In the era of technological advancement, cybersecurity is an indispensable component of progress. Along with men, women’s participation in the digital landscape is paramount to ensuring equal rights to technological advancement. However, in developing countries, societal barriers pose significant challenges for women, limiting their access to opportunities, which in turn impacts their understanding and practices within the digital landscape. These factors influence the adoption, practices and awareness surrounding cybersecurity, making women in developing countries more vulnerable to cyber-related threats. Thus, it is crucial to assess the state of cybersecurity practices and awareness among women in countries like Bangladesh. This research aims to examine cybersecurity practices and awareness across key components, including password security, information security, device privacy and protection, incident reporting and malware detection, among different demographics of Bangladeshi women. The study employs a quantitative approach using a large-scale survey (n = 1202) to explore the cybersecurity practices and awareness of three groups of women: high school students, university students and working women. By investigating digital habits and practices, this study addresses women’s perceptions, knowledge and response strategies concerning cybersecurity awareness. The findings reveal a significant gap in women’s cybersecurity awareness, highlighting vulnerable practices related to password security, information security, phishing awareness, lack of confidence in handling cybersecurity incidents and limited knowledge of malware detection mechanisms. These findings provide insights into the vulnerabilities of women’s cybersecurity practices in developing countries and lay the groundwork for investigating digital interventions to address these issues. Furthermore, the research sheds light on the substantial barriers contributing to women’s digital insecurity, emphasizing the need to tackle these challenges to ensure women’s online safety and well-being.
As smart dynamic ecosystems, represented e.g. by (semi-) autonomous vehicles in smart city settings, become more prevalent, determining liability and accountability for these systems becomes increasingly complex. This raises serious concerns about the course of the investigation and fair judgments in case of incidents such as rule violations or accidents, which directly impact humans affected by these systems. The current research gap lies in distinguishing between intentional and unintentional misbehavior within these ecosystems, which depend on interpreting human action and user interactions with the autonomous system. This paper addresses this multidisciplinary challenge through three main contributions. First, we consider both technological and human factors for intent classification in post-incident investigations. Second, we extend human-like analysis to autonomous systems to evaluate their intent in a manner consistent with legal reasoning. Third, we propose a comprehensive, context-aware conceptual framework grounded in legal theory, which integrates trust modeling and social metrics to support the identification of intent for investigating misbehavior within smart dynamic ecosystems.
Since the recent proliferation of voice-based agents such as Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant and ChatGPT, it seems appropriate to equip a wide variety of applications with such an interaction modality. We show the use of voice-based technologies using a simple demonstration example with the aim of making it easier for developers of classic applications to get started with this technology. In the course of our work on our demonstration example, a number of questions arose which—in addition to explaining our individual development steps—are addressed.
The pattern of ethnic inter-embeddedness serves both as a mirror of the current dynamics of inter-ethnic relations and as a framework shaping their future evolution. This study employs ArcGIS and GeoDetector, in combination with demographic and socio-economic datasets, to investigate the spatial transformation and underlying drivers of ethnic inter-embeddedness in Sichuan Province between 2000 and 2020. The findings indicate that socio-economic advancement has played a significant role in facilitating the spatial embeddedness of diverse ethnic groups within the province. Specifically, economic modernization—marked by the expansion of the secondary and tertiary sectors—together with the development of educational systems and the improvement of transportation infrastructure, emerges as the most influential set of factors promoting spatial interweaving among ethnic communities. The study concludes that, with the continued socio-economic progress in Sichuan, the spatial configuration of ethnic groups is likely to evolve toward deeper inter-embeddedness, thereby providing enduring spatial platforms for inter-ethnic contact, interaction, and the enhancement of mutual recognition and understanding.
Investigating the impact of active and passive social media behaviors on mental health—including self-esteem, anxiety, and belonging—this study presents an integrative review of 18 peer-reviewed articles. We uncover that while passive engagement, often stemming from social comparison and dysfunctional cognition, consistently correlates with increased anxiety, depression, and body dissatisfaction in vulnerable groups, active engagement driven by authentic interaction tends to boost self-esteem and emotional well-being. Crucially, our findings challenge the simplistic active–passive dichotomy, demonstrating that the psychological outcomes are mediated by interdependent variables such as emotional intent, cognitive profiles, and the inherent design architecture of social media platforms. This highlights the necessity for more refined behavioral models and suggests avenues for future mixed-methods, longitudinal, and intervention-focused research to cultivate healthier digital interactions. Ultimately, this work deepens the understanding of digital well-being and highlights the importance of considering the psychological and social factors that mediate social media use. It provides a foundation for the creation of more ethically conscious and psychologically beneficial social media interfaces, enabling designers to build platforms that mitigate adverse psychological impacts and foster emotionally sustainable online environments.
