Senses of Security: Using Comics to Help Journalists Protect Themselves from the Internet of Things

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Attacks on journalists impact more than individuals or organisations, they contribute to the ongoing erosion of public trust and undermining of democratic infrastructure. Internet of Things (or IoT) devices, such as smart TVs, video-equipped doorbells, and fitness trackers, exist in every area of a journalist’s personal and professional life, and therefore compound already existing vulnerabilities. These threats morph and multiply in ways that are not necessarily expected when the devices are networked with each other. New devices might increase convenience but they also enable Sci-Fi-esque virtual, legal and physical threats against journalists.

There is therefore a real and growing need for shared threat intelligence and for tools and tips that can help the media defend itself in a rapidly evolving threat landscape. This is why Anjuli has published her research in academic journals, but also more visibly via news outlets and blog posts and even as a comic! In this session, we will present a website, Senses of Security, that uses Anjuli’s research-based comic to help journalists and other members of the media to understand how they may be at risk from the IoT, and to present practical, usable defenses against these threats.

This information grew out of Anjuli’s doctoral research, where she investigated how connected consumer devices are creating new complex risks for journalists and news organisations in the UK, US, Australia and Taiwan, as well as potential mitigations and protections.

With the Senses of Security website, she partnered with Miranda to develop the comic further, to make it an open educational resource where journalists and anyone interested can learn more about the IoT and how it may threaten press freedom and democracy. During this session, we will present the comic and the website as educational resources and explore the wider toolkit Anjuli developed for journalists to use to assess their level of threat and what countermeasures might be relevant in their context.

About the speaker:

Speaking here in a personal capacity. Dr. Anjuli R. K. Shere is the Head of Emerging Cyber Risk Insights and Strategic Partnerships for the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). She has Professional Chartership in the UK Cyber Security Council’s Cyber Security Governance & Risk Management specialism, and a doctorate (DPhil/PhD) in Cyber Security from the University of Oxford. Inspired by her love for superheroes and their journalist alter-egos, Anjuli’s research centred on assessing and managing emerging technological risks to democratic infrastructure, particularly Internet of Things (IoT) threats to media freedom in Taiwan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. She created a toolkit for news organisations and journalists to improve the protection of their staff and sources against threats from the IoT. To raise public awareness of increasing targeting of journalists, she also wrote the script for “Senses of Security”, a comic included in Newbie-ginnings: A Cyber Security Comics Anthology (for which she was also an editor). She was also an intelligence analyst on Channel 4’s fugitive simulation Hunted and Celebrity Hunted for seven series and part of Cyber PATH, the UK’s National Cyber Resilience Centres Programme.