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The consumer Internet of Things (IoT) is a fast-growing area of technology, increasingly embedded in the public and private spheres, including both in and on bodies. There are various security concerns and academic investigations into potential risks of this expansion, but none yet specifically addressing the implications to journalists and the democratic pillar of press freedom. Not only are risks to this community not yet assessed, but IoT threats generally are not communicated without technical jargon, making them inaccessible to non-experts. Given the importance of a free press, mapping IoT devices and, crucially, communicating associated risk in ways understandable and actionable to journalists themselves, is key. Journalists and the press are particularly at-risk from IoT devices that may feature in the environments with which they must regularly interact because of the fundamental imperative of source confidentiality. Previous research demonstrated that members of the press are largely unaware of the ways in which the IoT can threaten their work and wellbeing. The networked capabilities of IoT devices increases the ease with which well-resourced threat actors can target journalists who routinely handle confidential information and are already at risk around the world from a variety of non-IoT threats. This paper therefore presents a novel categorisation of both ambient and wearable consumer IoT devices according to the environments in which journalists are most likely to interact with them. It draws on related academic work classifying devices for technical audiences to create a system that is accessible to journalists and their sources. Its goal is to make members of the media aware of the prevalence of these technologies and which of the devices' capabilities may increase their individual risk. Useful risk assessments cannot be undertaken without an accurate understanding of where threats may be encountered. By systematically outlining risks in numerous environments, this taxonomy can be easily ...

This research reports on a study into the cybersecurity awareness initiatives for school learners in South Africa and the UK, which are supported by government, industry and academia. Furthermore, this article provides an overview of similarities and differences between initiatives across countries, and posits as to the reasons why they may exist. The research concludes by presenting recommendations for both countries to improve school cybersecurity initiatives.

Cybersecurity risk assessment approaches have served us well over the last decade. They have provided a platform through which organisations and governments could better protect themselves against pertinent risks. As the complexity, pervasiveness and automation of technology systems increases however, particularly with the Internet of Things (IoT), there is a strong argument for the need for new approaches to assess risk and build trust. The challenge with simply extending existing assessment methodologies to these systems is that we could be blind to new risks arising in such ecosystems. These risks could be related to the high degrees of connectivity present, or the coupling of digital, cyber-physical and social systems. This article makes the case for new methodologies to assess risk in this context which consider the dynamics and uniqueness of IoT, but also the rigour of best practice in risk assessment.

Cybercrime investigators face numerous challenges when policing online crimes. Firstly, the methods and processes they use when dealing with traditional crimes do not necessarily apply in the cyber-world. Additionally, cyber criminals are usually technologically-aware and constantly adapting and developing new tools that allow them to stay ahead of law enforcement investigations. In order to provide adequate support for cybercrime investigators, there needs to be a better understanding of the challenges they face at both technical and sociotechnical levels. In this paper, we investigate this problem through an analysis of current practices and workflows of investigators. We use interviews with experts from government and private sectors who investigate cybercrimes as our main data gathering process. From an analysis of the collected data, we identify several outstanding challenges faced by investigators. These pertain to practical, technical, and social issues such as systems availability, usability, and in computer-supported collaborative work. Importantly, we use our findings to highlight research areas where user-centric workflows and tools are desirable. We also define a set of recommendations that can aid in providing a better foundation for future research in the field and allow more effective combating of cybercrimes.

In this RISJ factsheet we analyse 720,799 news-related tweets from a larger dataset of 4.4 million tweets collected during the 2017 German Federal Election to examine the role of digital-born and legacy news media in online political discussions in Germany. The authors Sílvia Majó-Vázquez, Jason R. C. Nurse, Felix M.Simon, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen show in this study how news audience attention took shape on Twitter during the weeks ahead of the polling day and up to the day after of the celebration of this major political event in Europe. Their findings suggest that legacy news media – especially the main public service media organizations and the most important weeklies – figured very prominently in political discussions on Twitter. According to the authors this results speaks to the audience preference for quality journalism and video. Their results also show that that a number of new digital-born brands, including several aligned with national conservative political positions, saw far wider engagement on social media than their size would suggest. In contrast, many established media, especially regional and local newspapers, saw little engagement on Twitter. Among the main findings the authors highlight that the major public service media organisations, ARD and ZDF, alongside weekly news publications, especially Die Zeit and Der Spiegel, which featured very prominently during the German campaign. All four had wide reach and higher levels of audience engagement than other news providers. Secondly, they also found that coinciding with increased popular support for far-right parties in Germany, some news outlets with a clear national-conservative political position, including several digital-born brands and one newspaper, played an important role on Twitter. Notably, they generated much more engagement than their posting activity and generally limited audience reach would suggest. Finally, their data suggests that despite their offline reach, considerable editorial resources, and historical importance, regional ...

This RISJ factsheet presents an analysis of a sample of 4.26 million news-related tweets from a larger dataset of 28 million tweets collected during the 2017 UK General Election. The document examines the role of digital-born and legacy news media in online political discussions. To do this, the authors Sílvia Majó-Vázquez, Jun Zhao, Jason R. C. Nurse, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen have mapped Twitter discussions around a range of keywords and hashtags tied to the election as well as the activity of 129 British media outlets, including 105 legacy media and 24 digital-born outlets. Their findings show that legacy media, including most broadcasters – BBC News, Channel 4 News, and Sky News figured very prominently in the political discussion on Twitter. The Economist and the Financial Times as well as a few pure digital-players also drew high levels of engagement and attention on Twitter during the same period of time, though they were much less active in posting news content. Overall, the study shows legacy media generated almost four times as much activity and engagement as digital-born news media during the election. The figure below, also included in the study, plots the evolution of the volume of tweets over time by type of news provider. As shown, broadcasters were responsible for the highest number of tweets related to the election and were the more frequently mentioned during that period. Newspapers reached parity with broadcasters in terms of overall tweet volume during conventional political events like the television debates and the polling day.

The threat that insiders pose to businesses, institutions and governmental organisations continues to be of serious concern. Recent industry surveys and academic literature provide unequivocal evidence to support the significance of this threat and its prevalence. Despite this, however, there is still no unifying framework to fully characterise insider attacks and to facilitate an understanding of the problem, its many components and how they all fit together. In this paper, we focus on this challenge and put forward a grounded framework for understanding and reflecting on the threat that insiders pose. Specifically, we propose a novel conceptualisation that is heavily grounded in insider-threat case studies, existing literature and relevant psychological theory. The framework identifies several key elements within the problem space, concentrating not only on noteworthy events and indicators – technical and behavioural – of potential attacks, but also on attackers (e.g., the motivation behind malicious threats and the human factors related to unintentional ones), and on the range of attacks being witnessed. The real value of our framework is in its emphasis on bringing together and defining clearly the various aspects of insider threat, all based on real-world cases and pertinent literature. This can therefore act as a platform for general understanding of the threat, and also for reflection, modelling past attacks and looking for useful patterns.

The insider threat faced by corporations and governments today is a real and significant problem, and one that has become increasingly difficult to combat as the years have progressed. From a technology standpoint, traditional protective measures such as intrusion detection systems are largely inadequate given the nature of the 'insider' and their legitimate access to prized organisational data and assets. As a result, it is necessary to research and develop more sophisticated approaches for the accurate recognition, detection and response to insider threats. One way in which this may be achieved is by understanding the complete picture of why an insider may initiate an attack, and the indicative elements along the attack chain. This includes the use of behavioural and psychological observations about a potential malicious insider in addition to technological monitoring and profiling techniques. In this paper, we propose a framework for modelling the insider-threat problem that goes beyond traditional technological observations and incorporates a more complete view of insider threats, common precursors, and human actions and behaviours. We present a conceptual model for insider threat and a reasoning structure that allows an analyst to make or draw hypotheses regarding a potential insider threat based on measurable states from real-world observations.

The I-Voting system designed and implemented in Estonia is one of the first nationwide Internet voting systems. Since its creation, it has been met with praise but also with close scrutiny. Concerns regarding security breaches have focused on in-person election observations, code reviews and adversarial testing on system components. These concerns have led many to conclude that there are various ways in which insider threats and sophisticated external attacks may compromise the integrity of the system and thus the voting process. In this paper, we examine the procedural components of the I-Voting system, with an emphasis on the controls related to procedural security mechanisms, and on system-transparency measures. Through an approach grounded in primary and secondary data sources, including interviews with key Estonian election personnel, we conduct an initial investigation into the extent to which the present controls mitigate the real security risks faced by the system. The experience and insight we present in this paper will be useful both in the context of the I-Voting system, and potentially more broadly in other voting systems.

The I-Voting system that was designed and implemented in Estonia in 2005 is the first Internet voting system to have been adopted anywhere in the world. Since its inception, it has been met with both praise and scrutiny. Concerns include in-person election observations, code reviews, and adversarial testing on system components. As a result of these concerns, some parties have concluded that there are various ways in which insider threats and sophisticated external attacks could compromise the system's integrity and thus the voting process. This paper examines the procedural components of the I-Voting system, with an emphasis on the controls related to procedural security mechanisms, high-level operational security aspects, and system transparency measures. The methodological approach is based on both primary and secondary data sources, including interviews with key Estonian election personnel, in order to determine the extent to which the present controls mitigate the security risks faced by the system. This study makes three main arguments. First, we found procedural controls to be fundamentally important to the design of the I-Voting system. While these mechanisms go a long way toward preventing cyberattacks, problems in the system still exist. For instance, some security situations appear to be addressed in informal ways which rely heavily on the knowledge, experience, and professional relationships between officials. Second, in terms of operational controls, we were generally impressed by the state of the controls adopted, particularly the incident handling processes during elections, as well as checks and investigations during and after elections. Our main concern regarding resilience is the increasing potential for more highly sophisticated attacks. As time progresses, attackers will naturally become stronger, and the system will have to adapt in order to accommodate this evolution. Third, the system's transparency measures have had a noteworthy impact on building confidence and trust in the I-Voting ...

This report examines the policy challenges for the Internet of Things (IoT), and raises a broad range of issues that need to be considered if policy is to be effective and the potential economic value of IoT is harnessed. It builds on the Blackett review, The Internet of Things: making the most of the second digital revolution, adding detailed knowledge based on research from the PETRAS Cybersecurity of the Internet of Things Research Hub and input from Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering. The report targets government policymakers, regulators, standards bodies and national funding bodies, and will also be of interest to suppliers and adopters of IoT products and services.