Intelligent instance selection techniques for support vector machine speed optimization with application to e-fraud detection.

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2017.Decision-making is a very important aspect of many businesses. There are grievous penalties involved in wrong decisions, including financial loss, damage of company reputation and reduction in company productivity. Hence, it is of dire importance that managers make the right decisions. Machine Learning (ML) simplifies the process of decision making: it helps to discover useful patterns from historical data, which can be used for meaningful decision-making. The ability to make strategic and meaningful decisions is dependent on the reliability of data. Currently, many organizations are overwhelmed with vast amounts of data, and unfortunately, ML algorithms cannot effectively handle large datasets. This thesis therefore proposes seven filter-based and five wrapper-based intelligent instance selection techniques for optimizing the speed and predictive accuracy of ML algorithms, with a particular focus on Support Vector Machine (SVM). Also, this thesis proposes a novel fitness function for instance selection. The primary difference between the filter-based and wrapper-based technique is in their method of selection. The filter-based techniques utilizes the proposed fitness function for selection, while the wrapper-based technique utilizes SVM algorithm for selection. The proposed techniques are obtained by fusing SVM algorithm with the following Nature Inspired algorithms: flower pollination algorithm, social spider algorithm, firefly algorithm, cuckoo search algorithm and bat algorithm. Also, two of the filter-based techniques are boundary detection algorithms, inspired by edge detection in image processing and edge selection in ant colony optimization. Two different sets of experiments were performed in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed techniques (wrapper-based and filter-based). All experiments were performed on four datasets containing three popular e-fraud types: credit card fraud, email spam and phishing email. In addition, experiments were performed on 20 datasets provided by the well-known UCI data repository. The results show that the proposed filter-based techniques excellently improved SVM training speed in 100% (24 out of 24) of the datasets used for evaluation, without significantly affecting SVM classification quality. Moreover, experimental results also show that the wrapper-based techniques consistently improved SVM predictive accuracy in 78% (18 out of 23) of the datasets used for evaluation and simultaneously improved SVM training speed in all cases. Furthermore, two different statistical tests were conducted to further validate the credibility of the results: Freidman’s test and Holm’s post-hoc test. The statistical test results reveal that the proposed filter-based and wrapper-based techniques are significantly faster, compared to standard SVM and some existing instance selection techniques, in all cases. Moreover, statistical test results also reveal that Cuckoo Search Instance Selection Algorithm outperform all the proposed techniques, in terms of speed. Overall, the proposed techniques have proven to be fast and accurate ML-based e-fraud detection techniques, with improved training speed, predictive accuracy and storage reduction. In real life application, such as video surveillance and intrusion detection systems, that require a classifier to be trained very quickly for speedy classification of new target concepts, the filter-based techniques provide the best solutions; while the wrapper-based techniques are better suited for applications, such as email filters, that are very sensitive to slight changes in predictive accuracy

Counterfeit medicines and criminal organisations

129 pagesThe combat against counterfeiting started during the 1980s and, at that time, was limited to sectors where it was frequently the consumer who asked for the product, and was even party to the purchase. Above all, it is only since the start of the 2000s that the situation expanded substantially particularly with the liberalisation of the World Trade Organization, technological developments, containerisation and the significance of China as the world's factory. On the other hand, it was only later that counterfeiting seemed to affect the pharmaceutical sector, at least from the industrial point of view. Studies and reports have covered the involvement of organised crime in 'traditional' counterfeiting, particularly in creative industries (luxury goods, audiovisual). Nevertheless, even if there are more and more discussions on the topics of 'counterfeit medicines' and 'organised crime', very few researchers have analysed the relationship between the two phenomena. Consequently, it appeared that such a report should be written and a dual objective was decided: - To take as objective and as rigorous a view as possible on the reality of the "counterfeiting - criminal organisations" combination in the area of medicines. - From a criminology and strategic standpoint, to give some consideration to what could be done to guide current actions. What about the reality of this phenomenon? How can criminal organisations be characterised in our area of study? Are these organisations transnational? Is the Internet a genuine Eldorado for criminal organisations dealing in medicines? The questions relating to our problems proved to be varied and complex. One of the interests in this research is to offer new food for thought on a potentially real, but still opaque threat for which an interpretation can only be made through a documented, pragmatic and also imaginative approach. In the first part, the framework of our new conceptual study will be explained. It is important to define the counterfeiting and falsification of medicines in a clear field of analysis, presenting the specific features of the Internet in particular. In the second part, we will analyse the reality of the relationship between counterfeit medicines and criminal organisations both in the physical world and on the Internet. Theoretical considerations will also supplement our own thoughts. Thirdly, we will go into detail on the criminological issues raised by our problems. Finally, we will analyse to what extent knowledge of the phenomenon can be improved and therefore eliminated with new forms of expertise

알고리즘에 기반한 개인화되고 상호작용적인 뉴스 생성에 관한 연구

학위논문 (박사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 : 언론정보학과, 2017. 2. 이준환.Algorithms are increasingly playing an important role in the production of news content with growing computational capacity. Moreover, the use of the algorithm is taking up traditional human roles as increasing number of journalistic activities are mediated by software. For instance, the Los Angele Times runs software called Quakebot, which makes automated decisions on publishing news articles on abnormal seismic events. The Associated Press and Forbes have long been publishing algorithm-generated news content in collaboration with narrative-generation algorithm developers since 2014. The Washington Post also joined the trend by developing news reporting software for 2016 Rio Olympics. We were motivated by the advent of various algorithm-generated news products. We reviewed current practices of algorithm-generated news and classified common algorithmic attributes to derive insights on how to maximize the capacity of the algorithm for more engaging and appealing news content generation. The key opportunity areas we found were 1) broadening depth and breadth of input data enriches algorithmic computation, 2) personalizing the narrative in the context of news readers raises interest, 3) presenting interactive user interface components helps to engage news readers and make them more active news consumers. We designed an algorithmic framework based on the proposed key concepts and implemented a news generation system called PINGS, which is capable of generating more personalized and interactive news stories. In this thesis, we describe the design process and implementation details that shaped the PINGS. We present a study on how news readers perceive the news values of the content generated by PINGS as well as the comments and opinions on its potential influence in the field and usability and usefulness of the system by recruiting experts for qualitative review. This thesis includes discussions on our approach to design and implement personalization and interactivity functions into a news system, and contributions it makes to the fields of journalism and HCI.I. Introduction 1 II. Theoretical Background: The Algorithmic Turn in Journalism 9 2.1 The Computational Turn in Media 9 2.2 Computational Journalism 14 2.3 The Algorithmic Turn in Journalism 19 2.4 Algorithmic News Generation Process 24 III. Practices of Algorithmic News Generation 29 3.1 Overview 29 3.2 Types of Algorithm-generated News 35 3.3 Analysis of Algorithmic Attributes 49 3.4 Discussion 56 IV. Research Questions 62 V. Developing Algorithm Framework for News Generation 68 5.1 Opportunities for Algorithmic News Generation 68 5.2 Algorithm Framework for News Generation 79 5.3 Discussion 91 VI. Design and Evaluation of the PINGS: Personalized and Interactive News Generation System 97 6.1 Overview 97 6.2 Underlying Framework Development 100 6.3 Design and Implementation of PINGS 115 6.4 Evaluation of PINGS 133 6.5 Discussion 152 VII. Discussion for Algorithmic News Generation 157 7.1 Discussion 157 7.2 Contributions 165 7.3 Limitations 169 VIII.Conclusion 174 8.1 Summary of Work 174 8.2 Opportunities for Future Work 176 References 178 Appendix A: Algorithm News Products 188 Appendix B: Study Materials 193 국문초록 204Docto

Cybercrimes and the Rule of Law in West-Africa: The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire as a Case-Study.

Since becoming independent nations in the 60s, West-African countries have enacted laws and regulations with the goals of ensuring peace and justice within their respective borders. On the paper, there was no difference between the justice systems of those newly independent nations and the justice systems of their former masters. Unfortunately, the rule of law in West-African nations since gaining independence, has not always been followed for a myriad of social, cultural, political, and economic reasons. Most justice systems in West-Africa including in Cote d’Ivoire are deeply corrupted, thus rendering the goal of a peaceful society through a fair justice system mute. With the emergence of a new type of crimes taking place in cyberspace, there has been a logical need to enact new laws to protect the public using the added information and communication technologies (ICT). Over the past few years, multiple cyber-legislations have sprung-up all over Africa including in Cote d’Ivoire. The fundamental question is to ask whether the enforcement of cybercrimes laws is more successful than the enforcement of traditional laws. The problem of the enforceability of these cybercrime legislations is compounded by the very nature of cyberspace which is “borderless.” Faced with the complexity of those computer crimes taking place in the virtual space, do West-African countries in general and specifically Cote d’Ivoire have the infrastructure, the knowledge, and the workforce to efficiently investigate and prosecute cybercrimes? This research tries to investigate, expose the theoretical inadequation between cybercrimes legislations and the enforcement capabilities of the Ivorian state, based on the deficiencies of enforcement of traditional laws and the need to stem the tide of corruption in general and specifically in the justice system. This research uses the case-study method because case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event, or community. Our findings have confirmed our assumptions that the enforcement of cybercrime laws is flawed due to the lack of proper equipment, skills of law enforcement personnel, even though the country has put in place many agencies to fight against cybercrimes. The social, cultural, political, and economical determinants that have always inhibited the fair and just enforcement of traditional laws is exerting the same kind of pressure on the capabilities of Law enforcement when it comes to the investigation and prosecution of cybercrimes in Cote d’Ivoire. This research, far from being exhaustive, needs a follow-up research in the future when the country retrieves its past stability and social peace which will allow a more open cooperation between researchers and the different authorities leading the fight against cybercrimes

The vulnerability to Online Scamming in contemporary Tongan Society

This research explores the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of Tongan people to the rapid growth of Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT). A research conducted by Laulaupea‘alu and Keegan in 2016 revealed that Tongan people were vulnerable to the influence of rapid ICT development (Laulaupea‘alu and Keegan, 2016). The cybersecurity vulnerabilities that were identified among the Tongan people in 2016 assisted in informing this research, which is to investigate the current susceptibilities in contemporary Tongan society. The aim of this research is to investigate the reasons why Tongans are vulnerable to ICT development specifically Online Scamming (OS) and find possible solutions to mitigate these susceptibilities. This research is the first to explore and narrow the scope to focus specifically on OS in Tonga. This research also focuses on the technical features of cybersecurity and then extends it to cover the cultural practices that would make Tongan people more susceptible to online scamming. Laulaupea‘alu and Keegan (2019) directly conveyed these cybersecurity susceptibilities to the Government of Tonga (GoT) in 2018. This report confirmed that the actual position of cybersecurity in Tonga was that at least 73 percent of the organisations were vulnerable to cybercrime and cyberattacks. These organisations were victims of malicious software, spam, unauthorized access, social engineering, ransomware, data theft/data loss, stolen account, and other types of cybercrimes. This report also provided eleven (11) recommendations and suggested to the GoT to deploy these cybersecurity prevention and awareness features to assist in slowing down the issues of cyberattacks in Tonga. One of the modern ICT accomplishments in Tonga was the installation of fibre-optic cable in 2013. Again, Laulaupea'alu and Keegan (2018) warned Tongans about the issue of succeeding in the fast internet speed of fibre-optic cable. The “high speed internet brings opportunities such as jobs and business but it also brings malicious cyber actors who can target victims in the nation” (p. 255). Drawn by the awareness of ICT issues that may arise and could lead to a stage where is unable to control, this research is undertaken to identify the root cause of these vulnerabilities, further looking for cybersecurity issues that are currently incurred and discovering appropriate defensive tools to counter these vulnerabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted and became a major obstacle to this research. Due to border restrictions, there was no opportunity to travel to Tonga for data collection. To solve these issues, e-fanongonongo tokoto (e-ft) methodology was adopted to challenge the worldwide issues of COVID-19. The implementation of e-ft enabled effective communication from Hamilton to the survey participants in Tonga. E-mail, Facebook, Messenger, and Zoom are the communication methods deployed by e-ft to communicate and collect data from one hundred and thirty-nine (139) participants ranging from 16 to 70 years of age. Participants were selected from government ministries, organisations, boards, businesses and ICT grassroots computer users from all five main regions of Tonga (Tongatapu, Vava‘u, Ha‘apai, ‘Eua and Ongo Niua). Although the e-ft process encountered many obstacles in collecting data from the survey participants, it was able to generate responses and data that have been analysed in this research. The findings of this research reveal that Tonga is vulnerable to ICT development, and Tongan people are victims of cyberattacks due to the impact of rapid ICT development. These vulnerabilities relate to cybersecurity technical weaknesses, human behaviours, culture, and the personal beliefs of Tongans. This research also indicated that the people’s vulnerabilities were caused by five main elements: greed, romance/love/empathy, lack of cybersecurity training, lack of ICT knowledge, and unwillingness to report to authorities. These vulnerabilities have resulted in the loss of credential information and the loss of money to cybercriminals from the people of Tonga

‘Special relationships’ : the negotiation of an Anglo-American propaganda ‘War on Terror’

This doctoral thesis will examine how relations between the United States and Britain, and internal dynamics within each country, affected the nature and development of the two countries’ information strategies in a shared theatre of war. It examines the two governments’ distinct organisational cultures and bureaucratic structures in explaining the shape this took. Going beyond the policy level it considers how cultures and power relationships contributed to propaganda war planning. The research emphasises important changes in policy development and circumstance which, it is argued, despite the obvious power imbalance, situated Britain in a key position in the Anglo-American propaganda effort. The analysis draws on empirical research conducted in both countries. This fieldwork involved elite interviews focussing on the period of the ‘War on Terror’, including policymakers, key bureaucrats, intelligence personnel, contractors and military planners in both Britain and America

THE SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHINESE NEW MEDIA BUSINESS: AMONG STATE, MARKET, AND PUBLIC

Master'sMASTER OF ART

On psychosomatics and the maps in our hands: Modelling change over twelve months of counselling practice

Purpose The project is a multicase study of the researcher’s own clinical work with four clients who each presented with embodied expressions of distress. The researcher practised within a ‘narrative-dialogical’ framework and set out to build models of therapeutic change. However a parallel thesis emerged during the project: an autoethnographic account in which the researcher’s uses of supervision, personal therapy, dreams and life events, including the death of his father, intersect with formal stages of theory development. Design and Methods Sessions were audio recorded and coded for qualitative markers indicating the emergence of novel self-narratives. At the end of each client’s therapy they received a case report and were invited to provide their own commentaries. Across three ‘mini-studies’, methods from different approaches within the change process research tradition were applied to the data formalising the analytic approach and driving the evolving theoretical model. However a reflexive narrative running throughout the work highlights the superordinate role of reflexivity in theory development. Findings Therapeutic change was typified by an evolving internalised map of self and world, with corresponding change in embodied experience. The theoretical model was observed to develop through four chronological phases: 1) the migration of clients between I-positions, 2) longitudinal stages, 3) cognitive mapping, and 4) dialogism in the therapeutic relationship. In each phase the emergent template was layered on to the previous model, resulting in a new synthesis. Discussion As an analysis of one therapist’s practice and the experiences of their clients, the study generates hypotheses rather than formally establishing theory. The continuous evolution of change concepts reflects the theory building work of clinicians in their everyday practice. The study highlights the use of self as research instrument and offers a rich example of how practitioner research might be structured and delivered