Azeem Aleem

Let me in the cloud: analysis of the benefit and risk assessment of cloud platform

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the vulnerabilities of the cloud platform affecting businesses trading on the internet. It aims to examine the appropriateness of the cloud computing, its benefits to the industry and helps to identify security concerns for businesses that plan to deploy one of the cloud platforms. It helps to identify areas where businesses should focus before choosing an appropriate Cloud Service Provider (CSP).Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents the findings of an original research survey (200 IT professionals working both in the public and private sectors) undertaken to examine their privacy, and data security concerns associated with the cloud platform. Views of those who have yet to deploy cloud were analysed to detect the patterns of common security issues. Cyber fraud and trust concerns of the organisations are addressed and deployment of the secured cloud environment is outlined.Findings – The survey analysis highlighted that the top conce...

Just about everybody doing the business? Explaining 'cash-for-crash insurance fraud in the United Kingdom

There is much international research on the different types of fraud committed by individuals and/or organised crime. There is, however, limited research on insurance fraud and a particular species of such fraud which has become known as ‘cash-for-crash’ fraud in the United Kingdom. In addition, there are very few published studies of fraudsters which actually draw upon interviews with them. This article bridges both of these gaps providing a focus upon ‘cash-for-crash’ fraudsters which is based upon empirical research drawn from six interviews with such offenders and a database of over 400 offenders built upon successful prosecutions of such cases in the United Kingdom. This article offers a profile of such offenders and presents insights into why and how some people might become involved in ‘cash-for-crash’ type frauds.

Introduction: Fraud, Corruption and Sport

There is a wealth of literature on the sociology of sport (Newman, 1968, Taylor, 1971; Newman, 1972; Dunning and Sheard, 1979; Chinn, 1991; Philips and Tomlinson, 1992; Giulianotti, 1999; Dunning, 1999; Horne et al., 1999; Hoberman, 2001; Gutmann, 2004; Dimeo, 2007; Giulianotti and Robertson, 2009; Millward, 2011; Spaaij, 2012; McGuire, 2012; Horne et al., 2012; Dennis and Grix, 2012). This covers a range of specific sociological, political and cultural issues in sport, such as racism, gambling, images of sport, globalisation and club ownership. The focus of this book, however, is the reach and depth of individual and organisational fraud and corruption in sport; as such, we see it as a pioneering study of the subject and hope that it provides a contribution to the wealth of ongoing sociological debates and the world of sport.

Why Do Those in Sport Commit Fraud and Corruption

The first documented case of corruption in international sport is attributed to the athlete Eupolos of Thessalia (Maennig, 2005). There are also records of corruption of ‘sports management’ and administration in the ancient Olympics (Decker, 1995). Then, as now, however, there is no ‘specific class’ of people (Dittenhofer, 1995) that commits acts of fraud and corruption. As we have already illustrated, fraud and corruption is committed by athletes, sports administrators, professional coaches and managers working in or as individuals for sporting bodies; some of the examples in this book examine fraud and corruption in specific sports in more depth, but for now our attention is on why people involved in the world of sport commit acts of fraud and corruption.

Fraud and Corruption in Boxing

Rather than dwell on the long, and sometimes, corrupt nature of boxing, which is established elsehwere (La Motta, 1997; Lazaroff, 1990; Sammons, 1990; Neiman, 2008; Norridge, 2008) our focus is on the more ‘modern’ version of the sport. We therefore focus on the different types of fraud and corrpution found in ‘modern’ boxing. This is done by examining the roles of the main ‘participants’ involved in the sport, such as boxers, managers, promoters and sanctioning bodies and how they have contributed to and committed acts of fraud and corruption.

Internet Fraud, Corruption and Sport

It has been claimed that the relentless expansion of the Internet is in the process of radically transforming the spheres of work, consumption, leisure and politics (Castells, 2002). Part of ‘leisure’ is the use of the Internet as a gambling medium. However, what is often referred to as cyberspace—the realm of computerised interaction—seems to offer a vast range of potentially ‘new’ criminal acts (Jar, 2006).

Fraud and Corruption in Football

In this chapter we start by highlighting the types of fraud and corruption existing in the ‘modern’ commercial era of football in an international context. This is not to suggest that football had a halcyon period free from fraud and corruption; it is merely recognition that with increased commercial exposure (Freeman, 2000; Hamil and Walters, 2010) more cases of corruption have appeared in football.

Fraud and Corruption in Horse Racing

In this chapter we focus on the ‘modern’ international development of horse racing. Rather than dwell on the historical change (see Reith, 2002; Miers, 2004; Cassidy, 2010) in horse racing from an aristocratic ‘pastime’ to a commercial sport, our focus is on the more modern, contemporary era and the codification of the sport. Intermittingly associated with fraud and corruption in it earliest form (Vamplew, 1976; Chinn, 1991; Dixon, 1991), and in particular gambling, horse racing was, and still is, vulnerable to different types of fraud and corruption. The most obvious is fixing a horse race; however, while we touch on this type of fraud and corruption, we also highlight under-researched types of corruption, in particular auction fraud, doping horses and running a horse when injured.

Fraud and Corruption in Basketball

In this chapter we focus on fraud and corruption in both college basketball (the National Collegiate Athletic Association — NCAA) and the professional National Basketball Association (NBA) in the USA. Where possible we draw on international examples as well, but due to the popularity of basketball in the USA and its long-established college and professional leagues, most of the chapter covers fraud and corruption in the USA.

Fraud and Corruption in Baseball

In this chapter we focus on fraud and corruption in baseball. We start by reviewing the different types of match-fixing in baseball around the world; these consist of match-fixing for ‘vested gambling interests’ (Ginsburg, 1996), state corruption and manipulation of Little League Baseball (LLB) in Taiwan and playing ineligible players to win national and international matches (Junwei, 2007).