Near-field contact less payments using contactless cards or NFC devices are quickly becoming a quicker and more convenient alternative to conventional means of carrying out small value purchases. Along with their increased popularity, there are rising concerns regarding their security. Existing research has shown that certain attacks can be used successfully against contact less technology, but it is unclear how such attacks can be translated into a feasible and clear threat to a user's privacy and financial security. Therefore there is a need for an evaluation to determine whether physical layer based attacks could be used by attackers to cause financial or anonymity loss to an individual. This dissertation presents the design and implementation of an inconspicuous, easily concealable and portable system that could be used to reliably eavesdrop contactless transactions. This includes guidelines on the effective and efficient design of eavesdropping antennas, including the use of large metallic structures already within the vicinity of such an attack, along with the assembly of a communications receiver consisting of readily available electronics with a moderate cost.

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Defined as peer-generated product evaluations posted on company or third party websites (Mudambi & Schuff, 2010), online customer reviews are increasingly available for a wide range of products or services. Existing research on the factors that influence the effectiveness of online customer reviews has been implemented from a quantitative perspective, using experimentation and survey based methods to collect data, or analysing secondary data sets such as groups of online customer reviews from retailers such as Amazon. Whilst these studies were able to measure the impact of preselected determinants on concepts such as review helpfulness or review credibility they lacked qualitative in depth understanding, and fail to address key questions directly. This thesis marks a departure from existing studies that seek to understand the factors influencing the effectiveness of online customer reviews in that a qualitative approach was adopted to study a topic what has been previously studied from a quantitative perspective. It contributes to existing theory by providing a more in depth understanding of these factors, based on the testimonies of a sample made up of consumers that used online customer reviews on a regular basis. Sixteen interviews were conducted from a sample of twelve participants over two phases. In the pilot phase, participants discussed their experiences of using online customer reviews to assist with purchasing decisions, although the participant's responses were subject to the limitations of human memory. For the second phase, participants were given access to a PC and asked to locate online customer reviews related to an imminent purchasing decision. These reviews were then used as a stimulus for discussing the qualities of reviews that were seen as helpful and credible. The findings illustrated how many different factors across three categories (personal factors, environmental factors and message characteristics consisting of informational and normative determinants) enhanced or limited the effectiveness of online customer reviews, contributing to theory relating to the factors influencing review consultation and factors influencing perceptions of review helpfulness and review credibility. The findings also provide marketing managers and platform providers with detailed information that could be used to improve platforms, so that they can better facilitate the generation of reviews that are considered as helpful and credible by consumers that use them.

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There is hardly anything these days that is not being evaluated on the web. Books, dishwashers, lawyers, ex -boyfriends, doctors, haircuts and websites are just some examples targeted by novel review, rating and ranking schemes. Used in an increasing number of areas, these schemes tend 10 be conceptualised as techno-scientific solutions to public problems. By soliciting and aggregating feedback and distributing it as comments, lits, ratings and stories, they are thought to make hidden qualities transparent, hold people 10 account and foster participation. At the same time, the rapid proliferation of evaluative practice and its far-ranging implications have raised a number of concerns. This thesis sets out to investigate these claims through an empirical study of two distinct settings: web-based patient feedback and search engine optimisation. Drawing together recent work in Science and Technology Studies (STS), Neo-Foucauldian governance theory and ethnomethodology, I shall argue that there is a pressing need to appreciate and engage with evaluation both as and in practice. Attending to the everyday work of establishing, maintaining and- at times-disrupting these schemes, I set out to recast the current debate on online reviews, ratings and rankings and offer an alternative outlook by "respecifying" (Garfinkcl, 199 1) evaluation as governance. My ethnographic engagement with both patient feedback and search rankings allows me to reflect on a number of aspects of evaluative practice in digital media. Specifically, I explore the currency and status of "experience" as an ordering device; I report on "political moments" in review and moderation practices; I join the speculative work of SED consultants in search for a ranking formula; and I examine the various ways of ethicising participation in evaluative practice. The thesis suggests that evaluative practice-whether through accounting or counting- is peculiar in that it enacts its own intelligible character. Attending 10 these operations allows us to better understand how evaluators and evaluated, care and relevance, procedures and organisation are contingently accomplished in ongoing everyday practice.

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It has been suggested that the adoption of e-commerce by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) follows a sequence of stages with each representing increasing complexity and benefits. These models imply a development of their web sites in successive iterations or redesigns from basic use of the Internet (as a marketing tool) to the most advanced level of sophistication and integration. The EU and the UK government appear to believe such models and have used them in their e-commerce adoption encouragement policies for SMEs. However, recent research in Europe reveals that e-commerce initiatives in SMEs in most cases are still in their initial stages, which do not exceed the use of email and simple information-based web pages. This failure of SMEs to engage in the more advanced stages of adoption suggest that our understanding of the implementation and management of SME web sites over time is too limited. Thus, the main aim of this research is to establish an enhanced understanding of the dynamics of SME web site transformations over time to better support SME e-commerce progression. The specific objectives of this research are to (1) examine the literature that explain or guide the evolution of web sites and internet strategies, particularly in the context of SMEs, (2) develop a multidimensional framework that combines three dimensions of organisational change (extent, content and drivers) to characterise and model the evolution of the web presence of SMEs and (3) undertake a study of the types and characteristics of actual changes on a sample of SME web sites over time to demonstrate the relevance and applicability of the dimensions of the framework. This study employs both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The quantitative part of the study includes the collection and observation of the sample of SME web sites to study the extent of the changes and the content of the changes incorporated. The qualitative part of the study involves telephone interviews to seek additional information about the drivers for web site redesigns and complement the previous observations. It is argued that a research framework that combines three different dimensions of organisational change offers an alternative approach to e-commerce Stage Models in understanding the evolution of SME web sites over time. The developed framework is useful to academics by providing multiple perspectives that enable more insightful study of SME web site evolution, and avoid over-simple, a priori theory, e. g. staged approach. The framework is also argued to be useful for SME managers seeking to make the most of their limited resources in this context.

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