Search results for: existential threat

Authors: Nadine Sammy, Mark Wilson, Samuel Vine

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The Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) states that self-efficacy is an antecedent of challenge and threat. These states result from conscious and unconscious evaluations of situational demands and personal resources and are represented by both cognitive and physiological markers. Challenge is considered a more adaptive stress response as it is associated with a more efficient cardiovascular profile, as well as better performance and attention effects compared with threat. Self-efficacy is proposed to influence challenge/threat because an individual’s belief that they have the skills necessary to execute the courses of action required to succeed contributes to a perception that they can cope with the demands of the situation. This study experimentally examined the effects of self-efficacy on cardiovascular responses (challenge and threat), demand and resource evaluations, performance and attention under pressurised conditions. Forty-five university students were randomly assigned to either a control (n=15), low self-efficacy (n=15) or high self-efficacy (n=15) group and completed baseline and pressurised golf putting tasks. Self-efficacy was manipulated using false feedback adapted from previous studies. Measures of self-efficacy, cardiovascular reactivity, demand and resource evaluations, task performance and attention were recorded. The high self-efficacy group displayed more favourable cardiovascular reactivity, indicative of a challenge state, compared with the low self-efficacy group. The former group also reported high resource evaluations, but no task performance or attention effects were detected. These findings demonstrate that levels of self-efficacy influence cardiovascular reactivity and perceptions of resources under pressurised conditions.

Keywords: cardiovascular, challenge, performance, threat

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Authors: Li Qiang, Yang Ze-Ming, Liu Bao-Xu, Jiang Zheng-Wei

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With the increasing complexity of cyberspace security, the cyber-attack attribution has become an important challenge of the security protection systems. The difficult points of cyber-attack attribution were forced on the problems of huge data handling and key data missing. According to this situation, this paper presented a reasoning method of cyber-attack attribution based on threat intelligence. The method utilizes the intrusion kill chain model and Bayesian network to build attack chain and evidence chain of cyber-attack on threat intelligence platform through data calculation, analysis and reasoning. Then, we used a number of cyber-attack events which we have observed and analyzed to test the reasoning method and demo system, the result of testing indicates that the reasoning method can provide certain help in cyber-attack attribution.

Keywords: reasoning, Bayesian networks, cyber-attack attribution, Kill Chain, threat intelligence

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Authors: Ayomide Oyedele

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In the dynamic landscape of cybersecurity, "Strategic Cyber Sentinel" emerges as a revolutionary framework, transcending traditional approaches. This paper pioneers a holistic strategy, weaving together threat intelligence, machine learning, and adaptive defenses. Through meticulous real-world simulations, we demonstrate the unprecedented resilience of our framework against evolving cyber threats. "Strategic Cyber Sentinel" redefines proactive threat mitigation, offering a robust defense architecture poised for the challenges of tomorrow.

Keywords: cybersecurity, resilience, threat intelligence, machine learning, adaptive defenses

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Authors: Ezgiamn Abraha Hagos

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Higher education is important for college students to develop their authentic identity by means of getting exposure to diverse ideas and experiences. However, current college students are not successfully achieving a satisfying sense of meaning and purpose in their lives, which often places them in a state of existential vacuum. Thus, this study uncovers the existential concerns of youth in higher education by means of assessing their view on meaningful life and integration of it as a guide into their lives and challenges faced in doing so. Data were procured from thirty undergraduate students of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia via interview, naïve sketch method, and content analysis of selected magazines and newspapers. Data were analyzed using organization, immersion, generating themes, coding, offering interpretation as well as checking the data. Relationship, education, and belief were found to be main sources of meaning. But, many of the study participants failed to articulate their meaning in life explicitly and identified to be in a state of drifting. Moreover, hopelessness, economic problems and quality of training impinge their sense of meaning in life negatively. The content analysis principally embodied the youth in higher education as a group of people confronted with rafts of challenges such as debauchery, moral crisis, self-destructive behaviors and hankering for support and direction. Thus, crafting the asset-based approach and counseling services that will prepare the youth for the future and develop holistically in terms of body and mind are tremendously vital.

Keywords: higher education institutions; meaning in life; youth

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Authors: Mohammad Shameel, Peter K. K. Loh, James H. Ng

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Cybercrime is a new category of crime which poses a different challenge for crime investigators and incident responders. Attackers can mask their identities using a suite of tools and with the help of the deep web, which makes them difficult to track down. Scouring the deep web manually takes time and is inefficient. There is a growing need for a tool to scour the deep web to obtain useful evidence or intel automatically. In this paper, we will explain the background and motivation behind the research, present a survey of existing research on related tools, describe the design of our own crime/threat intelligence hunting tool prototype, demonstrate its capability with some test cases and lastly, conclude with proposals for future enhancements.

Keywords: cybercrime, deep web, threat intelligence, web crawler

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Authors: Paolo Scolari

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Nietzschean thought flows like a current throughout Marcel’s philosophy. Marcel is in constant dialogue with him. He wants to give homage to him, making him one of the most eminent representatives of existential thought. His enthusiasm is triggered by Nietzsche’s phrase: ‘God is dead,’ the fil rouge that ties all of the Nietzschean references scattered through marcelian texts. The death of God is the theme which emphasises both the greatness and simultaneously the tragedy of Nietzsche. Marcel wants to substitute the idea ‘God is dead’ with its original meaning: a tragic existential characteristic that imitators of Nietzsche seemed to have blurred. An interpretation that Marcel achieves aiming at double target. On the one hand he removes the heavy metaphysical suit from Nietzsche’s aphorisms on the death of God, that his interpreters have made them wear – Heidegger especially. On the other hand, he removes a stratus of trivialisation which takes the aphorisms out of context and transforms them into advertising slogans – here Sartre becomes the target. In the lecture: Nietzsche: l'homme devant la mort de dieu, Marcel hurls himself against the metaphysical Heidegger interpretation of the death of God. A hermeneutical proposal definitely original, but also a bit too abstract. An interpretation without bite, that does not grasp the tragic existential weight of the original Nietzschean idea. ‘We are probably on the wrong road,’ announces, ‘when at all costs, like Heidegger, we want to make a metaphysic out of Nietzsche.’ Marcel also criticizes Sartre. He lands in Geneva and reacts to the journalists, by saying: ‘Gentlemen, God is dead’. Marcel only needs this impromptu exclamation to understand how Sartre misinterprets the meaning of the death of God. Sartre mistakes and loses the existential sense of this idea in favour of the sensational and trivialisation of it. Marcel then wipes the slate clean from these two limited interpretations of the declaration of the death of God. This is much more than a metaphysical quarrel and not at all comparable to any advertising slogan. Behind the cry ‘God is dead’ there is the existence of an anguished man who experiences in his solitude the actual death of God. A man who has killed God with his own hands, haunted by the chill that from now on he will have to live in a completely different way. The death of God, however, is not the end. Marcel spots a new beginning at the point in which nihilism is overcome and the Übermensch is born. Dialoguing with Nietzsche he notices to being in the presence of a great spirit that has contributed to the renewal of a spiritual horizon. He descends to the most profound depths of his thought, aware that the way out is really far below, in the remotest areas of existence. The ambivalence of Nietzsche does not scare him. Rather such a thought, characterised by contradiction, will simultaneously be infinitely dangerous and infinitely healthy.

Keywords: Nietzsche's Death of God, Gabriel Marcel, Heidegger, Sartre

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Authors: Kai Qian, Lixin Tao

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Mobile devices such as smartphones are getting more and more popular in our daily lives. The security vulnerability and threat attacks become a very emerging and important research and education topic in computing security discipline. There is a need to have an innovative mobile security hands-on laboratory to provide students with real world relevant mobile threat analysis and protection experience. This paper presents an authentic teaching and learning mobile security approach with smartphone devices which covers most important mobile threats in most aspects of mobile security. Each lab focuses on one type of mobile threats, such as mobile messaging threat, and conveys the threat analysis and protection in multiple ways, including lectures and tutorials, multimedia or app-based demonstration for threats analysis, and mobile app development for threat protections. This authentic learning approach is affordable and easily-adoptable which immerse students in a real world relevant learning environment with real devices. This approach can also be applied to many other mobile related courses such as mobile Java programming, database, network, and any security relevant courses so that can learn concepts and principles better with the hands-on authentic learning experience.

Keywords: mobile computing, Android, network, security, labware

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Authors: Fereshteh Ahmadi, Önver Cetrez, Said Zandi, Sharareh Akhavan

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In this paper, we have mapped the coping methods used to address the coronavirus pandemic by members of the academic community. We conducted an anonymous survey of a convenient sample of 674 faculty/staff members and students from September to December 2020. A modified version of the RCOPE scale was used for data collection. The results indicate that both religious and existential coping methods were used by respondents. The study also indicates that even though 71% of in-formants believed in God or another religious figure, 61% reported that they had tried to gain control of the situation directly without the help of God or another religious figure. The ranking of the coping strategies used indicates that the first five methods used by informants were all non-religious coping methods (i.e., secular existential coping methods): regarding life as a part of a greater whole, regarding nature as an important resource, listening to the sound of surrounding nature, being alone and con-templating, and walking/engaging in any activities outdoors giving a spiritual feeling. Our results contribute to the new area of research on academic community’s coping with pandemic-related stress and challenges.

Keywords: academic staff, academics, coping strategies, coronavirus epidemic, higher education.

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Authors: William Burdick

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Manmade climate change is an existential threat that must be mitigated at the earliest opportunity. The role of government in climate change mitigation is enacting and enforcing law and policy to affect substantial reductions in greenhouse gasses, in the short and long term, without substantial increases in the cost of energy. To be optimally effective those laws and policies must be established and enforced based on peer reviewed evidence and scientific facts and result in substantial outcomes in years, not decades. Over the next fifty years, New York’s 2019 Climate Change and Community Protection Act and 2021 All Electric Building Act that mandate replacing natural gas heating systems with heat pumps will, immediately double annual heating costs and by 2075, yield less than 16.2% reduction in CO₂ emissions from heating systems in new housing units, less than a 13% reduction in total CO₂ emissions, and affect a $40B in cumulative additional heating cost, compared to natural gas fueled heating systems.

Keywords: climate change, mandate, heat pump, natural gas

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Authors: Xudong He, Jian Wang, Jiqiang Liu, Lei Han, Yang Yu, Shaohua Lv

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Nowadays, the threats of the internet are enormous and increasing; however, the classification of huge alert messages generated in this environment is relatively monotonous. It affects the accuracy of the network situation assessment, and also brings inconvenience to the security managers to deal with the emergency. In order to deal with potential network threats effectively and provide more effective data to improve the network situation awareness. It is essential to build a hierarchical filtering method to prevent the threats. In this paper, it establishes a model for data monitoring, which can filter systematically from the original data to get the grade of threats and be stored for using again. Firstly, it filters the vulnerable resources, open ports of host devices and services. Then use the entropy theory to calculate the performance changes of the host devices at the time of the threat occurring and filter again. At last, sort the changes of the performance value at the time of threat occurring. Use the alerts and performance data collected in the real network environment to evaluate and analyze. The comparative experimental analysis shows that the threat filtering method can effectively filter the threat alerts effectively.

Keywords: correlation analysis, hierarchical filtering, multisource data, network security

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Authors: Doruk Atahan Erbas

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This paper concerns the early writings of Karl Marx, specifically The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, The German Ideology and Theses on Feuerbach. The two crucial themes of these early writings are the doctrine called historical materialism and, as a worker, the worker's resistance towards the current condition of society out of the division of labor. After Marx, including his closest friend Friedrich Engels, some of the philosophers, activists, and politicians have considered the historical materialism as a rigorous science which includes the explanation of historical causality manifested in the social, political sphere. However, this consideration, by its description as a science, is completely alienated from the concept of subject (as the suffering worker) nothing other than one of the abovementioned themes. Therefore, from this perspective, Marx's early doctrine seems to be self contradictory. The alternative approach which will be introduced in this essay offers a new basis for a correlation between the concept of subject and historical materiality by means of investigating materiality as phenomenality and ultimately rereading Marx as a creator of an existential subject surrounded by phenomenality. So that, it provides an opportunity to rethink the concept of historical materiality from an existential point of view.

Keywords: existentialism, Karl Marx, materiality, phenomenality, subject

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Authors: Wing Cheuk Chan

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It is well-known that Heidegger was highly critical of Sartre’s existential philosophy. In his famous “Letter on Humanism,” Heidegger not only draw a clear cutline between his thinking of Being and Sartre’s existentialism but also introduced a kind of anti-humanism. Such a hostile attitude towards Sartre’sExistentialism as Humanism seems to have created an unbridgeable gap between these them. Indeed, already in his Being and Nothingness, Sartre complained: Heidegger “has completely avoided any appeal to consciousness in his description of Dasein.”In reality, Sartre was mainly faithful to Husserlianphenomenology, in spite of his rejection of Husserl’s idealism. Thanks to the Japanese Buddhist scholar Yoshifumi Ueda’s work on the Old School of Yogācāra Buddhismas represented by Sthiramati and Paramārtha, we learn that in additional to thethesis of transforming vijñāna (knowing consciousness) into jñāna (wisdom), there is an idea of pṛṣṭa-labdha-jñāna (the subsequently acquired wisdom). According to Ueda, the latter is a “non-discriminative discrimination.” This gives rise to a possibility of synthesizing Heidegger’s thinking of Being and Sartre’s existential phenomenology. Structurally, this paper will firstshow that Heidegger focuses on the side of non-discrimination, whereas Sartre concentrates on the side of discrimination. It will then clarify in what sense thateach of them, in itself, remains incomplete. Finally, it will demonstratehow to synthesize them in term of the notion of “non-discriminative discrimination.”

Keywords: heidegger, sartre, phenomenology, yogācāra buddhism

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Authors: Hilya Mudrika Arini, Nur Aini Masruroh, Budi Hartono

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There are more than 20 terrorist threats from 2002 to 2012 in Indonesia. Despite of this fact, preventive solution through studies in the field of national security in Indonesia has not been conducted comprehensively. This study aims to provide a preventive solution by developing prediction model of the terrorist threat in Indonesia by using Bayesian network. There are eight stages to build the model, started from literature review, build and verify Bayesian belief network to what-if scenario. In order to build the model, four experts from different perspectives are utilized. This study finds several significant findings. First, news and the readiness of terrorist group are the most influent factor. Second, according to several scenarios of the news portion, it can be concluded that the higher positive news proportion, the higher probability of terrorist threat will occur. Therefore, the preventive solution to reduce the terrorist threat in Indonesia based on the model is by keeping the positive news portion to a maximum of 38%.

Keywords: Bayesian network, decision analysis, national security system, text mining

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Authors: Z. N. Huwaë, E.M. W. Tong, Y. H. M. See

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In the present study, the researchers examined whether people from collectivistic cultures perceive a more group identity threat following social exclusion, whereas a more personal identity threat would be the case for those from individualistic cultures. In doing so, they investigated whether threatened identities depend on whether people are excluded by ingroup members (same ethnic background) or outgroup members (another ethnic background), as exclusion studies have shown mixed results when it comes to being excluded by ingroup versus outgroup members. For this purpose, students in Singapore and in the Netherlands participated in an online ball-tossing game (Cyberball) where they were excluded or included by other players with either the same or other ethnicity. Tentative results showed that both Singaporean and Dutch participants reported a more threat to their group identity than to their personal identity following exclusion and this did not depend on who excluded them. These tentative findings suggest that threatened identities following exclusion may not depend on cultural factors or on the source of exclusion.

Keywords: cultures, exclusion, experiment, group membership, identities

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Authors: Juanita Morris

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The purpose of this study will examine the mediating relationships between the theories of intelligence, mathematics anxiety, gender stereotype threat, meta-cognition and math performance through the use of eye tracking technology, affecting student perception and problem-solving abilities. The participants will consist of (N=80) female graduate students. Test administered were the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale, Tobii Eye Tracking software, gender stereotype threat through Google images, and they will be asked to describe their problem-solving approach allowed to measure metacognition. Participants will be administered mathematics problems while having gender stereotype threat shown to them through online images while being directed to look at the eye tracking software Tobii. We will explore this by asking ‘Is mathematics anxiety associated with the theories of intelligence and gender stereotype threat and how does metacognition and math performance place a role in mediating those perspectives?’. It is hypothesized that math-anxious students are more likely affected by the gender stereotype threat and that may play a role in their performance? Furthermore, we also want to explore whether math anxious students are more likely to be an entity theorist than incremental theorist and whether those who are math anxious will be more likely to be fixated on variables associated with coefficients? Path analysis and independent samples t-test will be used to generate results for this study. We hope to conclude that both the theories of intelligence and metacognition mediate the relationship between mathematics anxiety and gender stereotype threat.

Keywords: math anxiety, emotions, affective domains fo learning, cognitive underlinings

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Authors: Sara Bouzekri, Said Madani

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In many Mediterranean cities such as Algiers, the human activity, the strong mobility the urban sprawl, the air pollution, the problems of waste management, the wasting of the resources and the degradation of the environment weaken in an unquestionable way the farming. The question of sustainable action vis-a-vis these threats arises then in order to maintain a level of desired local development. The methodology is based on a multi-criteria method based on the AFOM diagnosis, which classifies agricultural strength indicators and those of threat, according to an analytical approach. In a sustainable development perspective, it will be appropriate to link the threat factors of the case study with the factors of climate change to see their impact on the future of agriculture. This will be accompanied by a SWOT analysis, which crosses the most significant criteria to arrive at the necessary recommendations based on future projects for urban agriculture.

Keywords: Algiers, environment, urban agriculture, threat factors

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Authors: Ven Pothupitiye Thilakasiri

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The Ādittapariyāya Sutta, also known as the Fire Sermon is an important Buddhist text that addresses the nature of sensual pleasures and attachment through the metaphor of fire. Eliot makes use of this in his epic poem The Waste Land. Though scholars have studied Eliot‘s long poem for traces of eastern philosophy, no scholars have touched upon the idea of how the Adittapariyaya Sutta has enabled the meaning making endeavor of the poem. The present study attempts to address this research gap by undertaking a critical analysis of the Fire Sermon of The Waste Land by undertaking an interdisciplinary study of the poem using two methods—a literary and Buddhist reading methods, namely objective corelative and the three-pillared Buddhist ideas of Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha (suffering) and Anatha (No-self). Thus, the study explores the Ādittapariyāya Sutta’s thematic concerns of impermanence, suffering and no-self within the context of The Waste Land. The setting of the poem symbolizes spiritual desolation and existential crisis. By comparing Sutta‘s teachings with modern existential concerns, which is depicted in T.S. Eliot‘s The Waste Land, the analysis emphasizes the relevance of Buddhist insights to contemporary issues of meaning and disillusio

Keywords: Adittapariyaya Sutta, Objective correlative, Eastern Philosophy, Sensual pleasures

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Authors: M. J. Gazapo Lapayese

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It is a well-established fact that terrorism is one of the foremost threats to present-day international security. The creation of tools or mechanisms for confronting it in an effective and efficient manner will only be possible by way of an objective assessment of the phenomenon. In order to achieve this, this paper has the following three main objectives: Firstly, setting out to find the reasons that have prevented the establishment of a universally accepted definition of terrorism, and consequently trying to outline the main features defining the face of the terrorist threat in order to discover the fundamental goals of what is now a serious blight on world society. Secondly, trying to explain the differences between a terrorist movement and a terrorist organisation, and the reasons for which a terrorist movement can be led to transform itself into an organisation. After analysing these motivations and the characteristics of a terrorist organisation, an example of the latter will be succinctly analysed to help the reader understand the ideas expressed. Lastly, discovering and exposing the factors that can lead to the appearance of terrorist tendencies, and discussing the most efficient and effective responses that can be given to this global security threat.

Keywords: responses, resilience, security, terrorism

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Authors: Ayoola Adediran Amos

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Nigeria as a secular state that is characterized with various religions namely: Christianity, Islam and African Religion. Each of the religion adherents often claim that their religion is the only means of gaining eternity while others who do not belong to their sect may not be opportuned. Religious doctrine within those religious sects is another source of insurgency which serves as a threat to the unity of Nigeria. Similarly, Boko Haram Religious group has become a threat to the unity of the country in which its root has both political and religious undertones. Primary and secondary sources of collecting data were used. Historical method allowed enquiry into the past events and improvement to the current experience. Both published and unpublished theses were used. Interview was also conducted as part of the secondary sources. It was observed that all aspects of the system in Nigeria were affected with this scourge of religious unrest. i.e. education, political, economic and a host of others. Finally, it was recommended that religious leaders should be given adequate orientation on the needs not to preach against other religious groups. Government of Nigeria should not give priority to one religion at the expense of others.

Keywords: insurgency, national unity, religious, threat

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Authors: Claire Norman-Maillet

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Insider fraud, otherwise known as occupational, employee, or internal fraud, is a financial crime threat. Perpetrated by defrauding (or attempting to defraud) one’s current, prospective, or past employer, an ‘employee’ covers anyone employed by the company, including board members and contractors. The Coronavirus pandemic has forced insider fraud into the spotlight, and it isn’t dimming. As the focus of most academics and practitioners has historically been on that of ‘external fraud’, insider fraud is often overlooked or not considered to be a real threat. However, since COVID-19 changed the working world, pushing most of us into remote or hybrid working, employers cannot easily keep an eye on what their staff are doing, which has led to reliance on trust and transparency. This, therefore, brings about an increased risk of insider fraud perpetration. The objective of this paper is to explore why insider fraud is, therefore, now the biggest threat to a business. To achieve the research objective, participating individuals within the financial crime sector (either as a practitioner or consultants) attended semi-structured interviews with the researcher. The principal recruitment strategy for these individuals was via the researcher’s LinkedIn network. The main findings in the research suggest that insider fraud has been ignored and rejected as a threat to a business, owing to a reluctance to admit that a colleague may perpetrate. A positive of the Coronavirus pandemic is that it has forced insider fraud into a more prominent position and giving it more importance on a business’ agenda and risk register. Despite insider fraud always having been a possibility (and therefore a risk) within any business, it is very rare that a business has given it the attention it requires until now, if at all. The research concludes that insider fraud needs to prioritised by all businesses, and even ahead of external fraud. The research also provides advice on how a business can add new or enhance existing controls to mitigate the risk.

Keywords: insider fraud, occupational fraud, COVID-19, COVID, coronavirus, pandemic, internal fraud, financial crime, economic crime

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Authors: Mohammad Tahir Yousafzai, Rubina Qasim

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We assessed Hepatitis B vaccination and its determinants among health care workers (HCW) in Northwest Pakistan. HCWs from both public and private clinics were interviewed about hepatitis B vaccination, socio-demographic, hepatitis B virus transmission modes, disease threat and benefits of vaccination. Logistic regression was performed. Hepatitis B vaccination was 40% (Qualified Physicians: 86% and non-qualified Dispensers:16%). Being Qualified Physician (Adj. OR 26.6; 95%CI 9.3-73.2), Non-qualified Physician (Adj.OR 1.9; 95%CI 0.8-4.6), qualified Dispensers (Adj. OR 3.6; 95%CI 1.3-9.5) compared to non-qualified Dispensers, working in public clinics (Adj. OR 2.5; 95%CI 1.1-5.7) compared to private, perceived disease threat after exposure to blood and body fluids (Adj. OR 1.1; 95%CI 1.1-1.2) and perceived benefits of vaccination (Adj. OR 1.1; 95%CI 1.1-1.2) were significant predictors of hepatitis B vaccination. Improved perception of disease threat and benefits of vaccination and qualification of HCWs are associated with hepatitis B vaccination.

Keywords: Hepatitis B vaccine, immunization, healthcare workers, primary health

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Authors: Bilal Zubair

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In a constantly challenging internal security environment, Pakistan is making ways to improvise and respond to the new variations in the pervasive phenomenon of terrorism. The state’s endeavors towards securitizing terrorism as an existential threat are both extensive and intensive which have systematically incorporated both military and non-military means. Since 2007, the military has been conducting intermittent operations and by 2014 has successfully neutralized the terrorist ability to target vital security installations and security personal. The terrorists have responded by targeting communities which are soft targets and extremely vulnerable to organized assaults. Within this context, the study aims to explain the emerging trends of terrorism in Pakistan, which multi-layered and complex developments are having far-reaching implications for state and society. With a view to explore the underlining reasons, present trends and ensuing ramifications of the emerging trends in terrorism, this study would examine the following: First, the historical processes and development of Terrorism in Pakistan; secondly the processes of securitization which include political consensus, legal frameworks and military operations against the terrorist groups; thirdly , the socio-cultural dimensions and geopolitical influences on the transforming nature of sectarian terrorism. The study will also highlight the grey areas and weak links in the ongoing securitization process. Finally, the study will thoroughly explore the societal insecurity which is manifested in internal displacements, identity crisis and weakening the socio-political fabric of the state.

Keywords: counter-terrorism, terrorism, sectarianism, securitizing

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Authors: Camellia Al-Ibrahim, Jenny Yiend, Sukhwinder S. Shergill

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Background: Attention bias to threat play a role in the development, maintenance, and exacerbation of delusional beliefs in schizophrenia in which patients emphasize the threatening characteristics of stimuli and prioritise them for processing. Cognitive control deficits arise when task-irrelevant emotional information elicits attentional bias and obstruct optimal performance. This study is investigating neural correlates of interference effect of linguistic threat and whether these effects are independent of delusional severity. Methods: Using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), neural correlates of interference effect of linguistic threat during the emotional Stroop task were investigated and compared patients with schizophrenia with high (N=17) and low (N=16) paranoid symptoms and healthy controls (N=20). Participants were instructed to identify the font colour of each word presented on the screen as quickly and accurately as possible. Stimuli types vary between threat-relevant, positive and neutral words. Results: Group differences in whole brain effects indicate decreased amygdala activity in patients with high paranoid symptoms compared with low paranoid patients and healthy controls. Regions of interest analysis (ROI) validated our results within the amygdala and investigated changes within the striatum showing a pattern of reduced activation within the clinical group compared to healthy controls. Delusional severity was associated with significant decreased neural activity in the striatum within the clinical group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the emotional interference mediated by the amygdala and striatum may reduce responsiveness to threat-related stimuli in schizophrenia and that attenuation of fMRI Blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal within these areas might be influenced by the severity of delusional symptoms.

Keywords: attention bias, fMRI, Schizophrenia, Stroop

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Authors: Anders Troedsson

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For us humans, risk and insecurity are intimately linked to vulnerabilities - where there is vulnerability, there is potentially risk and insecurity. Reducing vulnerability through compensatory measures means decreasing the likelihood of a certain external event be qualified as a risk/threat/assault, and thus also means increasing the individual’s sense of security. The paper suggests that a meaningful way to approach the study of risk/ insecurity is to organize thinking about the vulnerabilities that external phenomena evoke in humans as perceived by them. Such phenomena are, through a set of given vulnerabilities, potentially translated into perceptions of "insecurity." An ontological discussion about salient timespace characteristics of external phenomena as perceived by humans, including such which potentially can be qualified as risk/threat/assault, leads to the positing of two dimensions which are central for describing what in the paper is called the essence of risk/threat/assault. As is argued, such modeling helps analysis steer free of the subjective factor which is intimately connected to human perception and which mediates between phenomena “out there” potentially identified as risk/threat/assault, and their translation into an experience of security or insecurity. A proposed set of universally given vulnerabilities are scrutinized with the help of the two dimensions, resulting in a modeling effort featuring four realms of vulnerabilities which together represent a dynamic whole. This model in turn informs modeling on human security.

Keywords: human vulnerabilities, human security, immediate-inert, material-immaterial, timespace

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Authors: Ndje Ndje Mireille

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For some years in Cameroon, there has been an increase in violence in schools. This violence has gone from verbal to physical, sometimes going as far as murder. At the centre of this violence, we find the student who is a teenager in the midst of both physical and psychological changes. The unpredictable transformations of his body, the unexpected emotions arrouse when he encouters someonelse, intrusion, shortcomings, boredom, loneliness and self-deception are the threats to which the teenager faces daily. From the psychopathological point of view, the greatest threat in adolesence is probably the depresive threat. During adolescence and for several resons, the subject is confronted with the self image. He displays certantity which sometimes hides great uncertaintity about what leads him to manifest some particular behaviours or undertake certain actions. Faced with aggressiveness twards those he confronts, he feels more or less guilt. This can lead a certain number of adolescents to feel heplessness faced to their vis-à-vis, faced to life. This helplessness is sometimes reinforced by the social, cultural and economic context in which they are. The teeneger then feels threatens by this depression which, when it reaches its extreme, it is manifested by the feeling that he can no longer do anything. Generally, the depressive threats manifest itself in defensive forms vis-à-vis with the depression itself. Reason why, it is indeed a threat and not a threshold already crossed. This threat often manifests itself in inappropriate forms of attack on one’s own body as seen in a number of repetitive risky behaviours. We also see teenegers confront peers and even adults through physical attacks and often go as far as murder. All these behaviours appears as an absurd way of attacking and at the same time confronting the feeling of remaining alive. This depressive threats can also be expressed in forms of attacks on an individual’s thinking abilities or more explicitely in the form of accademic downfall. The depressive threats does not sum up all the problems of adolescence, but, undoubtly represents currently, one of the deepest form of unease adolescents face.

Keywords: violence, school, depression threats, adolescent, behavior

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Authors: Azene Zenebe

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Deep learning is a subset of machine learning which incorporates techniques for the construction of artificial neural networks and found to be useful for modeling complex problems with large dataset. Deep learning requires a very high power computational and longer time for training. By aggregating computing power, high performance computer (HPC) has emerged as an approach to resolving advanced problems and performing data-driven research activities. Cyber threat intelligence (CIT) is actionable information or insight an organization or individual uses to understand the threats that have, will, or are currently targeting the organization. Results of review of literature will be presented along with results of experimental study that compares the performance of tree-based and function-base machine learning including deep learning algorithms using secondary dataset collected from darknet.

Keywords: deep-learning, cyber security, cyber threat modeling, tree-based machine learning, function-based machine learning, data science

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Authors: Yanga Lusanda Praiseworth Majola

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The small town of Umzimkhulu is situated in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa and was once the Bantustan of Transkei. Citizens of Umzimkulu are called amaBhaca because they speak isiBhaca, which is a non-standard language but is mutually intelligible to three standard official languages, isiXhosa, isiZulu, and siSwati. Since Umzimkhulu was under the Eastern Cape Province prior to 2006, isiXhosa is used for official purposes, particularly in schools, then isiZulu is used in other sectors; this is despite the fact that the majority of Umzimkhulu citizens regard themselves as amaBhaca. This poses a threat to both isiBhaca as a language and the identity of amaBhaca because Umzimkhulu is situated in KZN, where isiZulu is the dominant language spoken by the majority in the province. The primary objective of this study is to unveil, using the language dominance theory, how dominant languages pose a threat to minority and developing languages or dialects. The study employed a mixed-methods approach. Data was obtained from key community members and leaders who were identified as amaBhaca, who have lived in Umzimkhulu their whole lives. The main findings of the study are that although isiBhaca is classified as a dialect of isiXhosa, linguistically, it is closer to isiZulu, and thus isiZulu poses much threat to the existence of isiBhaca since it becomes easy for amaBhaca to switch from isiBhaca to isiZulu and end up not having an interest in isiBhaca. Respondents revealed that in their view, isiBhaca is a language of its own, and the continuous use and empowerment of isiZulu in Umzimkhulu, particularly in the professional settings, is detrimental to isiBhaca, and this subsequently has the potential of endangering the existence of isiBhaca and might lead to its attrition.

Keywords: language dominance, dominant languages, minority languages, language attrition

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Authors: Yang Yu, Jian Wang, Jiqiang Liu, Lei Han, Xudong He, Shaohua Lv

Abstract:

As the increasing network attacks become more and more complex, network situation assessment based on log analysis cannot meet the requirements to ensure network security because of the low quality of logs and alerts. This paper addresses the lack of consideration of security attributes of hosts and attacks in the network. Identity and effectiveness of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) are hard to be proved in risk assessment based on alerts and flow matching. This paper proposes a multi-dimension threat situation assessment method based on network security attributes. First, the paper offers an improved Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) calculation, which includes confident risk, integrity risk, availability risk and a weighted risk. Second, the paper introduces deterioration rate of properties collected by sensors in hosts and network, which aimed at assessing the time and level of DDoS attacks. Third, the paper introduces distribution of asset value in security attributes considering features of attacks and network, which aimed at assessing and show the whole situation. Experiments demonstrate that the approach reflects effectiveness and level of DDoS attacks, and the result can show the primary threat in network and security requirement of network. Through comparison and analysis, the method reflects more in security requirement and security risk situation than traditional methods based on alert and flow analyzing.

Keywords: DDoS evaluation, improved CVSS, network security attribute, threat situation assessment

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Authors: Abeer F. Almarzouki, Christopher A. Brown, Richard J. Brown, Anthony K. P. Jones

Abstract:

Although relief is commonly assumed to be a direct reflection of pain reduction, it seems to be driven by complex emotional interactions in which pain reduction is only one component. For example, termination of a painful/aversive event may be relieving and rewarding. Accordingly, in this study, whether terminating an aversive negative prediction of pain would be reflected in a greater relief experience was investigated, with a view to separating apart the effects of the manipulation on pain and relief. We use aversive conditioning paradigm to investigate the perception of relief in an aversive (threat) vs. positive context. Participants received positive predictors of a non-painful outcome which were presented within either a congruent positive (non-painful) context or an incongruent threat (painful) context that had been previously conditioned; trials followed by identical laser stimuli on both conditions. Participants were asked to rate the perceived intensity of pain as well as their perception of relief in response to the cue predicting the outcome. Results demonstrated that participants reported more pain in the aversive context compared to the positive context. Conversely, participants reported more relief in the aversive context compares to the neutral context. The rating of relief in the threat context was not correlated with pain reports. The results suggest that relief is not dependant on pain intensity. Consistent with this, relief in the threat context was greater than that in the positive expectancy condition, while the opposite pattern was obtained for the pain ratings. The value of relief in this study is better appreciated in the context of an impending negative threat, which is apparent in the higher pain ratings in the prior negative expectancy compared to the positive expectancy condition. Moreover, the more threatening the context (as manifested by higher unpleasantness/higher state anxiety scores), the more the relief is appreciated. The importance of the study highlights the importance of exploring relief and pain intensity in monitoring separately or evaluating pain-related suffering. The results also illustrate that the perception of painful input may largely be shaped by the context and not necessarily stimulus-related.

Keywords: aversive context, pain, predictions, relief

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Authors: Mastoor Qubra

Abstract:

Cyber-attacks have frequently disrupted the critical infrastructures of the major global states and now, cyber threat has become one of the dire security risks for the states across the globe. Recently, ransomware cyber-attacks, wannacry and petya, have affected hundreds of thousands of computer servers and individuals’ private machines in more than hundred countries across Europe, Middle East, Asia, United States and Australia. Although, states are rapidly becoming aware of the destructive nature of this new security threat and counter measures are being taken but states’ isolated efforts would be inadequate to deal with this heinous security challenge, rather a global coordination and cooperation is inevitable in order to develop a credible cyber deterrence policy. Hence, the paper focuses that coordinated global approach is required to deter posed cyber threat. This paper intends to analyze the cyber security counter measures in four dimensions i.e. evaluation of prevalent strategies at bilateral level, initiatives and limitations for cooperation at global level, obstacles to combat cyber terrorism and finally, recommendations to deter the threat by applying tools of deterrence theory. Firstly, it focuses on states’ efforts to combat the cyber threat and in this regard, US-Australia Cyber Security Dialogue is comprehensively illustrated and investigated. Secondly, global partnerships and strategic and analytic role of multinational organizations, particularly United Nations (UN), to deal with the heinous threat, is critically analyzed and flaws are highlighted, for instance; less significance of cyber laws within international law as compared to other conflict prone issues. In addition to this, there are certain obstacles and limitations at national, regional and global level to implement the cyber terrorism counter strategies which are presented in the third section. Lastly, by underlining the gaps and grey areas in the current cyber security counter measures, it aims to apply tools of deterrence theory, i.e. defense, attribution and retaliation, in the cyber realm to contribute towards formulating a credible cyber deterrence strategy at global level. Thus, this study is significant in understanding and determining the inevitable necessity of counter cyber terrorism strategies.

Keywords: attribution, critical infrastructure, cyber terrorism, global cooperation

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