Title: The threat of terrorism with focus on soft targets Objectives: The main aim of this work is to describe the security issues of terrorism in the Czech Republic with a focus on soft targets. Another aim is to verify whether, according to valid legislation and documents relating to the fight against terrorism in the Czech Republic, the IRS components are prepared to actively face a terrorist attack on their basis and procedure. Methods: The chosen method is the literary search of Czech and foreign literature, legislation on the fight against terrorism at the level of the Czech Republic and the European Union, and internet sources. Determination of the activities of the IRS components during a terrorist attack, protection of soft targets and explanation of the term terrorism, its forms, methods and what types are most commonly used. In particular, it focuses on the legislative framework which, in the event of a terrorist attack, will be instrumental for IRS components and other components subject to this legislation. Results: It has been found that both terrorism and the fight against it are constantly evolving. In the case of terrorist attacks on soft targets, the currently drafted legislation at the level of both the Czech Republic and the European Union and the components of the Integrated...

abstract: For systems having computers as a significant component, it becomes a critical task to identify the potential threats that the users of the system can present, while being both inside and outside the system. One of the most important factors that differentiate an insider from an outsider is the fact that the insider being a part of the system, owns privileges that enable him/her access to the resources and processes of the system through valid capabilities. An insider with malicious intent can potentially be more damaging compared to outsiders. The above differences help to understand the notion and scope of an insider. The significant loss to organizations due to the failure to detect and mitigate the insider threat has resulted in an increased interest in insider threat detection. The well-studied effective techniques proposed for defending against attacks by outsiders have not been proven successful against insider attacks. Although a number of security policies and models to deal with the insider threat have been developed, the approach taken by most organizations is the use of audit logs after the attack has taken place. Such approaches are inspired by academic research proposals to address the problem by tracking activities of the insider in the system. Although tracking and logging are important, it is argued that they are not sufficient. Thus, the necessity to predict the potential damage of an insider is considered to help build a stronger evaluation and mitigation strategy for the insider attack. In this thesis, the question that seeks to be answered is the following: `Considering the relationships that exist between the insiders and their role, their access to the resources and the resource set, what is the potential damage that an insider can cause?' A general system model is introduced that can capture general insider attacks including those documented by Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) for the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Further, initial formulations of the damage potential for leakage and availability in the model is introduced. The model usefulness is shown by expressing 14 of actual attacks in the model and show how for each case the attack could have been mitigated. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2019

Higher prevalence of gender harassment has previously been identified in male dominated workforces, but not in academia. Factors such as implicit bias, male dominance, perceived gender threat, and heightened masculinity may increase the likelihood of gender harassment occurring in an academic setting. Two studies investigated this. In Study 1, one hundred seventy-one (92 male, 79 female) participants from male dominated and gender equivalent majors completed an online survey in which their explicit attitudes regarding gender and authority (GAM; see Rudman & Kilianski, 2000), and implicit associations regarding gender and careers (IAT; see Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) were measured. Additionally, female participants completed a sexual experiences questionnaire (SEQ; see Fitzgerald et al., 1988). Men from male dominated majors did not exhibit more explicit attitudes favoring men in authority than men from gender equivalent majors (p = .220, d = .26), but did exhibit more implicit bias stereotyping men as associated with careers and women with the family (p = .017, d = .51). Females from male dominated majors experienced more gender harassment than females from gender equivalent majors (p = .017, d = .55). In Study 2, one hundred fifty-four male participants self-reported their masculinity, completed a group task with a female confederate leader serving as a gender threat in half the conditions, and then had their subsequent affect, perceptions of leadership effectiveness, and behavioral aggression measured. Men from male dominated majors and men who had received a gender threat did not differ from men from gender equivalent majors and men who had not received a gender threat on affect, perceptions of leadership effectiveness, or behavioral aggression (ps > .201, ηp2s ≤ .007). However, additional analyses revealed that as masculinity increased among men from male dominated majors under gender threat, they became more behaviorally aggressive (b = 5.92, p = .003) and perceived their female's leader's leadership as being less effective (b = -0.83, p = .076). Based on these findings, it is recommended that future research on gender harassment focus on men from male dominated majors who are high on masculinity.

This thesis analyzes the Sovereign Citizens Movement—considered a domestic terrorist organization by the FBI— to determine if the label “terrorist organization” is appropriately applied, and then to assess the effectiveness of government protocols. The Sovereign Citizens Movement is a loose organization of individuals who adhere to an anti-government ideology. In most cases their actions are limited to fraudulent activity; however there have been individuals who resorted to violence in their engagements with government officials. This thesis concludes that the label “terrorist organization” does not describe the movement well, but that it is more likely that some individuals extrapolate the ideology and choose violence on their own, making them lone-wolf terrorists. Another conclusion of this thesis is that there needs to be a regular set of protocols established for all government agencies for interacting with Sovereigns. The method created by Rob Finch and Kory Flowers, which incorporates both law enforcement officials and legal professionals, provides the most effective way to interact with Sovereigns.

Previous research shows that social biases, such as pro-White racial bias, can influence a person's decisions and behaviors (Correll et al. 2007; Mekawi & Bresin, 2015). Studies also suggest that social biases may influence basic functions like visual perception (Cesario & Navarrete, 2014); however, few studies have examined the relationship between visual perceptions and threat (Cesario, Placks, Hagiwara, Navarrete, & Higgins, 2010; Todd, Thiem, & Neel, 2016). The current research aims to investigate whether implicit pro-White preference can influence basic functions like visual perception. A secondary aim of this study is to examine the role of threat in this relationship. To test, White male and female participants (N= 29) were asked to complete distance estimates to either a Black or White male experimenter. It was hypothesized that participants would judge the distance to the Black confederate as closer compared to those who estimate the distance to a White confederate. The results marginally supported the idea that participants’ distance judgements were influenced by the experimenter’s race, such that the Black experimenter was viewed as closer when compared to the White experimenter. However, results showed that implicit racial attitudes did not influence distance estimations, but explicit bias did. Fully powered follow-up studies will be conducted to further examine these hypotheses and investigate whether a type one error was present.

Despite technological advances in the information security field, attacks by unauthorized individuals and groups continue to penetrate defenses. Due to the rapidly changing environment of the Internet, the appearance of newly developed malicious software or attack techniques accelerates while security professionals continue in a reactive posture with limited time for identifying new threats. The problem addressed in this study was the perceived value of threat intelligence as a proactive process for information security. The purpose of this study was to explore how situation awareness is enhanced by receiving advanced intelligence reports resulting in better decision-making for proper response to security threats. Using a qualitative case study methodology a purposeful sample of 13 information security professionals were individually interviewed and the data analyzed through Nvivo 11 analytical software. The research questions addressed threat intelligence and its impact on the security analyst's cognitive situation awareness. Analysis of the data collected indicated that threat intelligence may enhance the security analyst's situation awareness, as supported in the general literature. In addition, this study showed that the differences in sources or the lack of an intelligence program may have a negative impact on determining the proper security response in a timely manner. The implications for positive social change include providing leaders with greater awareness through threat intelligence of ways to minimize the effects of cyber attacks, which may result in increasing business and consumer confidence in the protection of personal and confidential information.

This thesis integrated the cognitive-contextual model of Grych and Fincham (1990) and the emotional security framework of Davies and Cummings (1994; Cummings & Davies, 1996) to investigate the role played by children's threat perceptions in the relationship between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Past research has emphasised the importance of children's appraisals of the threat posed by parent conflict for understanding links between interparental conflict and child outcomes. However, little is known about what it is that children actually find threatening about parent conflict, and what contributes to children's appraisals of threat in the context of parent conflict. In study 1, children (n = 236) aged 10 to 16 years were recruited to examine the relative contribution of four specific threat subtypes - fear of parent conflict escalating, fear of being drawn into parent conflict, fear of parent conflict resulting in family breakdown, and fear of parent conflict disrupting attachment relationships with parents - in explaining links between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Results showed that boys' fear of being drawn into parent conflict mediated the relationship between conflict severity and child internalising problems, while for girls it was a fear of parent conflict disrupting attachment relationships with parents that mediated this relationship. Threat was not found to mediate relationships between interparental conflict and child externalising problems. In study 2, families (n = 57) were recruited to investigate how aspects of parent conflict, and characteristics of the context in which the conflict occurs, shapes children's appraisals of the four specific threat subtypes in response to interparental conflict. The study adopted broader measures, including independent observations, of conflict, context, and child adjustment to further delineate the pathways linking interparental conflict, specific threat appraisals, and child adjustment. Results indicated that children perceived greater threat in the context of destructive parent conflict resolution behaviour, and lower threat in the context of positive family relationships (particularly the mother/child relationship). Specific aspects of conflict and context were differentially related to the four threat appraisals. Direct, gender-specific relationships were found between aspects of parent conflict resolution behaviour and family relationship security, and child outcomes. However, once these relationships were accounted for, specific threat perceptions were not found to predict child outcomes. Overall, the findings of this study suggested that positive parent/child relationships (in particular the mother/child relationship) modulated the stressfulness of parent conflict for children, making it more benign in terms of its impact on children's threat appraisals, and their longer-term adjustment in the context of conflict. Results of the thesis are discussed in terms of the importance of studying relationships between specific aspects of conflict, context, appraisals, and adjustment to further understand those situations in which children find interparental conflict stressful, and those in which they cope adaptively with interparental conflict.

Controlled scientific research into obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adulthood has considerably progressed over the past two decades; however, current research into childhood OCD is still in its infancy by comparison. As a result, current psychological conceptualisations of OCD during childhood, including approaches to treatment, are almost entirely based on adult models of the disorder. Previous research however, examining the clinical phenomenology of OCD has provided some evidence that OCD might be associated with different clinical correlates at different stages of development. In particular, there appears to be a bimodal distribution in terms of the age of onset of the disorder, a male predominance during childhood and adolescence compared to adulthood, stronger familial aggregation of OCD in early onset cases, and differences in the types of symptoms and the patterns of comorbidity across age groups. The first study aimed to assess the developmental continuity in clinical correlates of OCD across 3 distinct age groups, including; children (n = 40), adolescents (n = 44) and adults (n = 41). It was hypothesised that the sample of children would be predominantly male, and would have a higher familial aggregation of OCD and/or anxiety/depression in first-degree relatives. It was further hypothesised that there would be significant age-related differences in terms of specific symptoms, patterns of comorbidity, OCD severity, functional impairment, and level of insight and distress. The results of this study supported the developmental heterogeneity hypothesis, with significant differences occurring across age groups on a number of clinical features of OCD including age at onset, symptoms experienced, comorbidity, severity, insight and impairment. The recognition of developmental differences in clinical features of OCD will assist in the accurate assessment and diagnosis of the disorder, and will allow for refinement of current treatment strategies to ensure treatments effectively target features of the disorder as it presents at different developmental stages. While the cognitive theory of OCD is one of the most widely accepted accounts of the maintenance of the disorder in adults, no study to date has systematically evaluated this theory across children, adolescents and adults with the disorder. Until empirical investigation examines the applicability of this theory to children and adolescents, we know very little about the cognitive processes associated with OCD during childhood or adolescence. The second study investigated developmental differences in the cognitive processing of threat in a sample of children (n = 34), adolescents (n = 39) and adults (n = 38) with OCD. Using an idiographic assessment approach, as well as self-report questionnaires, this study evaluated cognitive appraisals of responsibility, probability, severity, thought-action fusion (TAF), thought-suppression, self-doubt and cognitive control. It was hypothesised that there would be age related differences in reported responsibility for harm, probability of harm, severity of harm, thought suppression, TAF, self-doubt and cognitive control. Results demonstrated that children with OCD reported experiencing fewer intrusive thoughts, which were less distressing and less uncontrollable than those experienced by adolescents and adults with OCD. Furthermore, responsibility attitudes, probability biases and thought suppression strategies were significantly higher in adolescents and adults with OCD, compared to children. Cognitive processes of TAF, perceived severity of harm, self-doubt and cognitive control were found to be comparable across age groups. These findings suggest that some cognitive biases associated with OCD in adults, are in fact also associated with OCD during childhood and adolescence, however there remains some discontinuity across specific cognitive processes. For a developmentally sensitive theory of OCD, further investigation is clearly warranted into other possible age related maintenance factors of this disorder. Implications of these 2 empirical investigations are highlighted and directions for future research are discussed.

<p>This work should be seen as a pilot study of the effect that the common-sense based statement that one understands and learns best in their best language has on pupils in Swedish schools.</p><p>A number of students have been given a mathematical test in the language they use for their normal school activities, and that is not their mother tongue. Some of them (approximately 50%) were led to believe this particular test to be language fair. Their average score on the test has then been compared to the average score on the same test of the remaining 50% students who considered the test a normal one. The difference in performance between the two subgroups has been interpreted with the help of the concept of stereotype threat.</p><p>This pilot study showed a trace of the hypothesised best language stereotype threat in a specific group of students and will hopefully serve as a guide for a larger work that could prove (or falsify) the existence of the best language stereo-type threat with statistical certainty, extend its range of applicability to a wider group of students and establish its size as compared to other related factors. A final caveat: This study is focussed on (and relevant only for those) students that perform their school activities in a language different from their mother tongue but that are fully operational in the teaching language.</p>

A steady increase of new immigrants to the United States has sparked a great debate on the financial impact the foreign born population has on public services. While the United States government has an extensive history on exclusions for potential public charges, the impact of negative attitudes towards immigrants has caused substantial changes in eligibility criteria for legal permanent residents and ultimately immigration policy at large. This report uses group threat theory, which predicts a punitive response from a dominant group when these individuals perceive a threat to their group interests to explain shifts in attitudes and corresponding changes in eligibility criteria for public benefit programs for immigrants. Additionally, this study examines how U.S. citizens’ misinformed perceptions of immigrants’ utilization of public programs may negatively influence public support for increased government spending on public health care programs. To quantify the implications of public attitudes, the study uses repeat crosssectional data on attitudes towards immigration from the General Social Survey (GSS) from 1994 (N=578), prior to Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. The responses are compared to a similar survey conducted by GSS in 2004 (N=365) an era of steep economic growth and substantially higher health care costs.