancing Robustness of AI Offensive Code Generators via Data Augmentation
    Improta, C., Liguori, P., Natella, R., Cukic, B., Cotroneo, D.
    Empirical Software Engineering, Springer, 30(1), Article 7, 2025
    Q1DOI
  5. DeVAIC: A Tool for Security Assessment of AI-Generated Code
    Cotroneo, D., De Luca, R., Liguori, P.
    Information and Software Technology, Elsevier, 2025
    Q1DOI
  6. Automating the Correctness Assessment of AI-Generated Code for Security Contexts
    Cotroneo, D., Foggia, A., Improta, C., Liguori, P., Natella, R.
    Journal of Systems and Software, Elsevier, 2024
    Q1DOI
  7. AI Code Generators for Security: Friend or Foe?
    Natella, R., Liguori, P., Improta, C., Cukic, B., Cotroneo, D.
    IEEE Security & Privacy, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 73–81, 2024
    Q1DOI
  8. Who Evaluates the Evaluators? On Automatic Metrics for Assessing AI-Based Offensive Code Generators
    Liguori, P., Improta, C., Natella, R., Cukic, B., Cotroneo, D.
    Expert Systems with Applications, Elsevier, 225, 120073, 2023
    Q1DOI
  9. Run-Time Failure Detection via Non-Intrusive Event Analysis in a Large-Scale Cloud Computing Platform
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Liguori, P., Natella, R.
    Journal of Systems and Software, Elsevier, 198, 111611, 2023
    Q1DOI
  10. Can We Generate Shellcodes via Natural Language? An Empirical Study
    Liguori, P., Al-Hossami, E., Cotroneo, D., Natella, R., Cukic, B., Shaikh, S.
    Automated Software Engineering, Springer, 2022
    Q2DOI
  11. Enhancing the Analysis of Software Failures in Cloud Computing Systems with Deep Learning
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Liguori, P., Natella, R.
    Journal of Systems and Software, Elsevier, 181, 111043, 2021
    Q1DOI
  12. Fault Injection Analytics: A Novel Approach to Discover Failure Modes in Cloud-Computing Systems
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Liguori, P., Natella, R.
    IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 1476–1491, 2020
    Q1DOI

International conferences

  1. How Bad Can a Bug Get? An Empirical Analysis of Software Failures in the OpenStack Cloud Computing Platform
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Liguori, P., Natella, R., Bidokhti, N.
    ACM Joint Meeting on European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE 2019), pp. 200–211
    CORE A*DOI
  2. Will It Break in Production? Metric-Driven Prediction of Residual Defects in Python Systems
    De Rosa, G., Liguori, P.
    56th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN 2026), Charlotte, NC, USA, pp. 772–785
    CORE ADOI
  3. Human-written vs. AI-generated Code: A Large-Scale Study of Defects, Vulnerabilities, and Complexity
    Cotroneo, D., Improta, C., Liguori, P.
    IEEE 36th International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2025)
    CORE ADOI
  4. Quality In, Quality Out: Investigating Training Data's Role in AI Code Generation
    Improta, C., Tufano, R., Liguori, P., Cotroneo, D., Bavota, G.
    IEEE/ACM International Conference on Program Comprehension (ICPC 2025)
    CORE ADOI
  5. Enhancing AI-based Generation of Software Exploits with Contextual Information
    Liguori, P., Improta, C., Natella, R., Cukic, B., Cotroneo, D.
    IEEE 35th International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2024)
    CORE ADOI
  6. Vulnerabilities in AI Code Generators: Exploring Targeted Data Poisoning Attacks
    Cotroneo, D., Improta, C., Liguori, P., Natella, R.
    IEEE/ACM International Conference on Program Comprehension (ICPC 2024)
    CORE ADOI
  7. EVIL: Exploiting Software via Natural Language
    Liguori, P., Al-Hossami, E., Orbinato, V., Natella, R., Shaikh, S., Cotroneo, D., Cukic, B.
    IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2021)
    CORE ADOI
  8. ProFiPy: Programmable Software Fault Injection as-a-Service
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Liguori, P., Natella, R.
    IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN 2020), pp. 364–372
    CORE ADOI
  9. Enhancing Failure Propagation Analysis in Cloud Computing Systems
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Liguori, P., Natella, R., Bidokhti, N.
    IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2019), pp. 139–150
    CORE ADOI
  10. Creation and Use of a Representative Dataset for Advanced Persistent Threats Detection
    Puccetti, T., De Vivo, S., Zhang, D., Liguori, P., Natella, R., Ceccarelli, A.
    International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security (SAFECOMP 2025), pp. 51–66
    CORE BDOI
  11. PyResBugs: A Dataset of Residual Python Bugs for Natural Language-Driven Fault Injection
    Cotroneo, D., De Rosa, G., Liguori, P.
    IEEE/ACM International Conference on AI Foundation Models and Software Engineering (FORGE 2025)
    DOI
  12. FailViz: A Tool for Visualizing Fault Injection Experiments in Distributed Systems
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Liguori, P., Natella, R., Bidokhti, N.
    European Dependable Computing Conference (EDCC 2019), pp. 145–148
    DOI

Workshops

  1. Drivers of Secure and Correct Code: A Factorial Study of Size, Pre-Training, and Data Quality
    Liguori, P., Krasniqi, R., Cotroneo, D.
    56th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks Workshops (DSN-W 2026), Charlotte, NC, USA, pp. 70–76
    DOI
  2. Securing AI Code Generation Through Automated Pattern-Based Patching
    Altiero, F., Cotroneo, D., De Luca, R., Liguori, P.
    IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks Workshops (DSN-W 2025)
    DOI
  3. Generative AI in Cybersecurity: Generating Offensive Code from Natural Language
    Liguori, P., Natella, R., Cotroneo, D.
    IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks Supplemental Volume (DSN-S 2025)
    DOI
  4. Neural Fault Injection: Generating Software Faults from Natural Language
    Cotroneo, D., Liguori, P.
    IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks Workshops (DSN-W 2024)
    DOI
  5. DDOSHIELD-IoT: A Testbed for Simulating and Lightweight Detection of IoT Botnet DDoS Attacks
    De Vivo, S., Obaidat, I., Dai, D., Liguori, P.
    IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks Workshops (DSN-W 2024)
    DOI
  6. The Power of Words: Generating PowerShell Attacks from Natural Language
    Liguori, P., Marescalco, C., Natella, R., Orbinato, V., Pianese, L.
    USENIX Workshop on Offensive Technologies (WOOT 2024)
  7. Simulation Environment for the Evaluation of Lightweight Intrusion Detection Systems
    De Vivo, S., Liguori, P.
    IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW 2023), pp. 132–135
    DOI
  8. Can NMT Understand Me? Towards Perturbation-Based Evaluation of NMT Models for Code Generation
    Liguori, P., Improta, C., De Vivo, S., Natella, R., Cukic, B., Cotroneo, D.
    International Workshop on Natural Language-based Software Engineering (NLBSE 2022)
    DOI
  9. Shellcode_IA32: A Dataset for Automatic Shellcode Generation
    Liguori, P., Al-Hossami, E., Cotroneo, D., Natella, R., Cukic, B., Shaikh, S.
    Workshop on Natural Language Processing for Programming (NLP4Prog 2021), pp. 58–64
    DOI
  10. Towards Runtime Verification via Event Stream Processing in Cloud Computing Infrastructures
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Liguori, P., Natella, R., Scibelli, A.
    International Conference on Service-Oriented Computing (ICSOC 2020), pp. 162–175
    DOI
  11. Enhancing the Analysis of Error Propagation and Failure Modes in Cloud Systems
    Cotroneo, D., De Simone, L., Di Martino, A., Liguori, P., Natella, R.
    IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW 2018), pp. 140–141
    DOI

PhD thesis

  1. Fault Injection for Cloud Computing Systems: From Failure Mode Analysis to Run-Time Failure Detection
    Liguori, P.
    PhD Thesis, University of Naples Federico II, 2022
    Fulltext