مجال
التميز
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تميز دراسي و
بحثي
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البحوث المنشورة
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البحث (1):
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عنوان البحث:
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Awareness of the Potential Threat
of Cyber
terrorism to the National Security
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رابط إلى البحث:
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Click here
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تاريخ النشر:
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October, 2014
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موجز عن البحث:
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The
revolution of computing and networks could revolutionise terrorism in the
same way that it has brought about changes in other aspects of life. The
modern technological era has faced countries with a new set of security
challenges. There are many states and potential adversaries, who have the
potential and capacity in cyberspace, which makes them able to carry out
cyber-attacks in the future. Some of them are currently conducting
surveillance, gathering and analysis of technical information, and mapping of
networks and nodes and infrastructure of opponents, which may be exploited in
future conflicts. This paper uses qualitative data to develop a conceptual
framework for awareness of cyber terrorism threat from the viewpoint of
experts and security officials in critical infrastructure. Empirical data
collected from in-depth interviews were analysed using grounded theory
approach. This study applied to Saudi Arabia as a case study
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البحث (2):
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عنوان البحث:
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Towards a framework
for the potential cyber-terrorist threat to critical national infrastructure:
A quantitative study
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رابط إلى البحث:
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Click here
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تاريخ النشر:
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2015
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موجز عن البحث:
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Purpose
– The
main purpose of this research is to produce the most accurate theoretical
framework of the potential threat of cyberterrorism to the national security,
compared to conventional terrorism. So it aims to identify the theoretical
framework that best explains the threat of cyberterrorism and conventional
terrorism to national security derived from empirical data, using grounded
theory, and to validate the developed grounded theory statistically by
quantitative data.
Design/methodology/approach
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This paper presents the results of the quantitative study survey. It provides
in the beginning basic information about the data. To purify the data,
reliability and exploratory factor analysis, as well as confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA), were performed. Then, structural equation modelling was
utilised to test the final model of the theory and to assess the overall
goodness-of-fit between the proposed model and the collected data set.
Findings
– The
first study, as a qualitative exploratory study, gives a rich data set that
provides the foundation of the development of the second study, as a
quantitative confirmatory study. In the researcher’s previous qualitative
study, it provides a better theoretical understanding of the potential threat
of cyber and conventional terrorism to Saudi national security. Also, it
provides the development of the grounded theory of the study (Figure 1). It
also has led to the development of the conceptual framework and the
hypotheses for the second phase of the study (i.e. survey).
Originality/value
– It is
original study based on empirical data collected from Saudi military and
security officials and experts in the critical infrastructures.
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البحث (3):
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عنوان البحث:
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KNOWLEDGE OF THE
POTENTIAL THREAT OF CYBER TERRORISM TO CRITICAL NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
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رابط إلى البحث:
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Click
here
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تاريخ النشر:
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Autumn 2015
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موجز عن البحث:
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Modern
technology, which consists of computers, networks, communications,
satellites, etc., has contributed to increasing openness, which is attributed
largely to the growth of interdependence between parts of the world, provided
by the ever- expanding Internet. This very rapid growth in computers and
related networks and infrastructure pushed the world into the “information
age”, which is generally accepted as the period covering the late twentieth
century and early twenty-first century. This paper uses qualitative data to
develop a conceptual framework to know how to identify the cyber terrorism
threat from the viewpoint of experts and officials in critical
infrastructure. Empirical data collected from in-depth interviews were analysed
using grounded theory approach. This study applied to Saudi Arabia as a case
study.
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المؤتمرات العلمية:
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المؤتمر (1):
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عنوان المؤتمر:
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ICIW
2013 8th International Conference on Information Warfare and Security
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تاريخ الإنعقاد:
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25-26/03/2013
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مكان
الإنعقاد:
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Regis
University. Denver, Colorado, USA
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طبيعة المشاركة:
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Paper
presentation
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عنوان المشاركة:
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The
Potential Threat of Cyber-terrorism on National Security of Saudi Arabia
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ملخص المشاركة:
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Throughout
history, there have been many events and dangers that threaten state
security, causing heavy loss of life, disease, injuries, destruction of
property, displacement of large numbers of people and heavy economic losses.
Political unrest on international and local levels and recent technological
developments increase the seriousness of threats against national security.
The concept of
security has evolved gradually, especially since the disintegration of the
Soviet Union, and end of the Cold War. The lingering impact of the policy of
the bipolar world has blurred the image of relations between states. However,
it provides an opportunity to understand and identify new threats and
emerging conflicts, in addition to many unsolved problems. Simultaneously,
globalisation has changed international rules and norms, in order to
facilitate the rapid flow of capital and technology, with a weakening of
national barriers. Non-governmental actors now play key roles in
international politics, some as a threat, and others bridging the gap between
communities and nations. In these circumstances, the role of the state began
to suffer and the accepted traditional concept of power was challenged.
Today, a major
issue of such concern worldwide, arousing heated debate at both national and
international levels, is terrorism. The threat of terrorism has never been as
prominent as it seems to be at the present time. Terrorism is an old
phenomenon that has existed since the emergence of human societies, but the
threat of terrorism has increased steadily over the past 30 years. With
technological and technical progress, the actions of terrorists have become
more dangerous and destructive, while the perpetrators of such acts are
becoming more elusive. There are few parts of the world that have escaped
terrorism since late 1960s (Mythen and Walklate 2006).
The phenomenon of
terrorism is changing, while the motives of terrorism remain the same. The
world today faces new and unfamiliar kinds of weapons. The international
system, intelligence systems, security procedures and tactics which are
expected to protect people, nations and governments, are not able to meet
this new and devastating enemy. The methods and strategies developed to
combat terrorism over the years are providing ineffective, as the enemy no
longer attacks only with hijacked plans, truck bombs or suicide bombers.
Terrorists may engage in cyber-terrorism, the use of cyberspace to launch
attacks. The integration of the virtual and physical worlds is a weakness
confronting security agents (Collin 1996).
This
paper outlines a PhD proposal, which seeks to design an effective framework
for the potential threat of cyber-terrorism on national security, compared
with conventional terrorism by addressing three main themes: awareness –
vulnerabilities – response, important in assessment of any security threat.
According to Denning (2000) to understand the potential threat of
cyber-terrorism, we should consider two factors: first, whether there are
targets that are vulnerable to attack, and, secondly, whether actors have the
ability and motivation to attack them. In this proposal a preliminary review of
relevant literature will be introduced, followed by the research questions to
be addressed and the proposed methods to address them. Then the expected time
frame will be considered.
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رابط إلى البحث:
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Click here
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المؤتمر (2):
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عنوان المؤتمر:
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Saudi Scientific International
Conference
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تاريخ الإنعقاد:
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11-14/10/2012
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مكان
الإنعقاد:
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Brunel University, London, UK
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طبيعة المشاركة:
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Paper presentation
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عنوان المشاركة:
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The Potential Impacts of Cyber-terrorism on National Security
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ملخص المشاركة:
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During the history of mankind, there have
been many events and dangers that threaten the security of states. Those
threats caused heavy loss of life, the spread of disease, injuries,
destruction of public and private property, displacement of large numbers of
people and heavy economic losses. Political unrest on international and local
levels, and recent technological developments, are elements that would
increase the seriousness of threats against national security.
The concept of security has evolved
gradually, especially after a major international transformation: the
disintegration of Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War. Thus, it has left
behind the impact of the policy of the bipolar world, which gave a blurred
image of relations between the states, and made it ambiguous. However, it has
given an opportunity to them to understand and identify new threats and
emerging conflicts, in addition to many unsolved problems. Simultaneously,
globalisation has changed the international rules and norms, in order to
facilitate the rapid flow of capital and technology, through the weakening of
national barriers. Non-governmental actors have come to play an essential
role in international politics, some of them a threat, and others to bridge
the gap between communities and nations. In such circumstances, the role of
the state began to suffer from the changes; also the accepted traditional concept
of power was opposed.
Today there is no issue of such concern
worldwide, and arousing such a high degree of hot debate at both national and
international levels, as terrorism-related issues. The threat of terrorism
has never been a prominent as it seems to be at the present time. Terrorism
is an old phenomenon that has existed since the emergence of human societies.
However, the threat of terrorism has increased steadily over the past 30
years. With the technological and technical progress in various areas, the
actions of terrorists have become more dangerous and destructive, as the
perpetrators of such acts are becoming more elusive. There are few parts of
the world that have been left out of the current waves of terrorism, which
started in the late 1960s.
The phenomenon of terrorism is changing,
while the motives of terrorism remain the same. The world today faces new and
unfamiliar kinds of weapons. The international system, intelligence systems,
security procedures and tactics which are expected to protect people, nations
and governments, are not able to meet this new and devastating enemy. The
methods and strategies that have developed to combat terrorism over the years
are ineffective in the face of this enemy. The reason for this is that the
enemy no longer attacks only with hijacked plane, or truck bombs or suicide
bombers strapped with explosives. The enemy attacks with ones and zeros. This
is the weak point, the integration of virtual worlds with physical worlds. It
is Cyberterrorism.4
This paper outlines a PhD proposal, which is
an attempt to design an effective a framework for the potential impacts of
cyber-terrorism on society, particularly on sense of security, compared with
the effects posed by traditional terrorism. That will be by identifying the
title and topic area, research purpose, questions, methods and resources. In
this proposal a preliminary review of relevant literature will be introduced,
followed by the research questions that the writer intends to address and the
proposed methods to answer the questions. Then research ethics and the
expected time frame will be represented.
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المؤتمر (3):
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عنوان المؤتمر:
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8th Saudi
Scientific International Conference
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تاريخ الإنعقاد:
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01/02/2014 – 31/01
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مكان
الإنعقاد:
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London
– UK
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طبيعة المشاركة:
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Paper presentation
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عنوان المشاركة:
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Knowledge of the Potential Threat of
Cyberterrorism To the National Security
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ملخص المشاركة:
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Modern technology, which consists of
computers, networks, communications, satellites and others, has contributed
to increasing openness, which is attributed largely to the growth of
interdependence between the parts of the world, provided by the
ever-expanding Internet. This very rapid growth in computers and related
networks and infrastructure pushed the world into the “information
age”, which is generally accepted as the period covering the late
twentieth century and early twenty-first century. Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) brought with it the importance and interest in
the spread and exchange of information between continents and countries of
the world, and has therefore become one of the pillars of the current era,
bringing many benefits. Nevertheless, it has raised risk and security
concerns. With the entry of the Web or “Internet” and the ever-increasing
users of this technology, terrorist attackers, hackers and intruders spend
hours in an attempt to penetrate, or gain access to important information,
which can be used for material and moral extortion.
Given the importance of the security of
critical infrastructure constantly evolving in Saudi Arabia, and related
networks, information systems and control systems and supervision, as well as
the importance of information security to the general public, this is one of
the major and important factors to achieve and maintain national security in
Saudi Arabia. In contrast, any disruption or instability in national security
will result in very serious consequences for the stability of the country,
its economy and its political situation.
This research derives its significance
from the importance of its themes. Saudi Arabia’s national security is of top
priority to the Saudi government. What will help to achieve this is to
understand, identify and predict early indicators that may pose a threat to
national security. This study by analysing qualitative data, which was
obtained from the critical infrastructure helps to describe potential threat
posed by cyberterrorism to national security, as compared to conventional
terrorism. This pairing and comparison will help to identify the level of
knowledge of this threat. This in turn will provide a conceptual framework
for decision-makers about the problem in question and therefore the
government will be able to take the necessary action on a clear basis and
within a strategic path to combat cyberterrorism.
This paper uses qualitative data to
develop a conceptual framework to know how to identify cyberterrorism threat
from the viewpoint of experts and officials in critical infrastructure.
Empirical data collected from in-depth interviews were analysed using
grounded theory approach. This study applied to Saudi Arabia as a case study.
Keyword: Cyberterrorism, Terrorism, National Security,
Critical Infrastructure, Conceptual framework
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