Nazli Zeynep Bozdemir, M.A., M.Sc.

Convergence of cyberspace and terrorism, that is cyberterrorism, might be an underrated issue for the moment due to the absence of real world examples. However, the ongoing transformation from old to new terrorism and changing perceptions of war and state security proves the opposite. Cyberterrorism is a resourceful, innovative, and an unconventional way to produce unpredictable and online threats against the traditional state marked by strict physical borders. Due to the significance of new terrorism for state security and IR, it is important to understand why current definitions are remaining to be ambiguous, complex, and insufficient in combating future cyberterrorist threats. Characterizing such a complicated phenomenon might not be an easy task, whilst without knowing what cyberterrorism is, and what it is not, we cannot develop better solutions or generate better responses for state security. Departing from these concerns, this thesis asks: what could be the proper definition for cyberterrorism? The aim is to provide a new, operational framework to address lacking insights in the current literature.

One of the main objectives of this research paper is to map the security landscape of cloud computing systems and services running on Critical Infrastructures. In fulfilling this aim, first the cloud architecture will be laid out to better understand the cloud security threats in terms of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA). Next, the paper will represent different types of attackers targeting the cloud while offering a comparison of traditional cyber attackers and attackers on the cloud. In the second section, the relevance of the cloud for Critical Infrastructures will be covered as it is significantly important to understand their interaction. In doing this, CII Protection (CIIP) programs of different countries will be visited as well. The main strength of second section is the investigation of different types of attacks targeting the Cloud on CII. This investigation ultimately will lead to a discussion whether attacking methods targeting the cloud on CII could be exploited by different types of cloud attackers or not.

It is not an easy task to develop a working framework for analyzing the WMD terrorist threat as inherently, the debate has two sides to be mentioned. In this context, the scope of this article is to search for a better assessment of the threat of WMD terrorism while executing an in-depth analysis of contrasting perspectives belonging to skeptics and conventionals trying to find whether the issue is hype, or not.

With the emergence of multimedia, social media and the Internet of Things (IoT), the volume and the variety of data massively increased. This is not only an exponential increase, but a continuous one as well which conceives a “recognized trend” called big data. Similar to every other IT trend of this century, big data is highly influential in every aspect of our society. From finance to healthcare, or governance to education, the data being generated are huge. This massive rates of data are in need of “appropriate cloud computing platforms” and proper data analysis techniques which results in a tight relationship between big data and cloud computing.  For the purposes of this article, the conjoined nature of relations between big data and cloud computing will be examined first. Then, the most important challenges observed in this relation will be expressed. Finally, a hypothetical scenario concerning the big data and cloud computing will be presented.

(An article written for the Cloud Computing and Security class in METU, lectured by Dr. Mehrdad Mizani)

From March to November 2011, the joint military operations conducted by the NATO forces were determined enough to cease the Gaddafi regime once and for all. Since the case is allegedly assumed to be lawful as it was authorized by the UNSC in the first place, many refer to the Libyan case as a successful precedent for international humanitarian intervention. However, there are several indications that cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Libyan intervention. In this respect, the aim of the following article is to question the legitimacy of the authorized humanitarian military intervention in Libya by the UNSC first by conceptualizing the humanitarian intervention in the international law and second by questioning the legitimacy of the Libyan intervention. The latter part aims to review the problems attached to the open-ended wording of the Resolution 1973 on the authorization of the use of force; contested rationale of the intervention; and the allegedly misused RtoP doctrine empowered by the ancient Just War Theory and its principles of military intervention.

Albeit the collective action attempts in boosting a solid Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) came up against a brick wall throughout the years due to the lacking consensus between the EU member-states on external relations, it is still noteworthy to look deep into the European identity and identity politics to develop a better solution to current problems with the CFSP. Such an examination is relevant on several counts worth mentioning; first of all, the efforts towards forming an effective collective identity for the EU requires understanding how identity politics influence the foreign policy processes as it is highly important for member-states to embed the European identity on a par with the national identity. Secondly, to be able to identify the soft spots in the current CFSP system and work towards solutions, the identity politics play an important role in easing the tension between national-interests/identities and interests along with the identity of the EU as a whole.

Designed as a Linux Kernel open source operating system (OS) programmed with Java, Android is getting widely accepted by consumers and developers since its first release in 2007. Android owes this popularity mostly to the comprehensive and practical security architecture it brought to the mobile market which puts the user in control of all data and applications run by the mobile device.

Being one of the largest online dating sites for over than ten years, Ashley Madison, run by Canadian company Avid Life Media (ALM), is known to have made $115 million net in 2014 and was planning to move toward an Initial Public Offering by the end of 2015 if and only if the ALM has not been hacked by a group called the Impact Team. The Ashley Madison Hack is already accepted as a high-profile data breach that took place in 2015 so far, it also turned out to have a bigger influence on the ALM and ‘supposedly’ anonymous users.

The purpose of this article is to look deeper into the external, as well as internal factors that considerably set the stage for the ineffective Turkish foreign policy towards Central Asia in the post-cold war era. With this aim, first two sections address the external driving forces, namely the power rivalry among various international actors laying claim to the region and drastic change observed in Russian Federation’s foreign policy towards its backyard . In the third and the most lengthy section, the focus will be on the internal dynamics, as the faulty policies of Turkey and its limited capacity in fulfilling political and economic promises given to Turkic republics in the beginning of 1990s have great importance in understanding the reasons behind the impotence of Turkey’s policies.
However, it should be pointed out that the overall goal of the article is not to draw clear-cut conclusions that will be taken for granted, but to neutrally present the domestic and international forces determining the Turkish foreign policy direction and eventually failure in the 1990s.