Attack vectors against social networking systems : the Facebook example

Social networking systems (SNS&rsquo;s) such as Facebook are an ever evolving and developing means of social interaction, which is not only being used to disseminate information to family, friends and colleagues but as a way of meeting and interacting with &quot;strangers&quot; through the advent of a large number of social applications. The attractiveness of such software has meant a dramatic increase in the number of frequent users of SNS&rsquo;s and the threats which were once common to the Internet have now been magnified, intensified and altered as the potential for criminal behaviour on SNS&rsquo;s increases. Social networking sites including Facebook contain a vast amount of personal information, that if obtained could be used for other purposes or to carry out other crimes such as identity theft. This paper will focus on the security threats posed to social networking sites and gain an understanding of these risks by using a security approach known as &ldquo;attack trees&rdquo;. This will allow for a greater understanding of the complexity associated with protecting Social Networking systems with a particular focus on Facebook.<br /

Would Kitty Genovese have been murdered in Second Life? Researching the "bystander effect" using online technologies

The increasing use of online technologies, including &lsquo;virtual worlds&rsquo; such as Second Life, provides sociology with a transformed context within which to ply creative research approaches to ongoing social issues, such as the &lsquo;bystander effect&rsquo;. While the &lsquo;bystander effect&rsquo; was coined following a real-life incident, the concept has been researched primarily through laboratory-based experiments. The relationship between &lsquo;virtual&rsquo; and &lsquo;real&rsquo; world environments and human behaviours are, however, unclear and warrant careful attention and research.In this paper we outline existing literature on the applicability of computer-simulated activity to real world contexts. We consider the potential of Second Life as a research environment in which &lsquo;virtual&rsquo; and &lsquo;real&rsquo; human responses are potentially more blurred than in real-life or a laboratory setting. We describe preliminary research in which unsolicited Second Life participants faced a situation in which they could have intervened. Our findings suggest the existence of a common perception that formal regulators were close at hand, and that this contributed to the hesitation of some people to personally intervene in the fraught situation. In addition to providing another angle on the &lsquo;bystander effect&rsquo;, this research contributes to our understanding of how new technologies might enable us to conduct social research in creative ways.<br /

Age Impacts Perineuronal Net Density in the Somatosensory Genital Cortex Independently of Gonadal Steroid Hormones

A hallmark of pubertal development is the rise in gonadal hormone secretions and the subsequent onset of sexual behavior. The size of the somatosensory genital cortex increases in response to both this rise in gonadal steroid hormones and sexual experience. However, whether specific markers of brain plasticity are similarly impacted by gonadal hormones during puberty is not known. Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are specialized extracellular matrix structures that unsheathe neurons as they mature, and their maturation coincides with the closure of sensitive periods across several sensory systems. PNNs in somatosensory cortex, as an example, respond to experience-dependent plasticity. Although experience-depended changes occur in the somatosensory cortex, whether gonadal steroid hormones influence PNN development in the somatosensory cortex during puberty is not known. The current study tests the hypothesis that adolescence is a sensitive period for the effects of gonadal steroid hormones on PNN development in the somatosensory genital cortex. This hypothesis predicts that steroid hormone during adolescence, but not before or after, will significantly increase PNNs. To test this hypothesis, male and female mice were gonadectomized before puberty at 22 days of age, and systematically administering blank or steroid hormone-filled capsules before, during, and after the normal time of puberty. Specifically, males were administered 1-wk of testosterone, and females were administered 1-wk of estradiol prior to transcardial perfusion and brain removal, sectioning at 40 microns, and immunofluorescence labeling of Wisteria floribunda (WFA) to visualize PNNs. Results show that hormones and hormone timing have no effect of PNN development in the genital cortex as hormones increased equally across age for all treatment groups. This shows that despite gonadal steroid hormone release happening at the same time PNN maturation occurs, it is a different process that increases PNN density

Surveillance technology and territorial controls: governance and the ‘lite touch’ of privacy

This paper argues that privacy has limited influence on the use of new and untested surveillance technologies in contemporary Australian law enforcement, in part due to the construction of current privacy laws and oversight principles. Abstract: The considerable growth of surveillance technologies, dataveillance and digital information processing has occurred across many domains, including the night-time economy. We explore a particular technology (ID scanners) and the connections between this form of surveillance and associated database construction with the broader use of new forms of territorial governance. In turn, we argue that privacy, at least in the context of Australia, has limited influence on the use of new and untested surveillance technologies in contemporary law enforcement. In part, this is due to the construction of current Australian privacy laws and oversight principles. We argue this in itself does not solely account for the limitations of privacy regimes, as recent Canadian research demonstrates how privacy regulation generates limited control over the expansion of new crime prevention technologies. However, a more telling problem involves the enactment of new laws allowing police and venue operators to exclude the undesirable from venues, streets and entertainment zones. These developments reflect the broader shift to governing through sub-sovereign territorial controls that seek to leverage many current and emerging surveillance technologies and their normalisation in preventing crime without being encumbered by the niceties of privacy law

Crime risks of three-dimensional virtual environments

Three-dimensional virtual environments (3dves) are the new generation of digital multi-user social networking platforms. Their immersive character allows users to create a digital humanised representation or avatar, enabling a degree of virtual interaction not possible through conventional text-based internet technologies. As recent international experience demonstrates, in addition to the conventional range of cybercrimes (including economic fraud, the dissemination of child pornography and copyright violations), the \u27virtual-reality\u27 promoted by 3dves is the source of great speculation and concern over a range of specific and emerging forms of crime and harm to users. This paper provides some examples of the types of harm currently emerging in 3dves and suggests internal regulation by user groups, terms of service, or end-user licensing agreements, possibly linked to real-world criminological principles. This paper also provides some directions for future research aimed at understanding the role of Australian criminal law and the justice system more broadly in this emerging field

Virtual worlds to enhance student engagement

Both the School of Education and the discipline of Criminology at Deakin University have been using the 3-dimensional environment Second Life to deliver curriculum content and to engage students with each other and with teaching staff. The nature of this platform is facilitating more proactive student engagement with technology, including increased student competence in sharing artwork, problem solving and general discussion of complex criminological issues. In this paper, we provide some examples of how we are using Second Life in our curriculum offerings in Education and Criminology as a tool to promote greater engagement, particularly for students undertaking their courses by distance. We outine how the immersive nature of this platform can enhance the level of student interaction to produce a deeper form of engagement with our Unit material than is possible through conventional text and web-based document repositories

Editorial : Surveillance and sport

Sports represent an ideal field to explore the importance of everyday surveillance practices. The routines of preparation associated with conducting or participating in a sports mega event at international&nbsp;level highlight unique facets of surveillance as everyday and normalised elements of elite international or professional sports performance. While these routines do have potential individual or social costs, or are&nbsp;open to various forms of subversion by athletes willing to challenge the broader objectives of fair play, other forces, such as the media or formal governance reactions to a detected rule violation, provide fuel for&nbsp;more rigorous forms of surveillance. This spiral of surveillance permeates downwards to impact on prospective elite athletes, and outwards to impact on other forms of behaviour considered to compromise integrity or fair play. How these values mirror and intersect with norms of surveillance in everyday life is a fruitful site for on-going research and theorisation.<br /