The ascent of asymmetric risk in information security: an initial evaluation

Dramatic changes in the information security risk landscape over several decades have not yet been matched by similar changes in organizational information security which is still mainly based on a mindset that security is achieved through extensive preventive controls. As a result, maintenance cost of information security is increasing rapidly, but this increased expenditure has not really made an attack more difficult. The opposite seems to be true, information security attacks have become easier to perpetrate and appear more like information warfare tactics. At the same time, the damage caused by a successful attack has increased significantly and may sometimes become critical to an organization. In this paper we evaluate one particular extremely asymmetric risk where a strongly motivated attacker unleashes a prolonged attack on an organization with the aim to do maximum damage, and suggest that the probability of such an attack is increasing. We discuss how preventive controls are unlikely to ever be effective against such an attack and propose more advanced strategies that aim to limit the damage when such an attack occurs. One crucial lesson to be learned for those organizations that are dependant on their information security, such as critical infrastructure organizations, is the need to deny motivated attackers access to any information about the success of their attack. Successful deception in this area is likely to significantly reduce any potential escalation of the incident.

NGO's use of the media to create changes in corporate activities and accountabilities : evidence from a developing country

This paper investigates how social and environmental NGOs use the news media to create changes in the operations and associated accountabilities of multinational companies operating in, or sourcing products from, a developing country. In this research, we explicitly seek the views of senior officers from global and local NGOs operating in Bangladesh, as well as the views of journalists from major global and local news media organisations. Our results show that social and environmental NGOs strategically use the news media to effect change in the operating and disclosure policies pertaining to corporate labour practices. More particularly, both the NGOs and the news media representatives stated that NGOs would be relatively powerless to create change without media coverage. Our results also show that the media agenda has been responsible for creating improvements in working condition within Bangladesh, but further improvements are necessary. This is the first known study to specifically address the joint role of NGOs and the news media in creating changes in the social and environmental operating and disclosure practices of organisations operating in developing countries.

Grameen Bank's social performance disclosure : responding to a negative assessment by Wall Street Journal in late 2001

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to establish a linkage between negative global media news towards Grameen Bank (GB), the largest microfinance organisation in the developing world, and the extent and type of annual report social performance disclosures by GB, over the nine-year period 1997-2005.

Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis instruments are utilised to analyse GB annual report social disclosure.

Findings: The study finds that GB's community poverty alleviation disclosures account for the highest proportion of total social disclosures in the period 1997-2005. The results of this study are particularly significant in relation to poverty alleviation – the issue attracting severe criticism from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ?) late in 2001. The community poverty alleviation disclosures by GB are significantly greater over the four years following the negative news in the WSJ than in the four years before. The results suggest that GB responds to a negative media story or legitimacy threatening news via annual report social disclosures in an attempt to re-establish its legitimacy.

Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature because in the past there has been no research published linking global media attention to the social disclosure practices of major organisations in developing countries.

Motivations for an organisation within a developing country to report social responsibility information

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to describe and explain, using a combination of interviews and content analysis, the social and environmental reporting practices of a major garment export organisation within a developing country.

Design/methodology/approach – Senior executives from a major organisation in Bangladesh are interviewed to determine the pressures being exerted on them in terms of their social and environmental performance. The perceptions of pressures are then used to explain – via content analysis – changing social and environmental disclosure practices.

Findings – The results show that particular stakeholder groups have, since the early 1990s, placed pressure on the Bangladeshi clothing industry in terms of its social performance. This pressure, which is also directly related to the expectations of the global community, in turn drives the industry's social policies and related disclosure practices.

Research limitations/implications – The findings show that, within the context of a developing country, unless we consider the managers' perceptions about the social and environmental expectations being imposed upon them by powerful stakeholder groups then we will be unable to understand organisational disclosure practices.

Originality/value – This paper is the first known paper to interview managers from a large organisation in a developing country about changing stakeholder expectations and then link these changing expectations to annual report disclosures across an extended period of analysis.

Media pressures and corporate disclosure of social responsibility performance : a case study of two global clothing and sports retail companies

This paper investigates the social and environmental disclosure practices of two large multi-national companies, specifically Nike and Hennes and Mauritz. Utilising a joint consideration of legitimacy theory and media agenda setting theory, we investigate the linkage between negative media attention, and positive corporate social and environmental disclosures. Our results generally support a view that for those issues attracting the greatest amount of negative media attention, corporations react by providing positive social and environmental disclosures. The results were particularly significant in relation to labour practices in developing countries – the issue attracting the greatest amount of negative media attention for the companies in question.

Undergraduate public relations education in Malaysia : a case study

Public relations worldwide often restricts itself to the bounds of an American context. This thesis argues that Malaysian public relations education and its professional practice should create its own unique model of public relations education and its professional practice due to its differences in politics, culture and the media environment.

Management framework for corporate telecommunication and data centre information security

Network security, particularly Internet security, is at the forefront of business and government networks. This research has discovered weaknesses in current professional practice, particularly in mitigation strategies to reduce the impacts of security violations in corporate telecommunications and data centres. The importance of integrating security policies, processes and operational practice is demonstrated. Leadership models and innovation mechanisms best suited to improved security design are also identified.

Mixed transfer function neural networks for generalization and knowledge extraction

This thesis develops a novel framework of nonlinear modelling to adaptively fit the complexity of the model to the problem domain resulting in a better modelling capability and a straightforward knowledge acquisition. The developed framework also permits increased comprehensibility and user acceptability of modelling results.

Hypertension induced by ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deficiency is alleviated by α-linolenic acid regardless of dietary source

Ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deficiency, particularly during the prenatal period, can cause hypertension in later life. This study examined the effect of different sources of α-linolenic acid (canola oil or flaxseed oil) in the prevention of hypertension and other metabolic symptoms induced by an ω-3 fatty acid-deficient diet. Dams were provided one of three experimental diets from 1 week before mating. Diets were either deficient (10% safflower oil-DEF) or sufficient (7% safflower oil+3% flaxseed oil-SUF-F; or 10% canola oil-SUF-C) in ω-3 fatty acids. The male offspring were continued on the maternal diet from weaning for the duration of the study. Body weight, ingestive behaviors, blood pressure, body composition, metabolic rate, plasma leptin and brain fatty acids were all assessed. The DEF animals were hypertensive at 24 weeks of age compared with SUF-F or SUF-C animals; this was not evident at 12 weeks. These results suggest that different sources of ALA are effective in preventing hypertension related to ω-3 fatty acid deficiency. However, there were other marked differences between the DEF and, in particular, the SUF-C phenotype including lowered body weight, adiposity, leptin and food intake in SUF-C animals. SUF-F animals also had lower, but less marked reductions in adiposity and leptin compared with DEF animals. The differences observed between DEF, SUF-F and SUF-C phenotypes indicate that body fat and leptin may be involved in ω-3 fatty acid deficiency hypertension.