The course is being taught by computer scientist Dr. Anne Kayem and will be conducted in English. “Whoever shares content over social media, for example Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Wikipedia, should be aware that he or she becomes interesting for companies who design a personality profile from the information, which they can then use for marketing purposes,” says Kayem. She coordinates the work at the HPI Research School at the University of Cape Town and is currently a guest scientist at HPI.
Starting on January 18th, the workshop on security in social media begins with a short introduction on the history of social media. Topics such as choosing a secure password and setting up access control are addressed. Further, the methods used by cyber criminals and examples of attacks are explained. “Even people who do not, or hardly ever, use the Internet are not immune to data abuse and identity theft,” warns Kayem. Therefore her course is recommended for everyone who wants to get advice on the topic of data protection.
HPI director Prof. Christoph Meinel is delighted that the computer scientist from Cameroon is offering this Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in the form of a workshop. “I also see the task of our institute to create awareness among the general public of how to move securely through the Internet, particularly in social networks,” says Meinel. He himself has already contributed online courses, for a broad German-speaking audience, on “Security in the Internet” and “Secure E-Mails”. It is now possible to register for Meinel’s updated security course, beginning on February 8, at: https://open.hpi.de/courses/intsec2016.
