Wednesday 7th - Friday 9th September 2005

Tuesday 6th September 2005

1600-1900: Registration

1900-2100: Informal reception ^(a)

Margaret Ross, Professor of Software Quality at Southampton Solent University, is a member of the BCS Ethics Expert Panel and of the BCSWomen Specialist Group committee. She is Vice Chair of the BCS Quality Specialist Group, member of the BCS TickIT Committee and the Conference Director of the two annual international conferences of the Quality Specialist Group: SQM (Software Quality Management which is concerned with benefits to business through research and case histories,) and INSPIRE (which is concerned with methods of improving software processes through improved methods of training and education of current and potential staff). .. Margaret is one of the two BCS representatives on the Engineering and Technology Board?s Registrants Panel (which replaced the Engineering Council of which she was a Senator), a member of the Parliamentary IT Committee, of the BCS Council and Chair of the BCS Hampshire Branch.

While it is fair to say that the Internet has always had something of a reputation for being unsafe, recent years have seen the situation become significantly worse.  Along with the overt attacks against organisations and network infrastructure, we are now faced with an increasing range of threats and scams that specifically target the end-user community.  The underlying motives for these are typically mischief or money, and in both cases end-users can represent attractive targets, as their lack of technical knowledge, and occasional gullibility, can make them vulnerable to a variety of tricks.

Unfortunately, while they may appreciate the existence of a general risk, it is questionable whether end-users as a whole really understand the nature of the threats, or the extent to which they are protected.  As a consequence, some may be left with feelings of unease, and the overall impression that cyberspace is not a safe place to be, while others may overestimate their protection and act in a cavalier manner.  Meanwhile, the potential for them to become a target not only represents a concern for the users, but is also a clear risk from an employer perspective if such threats are faced in the workplace.  Even if appropriate technologies have been deployed, there will still be a residual risk that misguided user actions will lead to greater problems.  As such, it is important to address the situation, and ensure that users themselves do not undermine the attempts to protect them.

Dr Steven Furnell is the head of the Network Research Group at the University of Plymouth, UK.  He has been actively involved in security research for over 13 years, and has authored numerous papers on the topic, as well as the books ‘Cybercrime: Vandalizing the Information Society’ (Addison Wesley) and ‘Computer Insecurity: Risking the System’ (Springer).