In this SDG, we will first examine how our data is being collected and used today by both our government and myriad corporations. We will discover what data is being collected about us, how it is being used, and what this may mean to us in our daily lives. We will discuss ways to increase our cyber privacy. We will also discuss issues such as: who does and who should own and or have access to our data; what rights do we have to privacy?
The core book for this segment is Cyber Privacy, by April Falcon Doss. She spent over a decade at the National Security Agency, where she was the associate general counsel for intelligence law. She also served on Capitol Hill as the senior minority counsel for the Russia investigation in the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
In Cyber Privacy, Doss demystifies the digital footprints we leave in our daily lives and reveals how our data is being used—sometimes against us—by the private sector, the government, and even our employers and schools. She explains the trends in data science, technology, and the law that impact our everyday privacy. She tackles big questions: how data aggregation undermines personal autonomy, how to measure what privacy is worth, and how society can benefit from big data while managing its risks and being clear-eyed about its cost.
Note: Per reviews, the book is very strong on what is happening and it’s implications, but weak on what one should do about it. There is a ton of material about this on the internet.
In the second half we will use recent articles and videos to examine a few key areas in which our increasingly digitized world is changing the way we live and the threats we face. Specifically:
1. Digital Currencies, crypto currencies, and NFTs – how they work and how they may change our lives.
2. Hackers and hacking – they now wear far more hats than just black and white;.
3. Cyber warfare: what and who are the potential threats and how can we address them? What would a cyberwar do and how would it change our world.
4. Cyber Intelligence and Cyber Leaks: What are the dangers? Were Assange and Snowden whistleblowers or traitors?
5. Robots and AI: what exists now, what is coming and how it could change our world.
1. April Doss Book, Introduction, Section 1
What kinds of data are we talking about and what kind of privacy do we mean?
2. April Doss Book, Section 2
If you are not paying for the product, you are the product.
3. April Doss Book, Section 3
Power play: How personal data exacerbates the power imbalances in every day life.
4. April Doss Book, Section 4
Who’s your Big Brother?
5. April Doss Book, Section 5
Global Rules in a Connected World: How other countries handle data.
6. April Doss Book, Section 6 and Conclusion
Pandora’s box: Data’s dangers and finding hope at the bottom of the box.
7. Digital Currencies and Crypto Currencies and NFTs
8. Hackers and hacking
9-10. Cyber Warfare: Is this how the world ends?
11. Cyber Intelligence and Cyber Leaks.
12-13. Robots and AI
14.Conclusions and Wrap-up
Weeks 1-6 Cyber Privacy: Who Has Your Data and Why You Should Care, November 3, 2020, By April Falcon Doss 300 pages.
Week 7. Digital Currencies and Crypto Currencies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_currency
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/05/08/the-digital-currencies-that-matter
https://www.finextra.com/blogposting/18765/how-national-digital-currencies-will-change-our-lives
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency
https://www.thebalance.com/how-cryptocurrencies-affect-the-global-market-4161278
https://news.marketcap.com/whats-the-environmental-impact-of-cryptocurrency/
https://coinranking.com/overview (re NFTs)
https://www.coindesk.com/what-are-nfts
Week 8. Hackers – what, why, how.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker
https://www.jigsawacademy.com/blogs/cyber-security/different-types-of-hackers/
https://computer.howstuffworks.com/hacker.htm
https://www.upwork.com/hire/hackers/
https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/top-ten-greatest-hackers
https://nekraj.com/best-hacking-sites/
https://cwatch.comodo.com/blog/website-security/password-hacker/
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/06/19/to-stop-the-ransomware-pandemic-start-with-the-basics
Weeks 9-10. Cyber Warfare: Is this how the world ends?
https://youtu.be/L78r7YD-kNw - 5 minutes, 2019, overview and focus on Stuxnet
https://youtu.be/1oj91oe3API 45 minutes, April 2020, Part 1
https://youtu.be/sPLTLx-p53I 47 minutes, Part 2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberwarfare
https://www.zdnet.com/article/cyberwar-a-guide-to-the-frightening-future-of-online-conflict/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/nsa-chief-this-is-what-a-worst-case-cyber-attack-scenario-looks-like/
https://www.cybersecurity-review.com/articles/the-current-state-of-cyber-warfare/
https://listverse.com/2021/03/21/top-10-sinister-facts-about-cyber-warfare/
https://safeatlast.co/blog/cyber-warfare-statistics/
Weeks 11. Cyber Intelligence and Cyber Leaks. What are the dangers? Were Assange and Snowden whistleblowers or traitors?
https://cyberdefenses.com/what-is-cyber-intelligence/
https://securityintelligence.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-cyberthreat-intelligence/
Weeks 12-13. Robots and AI. What exists, what is possible, and how it will change our world and our lives.
We’re 14. Conclusions and Wrap-up. Materials, if any, are TBD
NOTE: PDFs of articles will also be used for many of these topics but are not included here.