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Tracking digital espionage
How much do governments know about our online history?
Join Ron Deibert, digital detective and founder of Citizen Lab, as he reveals the hidden surveillance systems used to spy on civil society.
Ever wondered how much governments and private corporations really know about your online history? Digital espionage isn’t something that the general public need to worry about… right?
Professor Ron Deibert, digital detective and founder of the Citizen Lab, will reveal the hidden censorship and surveillance systems underpinning digital espionage campaigns against human rights organisations, journalists, activists, and opposition groups around the world.
Joined by the co-founder of the Sydney Cybersecurity Network, Dr Aim Sinpeng, this event will explore the growing silent epidemic of targeted digital espionage against civil society and unpick the implications this has for us all.
This event was held on Tuesday 12 February at University of Sydney, and co-presented with Centre for International Security Studies and Sydney Cybersecurity Network.
The speakers
Ron Deibert is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto. The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory focusing on research, development, and high-level strategic policy and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security. He was a co-founder and a principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative (2003–14) and Information Warfare Monitor (2003–12) projects. Deibert was one of the founders and (former) VP of global policy and outreach for Psiphon, one of the world’s leading digital censorship circumvention services.
Aim Singpeng is an award-winning educator whose research interests centre on the relationships between digital media, political participation and political regimes in Southeast Asia. She is particularly interested in the role of social media in shaping state-society relations and inducing political and social change. She is the co-founder of the Sydney Cyber Security Network and a Thailand country coordinator for the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. Aim received a Teaching Excellence Award in 2017 and was named an 'Emerging Female Leader' in 2018 by the University of Sydney.
Lead image: Photo by Peter Howell