Cyber Security and Internet Safety
A Fears and Anxieties in the 21st Century Research Stream
Call for Participation 2016
Thursday 5th May – Saturday 7th May 2016
Prague, Czech Republic
As the ancient Chinese feared they would, we live in interesting times. Almost half of the global population is online and an estimated 3.2 billion people stay connected. How many of them will fall victim to cybercrimes and cyberbullying? How many will suffer from Internet Addiction and cyber-related disorders? How many will be cheated by other online users? How many will be haunted by their own past mistakes which have suddenly been posted online? On the Internet any information may become a permanent record, following the users who were not aware of the consequences of their ‘click’ when they shared a photo, posted a text, or filled in a form, not knowing who was on the other end. A friend of a cyber-friend may turn into a cyberbully, online love affairs may end in cyberstalking, sharing too much information may lead to cybercrimes, Internet frauds and identity thefts. Hackers, Cyberbullies, Online Predators, Catfish, and Trolls – they live offline and thrive online.
As in fairy tales of yore, World Wide Web is a space where good meets evil, where our Fears and Anxieties flourish, nurtured by real events, or rooted in imaginary phenomena, both of which can be found on the Internet which has become a mirror: reflecting the real world we live in, and changing the way we live off-line. Very often recklessness or unawareness of Internet user make them vulnerable to all sorts of cyber abuse. How can we protect ourselves and make cyberspace a safer place?
The Cyber Security and Internet Safety research stream will focus on the issues which lie at the interface of the Internet and modern challenges, anxieties and threats. This conference provides a platform for inter-, cross-, and multi-disciplinary dialogue involving participants from across the disciplinary spectrum. The event is an opportunity for knowledge and experience exchange between the researchers and individuals with an interest and expertise in the topic. We warmly welcome the victims of cyberbullying or cybercrimes and individuals who suffered from cyber-related disorders, whose testimonies will become invaluable contribution to understanding of the complex reality of cyber threats.
Internet in itself is not a danger, but Internet users can be a danger to themselves and to others. In order to recognize and understand cyber threats and perils, we invite academics and professionals, practitioners, business and NGOs, volunteers and activists, Foundations and Organizations, to share with us their insights, skills and experiences. Internet Safety can be approached from many perspectives: psychology, psychiatry, sociology, criminology, international relations, human rights, social marketing, media studies, literature, culture studies, medicine and law. The deep interdisciplinary engagement will foster greater understanding and awareness of the dangers of the internet.
Proposals are invited for presentations, case studies, workshops, panels, reports, readings, screenings, testimonies and discussions addressing issues might include (but are not limited to) any of the following themes:
1. Cyber LIFE
Mental Health Concerns. Internet Addiction Disorder and cyber-related disorders:
– compulsive web surfing, information overload
– online sex addiction and compulsive use of Internet pornography
– online gambling, gaming, compulsive Internet shopping etc. and other net compulsions
– cyber-relationship addiction, compulsive social networking, texting, sexting, messaging
– consequences, treatment, therapy
– Creating, crossing and understanding cyber boundaries
2. Cyber FRIENDS
– Blending of online and offline lives
– Human Relationships Online – changes and dangers
– Cyber Friends vs. Real-life Friends
– Reshaping the meaning of a ‘friend’ and ‘friendship’
– A friend of a friend may be an enemy – dangers of ‘sharing’ personal information
– ‘I shared a photo’: dangers of sexting
3. Cyber SELF
– Counting friends, counting ‘likes’ and ‘shares’: Self-esteem in the Internet Age
– Online performance and the Ideal Self on social networking sites
– Digital Narcissism
– Selfie Generation
– Daily vlogging: selling the Self
– Cyber leisure
4. Cyber HEALTH
– Cyberchondria
– Dangers of Self-diagnosing
– ‘Dr Google’ and its patients
– Online pharmacy: buying medicines over the Internet
– Preventing medical risks generated online
5. Cyber ‘LOVE’
– Cyber-dating, cyber-sex
– Online relationships and love-affairs
– Catfish, false identity and online romance
– Stalking and Cyberstalking
– Grooming and Sexual Abuse
– Experiencing cyber ‘love’
– Online relationships in literature, films, and the media
6. Cyber HATE
– Hate speech, Flaming and Trolling
– Traditional Bullying vs. Cyberbullying
– Cyberbullied to Death: Teenagers’ Suicides
– Cyber Predators, their Victims and Bystanders
– Bystander Effect and online insensitivity
– Prevention Programs and Campaigns
– Social marketing and combating cyberbullying
7. Cyber CRIMES
– Internet fraud, identity theft
– Risky online behaviors
– Child pornography online
– Drug trafficking via Internet
– Blackmail and extortion
– Hackers and cyber-attacks
– Victims of cyber crimes
8. Cyber POLITICS:
– WikiLeaks, surveillance,
– privacy, security
– propaganda in the Internet Age
– war online (Kosovo, Syria, Ukraine, War on Terrorism)
– covering armed conflicts online, etc.
– experiencing cyber politics
Further details and information can be found at the conference web site:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.
Call for Cross-Over Presentations
The Cyber Security and Internet Safety project will be meeting at the same time as a project on Domestic Violence and Abuse (The Violence Project) and another project on Growing Up, Growing Old. We welcome submissions which cross the divide between both project areas. If you would like to be considered for a cross project session, please mark your submission “Crossover Submission”.
What to Send
300 word abstracts, proposals and other forms of contribution should be submitted by Friday 27th November 2015. All submissions be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Team and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed.
You will be notified of the panel’s decision by Friday 11th December 2015.
If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 15th January 2016.
Abstracts may be in Word, RTF or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.
E-mails should be entitled: Cyber Security and Internet Safety Abstract Submission
Where to Send
Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs:
Organising Chairs:
Magdalena Hodalska and Catalin Ghita: mandc@inter-disciplinary.net
Rob Fisher: cybersecurity@inter-
This event is an inclusive interdisciplinary research and publishing project. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting.
A small number of eBooks and paperbacks have emerged or are in press from the work of the Fears and Anxieties project. All papers accepted for and presented at the conference must be in English and will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s). All publications from the conference will require editors, to be chosen from interested delegates from the conference.
Ethos
Inter-Disciplinary.Net believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to make this commitment, please do not submit an abstract for presentation. Please note: Inter-Disciplinary.Net is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence.
