College of Science, Engineering and Technology

Developing a cybersecurity culture framework: a case study of Namibia’s telecommunications sector

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Developing a cybersecurity culture framework: a case study of Namibia’s telecommunications sector Endjala, Esther Ndapewa In today's digital environment, where cyber threats are on the rise, organisations face cyber risks that extend beyond technical vulnerabilities. A lack of a cybersecurity culture is often the primary reason why organisational resilience is compromised, as employees' attitudes and behaviours significantly affect the effectiveness of security measures. This study addresses the problem that cybersecurity initiatives in Namibia’s telecommunications sector remain largely technical and compliance-driven, while behavioural, organisational and cultural factors that shape secure employee practices are insufficiently understood. Based on these insights, the study seeks to develop a cybersecurity culture framework comprising of six key elements: leadership commitment and support; policy reviews and communication; a Security Education, Training and Awareness (SETA) programme; collaboration and feedback; security champions and ambassadors; and a rewards scheme. A qualitative case study was conducted in a Namibian telecommunications organisation, involving 25 participants purposively selected from across management levels and from IT and non-IT departments. The data were gathered during semi-structured interviews and were analysed thematically. The study's findings reveal key gaps in existing practices, including leaders' passive involvement, inadequate continuous and role-specific training, weak awareness initiatives, and poor reinforcement mechanisms, that impede the development of a proactive security culture. Participants highlighted incentive-based recognition, gamified and tailored training, and security champions as critical enablers of behavioural change. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on organisational cybersecurity by providing context-specific insights to strengthen human-centred defences and by outlining implications for extending this approach to other critical infrastructure sectors that adopt emerging technologies.

An energy optimized approach for the design of wireless sensor networks

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

An energy optimized approach for the design of wireless sensor networks Masopoga, Makwena Idah In today's data-driven world, we need to ensure reliable wireless access as it is vital. The increasing demand for data connectivity has significantly raised power consumption in wireless networks. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), which rely on battery power, face significant challenges due to this vulnerability. WSNs are widely utilized in various applications, including environmental monitoring, healthcare, industrial machinery, and security. Extending their operational lifetime is crucial for ensuring sustainable network performance. The primary limitation of WSNs lies in their energy-constrained nature. As nodes run out of energy, they begin to fail, resulting in reduced network coverage, connectivity, and throughput. While numerous protocols and algorithms have been proposed to extend network lifetime, overcoming power limitations remains a significant challenge. Existing heuristic approaches provide near-optimal solutions but are often impractical for real-time implementation. The goal of this research is to develop and assess energy-efficient algorithms that minimize power consumption and prolong the lifespan of WSNs. The specific objectives are to design an algorithm that optimizes energy usage through efficient routing and clustering, to balance energy consumption among nodes, reducing the likelihood of premature node failures, and to improve network throughput. This study adopts a simulation-based approach to evaluate the proposed algorithm. An energy-aware protocol is implemented to evenly distribute network workload and minimize energy wastage. The research contributes by demonstrating that heuristic solutions can be enhanced to achieve near-optimal performance, closing the gap between offline optimization and practical, real-time deployment. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm improves network lifetime and energy efficiency. Specifically, it achieves over 50% improvement in First Node Death (FND), 14% improvement in Last Node Death (LND), and 37% overall energy savings compared to conventional approaches. These results confirm that better energy balancing significantly enhances WSN sustainability and supports their long-term use across diverse applications.

Functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes for electronic and magnetic applications

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes for electronic and magnetic applications Oke, James Ayodele In this work, SiO2, MWCNTs, MWCNTs:SiO2, MWCNTs-TiO2, and MWCNTs:TiO2:SiO2 nanomaterials were synthesized and characterized by the use of different techniques to ascertain novelty of the nanomaterials and also to establish their suitability for several electrical, electronic and magnetic based device applications. The results, in general, indicate that the nanocomposites were well prepared and the properties of MWCNTs can be tuned by introducing SiO2, TiO2, and a composite of SiO2 and TiO2 in its matrix. This tunability of properties leading to the suitability of the material for various applications has been explained in this work

Measurement of Heavy Ion induced X-ray production cross sections in metallic targets at MeV energies

Sat, 20 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Measurement of Heavy Ion induced X-ray production cross sections in metallic targets at MeV energies Masekane, Masedi Carington Experimental X-ray production cross sections (i.e. probability of X-ray generation in a target by an incoming MeV ion) are useful not only for fundamental ion beam – matter interaction studies, but also for the development of new ion beam materials analysis techniques such as Heavy Ion Particle Induced X-ray Emission (HI-PIXE) spectroscopy. Unfortunately, while theoretical predictions of X-ray production cross sections due to light (Z<6) projectile ions are generally in good agreement with experiment, this is not the same for heavier projectiles. Experimental studies show that heavy ions induce higher X-ray yields in targets compared to light ions of the same velocity, which implies higher sensitivity for Heavy Ion PIXE. There is therefore a need for substantial experimental data to improve theoretical models. This dissertation presents measurements carried out at the iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences (LABS) to determine X-ray production cross sections in Vanadium (V), Zirconium (Zr) and Tin (Sn) metal oxide films due to carbon and chlorine MeV ion beams at an ion velocity range of 0.1-1.0 MeV/u. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions by the modified Plane Wave Born Approximation (PWBA) and the ECPSSR theory that takes into account; the energy loss (E) of the projectile due to Coulomb deflection (C) by the target atom, and the perturbed-stationary state (PSS) and relativistic nature (R) of the target atoms’ inner shell. The observed agreements and discrepancies between experiment and theory are discussed in terms of the atomic ionization mechanisms for each projectile-target collision