In recent years, there has been a significant increase in insider threats within organisations and these have caused massive losses and damages. Due to the fact that email communications are a crucial part of the modern-day working environment, many insider threats exist within organisations’ email infrastructure. It is a well-known fact that employees not only dispatch ‘business-as-usual’ emails, but also emails that are completely unrelated to company business, perhaps even involving malicious activity and unethical behaviour. Such insider threat activities are mostly caused by employees who have legitimate access to their organisation’s resources, servers, and non-public data. However, these same employees abuse their privileges for personal gain or even to inflict malicious damage on the employer. The problem is that the high volume and velocity of email communication make it virtually impossible to minimise the risk of insider threat activities, by using techniques such as filtering and rule-based systems. The research presented in this dissertation suggests strategies to minimise the risk of insider threat via email systems by employing a machine-learning-based approach. This is done by studying and creating categories of malicious behaviours posed by insiders, and mapping these to phrases that would appear in email communications. Furthermore, a large email dataset is classified according to behavioural characteristics of employees. Machine learning algorithms are employed to identify commonly occurring insider threats and to group the occurrences according to insider threat classifications. / Dissertation (MSc (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Computer Science / MSc (Computer Science) / Unrestricted

The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 was the start of the increasing tensions inthe Baltic sea. According to the Swedish government, the threats against the Nordic-Baltic countries have increased and this study will examine the Swedishgovernment’s security measures during the period of 2014 - 2020. Our methodselection is based on a qualitative text analysis. To review Sweden’s arrangements,we will analyse one proposition from a theoretical framework that is constituted ofthe Constructivism theory and the Securitization theory. The conclusion of the studyis that the Swedish government looks at the situation in the Baltic sea as amultidimensional security process. In order to protect the Swedish territory, thecountry must expand and strengthen both its national and international militarypower.

Social media platforms have become immensely popular over the years, leading to significant changes in cyberspace and the emergence of numerous challenges. These challenges have various faces, such as disinformation, online hate, cyberbullying, discrimination, biases, and other facets of harm. From the perspective of an end-user, the modern-age online ecosystem can be harmful in various ways, e.g., by consistently coming across disinformation in the online spaces or being targeted by a hate attack because of a specific ethnic or racial background. As we move forward, it is crucial to understand the nature and impact of new-age harms to make the Internet a safer place for everyone. To this end, my first contribution is the study of inauthentic accounts, also known as troll accounts. Troll accounts on social media are often sponsored by state actors aiming to manipulate public opinion on sensitive political topics. The strategy they commonly use is to interact with one another and appear innocuous to a regular user while covertly being used to spread toxic content and/or disinformation. I first study the effect that troll accounts have on online discussions on Reddit and show that state-sponsored troll accounts on Reddit produce threads that attract more toxic comments than other posts on the same subreddit. Next, I build TROLLMAGNIFIER, a detection system for troll accounts based on the observation that these accounts often exhibit loose coordination and interact with each other to advance specific narratives. TROLLMAGNIFIER learns the typical behavior of known troll accounts and identifies more that behave similarly. I show that using TROLLMAGNIFIER, one can grow the initial knowledge of potential trolls provided by Reddit by over 300%. Building upon the understanding of troll accounts and online campaigns, I then study the broader aspects of online disinformation. In this work, I study 19 influence campaigns on Twitter originating from various countries and identify several strategies adopted across different state actors, e.g., using scheduling services to delegate their posting tasks, utilizing fake third-party versions of popular applications (e.g., “Twitter for Android”) to post messages, extensively retweeting to push certain agendas, and posting innocuous messages (e.g., motivational quotes) to potentially avoid detection. Overall, I identify several universal traits among campaigns to create a cross-campaign detection system that can detect upto 94% accounts from unseen campaigns. Lastly, I delve deeper into the importance of cybersafety and study coordinated attacks, such as cyber-aggression and hate attacks, which are becoming increasingly common on video sharing networks like YouTube. Polarized online communities choose targets on prominent online platforms (e.g., YouTube) and organize their attacks by sending hateful messages to their target. The proposed system, TUBERAIDER, addresses this issue by automating the detection and attribution of attacks to their source communities, aiding in moderation, and understanding the motivations behind such actions. The system collects YouTube video links from diverse sources, including 4chan’s /pol/ board, r/The_Donald subreddit, and 16 incel subreddits. The attribution is performed through a machine learning classifier based on TF-IDF scores of important keywords and achieves an accuracy above 75% in attributing a coordinated attack to a given video. In summary, my research focuses on understanding, detecting, and combating online harms using a data-driven approach. I develop tools to mitigate the malicious behavior with the goal of offering policymakers guidelines to ensure user safety on social media platforms.

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to understand the experience of six therapists who had been threatened with harm or attacked by a client or a relative of a client in an outpatient setting. Semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data which were then analyzed using thematic coding. While some of the results of this study are consistent with existing literature on attacks on clinicians in acute inpatient settings, many of the study findings suggest that the experiences of therapists working in an outpatient setting who are threatened by a client or a relative of client are unique to that setting. Clinical implications are discussed. / Master of Science

Bakgrund: Hot och våld mot sjuksköterskor från patienter och närstående inom hälso- och sjukvården är ett globalt problem och kan yttra sig på olika sätt. Konsekvenserna av utsattheten kan skada sjuksköterskorna i sin profession, men även i livet utanför arbetet. Syfte: Att belysa sjuksköterskors utsatthet för hot och våld i professionen och dess konsekvenser. Metod: En allmän litteraturstudie som utgick från en induktiv ansats där tio vetenskapliga artiklar inkluderades. Analysen av artiklarna resulterade i tre huvudkategorier. Resultat: De huvudkategorier som framkom var: förekomst av och orsaker till hot och våld, konsekvenser av hot och våld samt organisationens ansvar vid hot och våld. Första kategorin belyser prevalensen av hot och våld och dess utbredning inom hälso- och sjukvården. Andra kategorin belyser hur sjuksköterskan kan ta skada av utsattheten för hot och våld. Tredje kategorin betonar vikten av organisatoriskt stöd, samt betydelsen av utbildning och rätt förutsättningar för sjuksköterskan vid hot och/eller våld. Konklusion/implikation: Utsattheten i relation till organisationens bristande stöd bidrog till att sjuksköterskor tänkte över sitt val av yrke. Mer forskning behövs inom området för att minimera risker och konsekvenser för hot och våld. / Background: Threats and violence to nursing staff, from patients and relatives, in healthcare is a global problem and can manifest itself in different ways. The consequences of exposure to harm, or threat of harm, to nurses in their professional practice but also in their private life outside of work. Purpose: To illustrate nurses' exposure to threats and violence in the profession and its consequences. Method: A general literature study based on an inductive approach where in ten scientific articles were included. The analysis of the articles resulted in three main categories. Results: The main categories were: the occurrence and causes of threats and violence, the consequences of threats and violence and the organization's responsibility in the event of threats and violence. The first category highlights the prevalence of threats and violence and its spread through the health care. The second category highlights how an individual nurse can be harmed by exposure to threats and violence. The third category emphasizes the importance of organizational support, as well as the importance of training and the correct practices regarding the nurse in the event of threats and/or violence. Conclusion/implication: The exposure in relation to the organization's lack of support contributed to nurses rethinking their chosen profession. More research is needed in the area to minimize risks and consequences of threats and violence.

There are currently growing geopolitical tensions within the Arctic region. Furthermore, climate change is quickly providing easier access to the Arctic region and its natural resources, strategic positioning, and unclaimed territory. Simultaneously, the EC and EU Arctic states are pushing public discourse with an incorporated distaste for the growing geopolitical tensions and increasing interest by certain states. However, there is a lack of academic literature applying a poststructuralist approach to the construction of these security threats within this topic. Therefore, the thesis will incorporate several theoretical tools by prominent poststructuralists such as Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida, including identity, deconstruction, and power/knowledge for the analysis.  Moreover, the chosen methodological approach for the analysis is a predicate analysis. The predicate analysis aided the thesis in successfully approaching the research question, by exploring how the EC and EU Arctic states have constructed Russia as a security threat through their public Arctic discourse. Thus, the findings concluded that the EC and EU Arctic states do construct Russia as a security threat within their public discourse through the chosen theoretical tools.

Test anxiety is a prevalent stressor which negatively impacts academic performance in evaluative situations. Previous literature has shown that attention biases (AB) to threats are implicated with general anxiety. However, few studies have examined the effect between AB to relevant threats (i.e., testing threats) and test anxiety. This study addressed previous gaps by examining whether temperamental effortful control and frontal EEG asymmetry (FA) impacted the relation between an exogenous AB to test threats and test anxiety in undergraduate students. A dot-probe task with test threat words as the target was given to the students. Paired-sample T tests show the presence of an AB to test threats in the endogenous (i.e., 500ms) condition but not in the exogenous (i.e., 250ms) condition. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that right FA modulated the positive relation between AB to test threats with test anxiety and positive relation between test anxiety with AB to test threats. Attentional control negatively predicted test anxiety but not the AB to test threats. AC and IC did not significantly interact with either test anxiety or AB to test threats in predicting the other (i.e., test anxiety predicting AB to test threats and vice-versa). A four-way interaction indicated that greater test anxiety predicts a stronger AB to test threats for those with right FA, low AC, and high IC. This four-way interaction result was conservatively considered due to the risk of overfitting. Results suggest the need to include FA in future studies of AB to test threats. / Doctor of Philosophy / Test anxiety is a prevalent stressor which negatively impacts academic performance in evaluative situations. Research shows that greater attention (i.e., attention biases; AB) to threats is related with general anxiety. However, few studies have examined the effect between AB to relevant threats (i.e., testing threats) and test anxiety. This study addressed previous gaps by examining whether temperamental effortful control and frontal EEG asymmetry (FA) impacted the relation between an exogenous AB to test threats and test anxiety in undergraduate students. A dot-probe task with test threat words as the target was given to the students. Paired-sample T tests show the presence of an AB to test threats in the endogenous (i.e., 500ms) condition but not in the exogenous (i.e., 250ms) condition. Results showed that positive relation between AB to test threats with test anxiety and positive relation between test anxiety with AB to test threats only occurred when students showed greater right FA. Lower attentional control predicted higher test anxiety but not the AB to test threats. AC and IC did not significantly interact with either test anxiety or AB to test threats in predicting the other (i.e., test anxiety predicting AB to test threats and vice-versa). A four-way interaction indicated that greater test anxiety predicts a stronger AB to test threats for those with right FA, low AC, and high IC. This four-way interaction result was conservatively considered due to the risk of overfitting. Results suggest the need to include FA in future studies of AB to test threats.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Robert K. Schaeffer / Kansas police chiefs are a unique group of individuals. Because are they located throughout the various sized communities within the state, they have the potential to affect the daily lives of more people on a day-today basis than any other branch of law enforcement. The purpose of this study was to analyze how police chiefs prioritize emerging threats. In this study, using a purposeful sample, 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Kansas police chiefs across the state. These police chiefs were asked about their views on the biggest emerging threats they have observed within the last 10 years. They were also asked why certain threats become priorities and why others do not. Police chiefs were split on their thoughts of whether or not they believed resources should be allocated in their communities to defend against terrorism in Kansas. What was discovered during the research process went beyond learning about the process of change for threat prioritization, or what specific threats Kansas police chiefs think their communities are facing today. What was discovered was a deeper understanding of how police chiefs think when it comes to the relationship between police departments, police personnel, and community. As police chiefs addressed the processes by which they go about prioritizing emerging threats, they illuminated a unique strategy hierarchy for success that is centered on maintaining positive departmental perception. To maintain this perception, police chiefs work both officially and covertly within governmental structures and the public sphere to control how people think about their personnel and department. A prominent difference was seen in the physical proximity and accessibility of police chiefs to the community between small, medium, and large towns. In effect, to come to an understanding of the process of prioritization for emerging threats for Kansas police chiefs, it was necessary to understand these police administrators’ unique thought processes that they bring to the table when addressing important issues.

This study analyses parliamentary intelligence oversight in South Africa by assessing the understanding of members of the JSCI of its core business, its mission and vision and powers and functions as are stipulated by law. The study locates the JSCI within an international intelligence oversight milieu through a review and evaluation of selected countries’ intelligence oversight mechanisms. Furthermore, international best practice is sought and applicable lessons are drawn for South Africa. The study is bases on a literature review and interviews with members of the JSCI to gather information and draw insights to evaluate and test the propositions in the context of international and national best practice. The propositions, which are supported by the research, are that: · Intelligence oversight in South Africa under the JSCI has hitherto been relatively effective although there is room for improvement. · The JSCI has good relations with the other arms of the state that are responsible for the oversight of Intelligence in South Africa – making parliamentary intelligence oversight, overall, quite effective. · Despite this effectiveness there are legislative gaps and problems pertaining to the modus operandi of the JSCI that need the attention of both the Executive and Legislature and which could be part of a package of legislative reform. The research supported these propositions whilst pointing out that new initiatives need attention if the culture of oversight is to find root. These are the need to widen the scope of accountability to build a culture of accountability among middle and senior management members of the Intelligence structures and secondly the way Parliament resources the JSCI. / Dissertation (M (Political Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

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