Hosted by the DSI Cybersecurity Center

Learn how cybersecurity research can go beyond advancing technology to shape public policy. Drawing on work in cryptography, user studies, and systems research, this talk will demonstrate how research across various disciplines can drive meaningful societal impact. 

Speaker

Shaanan Cohney, Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne

Event Details

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 (11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET)

Location: Northwest Corner Building, 14th Floor (DSI Suite) – 550 W 120th St, New York, NY 10027

Register

Talk Information

“Regulator, Regulator!” – Security Research That Shapes Public Policy

Like many research communities, security researchers often focus inward, aiming to advance the state of the art in technology. However, the academic field’s shift toward helping a broader swath of society is more recent. Examples of this shift include the surge in user studies aimed directly at assisting studied groups, rather than simply “examining” them, as well as research focused on making security technologies more accessible.

These are valuable additions to our work. In this talk, however, we’ll explore a different approach: What would security research look like if our goal were to shape public policy and help society at large?

I will present several pieces of work from across my career, spanning different areas—cryptography, user studies, and systems research—that demonstrate that regardless of your sub-discipline, producing research that shapes policy is not only possible, but impactful.