Centre for Internet and Society

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 13) - Pranesh Prakash

purba — 2014-01-20T06:20:44Z

CIS interviews Pranesh Prakash, lawyer and policy director with Centre for Internet and Society, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.

"When it comes to things cyber we completely lose our sense of proportion. While killing someone by negligence only attracts two years of punishment, saying something that people can define "offensive" attracts even more under 66A of the Information Technology Act. Something that can be a nuisance, under the Criminal Laws, can attract up to six months punishment, whereas under the IT act, it is up to three years..." - Pranesh Prakash, lawyer and policy director, Centre for Internet and Society

Centre for Internet and Society presents its thirteenth installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

Pranesh is a Policy Director with the Centre, and is a graduate of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, with a degree in Arts and Law.

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-13-pranesh-prakash

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 1) - Christopher Soghoian

purba — 2013-07-12T10:26:59Z

CIS interviews Christopher Soghoian, cybersecurity researcher and activist, as part of the Cybersecurity Series

"We live in a surveillance state. The government can find out who we communicate with, who we talk to, who we are near, when we are at a protest, which stores we go to, where we travel to... they can find out all of these things. And it's unlikely it's going to get rolled back, but the best we can hope for is a system of law where the government gets to use its powers only in the right situation." – Christopher Soghoian, American Civil Liberties Union.

Centre for Internet and Society presents its first installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

In this installment, CIS interviews Christopher Soghoian, a privacy researcher and activist, working at the intersection of technology, law and policy. Christopher is the Principal Technologist and a Senior Policy Analyst with the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Christopher is based in Washington, D.C. His website is http://www.dubfire.net/

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-1-christopher-soghoian

DesiSec: Cybersecurity and Civil Society in India

Laird Brown — 2015-06-29T16:25:43Z

As part of its project on mapping cyber security actors in South Asia and South East Asia, the Centre for Internet & Society conducted a series of interviews with cyber security actors. The interviews were compiled and edited into one documentary. The film produced by Purba Sarkar, edited by Aaron Joseph, and directed by Oxblood Ruffin features Malavika Jayaram, Nitin Pai, Namita Malhotra, Saikat Datta, Nishant Shah, Lawrence Liang, Anja Kovacs, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and, Ravi Sharada Prasad.

Originally the idea was to do 24 interviews with an array of international experts: Technical, political, policy, legal, and activist. The project was initiated at the University of Toronto and over time a possibility emerged. Why not shape these interviews into a documentary about cybersecurity and civil society? And why not focus on the world’s largest democracy, India? Whether in India or the rest of the world there are several issues that are fundamental to life online: Privacy, surveillance, anonymity and, free speech. DesiSec includes all of these, and it examines the legal frameworks that shape how India deals with these challenges.

From the time it was shot till the final edit there has only been one change in the juridical topography: the dreaded 66A of the IT Act has been struck down. Otherwise, all else is in tact. DesiSec was produced by Purba Sarkar, shot and edited by Aaron Joseph, and directed by Oxblood Ruffin. It took our team from Bangalore to Delhi and, Dharamsala. We had the honour of interviewing: Malavika Jayaram, Nitin Pai, Namita Malhotra, Saikat Datta, Nishant Shah, Lawrence Liang, Anja Kovacs, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and, Ravi Sharada Prasad. Everyone brought something special to the discussion and we are grateful for their insights. Also, we are particularly pleased to include the music of Charanjit Singh for the intro/outro of DesiSec. Mr. Singh is the inventor of acid house music, predating the Wikipedia entry for that category by five years. Someone should correct that.

DesiSec is released under the Creative Commons License Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC by 3.0). You can watch it on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/123722680 or download it legally and free of charge via torrent. Feel free to show, remix, and share with your friends. And let us know what you think!

Video

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/desi-sec-cybersecurity-and-civil-society-in-india

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 22) - Anonymous

purba — 2015-07-13T13:40:42Z

CIS interviews a Tibetan security researcher and information activist, as part of the Cybersecurity Series. He prefers to remain anonymous.

"I don't know technology but I am aware of the information people share with me. So yes, they can track you down through your mobile phone. The last time I was in Nepal, I met a westerner. We went to this restaurant and she asked me to take the battery out of the phone. That was the first time I had heard of this and so when I asked why she said that it is possible that people had followed us and it has happened to other Tibetans in Nepal..."

Centre for Internet and Society presents its twenty second installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-22-anonymous

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 23) – Justin Searle

purba — 2015-07-15T14:44:38Z

CIS interviews Justin Searle, security expert, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.

"I think that people here in India, just like everywhere else, are broadening the areas where security can be applied. We see elsewhere, like in the United States and in Europe, that a lot of security researchers are starting to get into not just control systems, but also embedded devices and hardware and wireless... And we are seeing the same trends here in India as well. It is fun to see that growth and continual development, and not only that, but we are seeing security projects and research coming out of India, that's unqiue and fresh and contributing back to what originally came more from the United States and Europe."

Centre for Internet and Society presents its twenty third installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

Justin Searle is the managing partner for Utilisec. Utisix provides security services to the energy sector. They also assist oil, water, gas, and manufacturing companies. Justin specializes in security assessments and finding vulnerabilities in systems.

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-23-2013-justin-searle

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 8) - Jeff Moss

purba — 2013-07-30T09:25:44Z

CIS interviews Jeff Moss, Chief Security Officer for ICANN, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.

"Most consumers don't understand the privacy trade offs when they browse the web... the data that is being collected about them, the analytics that is being run against their buying behaviour, it is invisible... it is behind the scenes... and so it is very difficult for the consumer to make an informed decision." - Jeff Moss, Chief Security Officer, ICANN.

Centre for Internet and Society presents its eighth installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

In this installment, CIS interviews Jeff Moss. Jeff is the chief security officer for ICANN. He founded Black Hat Briefings and DEF CON, two of the most influential information security conferences in the world. In 2009, Jeff was sworn in as a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council (DHS HSAC), providing advice and recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on matters related to domestic security.

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-8-jeff-moss

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 2) - Ram Mohan

purba — 2013-07-12T10:27:26Z

CIS interviews Ram Mohan, a pioneer in the field of Internet security and internationalization, as part of the Cybersecurity Series

"In the Indian context, I think the government does have a significant responsibility to protect its citizenry from cybercrime. There is a greater need for the government to work with private industries as well as academic institutions to ensure a strong understanding of the threats unique to India. After all there are many threats that either originate in the context of the Indian sub-continent and are specific to India." - Ram Mohan, Executive Vice President, & Chief Technology Officer of Afilias Limited.

Centre for Internet and Society presents its second installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

In this installment, CIS speaks to Ram Mohan, a pioneer in the field of Internet security and internationalization. Ram Mohan is Executive Vice President, & Chief Technology Officer of Afilias Limited. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-2-ram-mohan

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 3) - Eva Galperin

purba — 2013-08-01T09:55:23Z

CIS interviews Eva Galperin, Global Policy Analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

"It is a vital tool for speaking truth to power. Unless you are able to speak anonymously, you are not really free to espouse unpopular ideas to people who have the power to do bad things to do... I think the value of anonymous speech vastly outweighs the difficulties that you can sometimes get into because people can speak anonymously. And on the whole, I think anonymity is worth protecting." - Eva Galperin, Global Policy Analyst at EFF.

Centre for Internet and Society presents its third installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

In this installment, CIS speaks to Eva Galperin, the Global Policy Analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).She has worked for the EFF in various capacities for the last five years, applying the combination of her political science and technical background to organizing activism campaigns, and doing education and outreach on intellectual property, privacy, and security issues.

EFF homepage: https://www.eff.org/

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-3-eva-galperin

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 4) - Marietje Schaake

purba — 2013-07-12T10:24:14Z

CIS interviews Marietje Schaake, member of the European parliament, as part of the Cybersecurity Series

"It is important that we don't confine solutions in military head quarters or in government meeting rooms but that consumers, internet users, NGOs, as well as businesses, together take responsibility to build a resilient society where we also don't forget what it is we are defending, and that is our freedoms... and we have learned hopefully from the war on terror, that there is a great risk to compromise freedom for alleged security and that is a mistake we should not make again." - Marietje Schaake, member of European parliament.

Centre for Internet and Society presents its fourth installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

In this installment, CIS interviews Marietje Schaake, member of the European Parliament for the Dutch Democratic Party (D66) with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) political group. She serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, where she focuses on neighbourhood policy, Turkey in particular; human rights, with a specific focus on freedom of expression, Internet freedom, press freedom; and Iran. In the Committee on Culture, Media, Education, Youth and Sports, Marietje works on Europe’s Digital Agenda and the role of culture and new media in the EU´s external actions. In the Committee on International Trade, she focuses on intellectual property rights, the free flow of information and the relation between trade and foreign affairs.

Marietje's website is: http://www.marietjeschaake.eu/

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-4-marietje-schaake

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 5) - Amelia Andersdotter

purba — 2013-08-01T09:54:14Z

CIS interviews Amelia Andersdotter, member of the European parliament, as part of the Cybersecurity Series

"Normally a good security policy will also provide privacy to the citizen that is encompassed by the security policy. So things like encryption, for instance, bring a more secure communication, more private communication, where you are able to interact with other people on equal terms and you don't have to fear outside interference. And that is obviously good for both the individual and for security. But then of course, security policies can be framed in different ways. It depends on who you are trying to protect with the security policy. Are you trying to create a secure situation for a copyright holder, or are you trying to create a secure situation for a law enforcement officer, or for a private citizen?" - Amelia Andersdotter, member of European parliament.

Centre for Internet and Society presents its fifth installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

Amelia Andersdotter is a Member of the European Parliament for the Pirate Party in Sweden. She works with industrial policy in the parliamentary committee of Industry, Research and Energy and is a substitute member of the committees for international trade, INTA, and budget control, CONT. Amelia is the Patron of the European Parliament Free Software User Group (EPFSUG), and also works in the delegations for the Andean community and Korean peninsula.

Amelia's website is: http://ameliaandersdotter.eu/

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-5-amelia-andersdotter

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 14) – Menaka Guruswamy

purba — 2014-07-21T10:39:03Z

CIS interviews Menaka Guruswamy, lawyer at the Supreme Court of India, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.

"The courts have rarely used privacy to stop the Indian state from getting into someone's business. So jurisprudentially, it is a weak challenge when you mount a rights based or a privacy right challenge against surveillance by the state. Because the answer of the state to that has always been, and as has been Obama's answer in the United States, that there are national security concerns. And usually national security will trump individual privacy."

Centre for Internet and Society presents its fourteenth installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

Menaka Guruswamy practices law at the Supreme Court of India. She was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and a Gammon Fellow at Harvard Law School, and a gold medalist from the National Law School of India. She has law degrees from all three schools, with a focus on Constitutional Law and Public International Law. Guruswamy has worked at the Office of the Attorney General of India, the highest office that represents the federal government of India in the Supreme Court of India.

http://youtu.be/GCDD6Z-UrGI

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-14-2013-menaka-guruswamy

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 20) – Saumil Shah

purba — 2014-09-06T05:03:00Z

CIS interviews Saumil Shah, security expert, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.

“If you look at the evolution of targets, from the 2000s to the present day, the shift has been from the servers to the individual. Back in 2000, the target was always servers. Then as servers started getting harder to crack, the target moved to the applications hosted on the servers, as people started using e-commerce applications even more. Eventually, as they started getting harder to crack, the attacks moved to the user's desktops and the user's browsers, and now to individual user identities and to the digital personas.”

Centre for Internet and Society presents its twentieth installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

Saumil Shah is a security expert based in Ahmedabad. He has been working in the field of security and security related software development for more than ten years, with a focus on web security and hacking.

Video

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-20-saumil-shah

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 6) - Lhadon Tethong

purba — 2013-08-01T09:54:46Z

CIS interviews Lhadon Tethong, Tibetan human rights activist, as part of the Cybersecurity Series

"In authoritarian states, and in this case, in Tibet, I think that every person that we can teach and pass knowledge to, that can help them stay out of jail, stay in the streets, for one, two, three days longer, one week longer, that is a valuable time of time and resources. And I think we cannot rely on only tools and technology solutions to protect people. I think we can't just rely on government policies at the highest levels, and on export controls... the approach to digital security has to be comprehensive and we have to engage citizens. And not just in cases like the Tibetans or for activists or for people living under repression, but for people in free and open societies too." - Lhadon Tethong, Tibetan human rights activist.

Centre for Internet and Society presents its sixth installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

In this installment, CIS interviews Lhadon Tethong, Tibetan human rights activist. Lhadon is the Director of the Tibet Action Institute, where she leads a team of technologists and human rights advocates in developing and advancing open-source communication technologies, nonviolent strategies and innovative training programs for Tibetans and other groups facing heavy repression and human rights abuses.

Link for Tibet Action Institute: https://tibetaction.net/

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-6-lhadon-tethong

CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 11) - Anja Kovacs

purba — 2013-10-15T15:25:07Z

CIS interviews Anja Kovacs, researcher and activist, and director of the Internet Democracy, Project as part of the Cybersecurity Series.

"Having the cyber security debate become more and more important was a real challenge for civil society. I think in part because many of us who were focused on human rights aren't necessarily techies. And so, when you have a conversation with a government bureaucrat, and ask questions about the kind of decisions they decided to take, very often they will come up with a technical answer in response. And then, if you don't have that expertise, it is difficult to react. In the meantime though, I think it has become clear that this is one of the biggest issues in the internet field at the moment. It is also one of the big issues that is driving the desires of governments to have a bigger role to play in internet governance. So it is an area that is unavoidable for activists. What has happened slowly is that we have come to realize that the first thing, as in most other areas, is not the technical details, but principles, and those principles are fairly similar to how they are in many other fields." - Anja Kovacs, Internet Democracy Project

Centre for Internet and Society presents its eleventh installment of the CIS Cybersecurity Series.

The CIS Cybersecurity Series seeks to address hotly debated aspects of cybersecurity and hopes to encourage wider public discourse around the topic.

In this installment, CIS speaks to Anja Kovacs, director of the Internet Democracy Project. Her work focuses on a wide range of questions regarding freedom of expression, cybersecurity and the architecture of Internet governance as they relate to the Internet and democracy. Anja is currently also a member of the of the Investment Committee of the Digital Defenders Partnership and of the interim Steering Group of Best Bits, a global network of civil society members.

(Bio from internetdemocracy.in)

Internet Democracy Project homepage: http://internetdemocracy.in/

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-cybersecurity-series-part-11-anja-kovacs

CIS Cybersecurity Film Screening

purba — 2014-03-20T09:34:38Z

The Centre for Internet and Society invites you to a screening of Episode 1&2 of DesiSec: the first documentary film on cybersecurity in India. Hope you can join us on 26th March, at CIS, Domlur!

Early 2013, the Centre for Internet and Society began shooting its first documentary film project. After months of researching and interviewing activists and experts, CIS released the first episode on 11th December.

CIS is hosting a special screening of DesiSec: Episode 1&2 on 26th March, 2013, 5.30 pm and invites you to this event. The first episode is centered around the issue of privacy and surveillance in cyber space and how it affects Indian society. The second episode is focused on anonymity and free speech online.

We look forward to seeing you there!

RSVP: purba@cis-india.org

Venue: http://osm.org/go/yy4fIjrQL?m=

This work was carried out as part of the Cyber Stewards Network with aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/cis-cybersecurity-film-screening