Data’s dirty tricks: The new spaces of fake news, harvesting, and contortion As part of the new Dialogues series in the Political Worlds research cluster at the University of Oxford’s School of Geography and the environment, we are hosting a panel on ‘Data’s Dirty Tricks.’ I have helped organised this event (with Dr Ian Klinke and Dr
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Searching for maliciousness using newspapers and Google trends data
So, I thought I would do a quick blog post, just as I have reached a block in writing and thought this would help to get me back into the mood. A couple of years ago now(!), I did some archival research on how certain malware are consumed and practiced in the media and tie
Reflecting on Engagement: Malware and a Social Scientist
I have recently completed a piece for my centre’s yearbook on my experience researching a malware analysis laboratory. I place it here as a sort of ‘preprint’ for those who may wish to think about (auto)ethnography and the role it has. Especially, as I try to reflect on the difficulties associated with the process, as well
Robots Should (Not) be Viruses
Last week, I was introduced to a conversation by Pip Thornton (@Pip__T) that was initiated by David Gunkel on Twitter, where he was taking a suggestion from Noel Sharkey on whether robots should be classified as viruses (see the tweet below). As I have been focusing on ‘computer viruses’ as part of my PhD on
Rethinking Space in Cybersecurity + ‘Algorithmic Dimensionality’
After initially volunteering to give a ‘lightning’ talk at the CDT in Cyber Security joint conference (Programme) at Royal Holloway next week (3 & 4 May), I was given the opportunity to speak at greater length for 30 minutes. This has provided me the breathing space to consider how I have been conceptualising space in
Topographies and Automation: Directions of my malicious research
So I’m pleased to say that I’ve been accepted on two pretty different conferences, which both disseminate different parts of my DPhil (PhD) project, and I intend to structure into more formal papers after these events. The first is ‘Transient Topographies‘, which will be in April in Galway, Ireland that will help explore the complex
Strava, Sweat, Security
Wearable tech, the ability to share your fitness stats, suggest routes, follow them, and so on have been a growing feature of (certain) everyday lifestyles. This ability to share how the body moves, performs, and expresses itself gives many people much satisfaction. One of the popular methods is through Strava which is primarily used by runners
RGS-IBG18: A Critical Geopolitics of Data? Territories, topologies, atmospherics?
Nick Robinson and I have put together a cfp for the RGS-IBG Conference that is below. This sort of movement to considering geopolitics is something that is becoming far more dominant in my work, and to have such a session helps to bring together some ideas that I’ve been having for many years, and particularly
New Year, New Me
So, this year will hopefully be the one where I gain a driving licence, pass the DPhil, and at least have a clear idea of what I intend to do in 2019 (if not already doing it). One of my resolutions is to start writing blog posts alongside the writing of my thesis chapters, as
#NATOtalk16
This week I attended the #NATOtalk16 conference held at the (infamous) Hotel Adlon, along with a pre-session discussion with the youth arm of the German Atlantic Association (YATA). This was a great few days with a dedicated ‘cyber security’ group which was great. There are recommendations which were written by all participants (available here), where