The Influences of Public and Institutional Pressure on Firms’ Cybersecurity Disclosures

Cybersecurity disclosures in reports filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) inform investors about firms’ cybersecurity incidents, risks, and related risk management efforts. Firms have traditionally chosen to communicate such information on a quarterly or annual basis, if at all, and prior research on the topic has largely focused on regulatory factors as driving forces. In this paper, we focus on timely disclosures (via 8-K filings) and derive hypotheses regarding the influences of two alternate forms of pressure as drivers of cybersecurity disclosures—(1) public pressure following a firm’s data breach and (2) pressure arising from the breaches of industry peers, which we cast as “institutional pressure.” We also theorize on how the source of the breach (internal or external) influences these forms of pressure. Our results suggest that firms’ cybersecurity disclosure practices are influenced by public pressure following a data breach and that this pressure is more acute for external breaches than for internal breaches. By contrast, breaches by industry peers, as a form of institutional pressure, appear to prompt fewer cybersecurity disclosures, except when the focal firm suffers its own external breach. From a theoretical perspective, our study supports a nuanced application of legitimacy theory in the cybersecurity disclosure context, especially in the midst of public and institutional pressure, such that the source of a data breach determines whether firms attempt to address the resultant legitimacy gap. From a practical perspective, our results may be viewed as alarming in that firms are not reacting to internal breaches with the same degree of communicative effort about cybersecurity as for external breaches, at least in terms of the timely disclosures we consider in this study. Our findings also point to certain levers that can promote timely cybersecurity disclosures, and thus have important policy implications

‘Breaching’ Auditor Judgments of Information Security Effectiveness

In this in-progress study we explore whether aspects of a prior data security breach, along with prior audit performance, work to decrease auditor objectivity of information security (InfoSec) weaknesses in the subsequent audit period. We use SOX Section 404 as the contextual setting and our analysis is based on a unique dataset from publicly available sources. Preliminary results suggest that not only does former audit performance influence auditor judgments of InfoSec performance, but also the strength of this relationship changes based on public attention. We found no evidence for the influence of past breach severity on auditors’ judgments nor did we find that the influence of public attention is direct. Instead, it appears that auditors can be lured toward decreased objectivity in an indirect manner, based on the weight of public attention that increases their desire to validate past audit evaluations. Implications and plans for future research are discussed

Exploring Resident Empowerment within Tourism

Despite the importance of involving residents in local tourism, few research studies have investigated the concept of empowerment. A novel study conducted by UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management researchers Dr. Kayode D. Aleshinloye and Dr. Asli D.A. Tasci and their collaborators explores the drivers of empowerment within tourism and, in turn, the factors that empowerment influences. Their research highlights the potential benefits for residents, such as improved quality of life and attachment to their surroundings, and has important practical implications for tourism planners and policymakers

Local community ecotourism business experiences in Kuala Tahan, Malaysia

Many ecotourism destinations were developed with the dual purpose of resource conservation and local economic well-being. In order to achieve these noble goals, there is a need to incorporate local community participation in ecotourism activity. The vital justification for such participation can be found in the form of linking the economic benefits and conservation. Interest in such linkage was the premise of the present study which was set in Kuala Tahan (Taman Negara National Park), a well known ecotourism destination in Malaysia. The study was designed to examine the experience of the locals in businesses and how they benefited from their participation in ecotourism activities. A census was conducted in Kuala Tahan in 2010 of 69 locals who were involved in businesses providing services to the ecotourists in the park. Results of the study demonstrate an encouraging business atmosphere in Kuala Tahan, and the locals are optimistic about the future of the area. Several changes in business profiles were identified and compared to a previous survey which was conducted in 1993. Although most of the locals are still operating businesses in a conventional manner, some had explored and are thriving in new ventures. A number of problems which could impede the local business growth were also noted and corrective measures suggested

Complete improvement in a patient with multiple irreversible defects of the left ventricle on 99m technetium-sestamibi SPECT after percutaneous coronary intervention.

99mTc-sestamibi has been investigated as a potential viability marker; initial studies have shown good concordance between 201Tl and 99mTc-sestamibi activities in both viable and nonviable myocardium. However, assessment of myocardial viability by 99mTc-sestamibi remains controversial for tissue recovery after revascularization. Here, we present a patient with several regions of severely diminished and irreversible (defect persisting in both early and delay images of each set scanning) defects on initial scan which were dissolved completely on the follow up scan after an intervention. In a 75 year-old Asian woman with acute myocardial infarction who received thrombolytic therapy and subjected to percutaneous coronary angiography (PCI) on day 28 after acute myocardial infarction(MI), resting 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT was applied on day 4 (initial scan) and 138 (follow up scan) after acute MI at 30 and 180 min after injection of tracer (740 MBq); Two-dimensional echocardiography was carried out at the same time. On the initial image set, there was irreversible defects in the apex, anteroapical, inferoapical, anteroseptal, septal and also anterior walls, while the follow up image was normal in all regions.The angiography intervention showed just significant stenosis on left anterior descending (LAD) vessel (95). This may highlight the failure of 99mTc-sestamibi as a marker of myocardial viability and also mandate further validating of the procedure with follow up scan or other modalities for myocardial viability investigation

Nationwide public perceptions regarding the acceptance of using wastewater for community health monitoring in the United States

To assess the levels of infection across communities during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, researchers have measured severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA in feces dissolved in sewer water. This activity is colloquially known as sewer monitoring and is referred to as wastewater-based epidemiology in academic settings. Although global ethical principles have been described, sewer monitoring is unregulated for health privacy protection when used for public health surveillance in the United States. This study used Qualtrics XM, a national research panel provider, to recruit participants to answer an online survey. Respondents (N = 3,083) answered questions about their knowledge, perceptions of what is to be monitored, where monitoring should occur, and privacy concerns related to sewer monitoring as a public health surveillance tool. Furthermore, a privacy attitude questionnaire was used to assess the general privacy boundaries of respondents. Participants were more likely to support monitoring for diseases (92%), environmental toxins (92%), and terrorist threats (88%; e.g., anthrax). Two-third of the respondents endorsed no prohibition on location sampling scale (e.g., monitoring single residence to entire community was acceptable); the most common location category respondents wanted to prohibit sampling was at personal residences. Sewer monitoring is an emerging technology, and our study sheds light on perceptions that could benefit from educational programs in areas where public acceptance is comparatively lower. Respondents clearly communicated guard rails for sewer monitoring, and public opinion should inform future policy, application, and regulation measures

Electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds increase the efficacy of stem cell-mediated therapy of surgically resected glioblastoma

Engineered stem cell (SC)-based therapy holds enormous promise for treating the incurable brain cancer glioblastoma (GBM). Retaining the cytotoxic SCs in the surgical cavity after GBM resection is one of the greatest challenges to this approach. Here, we describe a biocompatible electrospun nanofibrous scaffold (bENS) implant capable of delivering and retaining tumor-homing cytotoxic stem cells that suppress recurrence of post-surgical GBM. As a new approach to GBM therapy, we created poly(l-lactic acid) (PLA) bENS bearing drug-releasing human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). We discovered that bENS-based implant increased hMSC retention in the surgical cavity 5-fold and prolonged persistence 3-fold compared to standard direct injection using our mouse model of GBM surgical resection/recurrence. Time-lapse imaging showed cytotoxic hMSC/bENS treatment killed co-cultured human GBM cells, and allowed hMSCs to rapidly migrate off the scaffolds as they homed to GBMs. In vivo, bENS loaded with hMSCs releasing the anti-tumor protein TRAIL (bENSsTR) reduced the volume of established GBM xenografts 3-fold. Mimicking clinical GBM patient therapy, lining the post-operative GBM surgical cavity with bENSsTR implants inhibited the re-growth of residual GBM foci 2.3-fold and prolonged post-surgical median survival from 13.5 to 31 days in mice. These results suggest that nanofibrous-based SC therapies could be an innovative new approach to improve the outcomes of patients suffering from terminal brain cancer