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Last week, experts at a Sicilian conference on planetary emergencies warned us to expect certain doom from cyberattacks, an apparent time bomb that could come from any one of the billions of minds ticking away on Planet Earth. But according to Cybercrime and the Culture of Fear: Social science fiction(s) and the production of knowledge about cybercrime, a paper published this summer by University of Leeds criminal justice professor David S. Wall, not only is the threat of cybercrime is grossly exaggerated, it’s “social" science fiction, especially cyberpunk, that planted the seeds of this misplaced dread. Is the genre really to blame for the tendency to regard every 15 year-old with a computer as a possible threat to global security? We take a look at Wall’s report. More »
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This weekend, Sicily plays host to an annual conference devoted to analyzing "planetary emergencies." 120 scientists and engineers come from all over the world to discuss what the biggest planet-wide threats are, and how we might solve them. You'd think they'd be focusing on stuff like climate change — or maybe that whole Earth quarantine problem — but instead this year's conference focused on the theme of cyberattacks. Are hackers really as dangerous as rising ocean levels? Apparently, yes. More »
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