On cybernetic security, digital citizenship and right to privacy on the internet, with Paul Irofti, associate professor at the UB Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science

Associate professor Paul Irofti, PhD, teaching staff at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Bucharest, leads us, in this new episode of UB Science Dose, on an interesting journey through the complex world of cybernetic security, touching sensible subjects such as digital citizenship, the risks associated with the wide use of Internet, right to privacy on the web and many others.

What was and what is cybernetic security today? How should we understand the transformation of the internet from a military project to one that is foremost commercial? What are the main dangers of the internet? How can we protect ourselves from these dangers? What does it mean to be a digital citizen and what are the rights we have on the internet? These are just some of the questions this edition of UB Science Dose aims to answer.

Episode no. 13 of UB Dose of Science is available here.

Starting with a brief history of cybernetic security, Paul Irofti introduces us to the 1990’s world, in which terms such as “hacker”, “cracker” and “carding” were making big waves, although they were not fully understood and differentiated. Showing that the first category was different from the other two by passion and curiosity, because hackers weren’t motivated by obscure interests, Paul Irofti says that the manner in which information is used makes the difference and defines the ethics of those active online.

Today, given the fact that the internet has transformed from a military project to one primarily commercial, the field of cybernetic security has also changed significantly. Whilst the Internet has become safer, it does come with its dangers. The first thing that Paul Irofti mentions is the wearing out of the initial passion, which had brought a lot of knowledge in terms of security, students today being less curious to know how a computer or an operating system work, which has automatically lead to a sort of void in the area of cybernetic security.

One solution is to promote this field of study among young adults and encouraging them in this direction, which can be done particularly in universities. Associate professor Paul Irofti mentions that more and more students he teaches at the University of Bucharest are starting to excel in the field of cybernetic security. At the same time, given that, very often, children become targets online, the cybernetic security field has been introduced in pre-university levels.

Researcher Paul Irofti explains that the identity of the person and the safe access to data online can be guaranteed by three essential elements: something I know, something I own, and something I am. What I know is the password, what I own is the phone I use to confirm a financial action or one of another nature, and what I am refers to my thumb-mark, retina and other elements of this type. Showing that nothing is free on the internet, the guest talks, on one hand, about the sale of personal information and, on the other hand, about how to protect our privacy on the internet, GDPR and other data protection solutions, promoted especially at European Union level.

More information on the subject of cybernetic security, digital citizenship and privacy on the web, on how to protect ourselves – children and adults – against various ads and messages, as well as from people who may have bad intentions, is available in episode 13 Of UB Dose of Science, with  computer scientist Paul Irofti.

Paul Irofti is associate professor at the Computer Science Department within the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Bucharest. He is a researcher and founding member of the Research Center for Logic, Optimization and Security – LOS of the University of Bucharest and at the same time founding member and vice-president of the Institute for Logic and Data Science – ILDS.

Paul Irofti has started his career in the Romanian private sector, where he activated for 6 years, followed by 10 years of work as a consultant for companies and start-ups abroad. He later chose to work exclusively in the university and with students, which he considered to be at the same time challenging and full of satisfaction. Currently, associate professor Paul Irofti is vice-dean for Research, Informatics, IT coordination and Business Relations at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science in UB.

In 2020, he won the ANIS (Association for Software Industry and Services) scholarship for the cybersecurity category for this course Operating Systems: Design and security. A short interview about winning this scholarship can be found here.

More details about the research and studies published by associate professor Paul Irofti, PhD, are available here.

Initiated in October 2021 within the Science Communication Program of the University of Bucharest, the “UB Dose of Science” aims to provide in an intense and dynamic manner, scientific information in an attractive, vivid and expressive format.

Intended to be a synthetic and captivating way of communicating the various fields of science, the “UB Science Dose” addresses to the public and encourages the connection between the academic and non-academic milieu based on current topics of interest to both the scientific community and the public. The guests are mainly professors and researchers from the University of Bucharest.

The videos from the “UB Science Dose” include short and dynamic presentations of topics relevant to contemporary society: pollution, climate change, pandemic and post-pandemic contexts, education, digitalization and more.

Thus, in addition to the fundamental dimension of communicating scientifically validated information, the “UB Science Dose” also proposes an important element of social responsibility, reconfirming the role and mission of the University of Bucharest in society by contributing to the awareness of critical issues of today’s world and popularization of possible solutions to these issues.