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19 November - Teen hackers, Hollywood, and the roots of American cyber insecurity'

School of History, UCC

Dr Christopher Fuller, Department of History, Southampton, UK

Thursday 19 November 2020, 16.00 (4 PM), UCC (through MS TEAMS)
The paper will take place through MS Teams. Please, contact Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel, School of History, UCC, to obtain a Teams link. j.aandewiel@ucc.ie

This paper traces the emergence of cyber security as a policy issue for the Reagan administration, exploring the way in which the actions of a group of teen hackers, and two young screen writers combined to bring the issue to the fore. It discusses the administration’s disastrous efforts, through National Security Decision Directive 145, to place the NSA at the heart of US cyber security, and the backlash this move received. In analysing the reasons for the rejection of the Reagan administration’s plans, the paper helps place the cyber insecurity, which saw Russian hackers penetrate the Democratic National Committee’s computer systems during the 2016 US election, into a wider historical context.

College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences

Coláiste na nEalaíon, an Léinn Cheiltigh agus na nEolaíochtaí Sóisialta

College Office, Room G31 ,Ground Floor, Block B, O'Rahilly Building, UCC

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