Developing a usable security approach for user awareness against ransomware

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThe main purpose of the research presented in this thesis is to design and develop a game prototype for improving user awareness against ransomware, which has been reported as the most significant cyber security threat to the United Kingdom by the National Cyber Security Centre. Digital transformation is helping individuals, organisations, governments and Industrial control systems to modernise and improve their effectiveness. At the same time, cyber crimes are evolving and targeting essential services. A successful cyber attack can compromise users’ privacy, bring bad publicity and financial damage to organisations and target national security. A literature review was conducted to understand threats to the cyber social system. Literature in this thesis reports attackers exploit humans as the weakest link to execute successful security breaches. Therefore to address this challenge, a significant gap has been identified as an opportunity to contribute to user awareness of the ransomware cyber security threat. The current thesis proposes RansomAware a novel game prototype to improve user awareness. The game is based on Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT) model. In this thesis two studies are carried out, study 1 empirically validates the elements of TTAT to be embedded in the RansomAware prototype and reports a significant change in users’ motivation to avoid ransomware cyber security threat 55% and avoidance behaviour 29%, whereas study 2 evaluates game usability and report significant results of SUS average score of 87.58 and statistical results of p < 0.01 indicate user’s satisfaction of the RansomAware. Finally, the research provides guidelines on how the proposed RansomAware game can be adopted by practitioners and individuals to improve their awareness against the ransomware cyber security threat

Effects of Dual Sector Inflation Across Income Levels in Pakistan

In this paper we will be primarily concerned with the effect of inflation on different income groups. Putting it another way, we are looking for an answer to the question, "What have been the differences in the degree of inflation in various income groups in Pakistan?". Though it is not in the purview of this paper to go into the causes and cures of inflation, we feel that it is necessary to give a brief discussion about inflation in general. The classical economists believed that inflation was a purely monetary phenomenon. The theory developed was popularly termed the 'quantity theory of money' and the basic relationship postulated was that the rate of inflation is equal to the rate of growth of money supply. Keynes [6J attacked the quantity theory of money. stating that the immediate source of inflation was the excess of desired expenditure over output and thus established the income-and-expenditure approach to the determination of the level of economic activity and prices. Later, however, Keynes (7] addressed himself to the effects of inflation and advanced a theory which has since become a basis for the 'inflationary gap' models

Complications of in-patient cerebral angiography: Comparison between patients with and without sub arachnoid haemorrhage

Objective: To compare complications of cerebral angiography among patients with and without subarachnoid haemorrhage.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised records of patients undergoing inpatient therapeutic and diagnostic cerebral angiographies from 2001 to 2010. The patients were divided into subarachnoid and non-subarachnoid haemorrhage groups. During the study period no modifications were made to the operational protocol and all patients were subjected to the same procedure and prophylactic care.Results: Of the 93 patients, 42(45.2%) were women and 51(54.8%) were men. The overall mean age was 45.27±16.15 years (range: 4-80 years). The comparison between the two groups regarding new onset of neurological deficit was statistically significant (p=0.001). However, the same comparison regarding drop in Glasgow Coma Scale was statistically not significant (p=0.073).Conclusions: The rate of neurological complications was higher in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage

Managing the Gap Between Actual and Target Capital Structure: An Evidence From Pakistan

Investment framework is one of the most significant components that impact the company’s value. Reliable funding choices for a company generally lead to a capital structure that increases the firm’s value (Abor, 2006). Early studies provide contradictory reviews about a company’s capital structure decisions. This paper investigates the partial adjustment model for a company’s target capital structure. The study also explores how companies operating in different sectors of Pakistani market adjust towards the target capital structure levels. The study also recognizes that an unanticipated share price change also have an effect on the target capital structure. The results indicate that companies do have target leverage and that their adjustment speed varies from sector to sector of the Pakistani market. A typical sector closes more than 50% of the gap between its actual and its target debt ratios within one year

EMPIRICAL TESTING OF HEURISTICS INTERRUPTING THE INVESTOR’S RATIONAL DECISION MAKING

The study aimed to investigate the impact of behavioral biases on investor’s financial decision making. Current research studies the behavioral biases including overconfidence, confirmation, and illusion of control, loss aversion, mental accounting, status quo and excessive optimism. The study is significant for the investors, policy makers, investment advisors, and bankers. Empirical data has been collected through administrating a questionnaire. Correlation and Linear regression model techniques are used to investigate whether investor decision making is affected by these biases. The study concluded that the Confirmation, Illusion of control, Excessive optimism, Overconfidence biases have direct impact on the investor’s decision making while status quo, Loss aversion and Mantel accounting biases have no impact according to data collected from financial institutions

COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ANALYSIS OF NOVEL MAPPING MULTIPLEXING (NMM) TECHNIQUE FOR LONG HAUL OPTICAL FIBER TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS

A new multiplexing technique based on mapping method called Novel Mapping Multiplexing (NMM) is proposed and well demonstrated. It is reported that spectral width occupied by 40 Gb/s NMM is 40 GHz with spectral efficiency of 1bit/sec/Hz that shows a clear advantage over the conventional NRZ-OOK and RZ-OOK with same data rate of 40Gbits/sec having spectral efficiency of 0.5bit/sec/Hz and 0.25bit/sec/Hz respectively. This technique features better chromatic dispersion (CD) tolerance and Q-Factor because of its narrow spectral width

A study on tuberculosis in buffaloes: some epidemiological aspects, along with haematological and serum protein changes

The study was conducted to ascertain the epidemiology, together with effects of bovine tuberculosis, on certain haematological parameters and serum proteins at two Livestock Experiment Stations in Pakistan. The results on prevalence of tuberculosis in buffaloes on the basis of comparative intradermal tuberculin test revealed it to be from as high as 8.48% (14/165) to as low as 2.45% (4/163) on the basis of positive reaction to bovine PPD. However, a doubtful reaction was observed in 8.58% (14/163) of buffaloes at farm 2 with low prevalence. It was also observed that the reaction to bovine or avian PPD was much stronger in buffaloes compared with indigenous cattle. The result on certain epidemiological factors studies revealed higher positive reactors of greater than 6 years of age and the majority were between 6-8 years old (P = 0.03). Results also revealed that a significantly higher number of animals had a body mass of less than 550 kg (P = 0.005), had less than three parturitions (P = 0.001) and milk production of 5-7 litres. The number of animals present at the farm, number of species, the nearby village, etc., played a significant role in the prevalence of the disease, rather than the condition of the farm. The results on haematological studies revealed a considerable decrease in RBC, while the decrease in ESR in a significantly (P = 0.05) greater number of buffaloes showed a positive or doubtful reaction to mammalian PPD. Total leukocyte count and lymphocyte percentages were higher in a considerably greater number of buffaloes. However, while changes in monocyte and eosinophil count were less significant, combined monocyte count in both positive and doubtful reactors was higher in a considerable number of buffaloes. While the results on serum proteins revealed an increase in serum total proteins and globulins in a significantly greater number of buffaloes, they had a positive reaction to mammalian PPD. A significant, positive relationship of serum total proteins with globulins in positive (r = 0.918; P = 0.0001) and doubtful reactors (r = 0.691; P = 0.0015)

Tracheal inujry due to blunt chest trauma: a rare surgical emergency

Tracheal injury is a rare complication of blunt chest trauma. The patients usually present with signs of respiratory distress. Primary repair is the treatment of choice in case of large defects, while small tears can be managed conservatively. Immediate operation is recommended to improve deteriorating pulmonary function. The decrease in mortality and long-term morbidity depends on early diagnosis. We report a case of tracheal injury due to non-penetrating thoracic trauma which was successfully managed with surgery

Intra-radicular reinforcement using a modified fiber post customization technique: a case report

Trauma sustained by developing anterior teeth can lead to an arrested root development and loss of structure which can complicate the endodontic and restorative management. The preservation of the anterior tooth has a definite esthetic and biologic advantage especially during the developmental years of adolescence. However, restorative treatment of such cases is met with serious biomechanical and adhesive challenges in the form of thin dentinal walls, a high configuration factor etc. This case report describes a fiber post customization technique for the intraradicular reinforcement of a maxillary central incisor in a 14-year-old patient