A Naturalistic Methodology for Assessing Susceptibility to Social Engineering Through Phishing

Phishing continues to be a prevalent social engineering attack. Attacks are relatively easy to setup and can target many people at low cost. This study presents a naturalistic field experiment that can be staged by organisations to determine their exposure. This exercise provides results with high ecological validity and can give organisations the information they need to craft countermeasures to social engineering risks. The study was conducted at a university campus in Kenya where 241 valid system users, also known as “insiders,” are targeted in a staged phishing experiment. The results show that 31.12% of the insiders are susceptible to phishing and 88% of them disclose passwords that grant access to attackers. This study outlines various ethical considerations that ensure such exercises do not present any actual harm. The design of data collection instruments is discussed in depth to allow organisations the opportunity to develop similar tools for routine threat assessment

Telecommuting in the Developing World: A Case of the Day-Labour Market

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in general, and mobile phones in particular, have demonstrated positive outcomes in the various social transformation and human development dimensions. As a result, many researchers have focused on ICTs innovations targeting the poor. Among the poor are the low-skilled day-labourers who belong to the Day-labour Market (DLM), which is also made up of employers, job-brokers and intermediary organisations. The DLMs’ main activities involve a great deal of travelling in search of jobs by workers and a search for workers by employers. These travels place heavy economic pressure on the day-labourers, hence reducing their net earnings while they struggle with extreme poverty. The first objective of our study was to find out how and which ICT interventions can be used to alleviate the challenges faced by the DLM stakeholders. The nature of our problem resembled studies that use ICTs to reduce travel distance. Such studies fall under subjects such as teleactivities and teleworking/telecommuting, and advocate for prospects of working anywhere anytime. These studies have not received much research attention in the developing world. They have mainly been done in the developed world, and mostly on white-collar workers and organisations. This brought about our second objective: to find out whether the ICT interventions for the DLM could be studied under teleworking/telecommuting and whether the telecommuting benefits can be realised for the blue-collar workers. Our research methodology was Action Research applying three case studies. We used participant observation and both structured and unstructured interviews for qualitative data collection and questionnaires to collect quantitative data. Contextual inquiry, prototyping and technology probe was applied as our design technique. The prototypes were evaluated in-situ to assess usability and uncover user experience. We mainly employed qualitative data analysis, but where appropriate, triangulated with quantitative data analysis. The research outcomes were divided into three categories: (1) the knowledge on the DLM characteristics which depicted different forms of the DLM and shaped our design process, (2) the DLM software designs tested as prototype applications and software artefacts deployed for use by the DLM and (3) the meaning and the state of telecommuting/teleworking before and after our experiments in the DLM. In the first category, appreciating the challenges faced by our primary target users, the day-labourers, helped shape our designs and our inquiry to include intermediation. With regard to the prototype applications, they included the remote mobile applications and the web-based server side software systems. Although most of these applications where meant for proof of concept, some of them ended up being implemented as fully functional systems. Finally, in the third finding, travel reduction using ICTs (mainly the mobile phones) had been practised by some of the DLM stakeholders even before the commencement of our study. After our intervention, we discovered that implementing telecommuting/teleworking within the DLM may be possible, but with a raft of redefinitions and changes in technology innovations. We therefore identified factors to consider when thinking of implementing telecommuting among blue-collar employees, organisations and employers

Revisitant les facteurs affectant l’utilisation des Tics sur l’information relative aux intrants agricoles par les paysans dans les pays en voie de développement d’Afrique et Asie

Malgré une exposition des paysans aux Tics sur l’information de production agricole, la contribution de ceux-ci dans ce domaine n’est encore satisfaisante. Par conséquent, une étude a été menée pour informer notre audience sur les facteurs affectant l’utilisation de ces Tics par une révision des Tics et les articles publiés sur ces Tics en utilisant la Théorie Ancrée. Les facteurs avantage relatif, compatibilité, simplicité, l’influence sociale, observabilité, alphabétisation, savoir-faire Tics et qualité de l’information affectent positivement l’utilisation de ces Tics tandis que et le cout excessif des Tics affectent négativement leurs utilisations.Despite farmers’ exposition to ICTs on agricultural input information, their contribution to the access and use of agricultural input information is far from expectation. This study therefore, reviewed these ICTs in developing countries to extract the factors that affect ICTs’ adoption by small-scale famers using the Grounded Theory. The factors Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Simplicity, Social Influence, Observability, Literacy, ICTs’ Skills were identified as affecting positively ICTs’ use while the High Cost was identified as negatively affecting these ICTs

Software design for informal setups: Centring the benefits

Appropriating technology for the benefit of the very poor is a key theme of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). Our aim is to design systems that reduce the challenges faced by the poor in the informal sector of the labour market. However, designing for non-structured problem areas involving socio-economic webs is challenging and requires more than just the ‘normal’ user requirements gathering techniques. In such social problem areas solutions must prioritize the direct benefits for the target groups. In this paper, a novel design technique for designing in an informal sector problem areas, the case of day labour market, is presented. It involves iteratively reviewing field work results of a long term study, reinforcing those findings with existing literature and eventually critically validating the requirements using existing Management Information Systems (MISs). In this method, benefits to target users are placed at the centre throughout the design process. Our design outcome and its relation to the design process is also presented

Modeling Identity Disclosure Risk Estimation Using Kenyan Situation

Identity disclosure risk is an essential consideration in data anonymization aimed at preserving privacy and utility. The risk is regionally dependent. Therefore, there is a need for a regional empirical approach in addition to a theoretical approach in modeling disclosure risk estimation. Reviewed literature pointed to three influencers of the risk. However, we did not find literature on the combined effects of the three influencers and their predictive power. To fill the gap, this study modeled the risk estimation predicated on the combined effect of the three predictors using the Kenyan situation. The study validated the model by conducting an actual re-identification quasi-experiment. The adversary’s analytical competence, distinguishing power of the anonymized datasets, and linkage mapping of the identified datasets are presented as the predictors of the risk estimation. For each predictor, manifest variables are presented. Our presented model extends previous models and is capable of producing a realistic risk estimation

ICTD interventions: trends over the last decade.

In this study, we examine Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) technology interventions that have been developed over the last decade. The purpose is to provide a snapshot of the trends that have characterized ICT4D technology interventions from the period starting 1995 to 2010. This paper presents three general dimensions i.e. ICTs, development and research which are further broken down into seven variables used to categorize projects over this period. The seven variables include: telecommunication, terminal device, target group, domain area, region, research methods and discipline. Results suggest that applied research stood out as the methodology of choice; health and education as the most researched areas; hand-held interventions as the most popular choice of solutions; and Computer Science, Informatics and Information Systems as the disciplines that offer ICT4D technology interventions. Consequently, we argue that these trends will facilitate understanding the past performance of ICT4D, both as an academic field and as an area of development practice, and identify defining ideas on the potential directions for the future

Day Labour Mobile Electronic Data Capture and Browsing System

In this paper, a day-labour Mobile Electronic Data Capture and Browsing (MEDCB) system is presented. In building and evaluating this system, the primary aim was to evaluate the possibility of applying mobile data capture and browsing to the day-labour market with a view to improving data capture and verification accuracy and efficiency. The MEDCB system consists of a mobile client application and a web interface. The system was evaluated with non-profit organizations working for day labour semiliterate job seekers. Results showed that data capture, processing and browsing is a possibility in day labour market. Improvement in accuracy and efficiency was also seen with the use of MEDCB. We describe the design process, present initial findings and discuss the results

ICTs and Survival Tactics for the Day-labour Workers: Implications for Design

In this paper, we show how results of data collected on the survival tactics of day-labour workers with regard to the cost of using mobile phone services played a role in software systems design. The paper uses findings from Nairobi Kenya. The results showed that workers, depending on the choice of available network tariffs adopt different survival tactics which range from being personal to involving others. In conclusion, workers as mobile phone users adopt the different survival tactics depending on what the market provides. The competitiveness of the market dictates the options available. Lessons from this research were used in making software design decisions for the day-labour market. They can also be used, among other things, by Information and Communication Technology researchers who wish to intervene for the poor in society. Other uses include for policy formulation, especially those that touch on reducing the digital divide gap

An ICT model for increased adoption of farm input information in developing countries: A case in Sikasso, Mali

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a key role in the dissemination of information on farm inputs for their increased adoption. Small-scale cereal farmers have been exposed to ICT-based farm input information in developing countries. However, an underuse of these ICTs services has led to an insignificant adoption of farm input information. That underuse was due to certain factors. The purpose of this study was to propose an ICT model for increased adoption of farm input information by establishing these factors and their relationships. A convenient sample of 300 small-scale cereal farmers was selected in Sikasso, Mali to gather data. The partial least squares structural equation modelling technique was used to assess the model that was being proposed. We used the technique to establish the measurement model validity and to assess the structural model (hypotheses). The result suggested that the model was highly predictive of the Use of ICT-based farm input information (80.7%). In addition, use of these ICT-based farm input information was also highly predictive (68.4%) of the Increased Adoption of farm input information by small-scale cereal farmers in developing countries. Keywords: Cereal farmers, Productivity, ICT-based farm input information, Developing countries, Mal