Managing security and compliance risks of outsourced IT projects

PhD ThesisSeveral sources of constraints, such as business, financial and legal, can lead organisations to outsource some of their IT services. As a consequence, different security risks may be introduced, such as confidentiality, integrity and availability risks. Analysing and managing the potential security risks in the early stages of project execution allow organisations to avoid or mitigate the impact of these security risks. Several organisations have adopted ISMS standards and frameworks in an endeavour to manage outsourced IT project security risks. In this thesis, existing ISMS standards and frameworks have been reviewed and analysed to assess their ability to effectively manage the security and compliance risks of outsourced IT projects and satisfy their security needs. The review reveals that existing ISMS standards and frameworks represent only general security recommendations and do not consider variation in security requirements from one organisation to another. There is also a lack of adequate guidance for implementing or complying with these standards and frameworks, and they are not designed to manage the security and compliance risks of outsourced IT projects. To overcome these weaknesses, a new framework has been introduced. The framework is a structured approach that is designed to manage variation in security requirements, as well as provide a methodology to guide organisations for the purpose of security management and implementation. The framework was evaluated using different evaluation methods including a focus group, questionnaire, and case study, which were also used to generate recommendations and suggestions for improvements. The evaluation results confirmed that the framework provided the participants with an effective approach for managing security and compliance risks in the outsourcing context. It was understandable, easy to use, and independent from different constraints such as project size, cost or execution time. The framework is now ready to be put into practice by organisations that intend to outsource their IT services partially or totally

Design and Development of the Architecture and Framework of a Knowledge-Based Expert System for Environmental Impact Assessment

The development of the architecture and framework of a knowledge-based expert system (ES) named "JESEIA" for environmental impact assessment (EIA) was developed using the C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) that incorporates relevant expert knowledge on EIA and integrates a computational tool to support the preparation of an EIA study. The research was based on the conceptualization and development of the architecture and framework of a knowledge-based expert system that demonstrates the feasibility of integrating the following aspects: Expert knowledge-based system approach, Object-oriented techniques and rules structuring as knowledge modeling paradigm, database management system as a repository connection between domain knowledge sources and the expert system kernel, and finally EIA as a significant knowledge domain and incremental approach as a development model. This work describes the functional framework of combining shared knowledge from various experts as knowledge sources through the implementation of a blackboard system approach that organizes the solution elements and determines which information has the highest certainty to contribute to the inference solution. The rules, in the rule base, were developed according to the environmental component classification characteristics with attributes in an object-oriented technique. The developed system considers the robustness, expandability and modularity throughout its development process. The raw knowledge and database were kept in a supportive data base developed in the system for further reference or updating through the developed expert system as a built-in functionality as well as through a connection to an external data base environment through an open database connectivity mechanism

Local Study of Singularities on an Equiform Motion

In this paper we investigate the local singularities of the configuration space corresponding to an equiform motion in the Euclidean space $R^3$. The chaotic behavior of singularities are displayed through figures

Power and autonomy in the Saudi state : case study analysis of policy implementation.

There is a substantial literature that now exists on public policy analysis which recognises a variety of issues surrounding implementation. Studies of the actions of public policy service deliverers or what Lipsky (1980) calls street level bureaucrats (SLBs), reveals numerous examples where they misinterpret or contest the conceived purpose of policies formulated at the central level and, therefore, fail to deliver policy in a manner consistent with the ideals of core policymakers. In the case of Saudi Arabia however, little is known about the factors that contribute to the implementation of public policy there or the degree of political autonomy experienced by Saudi SLBs at the implementation stage. The purpose of this study is to address this lacuna by exploring the nature of power and autonomy in the Saudi political system through a case study of public education policy. The research examines the way in which such policy is implemented by secondary schools principals and education managers (SLBs) in three different local education authorities across Saudi Arabia, namely in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam cities, and examined the variable degree of devolved power or political autonomy experienced by these SLBs in the implementation process. The research was drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted with secondary school principals and various managers of education at the local level, as well as with senior officials in the Saudi Ministry of Education (MoE). The issues that emerged were mainly related to key aspects of power relationships between different bureaucratic tiers of the MoE and education policy process within the policy formulation, implementation and monitoring stages. The key finding of the research indicates that SLBs have a considerable degree of discretionary power in the implementation process, leading to variation not only between the central policy formulation stage and the local implementation level but also across the 3 regions. This is explained by the nature of the Saudi governance structure and, more particularly, the education policy itself, which lacks clear objectives, instructions, rules, procedures and mechanisms for monitoring and feedback. These findings challenged the existing literature on the Saudi State that explains the authoritarian, top-down nature of the Saudi political system which assumes policy made by the centre is closely translated further down the policy-chain at the policy implementation stage by SLBs

Generalized Ridges and Ravines on an Equiform Motion

In this paper we investigate a new type of ridges and ravines of the configuration space corresponding to an equiform motion in the Euclidean space R3. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of generalized ridges and ravines are expressed as a partial differential inequalities involving the principal curvatures. For special case we obtain the solution of the differential equations which characterize some type of singularities. The singularities are displayed through figures [1, 2, 3].Key words Equiform motion; Configuration space; Generalized ridges and ravine

Introducing a true internal standard for the Comet assay to minimize intra- and inter-experiment variability in measures of DNA damage and repair

The Comet assay (CA) is a sensitive/simple measure of genotoxicity. However, many features of CA contribute variability. To minimize these, we have introduced internal standard materials consisting of ‘reference’ cells which have their DNA substituted with BrdU. Using a fluorescent anti-BrdU antibody, plus an additional barrier filter, comets derived from these cells could be readily distinguished from the ‘test’-cell comets, present in the same gel. In experiments to evaluate the reference cell comets as external and internal standards, the reference and test cells were present in separate gels on the same slide or mixed together in the same gel, respectively, before their co-exposure to X-irradiation. Using the reference cell comets as internal standards led to substantial reductions in the coefficient of variation (CoV) for intra- and inter-experimental measures of comet formation and DNA damage repair; only minor reductions in CoV were noted when the reference and test cell comets were in separate gels. These studies indicate that differences between individual gels appreciably contribute to CA variation. Further studies using the reference cells as internal standards allowed greater significance to be obtained between groups of replicate samples. Ultimately, we anticipate that development will deliver robust quality assurance materials for CA

A knowledge-based expert system for EIA using blackboard approach

Expert systems and knowledge-based systems are widely used in engineering applications and in problem-solving. Rapid development today has brought with it environmental problems that cause loss or destruction of natural resources. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been acknowledged as a powerful planning and decision-making tool to assess new development projects. It requires qualified personnel with special expertise and responsibility in their domain. Knowledge-based EIA systems incorporate expert’s knowledge and act as a device-giving system. The development of an expert system to produce environmental impact assessment reports using an intelligent blackboard co-operative approach is presented. The system has an advantage over human experts and can significantly reduce the complexity of a planning task like EIA

Pediatric brain tumor cancer stem cells: cell cycle dynamics, DNA repair, and etoposide extrusion

Reliable model systems are needed to elucidate the role cancer stem cells (CSCs) play in pediatric brain tumor drug resistance. The majority of studies to date have focused on clinically distinct adult tumors and restricted tumor types. Here, the CSC component of 7 newly established primary pediatric cell lines (2 ependymomas, 2 medulloblastomas, 2 gliomas, and a CNS primitive neuroectodermal tumor) was thoroughly characterized. Comparison of DNA copy number with the original corresponding tumor demonstrated that genomic changes present in the original tumor, typical of that particular tumor type, were retained in culture. In each case, the CSC component was approximately 3–4-fold enriched in neurosphere culture compared with monolayer culture, and a higher capacity for multilineage differentiation was observed for neurosphere-derived cells. DNA content profiles of neurosphere-derived cells expressing the CSC marker nestin demonstrated the presence of cells in all phases of the cell cycle, indicating that not all CSCs are quiescent. Furthermore, neurosphere-derived cells demonstrated an increased resistance to etoposide compared with monolayer-derived cells, having lower initial DNA damage, potentially due to a combination of increased drug extrusion by ATP-binding cassette multidrug transporters and enhanced rates of DNA repair. Finally, orthotopic xenograft models reflecting the tumor of origin were established from these cell lines. In summary, these cell lines and the approach taken provide a robust model system that can be used to develop our understanding of the biology of CSCs in pediatric brain tumors and other cancer types and to preclinically test therapeutic agents