Emerging Mobile Phone-based Social Engineering Cyberattacks in the Zambian ICT Sector

The number of registered SIM cards and active mobile phone subscribers in Zambia in 2020 surpassed the population of the country. This clearly shows that mobile phones in Zambia have become part of everyday life easing not only the way people communicate but also the way people perform financial transactions owing to the integration of mobile phone systems with financial payment systems. This development has not come without a cost. Cyberattackers, using various social engineering techniques have jumped onto the bandwagon to defraud unsuspecting users. Considering the aforesaid, this paper presents a high-order analytical approach towards mobile phone-based social engineering cyberattacks (phishing, SMishing, and Vishing) in Zambia which seek to defraud benign victims. This paper presents a baseline study to reiterate the problem at hand. Furthermore, we devise an attack model and an evaluation framework and ascertain the most prevalent types of attack. We also present a logistic regression analysis in the results section to conclude the most prevalent mobile phone-based type of social engineering attack. Based on the artifacts and observed insights, we suggest recommendations to mitigate these emergent social engineering cyberattacks

Graduate job search activity in Zambia: a social capital analysis

There is much to be said about the use of social capital in the job search patterns of graduates, however, little is researched on the use of social capital as a job search strategy. Despite the years of research that acknowledges the critical role social capital plays in determining job search outcomes, little to no research has been done to specifically understand the different ways in which graduates utilize their social capital (family, friends and acquaintances) to look for work. Human capital theory posits that education is the greatest determinant of employment in a labour market system that that awards educational credentials with occupational attainment. However, the reality is that a large number of Zambian graduates are jobless despite being educated. This study, therefore seeks to analyse the high levels of graduate unemployment from lternative theories of social capital and the job search. Knowing the different ways social capital expresses itself in graduate job search patterns provides possible solutions and a different perspective to addressing the high levels of graduate unemployment in Zambia. This study adopted a qualitative case study research design and made use of the snow ball sampling approach. Fifteen semistructured interviews were conducted and findings and emerging themes analysed in response to the central question, “how does social capital express itself in graduate job search patterns in Lusaka, Zambia?”. Through extensive thematic analyses, the researcher finds that there are eight ways in which graduates utilize their social capital to look for work and overcome challenges of the job search. This demonstrates that social capital can be a useful and beneficial job search strategy to adopt in a labour market system where educational credentials alone do not guarantee graduates successful job search outcomes

Factors that influence zambian higher education lecturer’s attitude towards integrating ICTs in teaching and research

This paper investigates factors that influence Zambian higher education lecturer’s attitude towards integrating ICTs in research and teaching. To determine these factors, we used online administered survey with a total of 163 respondents from public and private higher education institutions in Zambia. Quantitative data analysis based on descriptive and inferential statistics was used in this study. Inferential analysis was employed to investigate the relationships among variables using Pearson correlation analysis and completely randomized design. The results revealed that lack of adequate Internet bandwidth is among the major barrier or obstacle for assimilating ICTs in research and teaching for Zambian higher education lecturers. Additionally, training lecturers on the use of ICTs e.g. email, PowerPoint presentations, electronic boards and its advantages is the most important incentive to motivate lecturers to incorporate ICTs in research and teaching. Therefore, this study contributes to literature on factors that influence higher education lecturers’ attitude towards integrating ICTs in research and teaching. This study also demonstrates a positive correlation between the important factors that influence lecturers in integrating ICTs in research and teachingPeer Reviewe

Mining windfall taxes in Zambia: utilisation and impact on foreign direct investment

Magister Legum - LL

Indigenous vegetables and access to markets: a study of rural women farmers in Senanga, Zambia.

Master’s Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.General agriculture, fishing and small business enterprises are the most prominent economic activities in Senanga, a district located on the Western part of Zambia (Central Statistics Office 2010). However, in the recent years, cultivation of indigenous vegetables by rural women has both increased and gradually become a source of livelihood in Senanga. It is from this backdrop that this dissertation employs the food sovereignty framework to examine the cultivation of indigenous vegetables and rural farmers’ access to markets in Senanga. It also draws on the food security literature, Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) and the agro-ecological approach to analyse indigenous vegetable farming in developing countries. With the aid of data collection instruments such as participant observation, transect walk and in-depth interviews conducted with 11 female farmers, five traders and five agricultural officers, the study investigates the production of indigenous vegetables in Senanga. I also examine women’s access to local, national and international markets and how they maintain business relationships with these markets. The dissertation also evaluates the role of the public and private sector in indigenous vegetable farming. From the views and experiences of the research participants, socio-economic factors such as high unemployment rates, growing demand for indigenous vegetables and access to resources emerge as factors that motivate farmers in Senanga to engage in indigenous vegetable farming. This has helped farmers increase their households’ food security and income. It has also improved their access to social services and other agriculture inputs. On the other hand, gender bias and limited recognition of indigenous vegetables by public and private sector, socio-economic factors such as lack of agricultural skills and financial resources are identified as factors that hamper indigenous vegetable production and farmers’ access to markets in Senanga. Equally, the research findings show that gender stereotypes and sociocultural factors such as discriminatory gender roles, cultural rigidity, customary land laws and dependence syndrome also contribute to low production of indigenous vegetable in Senanga. In addition, the dissertation discusses strategies such as adequate provision of agricultural services and training in agro-ecological approaches to food production by government and NGOs, increased women’s participation in the formulation of agricultural policies if implemented might improve indigenous vegetable farming in Senanga

The Impact of Load Shedding on The Cost of Living: A Zambian Perspective

In this paper, we assess the impact of Zambia Electricity Supply Corporationrsquos (ZESCO) power rationing (load shedding) on the cost of living of the Zambian people. We also assess whether the businesses and households have capacity to resort to alternative sources of energy in the time of crisis. Our results show that, although the rationing does not last for 24 hours in most places, the duration that businesses and households stay out of power is long enough to impact negatively on the livelihoods of the Zambian people and consequently itrsquos Economy. nbs

Change detection and deformation monitoring of concrete structures using terrestrial laser scanning

Concrete structures are routinely monitored to detect change and deformation in the field of engineering surveying and other overlapping disciplines such as civil and structural engineering. The monitoring of civil infrastructure is crucial to the safe operation and the longevity of the system. There is growing demand for the development of reliable non-destructive testing techniques for concrete structures in the assessment of the deteriorating condition of infrastructures or in an event of fire-damaged structures. This research investigated the use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) for structural health monitoring and the implemented workflow is designed for non full-waveform laser scanner data. Although the use of TLS is not new within the domain of structural health monitoring, the novelty of this research lies in the application of the technology in the specific area of assessing fire-damaged concrete on one hand and the assessment of robust point cloud processing algorithms for precise structural deformation analysis on the other hand. Laser intensity information has become an important object of study in recent years and several studies have shown the potential use of laser intensity data for a great variety of applications such as geomorphology, forestry and glaciology (Holfe and Pfeifer, 2007; Antilla et. al., 2011; Kaasalainen et al., 2011a). Laser intensity information can be used to aid segmentation and classification algorithms alongside geometrical information (Krooks et al., 2013). This evidence for detecting and classifying different materials using the laser intensity values necessitated an investigation into the idea of using the TLS intensity for post fire assessment of concrete. The use of TLS intensity to detect and assess fire-damaged concrete is a new area of research. In terms of the application of TLS for structural change detection and deformation monitoring, TLS is able to provide continuous spatial resolution and reliable 3D information with high redundancy. However, a recent review of studies that have applied TLS for change detection and deformation monitoring of structures has shown that the exploitation of the high data redundancy acquired by TLS is key to achieving good deformation measurement performance with TLS data and that this calls for the development and testing of robust tools. This being the case, several issues are still open to investigation such as rigorous methods of point cloud processing for change detection and deformation analysis. In view of this, the study also aimed at investigating and assessing algorithms for deformation analysis. This thesis presents the work undertaken during the entire period of the research project. The objectives of this research were twofold i.e. detecting and assessing fire-damaged concrete and well as structural deformation monitoring using laser scanning technique. In particular, the technique employed in detecting fire-damaged concrete involved modelling and analysing the laser intensity return. In the case of structural deformation monitoring, the study investigated robust techniques of processing laser scanner data for deformation analysis. This involved assessing the capability of using the multiscale model to model cloud comparison (M3C2) and the iterative similarity registration (ISR) algorithms for processing laser scanner data for deformation analysis. The achieved positive results relating intensity to exposure temperature of concrete demonstrate that laser scanning can be applied to detect and assess fire-damaged concrete and provide an understanding of the condition of concrete in relation to the strength changes of concrete when it is heated to elevated temperatures. In terms of structural monitoring, the study has ascertained that the M3C2 and the ISR algorithms are capable of resolving small scale displacements in the millimetre range which are needed in structural monitoring, due to their robustness

Change detection and assessment of fire-damaged concrete using terrestrial laser scanning

Fire is one of the serious potential hazards to most structures and damage assessment is the first and the most important job for structural safety evaluation of a structure subjected to fire. The extensive use of concrete as a structural material has neccessitated an investigation into more robust and cost-effective techniques for the assessment of fire-damaged concrete using terrestrial laser scanning. Although concrete is known to be a fire resistant structural material, it undergoes severe changes when exposed to elevated temperatures and this can affect the load bearing capacity of structural bearing elements in several ways. Apart from spalling, there can be a permanent loss of strength in the remaining material. In the aftermath of a fire on a structure, various workers get involved in a variety of response and recovery from disaster operations. Furthermore, following a catastrophic failure of a structure after a fire, rescue workers and emergency responders may be required to enter the fire-damaged structure which can be risky and so an assessment method which has the potential to improve safety was investigated. Within the field of structural and civil engineering, the methods employed in assessing fire-damaged concrete involve both field and laboratory investigations to determine the extent of fire damage in order to design appropriate and cost effective repairs or to decide whether to demolition the structure. Concrete structures show significant loss of strength when heated above 300ºC. This study aimed at investigating whether terrestrial laser scanning can be used to detect fire-damaged concrete using specimens heated up to 1000ºC as it is important to estimate the maximum temperature attained in a fire. The results obtained from the study clearly demonstrated the feasibility of using terrestrial laser scanning to detect fire-damaged concrete via modelling and analysis of laser returned intensity. Laser scanning has emerged as a complementary assessment method of fire-damaged concrete with a couple of advantages in that the whole concrete element can be scanned and an average intensity value over the area concerned can be determined which would represent the whole element overcoming the challenge of some traditional methods where cores are drilled in limited areas. Scanning is rapid with millions of points measured in a few seconds. Laser scanning of the fire-damaged structure can be done from a distance without having to enter the structure and this improves safety. Laser scanning is a non-destructive technique for detecting fire-damaged concrete

A non-destructive technique for health assessment of fire-damaged concrete elements using terrestrial laser scanning

Concrete structures are routinely monitored to detect changes in their characteristics in the field of engineering surveying and other disciplines such as structural and civil engineering. There is growing demand for the development of reliable Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques for concrete structures in the assessment of the deteriorating condition of infrastructures or in an event of fire-damaged structures. In this paper, the feasibility of using Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) technology for change detection and assessment of fire-damaged concrete has been investigated through measurements and analysis of laboratory size concrete specimens that underwent heating up to 1000°C. The TLS technique employed in detecting fire-damaged concrete involved modelling and analysis of the TLS intensity returns as well as RGB image analysis. The results obtained clearly demonstrate the feasibility of using TLS to detect fire-damaged concrete. Although the laser scanners used in the study have different wavelengths, the results obtained in both cases are promising for a detection technique of fire-damaged concrete structures