This thesis is dealing with vulnerabilities of web applications. The aim of the work is to create tools for attack detection of certain attacks, specifically Same Origin Method Execution (SOME), XML Signature Wrapping attack, XPATH Injection, HTTP Response Smuggling and Server-Side Includes (SSI) injection. Another aim is to create logs that display detected attacks. In the first part, the theory is analyzed and vulnerabilities of chosen attacks are described including their misuse. In the next section there are web application implemented which contain vulnerabilities for successful execution of the attacks. Furthermore, in Python language detection methods are designed and developed for these attacks, which are accompanied by a log entry.

In this dissertation, I investigate the role of oil resources and economic and political institutional quality on the economic performance of Iran. To this end, I examine four related themes. First and foremost, I provide a detailed picture of the economic structure of Iran and compare its performance with other oil and non-oil economies of the Middle East and the Middle Easterb region. As we get a clear picture of the relative economic position of Iran in the MENA region, I go further into macroeconomic analyses of oil wealth effects on the Iranian economy. The second theme investigated in this dissertation is the interaction of political power structure with oil rents and their effects on Iranian economic growth. This study is the first examination which takes into consideration political factionalism interaction with oil rents in the case of Iran. The results show that oil resources have a direct positive effect on economic growth in Iran. However, the interaction effect of factionalism (as a proxy for political asymmetry degree) with oil rents is negative and significant. The third theme which is examined in this study is illegal trade in Iran. This topic is also related to natural resource management in Iran. A large number of fuel products smuggled from Iran are due to heavy subsidies within the country. In this study, I measure the amount of illegal trade in Iran, identifying the major causes and indicators of smuggling. The average of illegal trade in Iran’s total trade is 13%. The value of annual illegal trade, on average, is within the range of $ 2.5 - 3 billion. The fourth topic which is examined in this dissertation is macroeconomic populism in Iran. The main source of financing populism spending in Iran is the oil revenues. Therefore, it is connected to the management of natural resources.

Palach Press: Press and Literary Agency. The Exile Agency Study and the Comparation of the Presentation of the Affairs with the Official Mass Media in the Czechoslovakia. Abstract This thesis is a study about literary and press agency Palach Press. The agency was established by Jan Kavan and operated in London in 1970s and 1980s. Its main purpose was to provide information on Czechoslovakia to western journalists and Czech journalist in exile. There was a communication of the alternative public sphere because of a non-functional public sphere, where should be free exchange of opinions. There was a distribution channel of altered camping cars, attached to the Palach Press agency, used to smuggle literature and other materials to Czechoslovakia. Second part of the thesis is practical and focuses on the actual production of Palach Press agency and compares it with information provided by official media in Czechoslovakia, especially with the news published by Czechoslovak press agency. Content analysis is based on the criteria of objectivity.

La prolifération des armes à feu illégales en territoire canadien a un impact sur l’augmentation de la violence armée observée au cours des dernières années. La mobilité des armes illégales au Canada a été étudiée par des chercheurs. Toutefois, le sujet des sources alimentant ce marché illicite n’a été que très peu abordé au sein de la littérature scientifique. L’une des possibilités reliées à cette thématique présente les États-Unis comme source d’approvisionnement en armes à feu illégales au Canada. C’est à travers cette idée que s’inscrit l’objectif principal de ce mémoire. En effet, cette étude vise une recontextualisation de la problématique du trafic d’armes à feu au Canada en tant qu’enjeu sécuritaire transnational selon le postulat identifiant les États-Unis comme la principale source d’alimentation du marché noir des armes à feu au Canada. Afin de répondre à cet objectif, nous décrivons d’abord l’environnement au travers duquel s’articulent les dynamiques de contrebande d’armes à feu au Canada. Ensuite, nous portons notre regard sur la réponse institutionnelle reliée au contrôle et à la lutte contre le trafic transfrontalier d’armes à feu. Une méthodologie qualitative basée sur l’analyse d’entretiens semi-dirigés avec des acteurs impliqués au sein d’organisations d’application de la loi, de rapports et de documents gouvernementaux ainsi que de documentation juridique a été utilisée dans le cadre de cette étude. Les résultats découlant des analyses présentées dans ce mémoire permettent tout d’abord de contextualiser l’enjeu de la contrebande transfrontalière d’armes à feu entre les États-Unis et les Canada ainsi que les efforts des organisations d’application de la loi en matière de contrôle. Ils permettent également de mettre en lumière les disparités existantes entre la nécessité d’une utilisation efficiente du renseignement et la réalité sur le terrain. En effet, les lacunes quant à la collecte et à l’analyse des données reliées à la contrebande transfrontalière d’armes à feu ont un impact sur le ciblage et l’orientation des mesures visant à lutter contre cet enjeu. / The proliferation of illegal firearms on Canadian soil has had an impact on the increase in gun violence observed in recent years. The mobility of illegal firearms in Canada has been studied by researchers. However, the topic of the sources of this illicit market has received very little attention in the scientific literature. One of the possibilities related to this theme presents the United States as a source of supply of illegal firearms in Canada. It is through this idea that the main objective of this thesis lies. Indeed, this study aims to recontextualize the problem of firearms trafficking in Canada as a transnational security issue based on the premise that the United States is the main source of supply for the black market in firearms in Canada. More specifically, in such a context, firearms would be brought into Canada through cross-border smuggling. First, we define the environment through which the dynamics of firearms smuggling in Canada are articulated. Secondly, we examine the institutional response to controlling and combating cross-border firearms trafficking. A qualitative methodology based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews with actors involved in law enforcement organizations, government reports and documents, and legal documentation was used in this study. The results of the analyses presented in this paper first contextualize the issue of cross-border firearms smuggling between the United States and Canada and the control efforts of law enforcement agencies. They also highlight the disparities between the need for efficient use of intelligence and the reality of the operational environment. Gaps in data collection and analysis related to crossborder firearms smuggling have an impact on the targeting and direction of measures to combat this issue.

Since 2015, malicious actors have been using SVG files to obfuscate malware from potential defensive mechanisms and carry out attacks undetected through the use of smuggling tech- niques [1]. Throughout this thesis, we use the Design Science Research methodology in order to design and develop an artefact able to detect these attacks within a real network infrastruc- ture, while minimising the impact on the user experience. For the designed artefact to answer these challenges, we conduct two scoping reviews: an analysis of seven of these incidents to determine the technique used to perform the smuggling. This is followed by a map of the dif- ferent security processes available to network administrators and individuals who search for open-source technologies and aim to close the gap left by lack of these solutions.  Moreover the paper proposes a SVG parser and a Random Forest classifier to extract valu- able features needed to find the malicious payloads hidden in the graphics. The performance of the artefact is analysed to determine its suitability for real-world usage and if an adequate success rate is reached. The paper finally concludes that the task of obfuscated malware de- tection is a multi-faceted problem and the artefact, while successful, is a suitable blueprint for exploring future improvements in the field.

This study was conducted in order to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of drug trafficking with specific reference as to how South African drug mules are used in crossborder drug smuggling. Through media analysis, semi-structured interviews with drug trafficking experts and a literature study the researcher was able to make findings and recommendations as per the objectives of the study. The objectives of the study included examining how drug mules smuggle drugs across South African borders; what role drug mules play in drug trafficking syndicates and the motivations and reasons why South Africans are increasingly being recruited as drug mules. The researcher also attempted to determine the nature and extent of the drug demand supply in and to South Africa. By making the deduction that drug demand and drug supply are interrelated the researcher was ultimately able to conclude that drug mules will continue to engage in drug smuggling as long as there is a demand for drugs and readily available drug supply routes to and from a county. From the media reports analysed cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin were the drugs most smuggled by South African drug mules. It is also clear from the media reports that cocaine and methamphetamine are smuggled in the largest quantities by South African drug mules. The quantities of heroin found in the possession of South African drug mules were insignificantly small. This contradicts treatment centre data analysed that indicated heroin and methamphetamine users were almost double in numbers in comparison to cocaine users being treated at centres. Most South African drug mules are used to smuggle drugs to the cocaine markets in Europe and South Africa; the cannabis/marijuana (herb) market in Europe; the cannabis (resin) hashish market in Canada and the United States of America; the crystal methamphetamine market in the Far East (largely Japan and Korea) and the heroin market in South Africa. Using criminology theories as a basis, the researcher attempted to describe why people are vulnerable to being recruited as drug mules. Findings concluded that structural factors such as poverty and unemployment and substance abuse-related problems, particularly in marginalised and disadvantaged communities, all contribute to South Africans becoming drug mules. Recommendations by the researcher focused on identifying specific vulnerabilities associated with drug mule recruiting and its consideration in legislation relating to drug trafficking in South Africa. The recommendations focus on the specific prosecution of drug abusers, drug mules, drug distributors and drug mule recruiters. Lastly it is projected by the researcher that the drug demand in South Africa will continue to increase if the drug supply routes and drug smuggling operations by syndicates are not addressed more firmly / Criminology / M.A. (Criminology)

This study was conducted in order to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of drug trafficking with specific reference as to how South African drug mules are used in crossborder drug smuggling. Through media analysis, semi-structured interviews with drug trafficking experts and a literature study the researcher was able to make findings and recommendations as per the objectives of the study. The objectives of the study included examining how drug mules smuggle drugs across South African borders; what role drug mules play in drug trafficking syndicates and the motivations and reasons why South Africans are increasingly being recruited as drug mules. The researcher also attempted to determine the nature and extent of the drug demand supply in and to South Africa. By making the deduction that drug demand and drug supply are interrelated the researcher was ultimately able to conclude that drug mules will continue to engage in drug smuggling as long as there is a demand for drugs and readily available drug supply routes to and from a county. From the media reports analysed cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin were the drugs most smuggled by South African drug mules. It is also clear from the media reports that cocaine and methamphetamine are smuggled in the largest quantities by South African drug mules. The quantities of heroin found in the possession of South African drug mules were insignificantly small. This contradicts treatment centre data analysed that indicated heroin and methamphetamine users were almost double in numbers in comparison to cocaine users being treated at centres. Most South African drug mules are used to smuggle drugs to the cocaine markets in Europe and South Africa; the cannabis/marijuana (herb) market in Europe; the cannabis (resin) hashish market in Canada and the United States of America; the crystal methamphetamine market in the Far East (largely Japan and Korea) and the heroin market in South Africa. Using criminology theories as a basis, the researcher attempted to describe why people are vulnerable to being recruited as drug mules. Findings concluded that structural factors such as poverty and unemployment and substance abuse-related problems, particularly in marginalised and disadvantaged communities, all contribute to South Africans becoming drug mules. Recommendations by the researcher focused on identifying specific vulnerabilities associated with drug mule recruiting and its consideration in legislation relating to drug trafficking in South Africa. The recommendations focus on the specific prosecution of drug abusers, drug mules, drug distributors and drug mule recruiters. Lastly it is projected by the researcher that the drug demand in South Africa will continue to increase if the drug supply routes and drug smuggling operations by syndicates are not addressed more firmly / Criminology and Security Science / M. A. (Criminology)

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This thesis makes two related arguments regarding the academic field of migration and refugee studies (MARS) and the control of migration by UK state agencies. The first, and more empirical one, is that the former facilitated the latter: the field’s members provided symbolic, technical, and pedagogic assistance to two non-departmental public bodies in controlling migration. The second, and more theoretical, argument of this thesis is that MARS facilitated migration control because of culture, power, and structure. It is through the field’s implication in the coercion of its human subjects by UK state agencies that MARS academics a) answered their calling, b) assisted class rule as ideologists, and c) separated sacred and profane by policing endogamy. The introduction describes the existing literature on the relationship between MARS and migration control. The consensus is that the former facilitated the latter. However, these studies fail to provide detailed accounts of the ways in which it did so. Chapter One defines the elements of my more empirical argument: MARS and migration control. An historical narrative outlines the institutional development of the field since its beginnings in the early 1980s. Then a new model for understanding migration control – i.e., migrant CODAR – is described. Chapter Two uses this model to trace the actor network through which MARS academics facilitated the restriction of their human subjects’ mobility by the UK state agencies of the Advisory Panel on Country Information and the Migration Advisory Committee. Chapters Three, Four, and Five use Weberian, Marxist, and Durkheimian anthropological approaches (respectively) to explain the implication of MARS and migration control that is described in Chapters One and Two. Finally, the conclusion of the thesis discusses its contributions to both more particular (i.e., the literature surveyed in the introduction on MARS and migration control) and more general (i.e., anthropology) scholarly fields.

This dissertation addresses organized crime in post-Soviet Eurasia (Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan) exploring the nexus between politics, business and crime. Based on extensive field research in the three countries the dissertation examines organized crime groups in the region and describes their inter-relationships with political and business elites, then discusses the impact of the three countries’ Coloured Revolutions on crime and corruption. The impacts of the revolutions on organized crime are situated in several variables, among them political opposition to incumbent regimes; the strength of civil society and the role of organized crime groups during the revolutionary processes; personal morals of the leaders and their views on cooperation with organized crime; and the presence and nature of the “pact” between outgoing and incoming elites. The dissertation also takes into account larger explanatory variables, such as geography, natural resources, industry, and regional wars and documents their role in shaping organized crime. In accounting for the diverging patterns of the three countries in terms of post-revolutionary effects on crime and corruption, the role of the West, defined as a “push” factor for democratization, and the experience of earlier statehood are also considered. The interaction between elites and criminals is regarded as a crucial part of state formation, and is characterized by shifting dominance between the actors of the underworld and upperworld. The thesis identifies points of cooperation and conflict between licit and illicit actors, and provides insight into the collusive nature of criminal networks in the post-Soviet context, arguing that the distinction between licit and illicit is frequently blurred and the representatives of the upperworld are sometimes key participants in organized criminal activity.