Professor Steven Furnell

Head of the Centre for Security, Communications & Network Research Plymouth University

United Kingdom

“Mobile devices, immobile security?”

Abstract:

The last decade has witnessed a revolution in mobile device technologies, with the steady growth of device ownership being accompanied by a massive increase in broadband usage.  This in turn signifies a transformation in the way that the devices are being used, with smartphones and more recently tablet devices supporting a seemingly limitless breadth of applications.  However, while our devices, and data, have become increasingly mobile, our attitudes and practices in relation to security have remained somewhat more fixed.  This talk considers the resulting problems that this creates, from both the individual and business perspectives.  The discussion examines the breadth of the threats, including evidence of their growth, as well as the consequent perspectives from which protection needs to be considered.   It also presents insights into on-going research that aims to make security easier to live with in the mobile context.

The Speaker

Prof. Steven Furnell is the head of the Centre for Security, Communications & Network Research at Plymouth University (UK), an Adjunct Professor with Edith Cowan University (Western Australia) and an Honorary Professor with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (South Africa). His interests include mobile device security, cybercrime, user authentication, and security usability. 

Prof. Furnell is the author of over 260 papers in refereed international journals and conference proceedings, as well as books including Cybercrime: Vandalizing the Information Society (2001) and Computer Insecurity: Risking the System (2005). He is also the editor-in-chief of Information & Computer Security, and the co-chair of the Human Aspects of Information Security & Assurance (HAISA) symposium (www.haisa.org). Steve is active in a variety of professional bodies, and is a Fellow of the BCS, a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a Board Member of the IISP. 

Further details can be found at www.plymouth.ac.uk/cscan, with various security podcasts available via www.cscan.org/podcasts.