Impacts of COVID-19 Related Changes in Income on Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence at Home

Introduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) has increased in Canada due to COVID-19 and associated public health measures. Economic status may be responsible, but this must be validated during COVID-19. Methods: An online survey was administered to 23 Canadian women to measure their income pre and during COVID-19 and their experiences of IPV in the past 12 months. Factorial ANOVAs and MANOVAs were used to explore the relationship between income and IPV. Results: Of women responding to both timepoints, 56.5% (n=13) indicated an increase in IPV. Analyses did not suggest that income was significantly related to IPV, apart from the effect of CERB (governmental economic stimulus) when interacting with income change on IPV pre-COVID-19 (p=.03412). Conclusion: Economic status is insufficient in explaining IPV, but CERB combined with income change provides evidence of the relationship between IPV and economic status. Additional research is required to identify risk and protective factors for IPV in this context

Understanding roadblocks to adapting new technologies

In today’s fast-paced world of technology, new innovations are created constantly. Due to the prevalence of these new technologies being regularly introduced into workplaces, making the implementation easier for end-users will help ease the implementation process itself. This research focused on the relationship between University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) employees and the implementation of the Banner 9 upgrade to UNBC’s ERP, specifically by answering the following questions: how do UNBC Banner users feel about the implementation, what themes were prevalent in the implementation, and what suggestions and recommendations can be made to mitigate resistance and lessen the difficulty of future implementations? Surveys and interviews were used to collect data. Via participant responses, the following suggestions were derived from the themes discovered: hold regular and themed training workshops, increase transparency regarding the implementation, provide IT department demonstrations, and have documentation more accessible to users

Passphrase and keystroke dynamics authentication: security and usability

It was found that employees spend a total 2.25 days within a 60 day period on password related activities. Another study found that over 85 days an average user will create 25 accounts with an average of 6.5 unique passwords. These numbers are expected to increase over time as more systems become available. In addition, the use of 6.5 unique passwords highlight that passwords are being reused which creates security concerns as multiple systems will be accessible by an unauthorised party if one of these passwords is leaked. Current user authentication solutions either increase security or usability. When security increases, usability decreases, or vice versa. To add to this, stringent security protocols encourage unsecure behaviours by the user such as writing the password down on a piece of paper to remember it. It was found that passphrases require less cognitive effort than passwords and because passphrases are stronger than passwords, they don’t need to be changed as frequently as passwords. This study aimed to assess a two-tier user authentication solution that increases security and usability. The proposed solution uses passphrases in conjunction with keystroke dynamics to address this research problem. The design science research approach was used to guide this study. The study’s theoretical foundation includes three theories. The Shannon entropy formula was used to calculate the strength of passwords, passphrases and keystroke dynamics. The chunking theory assisted in assessing password and passphrase memorisation issues and the keystroke-level model was used to assess password and passphrase typing issues. Two primary data collection methods were used to evaluate the findings and to ensure that gaps in the research were filled. A login assessment experiment collected data on user authentication and user-system interaction for passwords and passphrases. Plus, an expert review was conducted to verify findings and assess the research artefact in the form of a model. The model can be used to assist with the implementation of a two-tier user authentication solution which involves passphrases and keystroke dynamics. There are a number of components that need to be considered to realise the benefits of this solution and ensure successful implementation