Encryption – use and control in E-commerce

The author describes how cryptography can be used to address modern business requirements such as identity protection, secure web access and digital signatures. Article by Robert Bond (Head of Innovation & Technology Group, Hobson Audley and Fellow of SALS). Published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and its Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

Review of Research on Culture and ICT: Insights from the Arab World

Most published research on information and communication technology (ICT) application has been in the context of advanced economies of the world, particularly western countries, viz. Europe and North America. Research on ICT impact on socio-economic development has been primarily focused on eastern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Relatively little research has been published on ICT in the Arab world. But better appreciation of the role of Arab culture on ICT use may help in providing guidance for more successful implementation of ICT in the future. To help ascertain this role we reviewed the literature between 2003 and 2016 focusing on ICT implementation in Arabic speaking countries

Hackers vs. Security: Attack-Defence Trees as Asynchronous Multi-Agent Systems

Attack-Defence Trees (ADTs) are well-suited to assess possible attacks to systems and the efficiency of counter-measures. In this paper, we first enrich the available constructs with reactive patterns that cover further security scenarios, and equip all constructs with attributes such as time and cost to allow quantitative analyses. Then, ADTs are modelled as (an extension of) Asynchronous Multi-Agents Systems--EAMAS. The ADT-EAMAS transformation is performed in a systematic manner that ensures correctness. The transformation allows us to quantify the impact of different agents configurations on metrics such as attack time. Using EAMAS also permits parametric verification: we derive constraints for property satisfaction. Our approach is exercised on several case studies using the Uppaal and IMITATOR tools.Comment: This work was partially funded by the NWO project SEQUOIA (grant 15474), EU project SUCCESS (102112) and the PHC van Gogh PAMPAS. The work of Arias and Petrucci has been supported by the BQR project AMoJA

Understanding the threat of cybercrime: A comparative study of cybercrime and the ICT legislative frameworks of South Africa, Kenya, India, the United States and the United Kingdom’

As broadband infrastructure investments in developing nations intensify and barriers to accessing the internet diminish, the more they increasingly become the quintessential destination for cybercrime. For their lax cyber laws and general cybercrime illiteracy, developing nations such as South Africa, Kenya, and India have become the destination of choice for cybercriminal enterprises. The focus of this dissertation is to comparatively analyse South Africa’s ICT regulatory framework against those of developing and developed nations and to determine its effectiveness in addressing the threat posed by cybercrime. This dissertation hopes to contribute towards establishing a greater understanding and appreciation of the scourge of cybercrime by studying the frameworks, structures, and arrangements, installed to safeguard against the threat of cybercrime in both developing nations, namely Kenya and India, and developed nations, namely the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Some of the key challenges identified in the dissertation, arising from the analysis of South Africa’s cyber laws and policy framework, point to legislation that is out of date and in desperate need of revision, a lack of definitional clarity for cybercrime related terminology, jurisdiction limitations to investigate international cybercrimes, no harmonisation with international laws, standards, and a poor record of implementing strategy and policies. The dissertation concludes that the battle against cybercrime cannot be won without first understanding what cybercrime is. Developing a common understanding of cybercrime and related terminology, and recommends the revision of the necessary ICT strategies, policies, and regulatory frameworks. Concluding international cooperation and mutual assistance agreements to assist with transnational cybercrime investigations and prosecutions is paramount. Establishing cross-sector, intra-ministerial, public-private, and multinational partnerships is also vital to managing the threat of cybecrime. Lastly, this dissertation recommends the development of dedicated cybersecurity and cybercrime mechanisms for the prosecution and safeguarding of the nation’s critical information infrastructure, the mission critical information of corporates and the personal information of citizens against cybercrime

Security, Privacy, and Technology Development: The Impact on National Security

The evolution of modern communications and information technology sparked a revolution of unprecedented proportions, bringing about an explosion in terms of users and capabilities, as well as increasing demands for both security and privacy. To meet these security demands, new technologies are evolving that can in fact provide a secure and protected environment. At the same time, however, the technology-development path is being increasingly impacted by two other major dynamics: the legal environment and user expectations with respect to privacy. Within the past four years in particular, several major court decisions as well as the official release of documents and illicit “leaks” have drawn enormous attention to what privacy protections must be afforded to various types of data and communications. Users, increasingly aware of intrusions into their data and communications—ranging from intelligence services to hackers and criminals—are demanding greater levels of protection. While technological approaches to greater privacy are possible, they are not costfree— particularly in terms of the computational overhead and other constraints imposed on new systems

Political Significance of Sovereign Wealth Funds

Although there has been vivid academic debate as to what extent Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are motivated by political reasons, it is rather clear that countries can use state-owned investment funds as a tool of their foreign policy. Even Barack Obama, during his initial presidential campaign in 2008 commented: “I am obviously concerned if these… sovereign wealth funds are motivated by more than just market consideration and that’s obviously a possibility”. This book looks at SWF activities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to determine the main motives for SWF presence in CEE. Are the potential financial gains the only reason behind their investments? Are SWF activities in the region dangerous for the stability and security of the CEE countries? The book is pioneering analyses of SWFs behaviour in the region, based on empirical data collected from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Transaction Database, arguably the most comprehensive and authoritative resource tracking SWF investment behaviour globally.Rozdział pochodzi z książki: Political Players? Sovereign Wealth Funds’ Investments in Central and Eastern Europe, T. Kamiński (ed.), Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, Łódź 2017.This book was published in frames of project “Political significance of the Sovereign Wealth Funds’ investments in the Central and Eastern Europe”. The project was financed by the Polish National Science Centre (Decision no. DEC-2012/07/B/HS5/03797)

Security, Privacy, and Technology Development: The Impact on National Security

The evolution of modern communications and information technology sparked a revolution of unprecedented proportions, bringing about an explosion in terms of users and capabilities, as well as increasing demands for both security and privacy. To meet these security demands, new technologies are evolving that can in fact provide a secure and protected environment. At the same time, however, the technology-development path is being increasingly impacted by two other major dynamics: the legal environment and user expectations with respect to privacy. Within the past four years in particular, several major court decisions as well as the official release of documents and illicit “leaks” have drawn enormous attention to what privacy protections must be afforded to various types of data and communications. Users, increasingly aware of intrusions into their data and communications—ranging from intelligence services to hackers and criminals—are demanding greater levels of protection. While technological approaches to greater privacy are possible, they are not costfree— particularly in terms of the computational overhead and other constraints imposed on new systems

Intellectual property : strategy and policy

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-73).The thesis that follows is an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of intellectual property from a policy as well as a strategic perspective. While the discussion that follows is applicable to intellectual property in general, the focus of this thesis is on a particular aspect of intellectual property i.e patents. Policy and strategic perspectives are covered in section I and 11 respectively. The section on policy explores the origin and evolution of intellectual property related policies by discussing key legislation and court cases. The two questions that were most relevant when exploring the policy side of the patent system were: -- Is the intellectual property system hindering or encouraging innovation? -- What changes, if any, are required to make the system more effective? The section on strategy looks at IP strategies (or lack thereof) of three leading companies, Apple, Google and Microsoft. These three companies were selected because of their apparently differing strategies and this cursory judgement was confirmed when the strategies of the companies were put under a microscope. The question that were central while exploring the strategic aspects of intellectual property were: -- How are these three companies coping with the patent system as it exists today? -- What changes can make the strategies employed more effective? The summary section at the end tries to reconcile these two different ways of looking at the intellectual property system into a coherent whole.by Rishi Ahuja.S.M.in Engineering and Managemen