Developing and evaluating a five minute phishing awareness video

Confidence tricksters have always defrauded the unwary. The computer era has merely extended their range and made it possible for them to target anyone in the world who has an email address. Nowadays, they send phishing messages that are specially crafted to deceive. Improving user awareness has the potential to reduce their effectiveness. We have previously developed and empirically-validated phishing awareness programmes. Our programmes are specifically designed to neutralize common phish-related misconceptions and teach people how to detect phishes. Many companies and individuals are already using our programmes, but a persistent niggle has been the amount of time required to complete the awareness programme. This paper reports on how we responded by developing and evaluating a condensed phishing awareness video that delivered phishing awareness more efficiently. Having watched our video, participants in our evaluation were able to detect phishing messages significantly more reliably right after watching the video (compared to before watching the video). This ability was also demonstrated after a retention period of eight weeks after first watching the video

Gamification techniques for raising cyber security awareness

Due to the prevalence of online services in modern society, such as internet banking and social media, it is important for users to have an understanding of basic security measures in order to keep themselves safe online. However, users often do not know how to make their online interactions secure, which demonstrates an educational need in this area. Gamification has grown in popularity in recent years and has been used to teach people about a range of subjects. This paper presents an exploratory study investigating the use of gamification techniques to educate average users about password security, with the aim of raising overall security awareness. To explore the impact of such techniques, a role-playing quiz application (RPG) was developed for the Android platform to educate users about password security. Results gained from the work highlightedthat users enjoyed learning via the use of the password application, and felt they benefitted from the inclusion of gamification techniques. Future work seeks to expand the prototype into a full solution, covering a range of security awareness issues

Mechanism of atomic force microscopy imaging of three-dimensional hydration structures at a solid-liquid interface

Here we present both subnanometer imaging of three-dimensional (3D) hydration structures using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and molecular dynamics simulations of the calcite-water interface. In AFM, by scanning the 3D interfacial space in pure water and recording the force on the tip, a 3D force image can be produced, which can then be directly compared to the simulated 3D water density and forces on a model tip. Analyzing in depth the resemblance between experiment and simulation as a function of the tip-sample distance allowed us to clarify the contrast mechanism in the force images and the reason for their agreement with water density distributions. This work aims to form the theoretical basis for AFM imaging of hydration structures and enables its application to future studies on important interfacial processes at the molecular scale

Direct algebraic mapping transformation for decorated spin models

In this article we propose a general transformation for decorated spin models. The advantage of this transformation is to perform a direct mapping of a decorated spin model onto another effective spin thus simplifying algebraic computations by avoiding the proliferation of unnecessary iterative transformations and parameters that might otherwise lead to transcendental equations. Direct mapping transformation is discussed in detail for decorated Ising spin models as well as for decorated Ising-Heisenberg spin models, with arbitrary coordination number and with some constrained Hamiltonian's parameter for systems with coordination number larger than 4 (3) with (without) spin inversion symmetry respectively. In order to illustrate this transformation we give several examples of this mapping transformation, where most of them were not explored yet.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Linear independence of localized magnon states

At the magnetic saturation field, certain frustrated lattices have a class of states known as "localized multi-magnon states" as exact ground states. The number of these states scales exponentially with the number $N$ of spins and hence they have a finite entropy also in the thermodynamic limit $N\to \infty$ provided they are sufficiently linearly independent. In this article we present rigorous results concerning the linear dependence or independence of localized magnon states and investigate special examples. For large classes of spin lattices including what we called the orthogonal type and the isolated type as well as the kagom\'{e}, the checkerboard and the star lattice we have proven linear independence of all localized multi-magnon states. On the other hand the pyrochlore lattice provides an example of a spin lattice having localized multi-magnon states with considerable linear dependence.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure

Evaluation of a DSGE Model of Energy in the United Kingdom Using Stationary Data

I examine the impact of energy price shock (oil prices shock and gas prices shock) on the economic activities in the United Kingdom using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with a New Keynesian Philips Curve. I decomposed the changes in output caused by all of the stationary structural shocks. I found that the fall in output during the financial crisis period is driven by domestic demand shock, energy prices shock and world demand shock. I found the energy prices shock’s contribution to fall in output is temporary. Such that, the UK can borrow against such a temporary fall. This estimated model can create additional input to the policymaker’s choice of models

Business cycles, international trade and capital flows: Evidence from Latin America

This paper adopts a flexible framework to assess both short- and long-run business cycle linkages between six Latin American (LA) countries and the four largest economies in the world (namely the US, the Euro area, Japan and China) over the period 1980:I-2011:IV. The result indicate that within the LA region there are considerable differences between countries, success stories coexisting with extremely vulnerable economies. They also show that the LA region as a whole is largely dependent on external developments, especially in the years after the great recession of 2008 and 2009. The trade channel appears to be the most important source of business cycle comovement, whilst capital flows are found to have a limited role, especially in the very short run

Evidence for Two Different Regulatory Mechanisms Linking Replication and Segregation of Vibrio cholerae Chromosome II

Understanding the mechanisms that coordinate replication initiation with subsequent segregation of chromosomes is an important biological problem. Here we report two replication-control mechanisms mediated by a chromosome segregation protein, ParB2, encoded by chromosome II of the model multichromosome bacterium, Vibrio cholerae. We find by the ChIPchip assay that ParB2, a centromere binding protein, spreads beyond the centromere and covers a replication inhibitory site (a 39-mer). Unexpectedly, without nucleation at the centromere, ParB2 could also bind directly to a related 39-mer. The 39- mers are the strongest inhibitors of chromosome II replication and they mediate inhibition by binding the replication initiator protein. ParB2 thus appears to promote replication by out-competing initiator binding to the 39-mers using two mechanisms: spreading into one and direct binding to the other. We suggest that both these are novel mechanisms to coordinate replication initiation with segregation of chromosomes