Spotlight on cyber security

Learning about threats posed online

The OU’s free Introduction to cyber security educates people on how to recognise threats that could cause them harm online and the steps they can take to reduce the changes of this becoming a reality.

Access Introduction to cyber security

Research to improve privacy

OU Professors of Computing, Arosha Bandara, Blaine Price and Bashar Nuseibeh are working to make sure that future products and services are designed to respect individual privacy and give individuals the right sorts of controls over how their information is used.

Read Privacy perspectives: dos, don’ts, and to-dos

Award for the “Privacy Band”

The OU’s Software Engineering and Design group won the Institution of Engineering and Technology Innovation Award 2017 for cyber security for their novel wearable privacy management device, “Privacy Band”.

The device allows users to have real-time awareness of potential privacy threats and control access to their data using intuitive on-body interaction techniques..

Read the paper: On Body Privacy Warnings and Controls

Developing secure software

OU computing researchers are also studying cyber security decisions during software development through Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council-funded "Johnny" and "Jenny" projects.

Read more about “Johnny” and “Jenny” news stories.

Dealing with the ‘Trojan Defence’

Surfing the internet can lead to loss of privacy, money and even identity. Listen to The Trojan Defence: Track 1 by Ian Kennedy, OU Tutor in Digital Forensics (M812), which refers to OU research in Digital Forensics.