The real world is not real: manipulation of data and people in the future internet.

In the future, how will it be possible to trust anything at all? What we read, what we see and what we do – how will we know that any of it is real? How will we prove that something is false or that we didn’t do something?

Current “trusted” systems based on collective ratings are manipulated on a wholesale basis, with services to perform this available to anyone prepared to pay. From products to restaurant reviews and endorsements, our perceptions are being twisted by falsehoods which are sometimes algorithmically generated; pictures can be manipulated and false data trails created relatively easily.

Combined with the use of so-called “dark patterns”, rudimentary artificial intelligence is already shaping what we do, nudging humans into behaviours that are desired by the shepherds of such automated systems.

As our future shifts to one which humans delegate management of data gathering, leaving machines to trust data from other machines, which in turn lead to machine-based decision trees based on that data, how quickly can manipulation of critical elements of what is relied upon be turned into an economic disaster?

David is a mobile phone and Internet of Things (IoT) security expert who runs Copper Horse Solutions Ltd, a software and security company based in Windsor, UK. His company is currently focusing on security and privacy research for the Internet of Things, including providing training for companies. He has recently been working with the UK government to ensure that future consumer IoT products and services are designed and built to be secure by default.

David chairs the Device Security Group at the GSM Association and sits on the Executive Board of the Internet of Things Security Foundation. He is a Visiting Professor in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics at York St John University and teaches Mobile Systems Security at the University of Oxford.

York St John University is proud to work with experts in the field such as Visiting Professor, David Rogers, to provide students and the public an opportunity to engage with important current issues.
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