About the Talk:

Hardly a week goes by without another report of a data breach, cyberattack, or campaign of online disinformation and harassment. Data breaches result in individuals' personal information being stolen and held for ransom, sold to the highest bidder on the dark web, or dumped on the open web for anyone to exploit. Cyberattacks do not just impact governments or large organizations, but increasingly target education, health, and other civil society organizations, disrupting their activities. Online trolls spread disinformation to create outrage and to harass their ideological opponents, in many cases by finding and posting personal information online and encouraging others to join in the harassment and threats. In this workshop, Dr. Sean Lawson, cybersecurity expert and Professor of Communication at the University of Utah, will introduce tools and tactics that you can use to keep your electronic devices and personal information more secure. While the dangers of malicious cyber activities are real, there are simple ways to improve your security and make yourself a more difficult target for bad actors.