Spear Phishing

2019 ◽  
pp. 635-650
Author(s):  
Arun Vishwanath
Keyword(s):  
Computer Network ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Cyber Attack ◽  
Policy Suggestions ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Gain Access

The ubiquitous use of the Internet has made it possible for terrorist groups to remotely foment attacks with little risk of capture. Among the newest forms of attacks is cyber hacking, which has seen increased use by terrorist groups for acts ranging from pinpointing targets for assassination to holding organisations hostage and embarrassing governments. In almost all these attacks, spear phishing is the vector used to gain access to a computer network – making it imperative that policymakers find ways to stop it. This chapter provides an overview of the different types of spear phishing attacks and the reasons they succeed. The chapter then provides an overview of the different strategies being used to combat it and their relative effectiveness. Drawing from the latest social science research and from initiatives that have worked around the world, the chapter culminates with six policy suggestions, which could significantly reduce the effectiveness of spear phishing and protect nations from a major cyber attack.

Spear Phishing

2016 ◽  
pp. 469-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Vishwanath
Keyword(s):  
Computer Network ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Cyber Attack ◽  
Policy Suggestions ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Gain Access

The ubiquitous use of the Internet has made it possible for terrorist groups to remotely foment attacks with little risk of capture. Among the newest forms of attacks is cyber hacking, which has seen increased use by terrorist groups for acts ranging from pinpointing targets for assassination to holding organisations hostage and embarrassing governments. In almost all these attacks, spear phishing is the vector used to gain access to a computer network – making it imperative that policymakers find ways to stop it. This chapter provides an overview of the different types of spear phishing attacks and the reasons they succeed. The chapter then provides an overview of the different strategies being used to combat it and their relative effectiveness. Drawing from the latest social science research and from initiatives that have worked around the world, the chapter culminates with six policy suggestions, which could significantly reduce the effectiveness of spear phishing and protect nations from a major cyber attack.

Statistical and measurement pitfalls in the use of meta-regression in meta-analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 469-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank L. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Marketing Social ◽  
Meta Regression ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Almost All

Purpose Meta-regression is widely used and misused today in meta-analyses in psychology, organizational behavior, marketing, management, and other social sciences, as an approach to the identification and calibration of moderators, with most users being unaware of serious problems in its use. The purpose of this paper is to describe nine serious methodological problems that plague applications of meta-regression. Design/methodology/approach This paper is methodological in nature and is based on well-established principles of measurement and statistics. These principles are used to illuminate the potential pitfalls in typical applications of meta-regression. Findings The analysis in this paper demonstrates that many of the nine statistical and measurement pitfalls in the use of meta-regression are nearly universal in applications in the literature, leading to the conclusion that few meta-regressions in the literature today are trustworthy. A second conclusion is that in almost all cases, hierarchical subgrouping of studies is superior to meta-regression as a method of identifying and calibrating moderators. Finally, a third conclusion is that, contrary to popular belief among researchers, the process of accurately identifying and calibrating moderators, even with the best available methods, is complex, difficult, and data demanding. Practical implications This paper provides useful guidance to meta-analytic researchers that will improve the practice of moderator identification and calibration in social science research literatures. Social implications Today, many important decisions are made on the basis of the results of meta-analyses. These include decisions in medicine, pharmacology, applied psychology, management, marketing, social policy, and other social sciences. The guidance provided in this paper will improve the quality of such decisions by improving the accuracy and trustworthiness of meta-analytic results. Originality/value This paper is original and valuable in that there is no similar listing and discussion of the pitfalls in the use of meta-regression in the literature, and there is currently a widespread lack of knowledge of these problems among meta-analytic researchers in all disciplines.

scholarly journals Authority and Authors and Codes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J Madison
Keyword(s):  
Computer Network ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Computer Code ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Normative Claim ◽  
The Social ◽  
Authorized Access

Contests over the meaning and application of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) expose long-standing, complex questions about the sources and impacts of the concept of authority in law and culture. Accessing a computer network “without authorization” and by “exceeding authorized access” is forbidden by the CFAA. Courts are divided in their interpretation of this language in the statute. This Article first proposes to address the issue with an insight from social science research. Neither criminal nor civil liability under the CFAA should attach unless the alleged violator has transgressed some border or boundary that is rendered visible or “imageable” in the language of the research on which the argument draws. That claim leads to a second, broader point — emphasizing the potential “imageability” of computer networks, including the Internet, has implications that go beyond one statute because of what that emphasis may teach those who create and implement those networks and who shape the authority that relevant computer code exercises. “Authority” and “authorization” are social practices, continuing negotiations between those who produce them and those who acknowledge and recognize them. “Imageability” is a way of translating that observation into a normative claim in a specific statutory context. Recognizing the social dimensions of “authority” implicates both what kind of Internet society wants and what kind of Internet society will get.

scholarly journals Examining cross-national research teamwork: revealing rewards and challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn McAlpine ◽  
Isabelle Skakni ◽  
Anna Sala-Bubaré ◽  
Crista Weise ◽  
Kelsey Inouye
Keyword(s):  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Team Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Cross National ◽  
Communicative Processes

PurposeTeamwork has long featured in social science research. Further, with research increasingly “cross-national,” communication becomes more complex, for instance, involving different cultures, languages and modes of communication. Yet, studies examining team communicative processes that can facilitate or constrain collaboration are rare. As a cross-national European team representing varied disciplines, experiences, languages and ethnicities, we undertook to examine our communication processes with the aim to promote better qualitative research practices.Design/methodology/approachViewing reflection as a tool for enhancing workplace practices, we undertook a structured reflection. We developed an empirically derived framework about team communication, then used it to analyse our interaction practices and their relative effectiveness.FindingsThe results highlighted two under-examined influences, the use of different modes of communication for different purposes and the need for face-to-face communication to address a particularly challenging aspect of research, negotiating a shared coding scheme to analyse diverse cultural and linguistic qualitative data.Practical implicationsThe study offers a procedure and concepts that others could use to examine their team communication.Originality/valueThe communicative processes that can constrain and facilitate effective cross-national research team collaboration are rarely examined. The results emphasise the need for careful negotiations around language, epistemologies, cultures and goals from the moment collaboration begins in formulating a project, through applying for grant funds, to when the last paper is published – timely in a context in which such work is increasingly expected.

scholarly journals Priming

Communication ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca R. Dillman Carpentier
Keyword(s):  
Computer Network ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Science Research ◽  
News Story ◽  
Popular Song ◽  
Entertainment Media ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
The Media

Using the analogy of priming a water pump to get the water ready for use, priming in social science research refers to the “activation” of an idea in a person’s mind, readying that idea for use in later activities, such as making a judgment or reacting to someone else’s action. Thus, priming involves how we cognitively process information. Theories about how and why priming effects occur are largely based on network models of semantic memory. According to these network models, information is stored in memory as nodes. Each node represents a concept, and, like a computer network, each node is connected to other nodes via associative pathways. The closer two nodes are to one another, the more related those nodes are to each other. When one node is activated (e.g., activating “weapon” by seeing a gun on television), the activation can spread to other related nodes (e.g., “aggression”). All of the activated nodes are now easily accessible in memory, “primed” for later use. Hundreds of studies across psychology, communication, political science, and other fields have tested and observed that single words, images, music, narratives—anything that conveys a concept stored in a person’s memory—can elicit a priming effect. Much of the theory development with regard to priming comes from psychology via studies that tend to use simple primes, such as single words or short sentences, to test for priming effects. Communication research tends to focus on how news and entertainment media can serve as primes that influence people’s thoughts and behaviors. Because of this focus, communication scholars are necessarily dealing with a higher level of complexity with regard to the actual primes, as any one news story, entertainment program, popular song, or music video can trigger multiple ideas in the media consumer’s mind.

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