Can Global, Extended, and Repeated Ransomware Attacks Overcome the User's Status Quo Bias and Cause a Switch of System?

Ransomware (RW) attacks’ effectiveness has increased causing far reaching consequences that are not fully understood. The ability to disrupt core services, the global reach, extended duration and the repetition has increased their ability to harm an organization. One aspect that needs to be understood better is the effect on the user. The user in the current environment is exposed to new technologies that might be adopted but there are also habits of using existing systems. The habits have developed over time with trust increasing in the organization in contact directly and the institutions supporting it. This research explores whether the global, extended and repeated RW attacks reduce the trust and inertia sufficiently to change long held habits in using information systems. The model tested measures the effect of the RW attack on the e-commerce status quo to evaluate if it is significant enough to overcome the user’s resistance to change.

Britannia’s Rules

As Britain became the dominant naval power with increasingly global reach, its approach to the oceans underwent an important shift. London abandoned its claims to sovereignty over nearby waters and used its diplomatic and economic weight to push for a three-mile limit to territorial waters. At the same time, Britain shifted away from mercantilism and toward an embrace of free ocean commerce. As the anti-slavery movement gained influence in Britain, London used its maritime might to crack down on the slave trade and to stamp out piracy in several parts of the world. Britain was far from consistent in its defense of ocean freedom, however, and it often used its maritime muscle to interfere with shipping. By the end of the 19th century, however, interdictions at sea were becoming less common, and ocean commerce was booming. The first international attempts to study the health of fisheries and regulate shipping began.

Market potential of TikTok in the context of the communication range of soccer players on social networks

The study aims to put the social network TikTok into the context of the marketing attractiveness and potential of soccer players in terms of communication range through social networks. Soccer clubs can assess the expenses of gaining additional followers through a purchased player by an evaluation of the market efficiency of individual soccer players’ followers. The study also documents positive effects ensuing from the acquisition of further followers thanks to the purchase of such a player including image, connection with fans, global reach, additional external funds through sponsorship and the sale of television rights, loyal fans and other so-called “extra-football qualities”. The study thus brings new perspectives on TikTok, as a network which has so far not been thoroughly researched, in the field of the most popular sport in the world, soccer.

Pandemic politics – an introduction

The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 and the various measures taken subsequently, either by individual countries or by government and non-government bodies with a global reach, have had a profound effect on human lives on a number of levels, be it social, economic, legal, or political. The scramble to respond to the threat posed by the rapid spread of the virus has, in many cases, led to a suspension of ordinary politics whilst at the same time throwing into sharp relief the profoundly political nature of the pandemic. In addition to the new issues that have arisen regarding detection and treatment of the COVID-19 virus, perennial political issues regarding the limits of political authority, racial and gender justice, and populism and demagoguery have thrust themselves to the forefront of mainstream political discourse.

States, Proxies, and (Remote) Offensive Cyber Operations

This chapter addresses cyber proxies and offensive cyber operations. The market of cyber force is a complex and dynamic relationship between the state and actors detached from the state that can target a third party beyond a state’s border with unprecedented ease. Only hacking, also known as ‘remote cyber operations’ in the military bureaucracy's vernacular, makes global reach possible at such low cost. Research identifies three main types of proxy relationships between a state and non-state actors: (i) delegation, (ii) orchestration, and (iii) sanctioning. How to manage effectively both proxies and the market for cyber capabilities, both tools and services to the degree they can be separated, is not only of interest for academic scholarship but also for practitioners and policymakers. While a state may face significant challenges in affecting another state’s proxy relationships, it can exercise greater control over its own relationships with cybersecurity companies, hacktivists, and those breaking the law either at home or abroad.