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June 19, 2012
Article by Gavin Au-Yeung; Posted Monday, June 18, 2012 in UofT News
They’re called Cyber Stewards – and researchers at the University of Toronto are recruiting them from among the ranks of cyber security scholars, advocates and practitioners in the global south.
The goal? To help articulate a vision of cyber security in which rights and openness are protected on the basis of shared research and empirical knowledge.
“Although we take cyberspace for granted [in Canada], most of the users come from countries of the global south,” said Ron Deibert, Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies (Canada Centre) and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs.
“They will be the ones to write the rules for this domain in the future.”
As cyberspace expands deep into the global south it faces a growing number of threats, from cyber-crime to espionage and warfare, Deibert said. In response, governments aim to securitize cyberspace but do so at the expense of human rights.
Strategies to combat cyberspace threats include Internet censorship, surveillance and control on Internet Service Providers to gather information.
“Similar to the beginning of the nuclear age, cyberspace is becoming a new form of warfare people don’t understand,” Deibert said, adding there is a need to build mutual restraint… Click here to read the rest of this article online at UofT News.
To learn more about the Cyber Stewards program please visit the Citizen Lab website.
The deadline to apply is July 16, 2012.