Core Issues in Digital Trust and Security

CRIM72231 Core Issues in Digital Trust and Security 15 Semester 1 Postgraduate Taught Level 7 Borja Alvaro Álvarez Martinez Unit coordinator Jon Shute Unit coordinator 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 7.5 This unit introduces students to core issues in the areas of digital trust and security. Students will learn of the importance of digital trust and digital security in our increasingly digital societies. They will also discuss how the digitisation of our social world bring new opportunities and motivations for harmful activities.Students will critically engage with debates surrounding the definitions and conceptualisations of ‘cybercrime’, and will consider the range of factors, conditions and contexts which shape how behaviours which can be conceptualised as cybercrimes are organised or (dis)organised.Students will also learn about the fundamental social drivers impacting digital trust and security, such as hyperconnectivity, including a focus (in weeks 3-4) on a broader contextual understanding of these phenomena.In weeks 5-8, students will focus on the ways in which cybercrimes are carried out in practice, appraising the context in which they are undertaken, and on better understanding the Cyber Kill Chain via relevant case studies.   This unit introduces students to core issues in the areas of digital trust and security. Students will learn of the importance of digital trust and digital security in our increasingly digital societies. They will also discuss how the digitisation of our social world bring new opportunities and motivations for harmful activities.Students will critically engage with debates surrounding the definitions and conceptualisations of ‘cybercrime’, and will consider the range of factors, conditions and contexts which shape how behaviours which can be conceptualised as cybercrimes are organised or (dis)organised.Students will also learn about the fundamental social drivers impacting digital trust and security, such as hyperconnectivity, including a focus (in weeks 3-4) on a broader contextual understanding of these phenomena.In weeks 5-8, students will focus on the ways in which cybercrimes are carried out in practice, appraising the context in which they are undertaken, and on better understanding the Cyber Kill Chain via relevant case studies.   Introduce students to fundamental issues of relevance to the concepts of digital trust and digital security. Discuss key cybersecurity issues, the actors involved in threats to security (ranging from individuals to nation states). Explore the opportunities those actors exploit, the harm caused by those activities. Understand how those behaviours are controlled and how that control can be improved. Identify which emerging technologies might bring future harms or help combat them. Critically analyse current debates, methods, and state-of-the-art scholarship on the role of trust and cybersecurity within digital societies. Evaluate and critique research on the opportunities and challenges of digital technologies as they pertain to digital trust and security. Construct well-reasoned and well-supported arguments on the social impact of digital transformations, including issues such as security, harm and trust in digital environments. Evaluate, organise, and synthesise material and data from a range of sources, including academic journals, government and industry reports, and case studies.  Convey the arguments developed via PS1 in relation to digital trust and security problems a proficient way to relevant stakeholders in a diverse range of contexts.    33% of contact time will be delivered online via CLE, following a flipped learning approach, which will consist of asynchronous preparatory work.  67% of contact time will be in-person lectures/workshops/seminars.The online learning materials for flipped learning will consist of a mixture of video and audio files alongside written text and instructions accompanied by structured engagement activities and tasks delivered via CLE.Per week: I hour asynchronous activities via CLE materials. 2-hour workshop in person.Self-study/independent learning for remaining notional hours.   0 Other 100% Quiz 15%2000 word Case Study 85% Digital Trust, Society & Secur Digital Trust, Society & Secur PGDT Taught Component Mandatory Bada, M. and Nurse, J.R.C. (2019). Developing cybersecurity education and awareness programmes for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Information and Computer Security 27(3), pp. 393-410. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICS-07-2018-0080  Baines, Victoria (2021) Rhetoric of InSecurity: The Language of Danger, Fear and Safety in National and International Contexts, Routledge, ISBN 9780367463076  Clough, J. (2015). Principles of Cybercrime. Cambridge University Press.De Fréminville, M. (2020). Cybersecurity and decision makers: Data security and digital trustGoldsmith, A., & Wall, D. S. (2022). The seductions of cybercrime: Adolescence and the thrills of digital transgression. European Journal of Criminology, 19(1), 98-117. HM Government (2022). UK National Cybersecurity Strategy. Available:  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61f0169de90e070375c230a8/government-cyber-security-strategy.pdfLeukfeldt, E. R., Kleemans, E. R., & Stol, W. P. (2017). A typology of cybercriminal networks: from low-tech all-rounders to high-tech specialists. Crime, Law and Social Change, 67(1): 21-37.Leukfeldt, E.R., Lavorgna, A. and Kleemans, E.R., 2017. Organised cybercrime or cybercrime that is organised? An assessment of the conceptualisation of financial cybercrime as organised crime. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 23(3), pp.287-300.Miró Llinares, F., & Johnson, S. D. (2017). Cybercrime and place: Applying environmental criminology to crimes in cyberspace. In G. J. N. Bruinsma & S. D. Johnson (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of environmental criminology (883-906). New York: Oxford University Press.Schneier, B. (2018b). Click here to kill everybody: Security and survival in a hyper-connected world. WW Norton & Company.Vajjhala, N.R., & Strang, K.D. (Eds.). (2023). Cybersecurity for Decision Makers (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003319887Yar, M., & Steinmetz, K. F. (2023). Cybercrime and society (4th ed). SAGE Publications Limited.    0 0 0 The aforementioned ILOs in turn support a set of specific student outcomes.First, students will be able to navigate the current debates both in industry and academia surrounding security and trust in increasingly digitized societies, understanding aspects of design, policy, and their broader social/industrial implications.Secondly, students will be able to both understand analyse policy and industry documents relating to challenges and best practice around digital trust and security through a critical, practice-oriented lens.Thirdly, students will be able to generate their own novel contributions to those discussions from a multidisciplinary lens, in a variety of professionals context, by leveraging the analytical and communicative skills developed through the course. The blended, asynchronous nature of the course, which uses on-line, in-built audiovisual materials tackles enhancement of digital literacy in a twofold way.First, it familiarizes students with digital learning, given that the course is delivered via CLE, and includes asynchronous audio-visual (i.e. references to specific audiovisual learning bits or expert podcasts), as well as other learning materials and learning resources such as online activities (for example case studies or brief quizzes without assessment impact).Secondly, the course also enhances information, data and media literacy by design. This is done in turn in two ways. To begin with, the course uses in its asynchronous materials a variety of non-traditional digital sources, emphasizing the value of industry and governmental sources in the context of the course. Lastly, the assessment, which is a case study, will require students to leverage a variety of sources of information and data (including but not limited to digital media) in order to successfully connect course theory with real-world practice. Guidance on this will be provided both along the course, but also in the formative feedback, elaborating on trusted sources and best analytical practices. This course integrates equality, diversity, and inclusion by design. The reading list will include works by diverse authors, offering varied viewpoints on digital trust and cybersecurity. Asynchronous resources include audio and video elements such as podcasts and documentaries, cater to diverse voices and learning styles, and address perspectives on trust and cybersecurity beyond the global north.