Hi, I'm Dr Anjuli Shere and this website uses research-based comics to help journalists and other members of the media to understand how they may be at risk from the Internet of Things or the IoT, and to present practical, usable defenses against these threats.

This information grew out of my doctoral research at the University of Oxford, where I investigated how connected consumer devices are creating new complex risks for journalists and news organisations, and I developed useful mitigations and protections.

Attacks on journalists impact more than individuals or organisations, they contribute to the ongoing erosion of public trust and undermining of democratic infrastructure. There is therefore a real and growing need for shared threat intelligence and for usable tools that can help the media defend itself in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.

That's why I asked Miranda to help me make this website to make my research more practical and accessible for journalists, editors, news organisations, policy makers and researchers. Miranda's expertise in inclusive learning design and educational technology, as well as her own research at the intersections of law, conflict and security, meant that she shared my vision of ensuring academic research is directed towards practically improving the world.

I've written my fair share of articles and explainers on cyber risk, but as a lifelong comic book nerd, this project is the one about which I'm most excited.

Think of it as a sensory, story-driven, detour from your day where academic research gets to put on its cape, tights and, of course, underpants.

Without a well-protected press, we can't hold power to account or ensure an informed electorate.

I've been interested in journalism and security from a young age. I grew up fascinated by fictional reporters like Lois Lane and real life stories of organised crime and government corruption. I've also had the opportunity to write for outlets such as the New Statesman and to work as an intelligence analyst in a fugitive simulation, Channel 4's Hunted. These experiences reinforced to me how essential a free press is to democracy and how journalistic security is a fundamental prerequisite for national security.

Reading about Superman, Spider Man and other heroes with journalist alter egos inspired me to turn my research into a short comic book, to make this information accessible to those on the journalistic front lines.

When I began my research, I knew that I wanted to focus on protecting vulnerable communities. But it was only midway through the first year of my doctorate that I began paying serious attention to the Internet of Things.

IoT devices are increasingly present everywhere, at home, in the office, in public spaces. For instance, the Alexa on your kitchen counter is an IoT device, as is your Fitbit or the Smart television your office uses for presentations.

The Internet of Things concerns me, because it is vast, connected and diverse. This means that there are countless opportunities for exploitation and any number of consequences, both from individual devices and from networks of linked devices, the journalists whose jobs already put them at heightened risk of surveillance, intimidation and worse, the Internet of Things creates a whole new attack surface.

One aspect of my research process was to interview journalists, media experts, cybersecurity and intelligence experts, about their perceptions of Internet of Things threats. In over 100 conversations, I consistently found that most journalists still try to protect themselves by avoiding Internet of Things devices entirely. However, given the prevalence of the Internet of Things, this is no longer a feasible option.

That's why I wanted to share this toolkit publicly to help journalists understand, assess and mitigate these threats.

These tools include, one, a conceptual model of Internet of Things, devices by environment, mapping out the different kinds of spaces in which journalists might unknowingly encounter Internet of Things risk. Two, an IoT threats categorisation system, modeling how Internet of Things devices can be weaponised to compromise journalists, information, legal protections and even their physical safety. Three, comparative case studies from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia and Taiwan, showing how threats from the Internet of Things and other sources to press freedom vary and intersect across democratic contexts. Four, an interactive countermeasures framework linked to editorial workflows. I co-developed with the Association for international broadcasting to help journalists and other media professionals to take feasible, timely and role specific, protective steps.

I have drawn on some of these tools in particular to develop the comic book. This website focuses on this website includes information about the publications developed from these tools, and I'm always interested in discussing further opportunities to get this work to the attention of those it could help.

So why is the comic called Senses of Security?

The comic's title is a playful yet pointed nod to both its thematic core and its academic roots. It draws on the idea that journalists, like our protagonist J, must rely on all their senses to detect, interpret and respond to hidden threats in the age of the Internet of Things. It's also a pun.

The comic explores what it means to feel secure or not, and how that sense of security can be easily manipulated or compromised when everything from your fridge to your neighbor's doorbell is collecting your data, each page or strip is named after a common idiom that references one of the five physical senses, which fits neatly with the way that The Internet of Things is constantly sensing the world around it, often far more intrusively than we realize.

Each title also hints at what J is experiencing or learning, creating an extra layer of meaning for the reader to sniff out, so to speak.

Thank you for taking the time to engage with this research. We hope it's useful to you, and if not, we'd love to hear how it could be you.

Video consultant: Meera Kumar

Music: Jonathan Deamer

Video editing & production: Miranda Melcher

Hardware provider: Jonathan Foldi