Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Olivia Yu

Abstract

Terrorists use cyberspace and social media technology to create fear and spread violent ideologies, which pose a significant threat to public security. Researchers have documented the importance of the application of law and regulation in dealing with the criminal activities perpetrated through the aid of computers in cyberspace. Using routine activity theory, this study assessed the effectiveness of technological approaches to mitigating the expansion and organization of terrorism in cyberspace. The study aligned with the purpose area analysis objective of classifying and assessing potential terrorist threats to preempt and mitigate the attacks. Data collection included document content analysis of the open-source documents, government threat assessments, legislation, policy papers, and peer-reviewed academic literature and semistructured interviews with fifteen security experts in Nigeria. Yin's recommended analysis process of iterative and repetitive review of materials was applied to the documents analysis, including interviews of key public and private sector individuals to identify key themes on Nigeria's current effort to secure the nation's cyberspace. The key findings were that the new generation of terrorists who are more technological savvy are growing, cybersecurity technologies are effective and quicker tools, and bilateral/multilateral cooperation is essential to combat the expansion of terrorism in cyberspace. The implementation of recommendations from this study will improve the security in cyberspace, thereby contributing to positive social change. The data provided may be useful to stakeholders responsible for national security, counterterrorism, law enforcement on the choice of cybersecurity technologies to confront terrorist expansion, and organization in cyberspace.

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