Financial consumer protection: internet banking fraud awareness by the banking sector

This paper examines internet banking fraud awareness by the banking sector in Southern Africa as financial consumers’ protection. The study is grounded on routine activity theory and criminology theory. A qualitative content analysis research technique was used for examination of the text content data through the consistent nomenclature process of coding and classifying themes or patterns to proffer a meticulous considerate of internet banking fraud awareness in the banking sector. The findings suggest that internet fraud awareness to the general public through website is very low by many Southern Africa banks. Most of the banks disclose less than half of the identified internet banking fraud awareness to the general public on their websites. Although some banks have internet fraud information on internet banking applications, however, the authentic efficacy of this information is tentative. This proposes that most of the financial customers engage internet banking transactions without sufficient awareness on potential internet threats and attacks. There is, consequently, high likelihood of financial consumers being internet banking fraud victims. Keywords: internet fraud, internet banking, fraud awareness, financial consumer. JEL Classification: G21, D1

Traffic Profiles and Performance Modelling of Heterogeneous Networks

This thesis considers the analysis and study of short and long-term traffic patterns of heterogeneous networks. A large number of traffic profiles from different locations and network environments have been determined. The result of the analysis of these patterns has led to a new parameter, namely the 'application signature'. It was found that these signatures manifest themselves in various granularities over time, and are usually unique to an application, permanent virtual circuit (PVC), user or service. The differentiation of the application signatures into different categories creates a foundation for short and long-term management of networks. The thesis therefore looks from the micro and macro perspective on traffic management, covering both aspects. The long-term traffic patterns have been used to develop a novel methodology for network planning and design. As the size and complexity of interconnected systems grow steadily, usually covering different time zones, geographical and political areas, a new methodology has been developed as part of this thesis. A part of the methodology is a new overbooking mechanism, which stands in contrast to existing overbooking methods created by companies like Bell Labs. The new overbooking provides companies with cheaper network design and higher average throughput. In addition, new requirements like risk factors have been incorporated into the methodology, which lay historically outside the design process. A large network service provider has implemented the overbooking mechanism into their network planning process, enabling practical evaluation. The other aspect of the thesis looks at short-term traffic patterns, to analyse how congestion can be controlled. Reoccurring short-term traffic patterns, the application signatures, have been used for this research to develop the "packet train model" further. Through this research a new congestion control mechanism was created to investigate how the application signatures and the "extended packet train model" could be used. To validate the results, a software simulation has been written that executes the proprietary congestion mechanism and the new mechanism for comparison. Application signatures for the TCP/IP protocols have been applied in the simulation and the results are displayed and discussed in the thesis. The findings show the effects that frame relay congestion control mechanisms have on TCP/IP, where the re-sending of segments, buffer allocation, delay and throughput are compared. The results prove that application signatures can be used effectively to enhance existing congestion control mechanisms.AT&T (UK) Ltd, Englan

COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACT UPON SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Software development is beset with problems relating to development productivity, resulting in projects delivered late and over budget. While the term software engineering was first introduced in the late sixties, its current state reflects no other engineering discipline. Component-orientation has been proposed as a technique to address the problems of development productivity and much industrial literature extols the benefits of a component-oriented approach to software development. This research programme assesses the use of component technologies within industrial software development. From this assessment, consideration is given to how organisations can best adopt such techniques. Initial work focuses upon the nature of component-orientation, drawing from the considerable body of industrial literature in the area. Conventional wisdom regarding componentorientation is identified from the review. Academic literature relevant to the research programme focuses upon knowledge regarding the assessment of software technologies and models for the adoption of emergent technologies. The method pays particular attention to literature concerning practitioner focussed research, in particular case studies. The application of the case study method is demonstrated. The study of two industrial software development projects enables an examination of specific propositions related to the effect of using component technologies. Each case study is presented, and the impact of component-orientation is each case is demonstrated. Theories regarding the impact of component technologies upon software development are drawn from case study results. These theories are validated through a survey of practitioners. This enabled further examination of experience in component-based development and also understanding how developers learn about the techniques. A strategy for the transfer of research findings into organisational knowledge focuses upon the packaging of previous experience in the use of component-orientation in such a way that it was usable by other developers. This strategy returns to adoption theories in light of the research findings and identifies a pattern-based approach as the most suitable for the research aims. A pattern language, placed in the context of the research programme, is developed from this strategy. Research demonstrates that component-orientation undoubtedly does affect the development process, and it is necessary to challenge conventional wisdom regarding their use. While component-orientation provides the mechanisms for increased productivity in software development, these benefits cannot be exploited without a sound knowledge base around the domain

Introducing Possible Revenue Models of Review Sites in the School Industry in Egypt

Businesses use different marketing communication tools to promote their company, product or services. Alongside the traditional tools, new Internet-based tools e.g. social media networks and review sites, are emerging thanks to technological breakthroughs. Review sites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp and IMDb have enabled creating large source of information on the web i.e. user generated contents in the form of blogs, comments, reviews etc. Academically, these sites have attracted considerable attention to study their business models and implications; however, critical elements such as revenue models have been overlooked, particularly for school review sites. The objective of this thesis is to introduce possible revenue models that school review sites can utilize to derive revenue and to discuss the key requirements of these models. The theory framework has been developed bringing together the concepts of marketing communication tools, word-of-mouth communication, review sites and revenue models. The empirical data have been collected through three methods: semi-structured interviews with key persons in school reviews sites, survey a sample of education stakeholders in Egypt and process benchmarking the best practices of review sites. The research revealed that no platform relies on a single revenue model. Nevertheless, review sites agreed to utilize a mixed model that consists of a combination of revenue models in order to explore the value appropriation advantages of each model. The study suggests that commercial-driven school review sites can adopt advertising, transaction and subscription models. However, non-profit platforms can better adopt philanthropy or corporate sponsorship models to derive revenues

Job loss, professional workers and health outcomes: a qualitative study

Background: The economic events from 2008 have caused a new type of job loss, with professionals losing work at larger numbers. Where before professionals being made redundant were less than their blue-collar colleagues, we now see more professionals out of work due to sudden business changes and unable to secure re-employment because of high competition (Garret- Peters, 2009). Research into the health effects of redundancy and life after job loss in professional workers has started to pick up momentum, (e.g. Mendenhall, 2008 and Strully, 2009), but is still limited, with further investigations required. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore how professional workers made sense of job loss from redundancies and understand how their interpretations may have effected health outcomes. Further questions were asked to investigate how some participants stayed relatively healthy whilst others found it hard to cope. Design: This was a semi-structured qualitative study, interviewing participants at a singular time point. Participants were recruited from U.K. based Welfare to Work providers and Third Sector organisations specialising in employment advice. Method: Interviews were conducted in person or over the telephone. The sample consisted of ten unemployed professionals, (N= 7 men; average age x= 43.5; age range= 33-58 years) (N= 3 women; average age x= 40; age range= 37-43 years), whom had lost their work roles through redundancies. Using principles from Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, (Smith, 1996), allowed findings into participants’ perceptions of redundancy and health choices during unemployment. These findings were then interpreted by using the Sense of Coherence formulation, (Antonovsky, 1979; 1987), to show health promoting properties in those that’s seemed to be psychologically coping better and whom saw job loss as a life changing opportunity. Findings: All participants perceived redundancy as an abrupt change to their professional identity. Depending on how they perceived their resultant identity of unemployed professional, this effected health. Participants whom were concerned of how they would be interpreted by society whilst out of work, felt levels of shame that caused maladaptive coping and poorer health. Those who managed such worries, showed less shame and greater health promoting strategies. When reviewing participants’ interpretations through the Sense of Coherence formulation, all participants comprehended the practicalities and business needs for job cuts. However, those that stayed relatively healthy could separate comprehension of job loss from their overall identity. This minimised negative internalisation of loss, reduced anger towards employers and reduced overall distress whilst unemployed. Conclusion: Although participants comprehended the business needs for redundancies, this did not mean they were immune to the psychological effects of job loss. Indeed, professionals who internalised job loss were at threat of health concerns such as depression or alcohol dependencies. For professionals, redundancy therefore had ramifications stemming from a deep-felt loss due to the perception of losing one’s professional identity