Beyond Technical Aspects of Information Security: Risk Culture as a Success Factor for IT Risk Management

Increasing numbers of security incidents such as malware or hacker attacks prompt companies to spend billions of dollars on protecting their information systems. In this context IT risk management (ITRM) has become an important organizational function to control internal and external risks associated with IT. Much effort has been put on mitigating IT risks by means of physical, procedural, and technological solutions. However, the socio-cultural perspective of managing these risks has largely been ignored and thus a “cultural gap” in ITRM can be identified. This paper introduces risk culture as an essential component of an integrated IT risk management and presents a theoretically motivated framework for analyzing the construct risk culture. Based on this framework we conducted a case study that underpins the crucial role of a vital risk culture in an organization. From the empirical findings we derived important factors for establishing risk culture such as (among others) communication campaigns or top-management involvement

Reassessment of the Macintosh stereomobilization testing system on normal adult subjects

The visual function of stereomobilization relates to the effects that temporal information has on the ability to detect stereopsis and perceive depth. In order to validate performance norms of stereomobilization found in prior research, a computer program generated on the ·Macintosh color computer was utilized to determine the effects of varying exposure durations on the ability to perceive stereopsis. Forty-four subjects were tested for stereomobilization. Findings were statistically similar to the studies of Thompson and Yudcovitch (1996) and Chretien and Lindberg (1997) at a gross target disparity value of 450 arc seconds. Although normative values were significantly different between the three studies for the fine disparity target measurements (75 arc seconds), performance patterns for all the studies showed a consistent decrease in stereomobilization performance with a decrease in target exposure duration. At exposure durations of 0.125 seconds and below, for both gross and fine disparities, a threshold level for stereomobilization performance was achieved

Anticipating and considering customers ’ flexibility demands in is outsourcing relationships

Information systems (IS) outsourcing relationships are determined by uncertainties and changing business environments for both client and vendor over a long-term outsourcing lifecycle. Although IS outsourcing arrangements have been widely researched, little attention has been paid to how changing business circumstances and resulting customer demands can be systematically assessed, considered, and integrated in adapted service offerings. In this paper we argue that flexibility and agility are the key to handle uncertainty in IS outsourcing and to achieve a continuous fit in the outsourcing relationship. However, the later clients and vendors identify changing requirements the more expensive it generally becomes to provide the necessary flexibility in outsourcing arrangements. This paper proposes an assessment instrument for a systematic identification of changing customer demands on a business level and resulting flexibility requirements on an IT level that clients and vendors can utilize to structure their discussions in an early phase of an outsourcing relationship. Based on a thorough literature review and a requirements analysis with qualitative expert interviews, relevant dimensions and parameters of customers’ flexibility requirements are derived. These dimensions are involved in the design of the assessment instrument. Managerial implications and directions for future research, especially on the applicability and evaluation of the instrument are discussed

A Biogeographic Perspective on the Evolution of Fire Syndromes in Pine Trees (Pinus: Pinaceae)

Our goals were to explore the relationship between biogeography and the evolution of fire-adaptive syndromes in the genus Pinus. We used a previously published time-calibrated phylogeny and conducted ancestral trait reconstruction to estimate the likely timing of diversification in Pinus, and to determine when fire-adaptive syndromes evolved in the lineage. To explore trait conservation among fire syndromes and to investigate historical biogeography, we constructed ancestral state reconstructions using the program RASP and estimated the degree of conservatism for fire-adapted traits in the program BaTS. Our reconstructions suggest that the Bering land bridge, which connected North America and Asia, probably played a major role in early pine evolution. Our estimates indicated that fire-adaptive syndromes seem to have evolved more frequently in New World taxa and probably are related to the uplift of major North American mountain ranges. Our data suggest that certain geographically widespread adaptations to fire evolved repeatedly, possibly due to localized changes in climate and environment, rather than resulting from large dispersal events of pre-adapted individuals

Human observers differ in ability to perceive insect diversity

Human perception of biological variation is an important and understudied issue in the conservation and management of natural resources. Here, we took a novel approach by asking 1152 participants, primarily college biology students, to score examples of insect mimicry by the number of distinct kinds of animals they saw. Latent class analysis successfully separated participants based on their accuracy of perception as well as demographic information and opinions about biodiversity. Contrary to expectations, factors such as childhood experience (growing up in urban, suburban or rural areas) did not affect the ability to see biodiversity as much as political views (location on a spectrum from liberal to conservative) or the position that biodiversity is important for the health of the environment. We conclude that research into effective measures of biological education should consider the connection between personal views and perceptions of natural variation

Molecular Epidemiologic Evidence for Diabetogenic Effects of Dioxin Exposure in U.S. Air Force Veterans of the Vietnam War

BACKGROUND: One of the outcomes positively associated with dioxin exposure in humans is type 2 diabetes. OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted in order to find the molecular biological evidence for the diabetogenic action of dioxin in adipose samples from Vietnam veterans. METHODS: We obtained 313 adipose tissue samples both from Vietnam veterans who were exposed to dioxin (Operation Ranch Hand) and from comparison veterans who served in Southeast Asia with no record of dioxin exposure. We conducted quantitative reverse-transcribed polymerase chain reaction studies on selected marker mRNAs from these samples. RESULTS: We found the most sensitive and reliable molecular indicator of dioxin-induced diabetes to be the ratio of mRNA of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) and nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NFκB), a marker of inflammation. This ratio showed significant correlations to serum dioxin residues and to fasting glucose among those in the Ranch Hand group and, surprisingly, even in the comparison group, who have low levels of dioxin comparable to the general public. Such a correlation in the comparison group was particularly significant among those with known risk factors such as obesity and family history of diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that the GLUT4:NFκB ratio is a reliable marker for the diabetogenic action of dioxin, particularly at very low exposure levels that are not much higher than those found in the general public, implying a need to address current exposure levels