Insider threat is a broad construct that includes organizational harm, security compromise, and interpersonal violence. The present study examined insider violence as a subtype of insider threat in university settings, focusing on harassment, stalking, intimidation, threats, assault, and other violence-related concerning behaviors. Using 268 cases reviewed by a university Threat Assessment Team and trained raters, this study compared employee and student insiders to identify behavioral and contextual differences. Employees more often displayed rights-based grievances, targeted institutional structures, and showed greater intensity of effort. Students were more likely to engage in assault, exhibit suicidality, and act within residential contexts. Findings support a behavior-based insider threat framework in which insider violence reflects identifiable grievance, access, and escalation processes within academic settings.
As technology advances, states, societies and economies are increasingly exposed to hybrid threats in a context of intensifying international competition. In this context, the concept of economic security has evolved to encompass both economic-based national security and resilience in national security-relevant sectors. To safeguard economic security, investment screening regimes have been progressively implemented across countries. This paper finds that the legislative process of investment screening is closely aligned with the process of securtization, while securitization in economic realm is under-explored in the existing research. Building on this insight, this paper distinguishes securitization from riskification along three dimensions: the emergency of issues on the policy agenda, the nature of reference objects (national security or otherwise), and the empowerment derived from extraordinary measures. A revised and systematic securitization framework is then proposed, integrating an evolving concept of economic security, motivations situated within the strategy-vulnerability nexus, and a quasi-bottom-up mode. This framework is subsequently illustrated with the selected case study (the National Security Investment Act). This paper argues that the proposed framework can also offer explanatory for broader topics beyond economic security. In an increasingly uncertain global environment, reconciling security imperatives with development goals will continue to pose a central challenge for policymakers and a key avenue for future academic inquiry.
This study aims to assess the relationship between personality traits and cyber security behaviors using a hybrid approach augmenting Covariance-based Structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) with Machine Learning (ML). Data were collected from 919 participants through an online survey, and the relationships of personality traits with secure and risky behaviors were tested in two models. In cyber secure behavior model, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness, Machiavellianism and Narcissism are positively, while Neuroticism is negatively associated with cyber secure behavior, explaining 17% variance. In cyber risky behavior model, only one factor from both BF-5 and DT, conscientiousness and psychopathy, were associated with cyber risky behavior, explaining 18% of the variance in cyber-risky behavior. The application of machine learning analysis further revealed that the personality-based cyber secure model had a predictive accuracy of 74% while cyber risky model had a predictive accuracy of 80%. The implications of this study call for the design and development of online sites based on personality traits and the development of educational programs to increase cyber security.
This article explores how comics can be developed from empirical research to address Online Identity Theft, focusing on prevention and victim support. It introduces the concept of Secure and Care Comics, combining the communicative potential of Secure Comics with the care-oriented perspective of Graphic Medicine. The study draws on interviews with professionals and victims across Europe. It explores how these comics can communicate risks and prevention strategies and which psychosocial dimensions of victimisation should be represented to foster empathy and mitigate stigma. Findings show that Secure and Care Comics can be developed through a co-creative, interdisciplinary process translating empirical insights into accessible narratives. Four key psychosocial dimensions emerge: normalization of risk, stigma and victim-blaming, emotional impact, and social capital.
Jammu and Kashmir (J K), long marked by political instability, economic deprivation, and socio-religious fault lines, has become a fertile ground for radicalization. While mainstream counter-radicalization strategies have relied on state-led top-down developmental initiatives, grassroots movements have emerged as transformative actors addressing the root causes of extremism. This paper investigates the efficacy of grassroots initiatives in countering radicalization in J K through a multi-theoretical lens and supported by field interviews. Employing models such as Moghaddam’s Staircase to Terrorism, Wiktorowicz’s Theory of Cognitive Openings, and Relative Deprivation Theory, it evaluates the structural and psychosocial conditions that fuel extremism and how locally-rooted programs neutralize them. The paper argues that the fusion of youth engagement, women’s empowerment, economic inclusion, and digital literacy has yielded a resilient counter-narrative that deserves formal integration into national policy frameworks. By analysing field-based insights and contextualizing global peacebuilding precedents, the study proposes a strategic reorientation toward grassroots-led deradicalization.
