Be aware of cyber security risks
October each year is Cyber Security Awareness month, though really every month should be cyber security awareness month! Here you can find a selection of CS4FN articles covering different aspects of keeping everyone safe online and protecting your data.
See films through a computer scientist’s eyes and find out about Cyber Security at the Movies, or read a selection of our articles (or download Issue 24 of the CS4FN magazine which is all about cyber security). We’ve also linked to some information about example jobs in this area – the job adverts are closed but the information is preserved so that people can see examples of what cyber security specialists do.
Cyber Security at the Movies
Rogue One: Physical Security
In a galaxy far, far away cyber security matters quite a lot. So much so, in fact, that the whole film Rogue One is about it. The plot is all about the bad guys trying to keep their plans secret, and the good guys trying to steal them.. and there is only a story to tell at all because the Empire used physical security…. (read on)
Rogue One: Authentication
In a galaxy far, far away cyber security matters. So much so, that the whole film Rogue One is about it. Part of the key to keeping the Death Star plans secret is good authentication… (read on)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Fail Secure Software
If you are so power hungry you can’t stand the idea of any opposition; if you want to make a grab for total power, so decide to crush everyone in your way, then you might want to think about the security of your power supply first. Luckily, all would-be dictators who crush everyone who gets in their way as they march towards total domination of the galaxy, tend to be very naive about cyber-security. Take Ronan the Accuser in the original Guardian of the Galaxy …. (read on)
He attacked me with a dictionary!
Using simple rules like adding capitals, digits and special symbols in a simple way still makes for weak passwords as does using words from fantasy worlds because they can be attacked with a big dictionary…(read on)
The cyber security honeypot
To catch criminals, whether old-fashioned ones or cybercriminals, you need to understand the criminal mind. You need to understand how they think and how they work. Jeremiah Onaolapo, as a PhD student at UCL, created cyber-honeypots and finding out how cybercriminals really operate…(read on)
Cryptography: you are what you know
The trouble with using spy novel style passphrases to prove who you are is you still have to trust the other person. If they might have nefarious intentions, you want to prove who you are without giving anything else away. You certainly don’t want them to be able to take the information you give and use it to pretend to be you…(read on)
Ninja White Hat Hacking
Hackers cause lots of harm and mayhem. Not all hackers are bad though. Some, called white hat hackers, are ethical hackers, paid by companies to test their security by actively trying to break in – it’s called penetration testing. It’s not just business though, it was also turned into a card game….(read on)
Shafi Goldwasser and the Zero Knowledge Proof
Shafi Goldwasser is one of the greatest living computer scientists, having won the Turing Award in 2012 (equivalent to a Nobel Prize). Her work helped turn cryptography from a dark art into a science. If you’ve ever used a credit card through a web browser, for example, her work was helping you stay secure. Her greatest achievement, with Silvio Micali and Charles Rackoff, is the “Zero knowledge proof”…(read on)
I know where your cat lives
Governments pass laws to protect their citizens’ privacy. They outlaw reading email, listening in to phone calls and accessing data without permission or a court order. If you really care about privacy though, you need to protect your ‘metadata’ too: data about data. The police and security services can learn a lot from metadata when they put their minds to it. Anyone else with access can too. You need to take care of yours (and that of your cat)…(read on)
Every breath you take: reclaim the Internet
The 1983 hit song by the Police “Every breath you take” is up there in the top 100 pop songs ever. It seems a charming love song, and some couples even treat it as “their” song, playing it for the first dance at their wedding. Some of the lyrics “Every single day…I’ll be watching you”, if in a loving relationship, might be a good and positive thing. As the Police’s Sting has said though, the lyrics are about exactly the opposite….(read on)
Related Careers
Careers related to this article include:
- Security Analyst
- Responsible for identifying threats, setting up systems to protect against them, identifying breaches if they do occur and preventing harm resulting from them
- Cyber Security Researcher
- Responsible for conducting research in cyber security such as understanding new and future threats, and developing new ways to protect systems from threats,
Examples of PAST jobs (closed) advertised in cyber security
Note that these jobs are CLOSED (the first closed in March 2024, the second in April 2024) but a copy of the job advert, job description and person specification (where available) are preserved so that you can see a couple of examples of the types of roles people might do in this area.
A job advert lets an organisation tell that they have a new job available, a job description (also known as a ‘JD’) describes what they want the person who gets the job to actually do and a person specification (or ‘PS’) says what skills and experience an ideal applicant might need in order to do the job. Sometimes these are separate PDF documents to download but more usually the JD and PS are combined into one PDF document, and sometimes combined with the job advert too, with all the information just listed on the web page.
Related Magazine …
Contents: Credit card fraud, tinkering with DNA, Shafi Goldwasser and Zero Knowledge, A phishing story, the Cyber Security Honeypot, I know where your cat lives, your regular supermarket might know too much, cyber security at the movies – Rogue One (authentication), covert channels and card tricks, hiding in Elizabethan binary, piracy on the open wi-fi, WannaCry ransomware, password dictionary cracking, how to vanish, Pokémon lost, Back Page (under the duvet).
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This page is funded by EPSRC on research agreement EP/W033615/1.
Keywords: cyber security, online safety, cybersecurity
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