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Securitization of migration in Czech Republic
Lukašík, Petr ; Kučera, Tomáš (advisor) ; Špelda, Petr (referee)
The thesis in your hands focus on foreign Fighter phenomenon in the Czech Republic. It argues, that Foreign Fighters are specific kind of migrants who travel both short-term and long-term into a conflict area of their choice. Some do come back to their countries of departure. The thesis has two goals. First one is to find out if there is potential for securitization of Foreign Fighters in the Czech Republic present in Czech society. For this purpose, securitization theory is used. Second goal of the thesis is to look closer on the Foreign Fighter phenomenon both in general and in local circumstances. The thesis presents analysis of academic literature on the topic of Foreign Fighters. It discusses definitions, Foreign Fighter numbers and threat assessment, and approaches adopted to deal with the phenomenon. Next, specifics of foreign Fighters in the Czech Republic are discussed. A survey was launched in order to gain data for this study among Czech society. Results of the survey indicate there is not much interest for securitization of the topic in the Czech Republic. Further results yielded there is not much of a difference in Czech Foreign Fighters and their compatriots from other countries, except maybe focus of Czech fighters on Ukraine except Middle East.
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Explaining Ethics Convergence: The Case of Artificial intelligence
Miotto, Maria Lucia ; Špelda, Petr (advisor) ; Střítecký, Vít (referee)
Maria Lucia Miotto Master Thesis Abstract in English Although more and more works are showing convergence between the many documents regarding the ethics of artificial intelligence, none of them has tried to explain the reasons for this convergence. The thesis here proposed is that the diffusion of these principles is due to the underlying action of an epistemic community that has promoted the spread and the adoption of these values. Then, through network analysis, this thesis describes the AI ethics epistemic community and its methods of value diffusion, testing for the most effective. Then, to test the first result, two case studies, representative of political opposites, the United States and the People Republic of China have been analysed to see which method of diffusion has worked the most. What seems evident is that scientific conferences remain a primary factor in the transmission of knowledge. However, particular attention must also be given to the role played by universities and research labs (also those of big tech-companies) because they have revealed to be great aggregators for the epistemic community and are increasing their centrality in the network.
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Impact of COVID-19 on Security Policies of States in the Area of Cyber Security
Rieger, Anastasiya ; Erkomashvili, David (advisor) ; Špelda, Petr (referee)
CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Master of International Security Systems Anastasiya Neskoromna/Rieger Impact of COVID 19 on Security Policies of States in the Area of Cyber Security Abstract Prague 2022 Author: Ms. Anastasiya Neskoromna/Rieger Supervisor: prof. David Erkomashvile, Ph.D. Academic Year: 2021/2022 Abstract The SARS-Cov-19 or in different wording the global Covid pandemic outburst have created an unprecedented scenario for various organizations, agencies and structures. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has become an extraordinary and shocking event for the world community and the global economy. On the part of the authorities, the COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied by sometimes harsh and ambiguous decisions, the consequences of which are felt by people in many countries of the world: movement between countries was stopped, businesses and enterprises were closed, the restriction was created, those who were sick or at risk of infection were isolated. There was also no possible assumption regarding how long such a mode of life will last. Many factors as a consequential chain of reactions from the pandemic in the aggregate have created a pleasant environment for altering and modifying the cybercrime landscape. This work aims to analyze the factorial presence of modification in the sphere...
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Proliferation of Non-State Armed Groups and their impact on state fragility and insecurity in the Sahel Region of Africa
Ofori-Ayeh, David ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Špelda, Petr (referee)
in English The most potent threat to the security and stability of the state in some geographical regions after the cold war has been the proliferation of VNSA due largely to the declining capacities of states especially in the developing world. For a myriad of reasons, the modern nation-state seems incapable of performing its functions and fulfilling the obligations of the state to its citizens. Moreover, the state appears to have lost its monopoly on the use of force within its territory, a situation which has led to the prevalence of swathes of ungoverned territory with marginalized and aggrieved communities whose resentment against central authority find resonance with Non-State Armed Groups whose violent contestation of state authority has further contributed to state fragility and increased insecurity. The Sahel region is one that represents this dynamic in all of its dimensions.
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5G Security - A Case Study on the Securitisation of Sweden's 5G Networks
Ekfeldt, Therese ; Erkomashvili, David (advisor) ; Špelda, Petr (referee)
Over the last couple of years, the world has witnessed an intensifying competition over 5G networks, triggered to a large extent but not exclusively by the geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. To the backdrop of allegations that the Chinese government could force Chinese telecom company Huawei and ZTE to spy, sabotage or take other action's on Beijing's behalf, Washington ordered prompt restrictions on products from Huawei and pressured its allies to do the same. From a European perspective, Sweden stood out early as a country with a strong stance on 5G security by outright banning Chinese telecom providers Huawei and ZTE from taking part in Sweden's 5G frequency auction. This thesis seeks to understand how the securitising process of Sweden's 5G networks was initiated and evolved, through a comparative case study of the four main securitising actors' official discourses. Derived from previous studies on cybersecurity and securitisation, this thesis constructed an analytical framework tailored for the securitisation of 5G networks. The thesis is carried out as an idea analysis, looking for articulated threats pertaining to three distinct threat dimensions: 'network security', 'data and information protection' and 'China's assertiveness'. The analysis showed that all four...
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A comparative study of Norway and Scotland's effort to address and counter the threat of organized crime in a globalized world
Ramberg, Marte Skaatan ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Špelda, Petr (referee)
A comparative study of Norway and Scotland's effort to address and counter the threat of organized crime in a globalized world. Marte Skaatan Ramberg The concept of organized crime is a rather "fussy", with over two hundred definitions to its name. This master thesis aims to debate the concept of organized crime and utilizing the concept for an investigating look at Norway and Scotland`s effort to cut and combat the effect of organized crime. Whilst tackling the ambiguity of organized crime the thesis also share some light on the security aspect of organized crime for the state and for the individual, using the framework of human security and traditional state-centric approach when evaluating the impact of organized crime. Different polices and laws shared between Norway and Scotland along with their objectives is also discussed all centered around the research questions - How does Norway approach and counter the threat of organized crime compared to Scotland? - What are the successes and failures with these strategies?
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Psychology of Phishing Attacks During Crises: The Case of Covid-19 Pandemic
Kaliňák, Viliam ; Erkomashvili, David (advisor) ; Špelda, Petr (referee)
Events and circumstances that accompany crises such as losses of loved ones, losses of material resources, dislocation, or physical harm, have an overall negative impact on people's mental health. It is this impaired state of man which makes him vulnerable to manipulation of social engineers who wants to take advantage of him in order to enrich themselves. This was also the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, the unprecedented crisis in modern history, during which phishing and fraud campaigns rapidly increased as people have been forced to stay safe at home and spent most of a day online. This work analyzes the psychological strategies of cybercriminals on a sample of more than 200 phishing e-mails in order to understand how the situation was abused and what can be learnt to prevent it in the future. It also provides theoretical and research frameworks for researchers who can apply it also on other types of crises. The results contribute to the fields of psychology, cybercrime as well as crisis management. Keywords COVID-19, phishing, social engineering, psychology, persuasion, crises, pandemic, impersonation, pretexting
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GANs gone wild: Public perceptions of Deepfake technologies on YouTube
Poon, Jessica ; Špelda, Petr (advisor) ; Fitzgerald, James (referee)
Deepfake technologies are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) which are based on generative adversarial networks (GANs), a development which has emerged out of deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) models. Using a data range which spans the years 2018 - 2021, this research explores public perceptions of deepfake technologies at scale by closely examining commentary found on the social video-sharing platform, YouTube. This open source, ground-level data documents civilian responses to a selection of user-produced, labelled deepfake content. This research fills a gap regarding public perception of this emerging technology at scale. It gauges an underrepresented set of responses in discourse to find that users demonstrate a spectrum of responses which veer between irony and concern, with greater volumes of commentary skewed towards the former. This study of user commentary also finds that YouTube as a wild space ultimately affords reflexive and critical thinking around the subject of deepfake technologies and could prove to be effective as a form of inoculation against disinformation.
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The Islamic Petroleum State: A study of US-Led airstrikes against ISIS's oil network in Iraq and Syria
de Rooij, Mats Julian ; Dowd, Caitriona (advisor) ; Špelda, Petr (referee)
Dissertation Mats de Rooij Charles University Student Number: 17287595 ABSTRACT Keywords: ISIS oil financing strategy-making third-party interventions United States This dissertation will explore the US-led coalition's strategy for disrupting ISIS's oil network in Iraq and Syria. Scholars have debated the desirability of third-party interventions and strategies for countering financing structures of violent non- state actors. However, remarkably limited research exists on ISIS's estimated largest source of revenue during the existence of its caliphate: the production and distribution of petroleum. This study will therefore introduce a framework for analysing the military response enacted by the US-led coalition between September 2014 and October 2017. It will do so through a mixed method study that includes the first-hand generation and analysis of a dataset containing 5,768 unique data points that present both an insight into the strategy behind the strikes and vulnerabilities in ISIS's oil network. Findings demonstrate how the coalition was able to exploit vulnerabilities specifically in the production, transportation, and refinement stages of the production chain. It will be argued that, as the campaign proceeded, the coalition became increasingly willing to take risks of collateral damage as a...
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