Ron Deibert presents keynote address at the iConference

Submitted by Kathleen OBrien on Fri, 2012/02/10 - 1:56am

While countries need to update their legal system to help prosecute those who commit international cyber crime, we still need to maintain the freedoms we enjoy on the web, says University of Toronto Political Science Professor Ron Deibert. He urged Canada to be part of this process in “The Coming Perfect Cyber Storm," his keynote address presented as part of the iConference 2012’s opening session on February 8.

Prof. Deibert highlighted the omnipresence of cyberspace and how this is changing the global landscape, as knowledge and networks are now seen as a reflection of development.

Also director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, Deibert presented a number of elements driving the transformation of cyberspace today. He established that the rise of the social network, cloud computing, and mobile technologies has created new challenges to privacy as most users are unaware of the implications of their activities.

As an example, Prof. Deibert suggested global cybercrime has grown with the creation of a grey economy that presents opportunities for enrichment. Schemes have become increasingly sophisticated and feed off of the information available online. He says Cybercrime has been able to thrive due to the lack of control. In addition, it is difficult to detect as perpetrators rely on social engineering and use the same networks as everyone else, which offer convenience and anonymity.

Another strong point, Prof. Deibert says, are the challenges brought on by these issues, as policies put in place to control cyberspace often have worse consequences than the crimes themselves. Though a discourse of fear has helped promote strong security measures with the acceptance of the public, these do not come without consequences. “We may end up killing the Internet in our efforts to save it,” he concluded.

The iConference is taking place at the Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre Hotel from February 7 to 10, 2012.