The national reckoning on racial justice that began in mid-2020, prompted by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans at the hands of police, has further clarified that current DEI efforts, however well-meaning, have not addressed the overwhelming white-ness and male-ness of the cybersecurity field. With support from the Hewlett Foundation and in consultation with cybersecurity expert Camille Stewart, Aspen Digital and the Aspen Tech Policy Hub have made recommendations for diversifying the cybersecurity industry across two categories: immediate actions and those that require further investment.

Much of this stems from malign actors, some who are driven by profit and others, like foreign intelligence services, strategically weaponize our existing divisions against us.

At the core of the algorithmic bias critique is whether those who have the power to create, enable, and disseminate such systems do so equitably. Research suggests that it is far from the case. To better understand the impact of this challenge, Aspen Digital and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth have launched Data Stewardship for Good to answer, “How can data and algorithmic operators recast our own models to forecast a different future, one that centers on the needs of the most vulnerable people?” The result is an articulation of a Digital Bill of Rights in support of low-income, historically excluded communities that may be impacted by such automated systems.

The entities and institutions that gather and sell personal data hold the primary obligations to keep that data secure, use it fairly, and address any inequities. To better understand the impact of algorithmic bias, Aspen Digital has launched Data Stewardship for Good.

We are living in a time of increased polarization, a rise of propaganda, extremism, distrust of institutions and of each other, racially- and ethnically-driven attacks, embrace of conspiracy theories, skepticism towards expertise, disbelief in evidence-based reality, and online and media filter bubbles that obscure or confuse uncomfortable facts and truths. To make actionable recommendations for addressing these challenges in the near term as well as chart a path for a series of longer-term interventions, the Commission on Information Disorder has identified three priorities for which it will develop recommendations in the second stage of its work: reducing harms, increasing transparency and understanding, and building trust.

Two experts in the field of cognitive science, Dr. Danielle Polage of Central Washington University and researcher Dr. Babak Hemmatian, bring an understanding to how the brain responds to false information online. Dr. Polage studies the impacts of false information in digital environments, and the effects that exposure to repeated lying can have on an individual’s belief patterns. Dr. Babak Hemmatian researches how social narratives form and are negotiated using computational methods and behavioral experiments.

John Poulos - the President and CEO of a leading industry supplier of US election technology, Dominion Voting - joins Commission Co-chair Chris Krebs, founding director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to discuss the effects on his company of the Big Lie that the 2020 US presidential election was stolen, and the active role business executives must play in preventing disinformation from spreading across their own companies to maintain trust in their brands.

JUNE 16, 2021 - While digital platforms enable social connection, cyberviolence and hate speech are surging at an unprecedented rate. According to the UN, three quarters or more of the victims of online hate speech are members of minority groups, such as women, religious minorities, and people of color. Of late, we’ve witnessed how such norms  directly lead to real world violence against families, businesses, and houses of worship.

Ransomware isn't a new threat but it's getting significantly worse, say cybersecurity experts.