This dissertation explores the role of altruistic punishment, the act of punishing outsiders perceived to harm members of one's group at a personal cost, in explaining individual motivations to participate in inter-group violence. It first develops a social theory of this type punishment. This theory argues that an egalitarian social logic may be key to understanding motivations of parochial altruism, and that one's social environment may influence thresholds of anger needed to induce punishment behavior. Empirically, it conducts two survey-experimental studies. The first experiment utilizes subject partisan identity in the context of American politics and hypothetical acts of violence to study altruistic punishment behaviors among two different populations in the US. The second experiment utilizes a comparative sample of American, German, and Kurdish participants to assess whether priming for anger tied to acts of political violence by outsiders against their respective in-group increases support for a hypothetical in-group "punisher" of these outsiders. The results of these studies offer two key findings: (1) anger induced costly punishment of outgroup perpetrators may be conditional on egalitarian attitudes; (2) this relationship is contextual and varies across population. The findings cautiously suggest two conclusions. First, there may be evolutionary and neurological mechanisms that promote participation in inter-group conflict and that superficial characteristics such as ethnicity, religion, and ideology may work in tandem with biological factors. Second, it suggests that social and political environments may be useful for modulating, or exacerbating, the role of anger in the decision to participate in inter-group conflict activities.

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Under what conditions do women become more resilient and empowered in post conflict settings? Utilizing data from multi site fieldwork in northern Iraq, Germany, and the U.S. involving over 160 in depth interviews, this dissertation addresses this question by studying the experiences of Yezidi women who were subject to genocidal violence by the Islamic State in Iraq in 2014. By adopting an intersectional approach, it contributes to feminist research on post conflict dynamics and suggests that how women cope with trauma and achieve positive changes in their lives depends on a variety of factors. Age, history of sexual violence and displacement and immigration experiences of Yezidi female survivors as well as the intersection of these factors, emerge as main determinants of their post genocide resilience and empowerment. Older women and widowed women, especially when they have no educational or work background, show less resilience and are not likely to experience empowerment post conflict. While survivors of sexual violence and abduction undergo high levels of traumatic stress, they can also show the highest levels of post traumatic growth when they are supported by their families and communities. Moreover, since they have greater access to sources compared t o the rest of the community, they are also more likely to experience empowerment. Displacement is mostly a disempowering experience for survivors. In contrast, immigration may bring positive changes, depending on the conditions of immigration, host country politics, community support in settled places and individual background. In conclusion, the dissertation questions generalized assumptions about women's post conflict experiences as well as the established categories of victimhood and calls for a more effective and inclusive policymaking for women in post atrocity settings.

Information security has been a crucial strategic issue in organizational management. Information security management (ISM) is a systematic process of effectively coping with information security threats and risks in an organization, through the application of a suitable range of physical, technical or operational security controls, to protect information assets and achieve business goals. There is a strong need for rigorous qualitative and quantitative empirical studies in the field of organizational information security management in order to better understand how to optimize the ISM process. Applying critical success factors approach, this study builds a theoretical model to investigate main factors that contribute to ISM success. The following tasks were carried out: (1) identify critical success factors of ISM performance; (2) build an ISM success model and develop related hypotheses; (3) develop construct measures for critical success factors and ISM performance evaluations; (4) collect data from the industry through interviews and surveys; and (5) empirically verify the model through quantitative analysis. The proposed theoretical model was empirically tested with data collected from a survey of managers who were presently involved with decision making regarding their company's information security (N=219). Overall, the theoretical model was successful in capturing the main antecedents of ISM performance. The results suggest that with business alignment, organizational support, IT competences, and organizational awareness of security risks and controls, information security controls can be effectively developed, resulting in successful information security management. This study contributes to the advancement of the information security management literature by (1) proposing a theoretical model to examine the effects of critical organizational success factors on the organization’s ISM performance, (2) empirically validating this proposed model, (3) developing and validating an ISM performance construct, and (4) reviewing the most influential information security management standards and trying to validate some basic guidelines of the standard. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis addresses three research questions: (1) How to measure ISM performance? (2) What are the critical factors that must be present to make ISM effective? And, (3) how do these factors contribute to the success of ISM? To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this is the first known study to empirically investigate the most important factors for ISM success and their impact on ISM performance. This study contributes to the advancement of the information security management literature by (1) proposing a theoretical model to examine the effects of critical organizational success factors on the organization’s ISM performance, (2) empirically validating this proposed model, (3) developing and validating an ISM performance construct, and (4) reviewing the most influential information security management standards and trying to validate some basic guidelines of the standard.

This research explores hacker motivation, demotivation and task selection through the lenses of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and General Deterrence Theory (GDT). The research also explores how context surrounding individual and task characteristics affects a hacker’s decision making process in selecting a hacking task. To build a solid foundation on which to understand and combat threats to information systems, researchers need to look past the technical issues of data security and explore why hackers do what they do. This research addresses this gap by understanding why hackers identify and assess hacking tasks. It is hoped that by investigating the motivations of these highly skilled Information Systems (IS) users, new insights into how to avoid becoming a hacker target might be developed. Participants in this study were individuals who self-identify as hackers. They completed a survey to validate the proposed model and answered open-ended questions to provide further insights. The quantitative data was analysed using Structured Equation Modelling; classical content analysis was conducted to examine the qualitative data. This research was successful in identifying the role of TRA and GDT in hacker task selection. The research confirmed the importance of mastery, curiosity, and task complexity in a hacker's evaluation process and provided enticing clues for further research into the role of task complexity in a hacker’s task evaluation process. The research also confirmed that subjective norms play an important part in shaping behavioural intentions towards engaging in a hacking task. Additionally, a clear linkage was identified between perceived certainty of sanction and behavioural intention. Contributions of this research to both academia and practice are outlined as well as potential limitations and areas for future research. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This research explores hacker motivation, demotivation and task selection through the lenses of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and General Deterrence Theory (GDT). The research also explores how context surrounding individual and task characteristics affects a hacker’s decision making process in selecting a hacking task. To build a solid foundation on which to understand and combat threats to information systems, researchers need to look past the technical issues of data security and explore why hackers do what they do. This research addresses this gap by understanding why hackers identify and assess hacking tasks. It is hoped that by investigating the motivations of these highly skilled Information Systems (IS) users, new insights into how to avoid becoming a hacker target might be developed. Participants in this study were individuals who self-identify as hackers. They completed a survey to validate the proposed model and answered open-ended questions to provide further insights. The quantitative data was analysed using Structured Equation Modelling; classical content analysis was conducted to examine the qualitative data. This research was successful in identifying the role of TRA and GDT in hacker task selection. The research confirmed the importance of mastery, curiosity, and task complexity in a hacker's evaluation process and provided enticing clues for further research into the role of task complexity in a hacker’s task evaluation process. The research also confirmed that subjective norms play an important part in shaping behavioural intentions towards engaging in a hacking task. Additionally, a clear linkage was identified between perceived certainty of sanction and behavioural intention. Contributions of this research to both academia and practice are outlined as well as potential limitations and areas for future research.

Das Cloud Computing hat die Art und Weise unserer Kommunikation in den letzten Jahren rapide verändert. Es ermöglicht die Bereitstellung unterschiedlicher Dienste über das Internet. Inzwischen wurden sowohl für Unternehmen, als auch für den privaten Sektor verschiedene Anwendungen des Cloud Computing entwickelt. Dabei bringt jede Anwendung zahlreiche Vorteile mit sich, allerdings werden auch neue Herausforderungen an die IT-Sicherheit gestellt. In dieser Dissertation werden besonders wichtige Anwendungen des Cloud Computing auf die aktuellen Herausforderungen für die IT-Sicherheit untersucht. 1. Die Container Virtualisierung ermöglicht die Trennung der eigentlichen Anwendung von der IT-Infrastruktur. Dadurch kann ein vorkonfiguriertes Betriebssystem-Image zusammen mit einer Anwendung in einem Container kombiniert und in einer Testumgebung evaluiert werden. Dieses Prinzip hat vor allem die Software-Entwicklung in Unternehmen grundlegend verändert. Container können verwendet werden, um software in einer isolierten Umgebung zu testen, ohne den operativen Betrieb zu stören. Weiterhin ist es möglich, verschiedene Container-Instanzen über mehrere Hosts hinweg zu verwalten. In dem Fall spricht man von einer Orchestrierung. Da Container sensible unternehmensinterne Daten beinhalten, müssen Unternehmen ihr IT-Sicherheitskonzept für den Einsatz von Container Virtualisierungen überarbeiten. Dies stellt eine große Herausforderung dar, da es derzeit wenig Erfahrung mit der Absicherung von (orchestrierten) Container Virtualisierungen gibt. 2. Da Container Dienste über das Internet bereitstellen, sind Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter, die diese Dienste für ihre Arbeit benötigen, an keinen festen Arbeitsplatz gebunden. Dadurch werden wiederum Konzepte wie das home o

Which strategies contribute towards a belligerent's ability to shift territorial control in its favor more quickly than others? This dissertation advances a theory of territorial control dynamics in conventional civil war that places the civilian population at the center of the analysis. Existing scholarship explaining territorial control in conventional civil war has emphasized the role of relative military capabilities, direct military confrontations aimed at territorial conquest, and the existence of established zones of control, with civilians generally residing in areas clearly dominated by one party or another, not in contested areas. As such, theory holds that this makes the civilian population 'less consequential'. I argue that as a strategy in conventional civil war aimed at increasing territorial control, displacement serves a direct and indirect purpose suited towards these ends. Beyond using strategic displacement as a means of clearing out civilians to facilitate territorial conquest and consolidating territorial control, belligerents can strategically displace civilians into enemy-held territory as a way of geographically concentrating the civilian population. This can serve to undermine the enemy's capacity to govern. Beyond the frontlines, strategic displacement is employed in part as a strategy of exhaustion. Using indirect violence to promote the repeated civilian displacement within the enemy's rearguard serves as indirect mechanism by which to exhaust the enemy by eroding the enemy's ability to maintain territorial control, both in the short and long term. As opposition groups are faced with the meeting the demands of the local civilian population in an increasingly concentrated geographical expanse, and the more civilians are randomly displaced within enemy-held territory, the more pressure the opposition group has placed on its governance capacity and the more exhausted the enemy becomes. This in turn weakens the ability of the enemy to maintain territorial control. However, I argue that these effects vary across armed groups, dependent upon each group's respective governance capacity. This effect is also amplified when the enemy does not represent a unitary movement.

This dissertation examines three aspects of peacekeeping research within the overall framework of peacekeeping effectiveness and its impacts on troop-contributing countries (TCC). This dissertation comprises three different papers that employ three different methodological approaches. The first paper investigates why the military failed to achieve its primary mandate of the protection of civilians (POC) in the wake of continued killings of civilians despite the presence of peacekeepers. The general expectation from the military is to contain or eliminate violent incidents and civilian deaths in areas of responsibility (AOR). Utilizing a case study of Beni, DRC —a highly violent and militarized area in Eastern DRC— a novel dataset is created based on the daily situation reports from one battalion deployed in Beni DRC from January 2014 to September 2017. The spatial analysis at the village and AOR levels found that night patrolling effectively reduces civilian deaths. However, in a highly contested area, military operations leave the civilian population in the vicinity more vulnerable as they are more prone to retaliatory actions from armed groups. The second paper examines the effects of peacekeepers' fatalities on troops' contributions to UN peacekeeping missions. It is hard to justify the killings of soldiers in a conflict with no imminent national security interest/threat, which can create domestic resistance and might pose challenges regarding troops' contributions to UN peacekeeping missions. This study seeks to uncover why countries are increasingly contributing troops to UN peacekeeping missions despite suffering casualties and deaths using large N cross-sectional data between 1990 to 2022 across different regime types and countries with varying levels of development. The findings suggest no evidence for casualty sensitivity arguments. Once deployed, TCCs increase their contribution in response to fatalities, more so in the peacekeeping mission with an enforcement mandate. Developing countries continue to provide peacekeepers in response to fatalities. The third paper examines the impact of peacekeeping dependence on the domestic civil-military relationship in troop-contributing countries, explicitly asking the question about the preference of military officers regarding military intervention in responding to the domestic political crisis. It does so with a survey experiment among the military officers within the Nepalese Army. The evidence suggests that military officers are generally less supportive of military intervention in domestic crises but when future participation in UN peacekeeping missions is at stake, military officers do support intervention in domestic politics.

Regional cooperation is widely acknowledged as a crucial element in fostering peace and prosperity among nations, yet few systematic studies have investigated the forces that promote and sustain it. This dissertation examines regional cooperation through the lens of states, state-led institutions, and non-state actors. In order to achieve this, the study first aims to undertake a systematic analysis of the correlates associated with regional cooperation, using country pairings to analyze where cooperation takes place. Second, I explore the role of international civil society in promoting regional cooperation. To gauge international civil society, a new dataset on International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) is constructed and introduced. The first part of my dissertation constructs two datasets on International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs). There is no ready-to-use, publicly available data source in the literature for researchers wishing to analyze INGOs systematically. There are a variety of online data sources, but none are based on identified inclusion criteria. I identify as INGOs all United Nations- accredited NGOs and construct two datasets: one of the INGOs and the other of INGOs at the state-year level of analysis. Both datasets can be integrated with other datasets, facilitating engagement with a broad range of research questions. While the INGO-level dataset provides information for 6,595 INGOs from 1816 to 2022, the state-level dataset includes 15,024 state-year observations from 1946 to 2022. The second part of the dissertation investigates the conditions under which regional countries engage in cooperation. Analyses of memberships in 76 regional organizations from 1945 to 2012 yield several factors as significant forces of regional cooperation. In order of importance, these are joint democracy, joint language, equal material capability, and trade interdependence. I found that weaker countries are more hesitant to cooperate with stronger ones within regions. At the theoretical level, this research supports a liberal explanation for regional interstate organization, emphasizing factors such as trade and democracy, over a hegemonic realist explanation that centers on power asymmetry. The third part of the dissertation examines the role of international civil society in regional cooperation. Drawing on the new INGO dataset, I found that the more international non-governmental organizations shared by two countries in a dyad in a year, the more likely the two countries share common memberships in Regional Organizations (ROs), Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), and Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). Even after accounting for such factors as democracy, economic status, and alliances, the results yield a robust correlation between the engagement of INGOs and the advancement of regional interstate cooperation.

Free content websites that provide free books, music, games, movies, etc., have existed on the Internet for many years. While it is a common belief that such websites might be different from premium websites providing the same content types in terms of their security, a rigorous analysis that supports this belief is lacking from the literature. In particular, it is unclear if those websites are as safe as their premium counterparts. In this dissertation, we set out to investigate the similarities and differences between free content and premium websites, including their risk profiles. Moreover, we analyze and quantify through measurements the potential vulnerability of free content websites. For this purpose, we compiled a dataset of free content websites offering books, games, movies, music, and software. For comparison purposes, we also sampled a dataset of premium content websites, where users need to pay for using the service for the same type of content. For our modality of analysis, we use the SSL certificate's public information, HTTP header information, reported privacy and data sharing practices, top-level domain information, and website files and loaded scripts. The analysis is not straightforward, and en route, we address various challenges, including labeling and annotation, privacy policy understanding through a highly accurate pre-trained language model using advanced ensemble-based classification technique at the sentence and paragraph level, and data augmentation through various sources. This dissertation delivers various significant findings and conclusions concerning the security of free content websites. Our findings raise several concerns, including that the reported privacy policies may not reflect the data collection practices used by service providers, and pronounced biases across privacy policy categories. Overall, our study highlights that while there are no explicit costs associated with those websites, the cost is often implicit, in the form of compromised security and privacy.