When Cryptographic Ransomware Poses Cyber Threats: Ethical Challenges and Proposed Safeguards for Cybersecurity Researchers

Scientific Conference (2022, June 10)

Cryptographic ransomware, a malware capable of destroying data, is a serious threat if used against providers of critical infrastructures such as healthcare, energy supply chains, banking services, and ... [more ▼]

Cryptographic ransomware, a malware capable of destroying data, is a serious threat if used against providers of critical infrastructures such as healthcare, energy supply chains, banking services, and transport systems. Used as such, ransomware may qualify as cyber weapon, but the current discussion around cyber and information warfare is not sufficiently legally regulated. This delegates the safe governance thereof to the application of ethical principles but leaves researchers working on ransomware in doubt about the double-use nature of their work and what code of conduct to follow. Although some existing biomedical research ethical principles have been repurposed for ICT research, in the context of recent threats posed by ransomware attacks, these efforts need an urgent rethink, especially when it involves the research of cybersecurity researchers dealing specifically with ransomware. This paper does not offer solutions, but rather describes the complexity, nature and extent of ethical challenges raised by cybersecurity research and invites the cybersecurity research community to enter into active discussions around the need to consider the development of an appropriate research ethics framework in the domain of cybersecurity. [less ▲]

Feedback to the Guidelines 3/2022 on “Dark patterns in social media platform interfaces: How to recognise and avoid them”

Report (2022)

Autonomy and the social dilemma of online manipulative behavior

in AI and Ethics (2022)

Persuasive online technologies were initially designed and used to gain insights into the online behavior of individuals to personalize advertising campaigns in an effort to influence people and convince ... [more ▼]

Persuasive online technologies were initially designed and used to gain insights into the online behavior of individuals to personalize advertising campaigns in an effort to influence people and convince them to buy certain products. But recently, these technologies have blurred the lines and morphed into technologies that covertly and gradually manipulate people into attaining a goal that is predetermined by the algorithm and disregards the decision-making rights of the individual. This may lead to people exercising decisions that do not align with their personal values and beliefs, and rob them of their autonomy—an ethical principle, in the absence of which the application of these technologies may be unethical. However, not all technologies that are persuasive are necessarily manipulative which require the careful consideration of a couple of elements to determine whether or not technologies are manipulative and ultimately whether their application is ethical or not. In this article, we analyze the ethical principle of autonomy and unpack the underlying elements of this ethical principle which must be considered to determine whether the application of a technology is ethical or not in the context of it being persuasive or manipulative. [less ▲]

Visualisation Techniques for Consent: Finding Common Ground in Comic Art with Indigenous Populations

in 2021 IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops (EuroS&PW) (2021)

With emerging technologies such as genome research and the digitization of health records comes the need for new models of informed consent. In this climate of innovation people are often prone to explore ... [more ▼]

With emerging technologies such as genome research and the digitization of health records comes the need for new models of informed consent. In this climate of innovation people are often prone to explore the latest technological advancement as possible solutions, including for informed consent. In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of a so-called low-tech informed consent solution that was designed specifically for the informational and cultural needs of a vulnerable indigenous population, i.e., the San of South Africa. This low-tech solution took the form of a comic and, although it could enhance understanding and identification, the costs and labour intensity of comic design and the deriving limitations on its scalability should be critically considered in the light of a digitised and more standardized solution. [less ▲]