On Wednesday, February 8, 2012, Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert will deliver a keynote address at the 2012 iConference titled The Coming Perfect Storm in Cyberspace.

Keynote abstract:

“What was once a domain characterized by openness and the free exchange of ideas, cyberspace is being re-shaped by technological changes, a growing underworld of cyber crime, a burgeoning cyber security industrial complex that feeds a cyber arms race, and an increasingly intense geopolitical contest over the domain itself.

“Together, these driving forces are creating a kind of ‘perfect storm’ in cyberspace that threats to subvert it entirely either through over-reaction, the imposition of heavy-handed controls, or through partition and cantoning.

“To restore cyberspace as an open global commons will require a multi-layered strategy, from the local to the global.

“Drawing from the research and other activities of the Citizen Lab, Deibert discusses the ‘Coming Perfect Storm in Cyberspace’ and what is to be done to prepare for it.”

Click here to learn more about the conference.