Cybersecurity ethics is a new and under-researched field. With increasing attention being paid to cybersecurity, from hacking attacks on major corporations to attacks on critical national infrastructure, liberal democratic governments and corporations are looking to academia for guidance on how to respond ethically. For example, should software vulnerabilities be disclosed to vendors, or is it ok to keep them secret to support hacking operations by intelligence agencies? The 4TU community is in a strong position to respond to these concerns and spearhead research in this area. The universities of Delft and Twente co-run a MSc in Cybersecurity, of which one course is dedicated to ethical issues. Wolter Pieters at Delft is a prolific author in cybersecurity ethics, while Jeroen van der Ham (National Cyber Security Centre) and Kevin Macnish (formerly employed at the UK’s GCHQ) at Twente both have first-hand experience of government cybersecurity. Philip Nickel at Eindhoven is a leading philosopher in trust and technology, with trust being a central theme in the ethics of cybersecurity. All three are well-connected within the cybersecurity research field across the 4TU network.
- Dr Kevin Macnish (Assistant Professor, University of Twente)
- Dr Jeroen van Ham (Assistant Professor, University of Twente)
- Dr Wolter Pieters (Associate Professor, University of Delft)
- Dr Philip Nickel (Associate Professor, University of Eindhoven)