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Security Risks (security + risk)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	38%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	38%

Selected Abstracts

Anatomy of an Ambush: Security Risks Facing International Humanitarian Assistance

DISASTERS, Issue 1 2005
Frederick M. Burkle Jr. MD
The 2003 war with Iraq has generated security concerns that present unique challenges to the practice of providing international humanitarian assistance during war and conflict. Objective research studies on security management are lacking. However, case studies have proven to be an important education and training tool to advance situational awareness of security risks. These challenges are illustrated by an analysis of the events surrounding the first ambush of, and assassination attempt on, a senior US aid official in Baghdad. Before deployment to conflict areas, especially those characterised by insurgent activity, humanitarian providers must realistically assess the threats to life and to the mission. They must obtain pre-deployment situational awareness education, security training and optimal protective equipment and vehicles. [source]

Consumer Perceptions of Privacy and Security Risks for Online Shopping

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2001
ANTHONY D. MIYAZAKI
Government and industry organizations have declared information privacy and security to be major obstacles in the development of consumer-related e-commerce. Risk perceptions regarding Internet privacy and security have been identified as issues for both new and experienced users of Internet technology. This paper explores risk perceptions among consumers of varying levels of Internet experience and how these perceptions relate to online shopping activity. Findings provide evidence of hypothesized relationships among consumers' levels of Internet experience, the use of alternate remote purchasing methods (such as telephone and mail-order shopping), the perceived risks of online shopping, and online purchasing activity. Implications for online commerce and consumer welfare are discussed. [source]

Security Maintenance Mediation: a technology for preventing unintended security breaches

CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 1 2004
Roger (Buzz) KingArticle first published online: 4 DEC 200
Abstract Web-resident information is becoming ,smarter', in the sense that emerging technology will support the annotation of it with ontological terms, which will be used to locate and reuse information. This will pose a great security risk in the form of unintended breaches (as distinct from deliberate invasions). Web-resident information will be far more readily available and relevant, thus causing inadvertent releases of secure information to potentially cause it to be diffusely spread across the Internet. Then as this information is iteratively transformed and integrated with other information, it will become irretrievable and potentially used in a myriad of unpredictable ways. The problem is that ontological annotations, while making information more understandable in its original form, do not provide a means for easily capturing the complex semantics of information that has been transformed via abstraction, aggregation, and integration. This demands the development of a semantically rich way of specifying ,views' of Web information, to which security controls can be attached. Also needed is a way for users of secure information to easily and voluntarily blend,and thereby propagate,security controls as information is transformed. Information mediators designed by collaborative teams of experts are proposed as the vehicle for wrapping information, so that at each step of reuse, high-level views and their corresponding integrity controls can be made easily accessible to trusted users who will then be able to ensure their proper maintenance. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Teaching and Learning Guide for: The Geopolitics of Climate Change

GEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2008
Jon Barnett
Author's Introduction Climate change is a security problem in as much as the kinds of environmental changes that may result pose risks to peace and development. However, responsibilities for the causes of climate change, vulnerability to its effects, and capacity to solve the problem, are not equally distributed between countries, classes and cultures. There is no uniformity in the geopolitics of climate change, and this impedes solutions. Author Recommends 1.,Adger, W. N., et al. (eds) (2006). Fairness in adaptation to climate change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. A comprehensive collection of articles on the justice dimensions of adaptation to climate change. Chapters discuss potential points at which climate change becomes ,dangerous', the issue of adaptation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the unequal outcomes of adaptation within a society, the effects of violent conflict on adaptation, the costs of adaptation, and examples from Bangladesh, Tanzania, Botswana, and Hungary. 2.,Leichenko, R., and O'Brien, K. (2008). Environmental change and globalization: double exposures. New York: Oxford University Press. This book uses examples from around the world to show the way global economic and political processes interact with environmental changes to create unequal outcomes within and across societies. A very clear demonstration of the way vulnerability to environmental change is as much driven by social processes as environmental ones, and how solutions lie within the realm of decisions about ,development' and ,environment'. 3.,Nordås, R., and Gleditsch, N. (2007). Climate conflict: common sense or nonsense? Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 627,638. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2007.06.003 An up-to-date, systematic and balanced review of research on the links between climate change and violent conflict. See also the other papers in this special issue of Political Geography. 4.,Parry, M., et al. (eds) (2007). Climate change 2007: impacts adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. The definitive review of all the peer-reviewed research on the way climate change may impact on places and sectors across the world. Includes chapters on ecosystems, health, human settlements, primary industries, water resources, and the major regions of the world. All chapters are available online at http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg2.htm 5.,Salehyan, I. (2008). From climate change to conflict? No consensus yet. Journal of Peace Research 45 (3), pp. 315,326. doi:10.1177/0022343308088812 A balanced review of research on the links between climate change and conflict, with attention to existing evidence. 6.,Schwartz, P., and Randall, D. (2003). An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security. San Francisco, CA: Global Business Network. Gives insight into how the US security policy community is framing the problem of climate change. This needs to be read critically. Available at http://www.gbn.com/ArticleDisplayServlet.srv?aid=26231 7.,German Advisory Council on Global Change. (2007). World in transition: climate change as a security risk. Berlin, Germany: WBGU. A major report from the German Advisory Council on Global Change on the risks climate changes poses to peace and stability. Needs to be read with caution. Summary and background studies are available online at http://www.wbgu.de/wbgu_jg2007_engl.html 8.,Yamin, F., and Depedge, J. (2004). The International climate change regime: a guide to rules, institutions and procedures. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. A clear and very detailed explanation of the UNFCCC's objectives, actors, history, and challenges. A must read for anyone seeking to understand the UNFCCC process, written by two scholars with practical experience in negotiations. Online Materials 1.,Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ecsp The major website for information about environmental security. From here, you can download many reports and studies, including the Environmental Change and Security Project Report. 2.,Global Environmental Change and Human Security Project http://www.gechs.org This website is a clearing house for work and events on environmental change and human security. 3.,Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) http://www.ipcc.ch/ From this website, you can download all the chapters of all the IPCC's reports, including its comprehensive and highly influential assessment reports, the most recent of which was published in 2007. The IPCC were awarded of the Nobel Peace Prize ,for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made (sic) climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change'. 4.,Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research http://www.tyndall.ac.uk The website of a major centre for research on climate change, and probably the world's leading centre for social science based analysis of climate change. From this site, you can download many publications about mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, and about various issues in the UNFCCC. 5.,United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change http://unfccc.int/ The website contains every major document relation to the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol, including the text of the agreements, national communications, country submissions, negotiated outcomes, and background documents about most key issues. Sample Syllabus: The Geopolitics of Climate Change topics for lecture and discussion Week I: Introduction Barnett, J. (2007). The geopolitics of climate change. Geography Compass 1 (6), pp. 1361,1375. United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, address to the 12th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Nairobi, 15 November 2006. Available online at http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=495&ArticleID=5424&l=en Week II: The History and Geography of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Topic: The drivers of climate change in space and time Reading Baer, P. (2006). Adaptation: who pays whom? In: Adger, N., et al. (eds) Fairness in adaptation to climate change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 131,154. Boyden, S., and Dovers, S. (1992). Natural-resource consumption and its environmental impacts in the Western World: impacts of increasing per capita consumption. Ambio 21 (1), pp. 63,69. Week III: The Environmental Consequences of climate change Topic: The risks climate change poses to environmental systems Reading Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2007). Climate change 2007: climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability: summary for policymakers. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC Secretariat. Watch: Al Gore. The Inconvenient Truth. Weeks IV and V: The Social Consequences of Climate Change Topic: The risks climate change poses to social systems Reading Adger, W. N. (1999). Social vulnerability to climate change and extremes in coastal Vietnam. World Development 27, pp. 249,269. Comrie, A. (2007). Climate change and human health. Geography Compass 1 (3), pp. 325,339. Leary, N., et al. (2006). For whom the bell tolls: vulnerability in a changing climate. A Synthesis from the AIACC project, AIACC Working Paper No. 21, International START Secretariat, Florida. Stern, N. (2007). Economics of climate change: the Stern review. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (Chapters 3,5). Week VI: Mitigation of Climate Change: The UNFCCC Topic: The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol Reading Najam, A., Huq, S., and Sokona, Y. (2003). Climate negotiations beyond Kyoto: developing countries concerns and interests. Climate Policy 3 (3), pp. 221,231. UNFCCC Secretariat. (2005). Caring for climate: a guide to the climate change convention and the Kyoto Protocol. Bonn, Germany: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. Weeks VII and VIII: Adaptation to Climate Change Topic: What can be done to allow societies to adapt to avoid climate impacts? Reading Adger, N., et al. (2007). Assessment of adaptation practices, options, constraints and capacity. In: Parry, M., et al. (eds) Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 717,744. Burton, I., et al. (2002). From impacts assessment to adaptation priorities: the shaping of adaptation policy. Climate Policy 2 (2,3), pp. 145,159. Eakin, H., and Lemos, M. C. (2006). Adaptation and the state: Latin America and the challenge of capacity-building under globalization. Global Environmental Change: Human and Policy Dimensions 16 (1), pp. 7,18. Ziervogel, G., Bharwani, S., and Downing, T. (2006). Adapting to climate variability: pumpkins, people and policy. Natural Resources Forum 30, pp. 294,305. Weeks IX and X: Climate Change and Migration Topic: Will climate change force migration? Readings Gaim, K. (1997). Environmental causes and impact of refugee movements: a critique of the current debate. Disasters 21 (1), pp. 20,38. McLeman, R., and Smit, B. (2006). Migration as adaptation to climate change. Climatic Change 76 (1), pp. 31,53. Myers, N. (2002). Environmental refugees: a growing phenomenon of the 21st century. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 357 (1420), pp. 609,613. Perch-Nielsen, S., Bättig, M., and Imboden, D. (2008). Exploring the link between climate change and migration. Climatic Change (online first, forthcoming); doi:10.1007/s10584-008-9416-y Weeks XI and XII: Climate Change and Violent Conflict Topic: Will Climate change cause violent conflict? Readings Barnett, J., and Adger, N. (2007). Climate change, human security and violent conflict. Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 639,655. Centre for Strategic and International Studies. (2007). The age of consequences: the foreign policy and national security implications of global climate change. Washington, DC: CSIS. Nordås, R., and Gleditsch, N. (2007). Climate conflict: common sense or nonsense? Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 627,638. Schwartz, P., and Randall, D. (2003). An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security. San Francisco, CA: Global Business Network. [online]. Retrieved on 8 April 2007 from http://www.gbn.com/ArticleDisplayServlet.srv?aid=26231 Focus Questions 1Who is most responsible for climate change? 2Who is most vulnerable to climate change? 3Does everyone have equal power in the UNFCCC process? 4Will climate change force people to migrate? Who? 5What is the relationship between adaptation to climate change and violent conflict? [source]

Popular Attitudes, Globalization and Risk,

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 2 2005
Marcus Noland
Popular opposition to globalization may be interpreted as xenophobia or hostility to market economics and signal country risk, including the degree of security risk , the possibility that local staff or facilities could be subject to discriminatory treatment, harassment or attack. This paper integrates the Pew Global Attitudes data into a series of economic models on foreign direct investment (FDI), sovereign ratings and local entrepreneurship, and finds that some responses correlate with economic variables of interest, conveying information beyond what can be explained through standard models. More tolerant countries attract more FDI, obtain better ratings and exhibit more entrepreneurship. [source]

Using appreciative inquiry to evaluate project activities of a nongovernmental organization supporting victims of trauma in Sri Lanka

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION, Issue 100 2003
Mette Jacobsgaard
Appreciative Inquiry was used to highlight the successes of a donor-supported project of working with victims of trauma in an environment of civil war and high security risk, and thereby also to honor the work of dedicated staff who often face extremely difficult situations. [source]

The "ANRC has Withdrawn its Offer": Paul Kirchhoff, Academic Freedom and the Australian Academic Establishment,

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 3 2006
Geoffrey Gray
The main focus of examinations of intellectual suppression and censorship of scholars and academics in Australia has been on the post-1945 period, particularly the Cold War. The interwar years have, in comparison, received little attention, resulting in a lack of historical understanding of the development of censorious structures and traditions in Australia. In this paper I discuss the exclusion of Paul Kirchhoff, a German anthropologist, a member of the German Communist Party and a Jew, from undertaking anthropological research in Australia, including its external territories, between 1931 and 1932. Kirchhoff applied for a research grant from the Australian National Research Council (ANRC) which, although awarded, was withdrawn once the Executive Committee was informed by the Australian government that the British MI5 considered him a security risk. His membership of the Communist Party was the reason put forward. This case also underlines the transnational aspect of security services and the international reach of academic anthropology. Kirchhoff was a victim of the ANRC's sympathetic collaboration with the Commonwealth Attorney-General's office to stifle academic and civil freedom. [source]

Anatomy of an Ambush: Security Risks Facing International Humanitarian Assistance

Reintegration Support for Young Ex-Combatants: A Right or a Privilege?

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 5 2007
Krijn Peters
ABSTRACT Under-age and youthful combatants are the major participants in contemporary African conflicts and, therefore, the largest group to be disarmed, demobilized and reintegrated when peace agreements are signed. Programmes to support this process, so-called disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes, usually have two main objectives: 1) to reduce security risks; and 2) make ex-combatants less dependent upon their home communities once returned. However, badly designed or implemented DDR programmes can jeopardize a country's fragile peace and rehabilitation process. This article uses the Sierra Leone case to explore the efficacy of DDR programmes. It questions whether the reintegration options offered to the demobilized ex-combatants were appropriate to the context. In a country where more than 70 per cent of the population depends on (semi-)subsistence agriculture, the most popular reintegration package among the young ex-combatants was vocational training - only 15 per cent of the ex-combatants chose the "agricultural package". The article questions whether young ex-combatants are simply disinterested in farming, and, if so, whether vocational skills training programmes offer realistic alternative livelihood opportunities. This article argues that most ex-combatants have not been able to achieve sustainable livelihoods skills due to failures in DDR programmes. The existence of a large reservoir of marginalized, foot-loose youth has been widely acknowledged as one of the root causes of the conflict in Sierra Leone. There is clear evidence that one result of the poor DDR design and implementation is that this reservoir has not been sufficiently drained in Sierra Leone. Les principaux participants aux conflits contemporains en Afrique sont de jeunes combattants, parfois mineurs, qui représentent donc le plus important groupe à désarmer, à démobiliser et à réintégrer une fois les accords de paix signés. Les programmes d'appui à ce processus, appelés programmes DDR (désarmement, démobilisation et réintégration), comportent généralement deux objectifs principaux : 1) la réduction des risques liés à la sécurité; et 2) la diminution de la dépendance des ex-combattants à l'égard de leur communauté d'origine lorsqu'ils y retournent. Cependant, des programmes DDR mal conçus ou mal appliqués peuvent mettre en danger le processus fragile de paix et de redressement du pays. L'auteur prend le cas de la Sierra Leone pour vérifier l'efficacité de ces programmes. Il pose la question de l'adéquation au contexte ambiant des options de réintégration offertes aux ex-combattants démobilisés. Dans un pays où plus de 70 % de la population dépendent d'une agriculture de (semi-)subsistance, la formule de réintégration qui a rencontré le plus de succès parmi les jeunes ex-combattants était celle de la formation professionnelle. Seuls 15 % des ex-combattants ont choisi le programme agricole. L'auteur de l'article se demande si les jeunes ex-combattants ont simplement perdu tout intérêt pour l'agriculture, et, dans ce cas, si les programmes de formation professionnelle offrent des possibilités réalistes d'accéder à d'autres moyens d'existence. Dans cet article, il seramontré que les carences dans les programmes DDR n'ont pas permis à la plupart des ex-combattants d'acquérir les qualifications voulues pour s'assurer des moyens d'existence durables. Or, il faut savoir que l'origine du conflit en Sierra Leone est en grande partie attribuée à la présence massive de jeunes gens marginalisés et sans attaches. De toute évidence, ces programmes, tels qu'ils ont été conçus et mis en ,uvre, n'ont pas suffisamment résorbé cette présence massive. Los combatientes jóvenes menores de edad son los principales participantes en los conflictos africanos contemporáneos y, en consecuencia, el grupo más grande que es desarmado, desmovilizado y reintegrado cuando se firman acuerdos de paz. Los programas en apoyo de este proceso, denominados programas de desarme, desmovilización y reintegración (DDR), suelen tener dos objetivos principales: 1) reducir los riesgos de seguridad; y 2) reducir la dependencia de los excombatientes en sus comunidades de origen tras su retorno. Sin embargo, si los programas DDR no están bien diseñados o no se aplican eficazmente, pueden poner en peligro el frágil proceso de paz y rehabilitación de un país. En el presente artículo se pone como ejemplo el caso de Sierra Leona para analizar la eficacia de los programas DDR. Se cuestiona si las opciones de reintegración ofrecidas a los excombatientes desmovilizados fueron apropiadas para el contexto. En un país donde más del 70 por ciento de la población depende de la agricultura de (semi)subsistencia, el conjunto más popular de medidas de reintegración entre los jóvenes excombatientes era la formación profesional -sólo el 15 por ciento de los excombatientes eligió el "conjunto de medidas agrícolas". En el artículo se pregunta si los jóvenes ex combatientes sencillamente no tienen interés en la agricultura y, en ese caso, si los programas de formación vocacional ofrecen otras oportunidades de subsistencia realistas. En este artículo se sostiene que la mayoría de los excombatientes no han podido adquirir una especialización sostenible que les permita sobrevivir debido a las deficiencias de los programas DDR. Se reconoce, en general, que la existencia de una gran reserva de jóvenes marginados y errantes es una de las causas básicas del conflicto en Sierra Leona. Hay pruebas evidentes de que una de las consecuencias del deficiente diseño y ejecución de los programas DDR es el insuficiente aprovechamiento de esta gran reserva en Sierra Leona. [source]

How IT governance is changing

JOURNAL OF CORPORATE ACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 5 2006
Kamal Khan
Global connectivity is now a common expectation. But as corporations reach out and become available globally 24 hours a day, they're exposed to much greater information technology (IT) security risks. And they also must focus on optimizing the value of their IT resources. So, constant oversight, or IT governance, is critical. But it has to deal with a continually changing landscape. And although companies have made much progress in recent years, many businesses still have a long way to go. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

The Impact of Interorganizational Internet Communication on Purchasing Performance: A Study of Chinese Manufacturing Firms

JOURNAL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2006
Shaohan Cai
SUMMARY This study investigated the effect of interorganizational Internet communication on purchasing performance. On the basis of a review of the relevant literature, three key dimensions of Internet communication behaviors were identified: frequency, diversity and formality. A model was developed to depict the antecedents of interorganizational Internet communication and the impact of such communication on purchasing performance. Responses from 284 Chinese manufacturing firms were used to test the study's hypotheses. Results revealed that the frequency, diversity and formality of Internet communication played an important role in determining the level of purchasing performance. Additionally, formality was critical to managing information flows over the Internet and preventing potential Internet information security risks. Further, results indicated that two factors, perceived Internet security risks and norms of Internet information sharing, significantly influenced Internet communication behaviors. [source]

Assessing risks from threats to process plants: Threat and vulnerability analysis

PROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 4 2002
Paul Baybutt
Process security management addresses threats from terrorist and criminal acts against plants that may result in the release of hazardous materials. The risk of such threats must be assessed to determine if existing security measures and safeguards are adequate or need improvement. Risk assessment is the heart of a process security program. Process plants need straight forward and easily applied methods to assess security risks using techniques that can be employed in a variety of situations and at varying levels of detail. This paper describes an approach that accomplishes these objectives. Threat analysis is the first step. It is used to identify the sources and types of threats and their likelihood. The approach described in this paper involves the consideration of motivations and capabilities of adversaries and the rating of facility security factors to develop a threat profile. Once specific threats have been identified, process vulnerability analysis is used to identify threat scenarios, i.e., how threats could be realized. Plants and processes are divided into sectors, and each credible threat within each sector is considered. Vulnerabilities are identified by brainstorming the ways barriers can be penetrated and process containment breached. Checklists are used to guide the brainstorming, and scenario consequences are recorded. Existing security measures and safeguards are listed, and any recommendations for improvements to reduce the likelihood and severity of terrorist and criminal acts are made for consideration by management based on the nature of the threat, process vulnerabilities, possible consequences, and existing security measures and safeguards. Risk rankings are performed as part of the analyses. [source]

Imperfect Federalism: The Intergovernmental Partnership for Homeland Security

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 4 2006
Peter Eisinger
The terror attacks of September 11, 2001, posed a set of security challenges for the nation's cities that the increasingly decentralized federal system was poorly prepared to meet. Although it was generally agreed that domestic security required a close intergovernmental partnership, strong national leadership and support were lacking in creating and guiding this partnership. To make matters more difficult, political considerations in Congress generally trumped the assessment of security risks in the distribution of federal fiscal aid. This article explores the strains in the intergovernmental homeland security partnership, their causes, and efforts to adapt and reform. Despite some progress toward a more rational public administration of homeland security, the partnership still reflects the deficiencies of imperfect federalism. [source]