The article analyzes the uptick in migration in Latin America and how it is discursively treated as a security issue—a process known as “securitization.” It argues that collective identity becomes the core of “societal security,” and that labeling the migrant population as a “threat” legitimizes exceptional and exclusionary responses. It also engages the debate on the intentional political use of migration flows to exert pressure and international coercion. This is done through a non-systematic narrative review of the literature alongside a trend study that combines, on the one hand, theory and, on the other, technical reports from international organizations. The text likewise shows that digital media in the region frame migration mainly as a threat (crime) or as victimhood (vulnerability), with alarmist headlines that shape public opinion. Consequently, several surveys reveal greater support for restrictive policies, the belief that migrants are a burden, and a growing association between immigration and crime in various countries. However, comparative evidence refutes this link: migrants’ crime rates tend to be equal to or lower than their share of the population. In response, the article concludes by offering a ten-point set (“decalogue”) of concrete tools for formulating regional public policies that guarantee the fundamental rights of migrants.

The presence of cybersecurity in educational institutions, including vocational education and training (VET), plays a vital role in ensuring the overall societal security in an increasing digital world. This study explores how staff of VET institutions respond to suspected cybersecurity incidents, focusing on reporting channels and methods used. The objective is to better understand incident response practices in the under-researched VET context, with special attention given to the human and organisational aspects of cybersecurity. VET institutions operate digital systems that mirror real workplace environments and often handle authentic customer data, exposing them to risks that differ from those of general education settings. A qualitative methodology was employed, consisting of thematic interviews with twenty-seven staff members across three Finnish vocational schools. The analysis was guided by the Situation Awareness in Cybersecurity Incident Response model and the Zone of Proximal Development framework, allowing for a deeper exploration of how staff perceive and act upon potential threats. Although formal reporting procedures exist, staff frequently rely on informal networks and direct contact with IT support. Urgent cases are often communicated via phone, a method perceived as efficient but lacking in documentation and structure, which can hinder post-incident analysis and learning. Improving cybersecurity incident response in VET institutions requires the integration of formal digital tools with flexible, human-centred communication methods. Strengthening these systems is essential, not only for protecting sensitive data, ensuring continuity, and creating safer learning environments, but also for reinforcing the digital resilience of society as a whole.

With the global demand for cybersecurity professionals consistently exceeding supply, higher education institutions plays a critical role in addressing the skills gap. This requires aligning curricula not only with evolving workforce requirements but also with international standards that ensure consistency and quality. However, systematic approaches for identifying curricular strengths and gaps across universities remain underdeveloped. To address this gap, this paper introduces a methodological framework that integrates the Cyber Security Curricula 2017 guidelines with a curriculum maturity model to evaluate cybersecurity education across institutions. We demonstrate the framework through a comparative case study of three universities: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Østfold University College (HiØ), and The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Across three universities (NTNU, HiØ, Virginia Tech), the framework mapped 110 courses, with 44% Core Cybersecurity and 56% Cybersecurity-Related. NTNU excelled in Data Security, HiØ in Organizational and Human Security, and Virginia Tech in Societal Security. Common strengths included Cryptography, Risk Management, and Network Architectures, while persistent gaps appeared in Storage Security, Identity Management, Usable Security, and lifecycle aspects of System Security. These results highlight the value of a structured, evidence-based approach for identifying curricular strengths and weaknesses. This framework is designed to be replicable in other higher-education contexts seeking program improvement.

The proliferation of deepfake content on social media in recent years has posed significant threats to both individual and societal security. Consequently, devising effective countermeasures to curb the spread of deepfake information has become a critical challenge for social media platforms worldwide. This study aims to explore the propagation dynamics of deepfake information and evaluate the efficacy of various countermeasures by constructing a multi-agent model that integrates the SIR epidemiological model with the BA scale-free network theory. The research focuses on three distinct social media platforms in China—Douyin, Weibo, and Bilibili—as case studies. Through a series of simulation experiments, we compare the propagation patterns of deepfake content and analyze the performance differences of various countermeasures. The results indicate that, in terms of preventing the dissemination of deepfake information, the “preemptive defense” mechanism (exemplified by Douyin) proves to be the most effective in limiting the spread of deepfakes and ensuring timely counteractions. In contrast, the “post-verification” framework (exemplified by Weibo) is particularly effective in enhancing immunity against deepfake content. However, countermeasures based on self-media strategies that emphasize “emotion, viewpoints, and stances” (exemplified by Bilibili) demonstrate higher infection rates, weaker immunity, and longer response delays. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for developing more efficient and adaptive information governance strategies.

ABSTRACT In societal security, cross-sector cooperation is commonly described as a temporary response to extraordinary circumstances, where each organisation acts within its sector to address a shared, sector-spanning problem. However, many critical infrastructures and societal functions are sustained by permanent cooperation under ordinary circumstances, and organisations frequently operate beyond their sector boundaries. Yet, there are no analytic frameworks that address this variety in modes of cooperation. This perpetuates a limited scope, present in both practical coordination of and research on societal security. This article’s main objective is to develop an analytic framework that contributes to a better understanding of the diversity in interorganisational cross-sector cooperation in a societal security context. The framework draws on systems theory and interorganisational relationship studies, applying the “boundary” concept to highlight distinguishing features of various modes of cooperation. The features are explored in relation to the societal security problem, the interorganisational activity and the societal security system-of-systems. The framework’s applicability is tested in two cases of interorganisational cooperation in the geopolitically significant Svalbard archipelago. We identify three dimensions that distinguish between modes of cooperation: the extraordinariness of the problem, the duration of cooperation, and whether the contribution is within or outside the actors’ sector.

This study underscores the evolving needs for corporations to dovetail their functions with mounting socioeconomic perspectives, contemplating sustainability and mormon’s obligation. It enlivens importance of integrating non-financial metrics like social, environmental, and ethical indices into corporate decision-making system for panoramic decisions. Corporations must report to society regarding the ventures it adopts apropos its’ responsibility to the outskirts. Social accounting and social audit are quintessential instruments that uphold businesses to appraise and report their societal security contributions beyond financial performance. The paper explores the conceptual framework of these practices, evaluates their cutting-edge application in India, and identifies barriers and opportunities for meliorations in Indian context. Findings accentuate relevance of social accounting and audit in flowering ethical discourse, catenating non-financial metrics, and nurturing transparency. Essentially, these practices green-light organizations to eloquently corroborate long-term resilience and obey their social obligations.

ABSTRACT This article examines intricate interplay between urban political economy, securitisation, critical terrorism and conflict studies, focusing on Diyarbakır, a city in Türkiye often referred to as informal capital of Northern Kurdistan. Using an interdisciplinary glocal securitisation (glosec) framework, the article moves beyond the Copenhagen School to capture complex processes fragmenting space and society. Drawing on ethnographic research, it explores power struggles of domination, resistance, and negotiation between the Turkish state’s securitisation of the Kurdish Question and the Kurdish movement’s pursuit of societal security across multiple scales. It reveals how cultural decolonisation and neoliberal colonisation shape and transform Diyarbakır’s space, governance and societal order. The article contributes by analysing urban rent production through glosec-led gentrification across three organic-stages transforming Diyarbakır into an entrepreneurial city. It critiques reductionist views that oversimplify securitisation and gentrification as mere responses to terrorism. It advocates for a nuanced understanding of diverse actors and multifaceted processes involved, focusing on spatial struggles for hegemony and resistance in Diyarbakır and across the Middle East. It positions Diyarbakır as a paradigmatic example of glocalised securitisation, highlighting transformative role of contested governance and grassroots resistance.

Neurochemical Alterations in Aggression: A Meta-Analysis.

The article examines the phenomenon of recidivism from an interdisciplinary perspective, focusing on criminology and criminal law. Recidivism, defined as the repeated commission of crimes by individuals who have already been convicted, represents a significant issue affecting societal security and the effectiveness of criminal policy. The author analyzes the typology of recidivism (general, special, homogeneous, heterogeneous) and profiles a typical recidivist based on criminological research. Statistical data from Slovakia for the years 2012–2023 reveal a consistently high proportion of recidivists among convicted individuals (averaging 32%), with property criminal offences and substance abuse playing dominant roles. The author evaluates current measures and proposes legislative and non-legislative solutions to address the issue. In conclusion, the article emphasizes the need for continued reform of criminal policy, focusing on an individualized approach to recidivists and first-time offenders, interdisciplinary collaboration across sectors, and systematic criminological research. The findings provide a basis for combating recidivism with the aim of achieving better societal protection and reintegration of offenders into a crime-free life.

Assessment of the current state of incident management and leadership in Finland The study examines the current state of Finnish incident management and leadership, focusing on the impact of different areas of incident management on the system as a whole. The research question addresses the development of the Finnish incident management and leadership model. The research framework incorporates societal security strategy principles, legislation, and the comprehensive security model. Data was gathered through interviews with 18 representatives from central government, municipalities and organisations. The findings reveal legislative shortcomings in the allocation of leadership responsibilities within the Finnish model. In a system that is heavily dependent on cooperation, legal and political complexities pose challenges to development. The study concludes that the incident management model requires improvement not only in fostering cooperation, but also in regard to jointly agreed-upon approaches to incident management.

This research study examines how risk communications on personal and societal security are conducted within the Economic Community of West African States, using Ghana as a case study. The research focused on Ghana due to its status and ranking as a leading democratic and peaceful nation within a turbulent region, in comparison to Kenya, a member of the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community. In addition to field data, a literature review was conducted to examine whether Ghana’s national security agencies apply key risk communication components, such as risk identification, population impact assessment, communication effectiveness, mitigation strategies, and feedback mechanisms. Findings indicate that both national and regional frameworks for risk communication are largely absent, with existing protocols being mostly ad hoc and confined to health emergencies. Although the states and citizens in the West African region are aware of crimes, these states often employ ad hoc risk communication strategies to address interpersonal crimes. The analysis used data to assess individuals’ self-efficacy in taking personal preventive measures in relation to their perceived ontological security over the same crimes. Age-based differences in perceived crime threats were statistically significant for rape, kidnapping, defilement, and murder (Kruskal–Wallis p < 0.01). The study concludes that there are few or no national or regional risk communication modalities to prepare both the capable and vulnerable populations against interpersonal crimes, terrorism, or insurgency. The study recommends that the Joint Security Committee of Ghana and other nations in the region develop an All-Risk Communication protocol for national application to improve safety and national response capabilities. The research contributes to knowledge on systems risk communication and creates awareness of the need for nations to develop national protocols for risk communication to assist first responders in their performative service deliveries.

Ransomware has developed into one of the most disruptive threats to modern enterprises and cloud environments represent a key new attraction point. Whereas initial ransomware emphasized endpoint encryption, threat actors today are attacking cloudnative endpoints as well as employing multipleextortion meta-strategies, posing a new and increased threat to business and societal security. Simultaneously, the increased rates of adoption of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-aService (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) have also posed new challenges on the security of highly dynamic multi-tenant platforms and reliable recovery. In its study of cloud ransomware, this paper analyses two aspects that are deep rooted in each other defense and data recovery. It integrates state of the art research and industry trends in preventive controls, anomaly detection, and automated incident response, as well as recovery systems immutable backups, cross-region replication, and disaster recovery orchestration. The mapping of defenses against MITRE ATT&CK Cloud matrix and measurement of recovery efficiency by use of Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Recovery Time Objective (RTO), etc., allows to identify strengths and key gaps of current methods. Findings suggest that defense is not enough and even mature zero trust and segmentation architecture cannot ensure immunity against ransomware compromise. Likewise, recovery mechanisms tend to be under-tested, with little or no standardized benchmark or performance tested at scale. The paper presents the case that integrated strategy can combine layered security controls with automated and auditable recovery as well as spot the research gaps in SaaS/serverless resilience, cross-tenant blast radius, and human operational readiness. Finally, enterprise resilience security and that of the nation and regulations at large, cannot be met by merely avoiding the ransomware break in, but by having tested and proven recovery under live circumstances.

The right to privacy has emerged in the current century as one of the most significant individual rights affected by technological development, particularly through cybercrimes and advances in artificial intelligence. This evolution has been accompanied by the adoption and use of such means, especially in criminal prosecution. This study aims to examine the right to privacy within the framework of constitutional and penal legislations in Palestine, with the objective of identifying the extent to which constitutional provisions and substantive and procedural penal legislations protect this fundamental right in light of contemporary challenges such as technological advancement, cybercrimes. Moreover, artificial intelligence. The study seeks to assess the compatibility of penal legislations with constitutional guarantees through a comparative presentation of international experiences to identify the strengths and weaknesses of national legislations and propose methods for their development. To this end, the inductive-analytical method was employed, enabling the researchers to analyze legal rules, examine their scope of application. Moreover, derive generalizations that highlighted the weak constitutional protection of the right to privacy. Moreover, the study observed violations of this right in procedural aspects of criminal law and noted the inadequacy of its substantive penal protection due to limited capabilities in addressing violations of correspondence confidentiality, phone tapping, infringement of image rights. Moreover, the repercussions of artificial intelligence. The study recommends strengthening legislative and judicial protection of privacy, while emphasizing the need to strike a balance between this right and the requirements of societal security in the digital age.

The evolution of public opinion on social media affects societal security and stability. To effectively control the societal impact of public opinion evolution, it is essential to study its underlying mechanisms. Public opinion evolution on social media primarily involves two processes: information dissemination and opinion interaction. However, existing studies overlook the bidirectional coupling relationship between these two processes, with limitations such as weak coupling and insufficient consideration of individual heterogeneity. To address this, we propose the SIS-FJ model with a bidirectional coupling mechanism, which combines the strengths of the SIS (Susceptible–Infected–Susceptible) model in information dissemination and the FJ (Friedkin–Johnsen) model in opinion interaction. Specifically, the SIS model is used to describe information dissemination, while the FJ model is used to describe opinion interaction. In the computation of infection and recovery rates of the SIS model, we introduce the opinion differences between individuals and their observable neighbors from the FJ model. In the computation of opinion values in the FJ model, we introduce the node states from the SIS model, thus achieving bidirectional coupling between the two models. Moreover, the model considers individual heterogeneity from multiple aspects, including infection rate, recovery rate, and individual susceptibility. Through simulation experiments, we investigate the effects of initial opinion distribution, individual susceptibility, and network structure on public opinion evolution. Interestingly, neither initial opinion distribution, individual susceptibility, nor network structure exerts a significant influence on the proportion of disseminating and non-disseminating individuals at termination. Furthermore, we optimize the model by adjusting the functions for infection and recovery rates.

The article is devoted to analyzing the role of religious studies education as one of the key instruments of religious security in countering Russia's religious informational propaganda in its contemporary hybrid wars. It's noted that under the conditions of the ongoing military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the hybrid reli-gious war has become particularly acute, serving as a component of the broader hybrid strategy of the aggressor state. This type of influence is characterized by the combina-tion of religious narratives with means of informational-psychological pressure, cyber operations, and systematic support of religious institutions by Russian state structures. The primary goal of such actions is to undermine the internal stability of Ukrainian society, incite interconfessional hostility, delegitimize spiritual unity, and sacralize war by justifying it through pseudo-religious rhetoric. The significance of religious security as an important component of national security is emphasized, which should be understood as a multi-vector category that combines spiritual-cultural, legal, security, and socio-political dimensions aimed at achieving religious stability and civil peace. Religious se-curity is a component of overall societal security and the cultural-spiritual environment, encompassing legal, social, educational, informational, moral-ethical, and political aspects of regulating religious relations. The research is based on the results of a survey of Ukrainian university students, which revealed that the overwhelming majority of re-spondents (two-thirds) positively perceive the necessity of introducing educational courses on religious security and religious studies that would help better understand contemporary challenges in the religious sphere. Among learning formats, online cours-es, electronic libraries, and podcasts are popular, as they provide opportunities to acquire knowledge in an informal environment, at convenient times for listeners, in connec-tion with current events, discussions, interfaith dialogues, or social transformations.

The link between culture and identity is a close one, being the identity card of each nation. Protecting a set of values, beliefs, traditions and characteristics gives rise to the concept of societal security and the dynamics of the concept at the level of society. On the one hand this paper focuses on the transformation that public libraries have undergone over time, precisely to ensure their continuity in the community. Libraries have adapted to the needs of the individual and the community they serve, becoming community hubs. At the same time, the work aims to explore the existing connections between libraries and the concepts of societal security, social inclusion and democracy. The relevance of the study consists in the analysis of the social and cultural performances achieved by the libraries in the activities carried out and the implications on societal security. The research methodology focuses both on the analysis of the available documents that give us an overview of library activities and the community's involvement in these activities, as well as on a quantitative survey method, which was applied to a sample of 54 public librarians from Romania, the respondents being selected both from urban and rural areas

One of the significant challenges for 21st century society is the security of energy infrastructure in the event of energy-related terrorist attacks. Long-term energy disruptions can not only annihilate several essential services for a community but can also create societal chaos. This paper aims to analyze the implications of energy terrorist attacks for the national security, economic security and cohesion of a state that has been involved in an energy terrorist attack. Policy interventions and international cooperation are recommended to counter energy-related terrorist attacks. Security strategies must protect energy infrastructure against energy-related terrorist attacks. Perhaps the most important aspect is the multidimensional approach to energy-related terrorist attacks, which must combine efforts at governmental, societal, state and international levels. Such an approach should aim to make society resilient to such terrorist attacks, but also to mitigate the long-term consequences of such attacks on the population.

This study explores the profound impact of sectarianism on the political landscape and social dynamics in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. It argues that sectarian identity has become the primary marker of political competition, resulting in symbolic geography characterized by "blood borders" that exacerbate societal differences. The rise of sectarianism has not only fueled civil violence, resulting in significant loss of life and displacement but has also transformed the concept of citizenship into sectarian subjectivity, blurring the boundaries between public and private spheres, as the study identifies the impact of creating sectarian cantons, which may lead to a fragmented society and increased volatility in Iraq. It emphasizes that national security may overshadow state legitimacy, complicating leaders' ability to maintain control amid rising sectarian tensions. Moreover, economic factors contributing to this crisis, such as oil dependency and inflation, are examined, highlighting how these elements exacerbate societal grievances and fuel civil unrest, and in conclusion, the paper calls for a reassessment of principles within a pluralistic society and suggests the need for practical solutions to address the deep scars of sectarian violence. It assumes that without significant political changes and commitment to mitigating sectarianism, the trajectory of Iraq's statehood and security may lead to disintegration and conflict. Keywords: Sectarian Polarization - Societal Security - Post-2003 Iraq - Sectarianism - Sectarian Violence

Abstract Extreme low temperature imposes huge burden on both societal security and the global economy, thus requiring advanced warmth retention materials to protect human from the cold environment. However, the common fibrous heat preservation materials always suffer from heavy weight, poor mechanical properties, inadequate thermal insulation performance, and a lack of antibacterial properties. In this study, a facile approach for fabricating washable and antibacterial polystyrene (PS)/polyurethane (PU) fibrous sponges by direct electrospinning is demonstrated. The ultrafine fibers with rough structures are created due to the different phase separation rate of two polymers in the jet, which endows the sponge with hydrophobic property. Meanwhile, stiff PS and soft PU can synergistically improve the mechanical properties of the sponge (nearly without deformation after 1000 stretching and compression), which further endows washable property to the sponge. Moreover, the antibacterial performance is obtained through the incorporation of antibacterial agents, demonstrating a high antibacterial rate of 98.9% even after 10 washing cycles. In addition, the fibrous sponge also shows ultralight property (3.89 mg cm−3) and desired warmth retention performance with thermal conductivity of 23.77 mW m−1 K−1. The fabrication of ultrafine fiber sponge represents a significant advancement for the development of high‐performance materials in various fields.

Through a vernacular security lens, this article examines which meanings of security have driven Ukrainian civil society’s collective action in response to the Russo-Ukrainian war, which began with Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the Donbas in 2014. It draws on a four-year study (2018–2022) of civic engagement in wartime Ukraine, involving in-depth interviews with members of army support groups, humanitarian organizations, volunteer battalions, and anti-disinformation groups. The article challenges vernacular security studies’ tendency toward methodological individualism by showing how collective civic resistance produces shared security understandings that transcend individual-level constructions of security. The emergence of a new plural security actor from below blurs the elite/non-elite binary foundational to vernacular security scholarship, as citizen groups become prominent security voices without losing their community connections. The article finds that despite initially focusing primarily on military security, civil society groups’ discourse evolved to encompass emancipatory and societal security dimensions, emphasizing both freedom from authoritarian control and the preservation of Ukrainian national identity. As a result, this research also contributes to theoretical bridge-building between vernacular and other critical approaches to security while addressing an important gap in our understanding of civilian agency during armed conflict.