Today, I was invited to give a two-hour guest lecture about cybersecurity and the IoT to Lund University students. I introduced students to some state-of-the-art attacks that target IoT devices, networks, and services.
Everything can be a target when connected to the Internet, from a benign-looking device like a smart light bulb to a sophisticated system such as an electric car. Most of these things (which are often called smart objects) tend to be connected to public clouds, making them prone to remote attacks, ranging from misconfiguration to hijacking of accounts to malicious insiders, and more.
I also highlighted that it appears to be a growing trend that fewer vulnerabilities are being reported by various nations than before, specifically fewer vulnerabilities being reported by China. This could suggest that certain nations are covertly stockpiling vulnerabilities in order to strategically exploit them, perhaps for espionage purposes, but also for more nefarious purposes.
Anyway, in case you want to learn more about cyber security and the IoT, you are welcome to get in touch.
When working on your Ph.D., it is imperative to maintain a state of flow. Maintaining a state of flow will give you more motivation towards achieving your goals and finishing work in a timely manner. In addition, maintaining a state of flow will help keep you from getting distracted by less important tasks that are not related to your work, such as checking Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
As Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi asserts in his book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”, flow is “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it”. Flow is a state in which you are so focused on your work that all other distractions fade away. It is a state in which you are completely immersed in what you are doing, and it is very difficult to pull you out of it. Many Ph.D. students struggle with maintaining a state of flow in their research work. They want to work hard and do well, but they just cannot seem to find the motivation or energy needed to complete their projects. Here are four tips that might help you achieve flow:
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
1) If you want to be able to write effectively, then you need to set aside time each day for writing. This can be done by creating a schedule and sticking to it. The schedule needs to include the amount of time that you will be spending on your writing tasks each day, as well as any breaks that you plan on taking during the day.
2) Before sitting down, make sure you have everything ready — your notes/laptop/pencils/paper/etc. — so that when it comes time to work on something important, there are no delays caused by having to look for something else first, rather than just getting started right away without any more delays than necessary.
3) Disable any notifications from social media platforms including televisions and phones so that they do not distract you while working on your project. You can always check these platforms or media after completing your tasks for the day, but if they are distracting, then they should be turned off for better focus during working hours.
4) Take frequent breaks, but keep them short and to the point. Consider also using the Pomodoro Technique. The Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique where you work using 25-minute work sprints and then enjoy a 5-minute break.
It is just as important to maintain a state of flow as it is to establish one at the start of your work. The two things go hand in hand. However, maintaining flow can be more difficult at times because some things that interrupt flow are not always avoidable. In order to stay on top of your Ph.D. while maintaining a state of flow, you need to be organized and efficient. By setting aside enough time each day for writing and making sure that you have everything ready before sitting down to work, you will be able to focus more fully on the task at hand, which should contribute towards maintaining a state of flow.
Joseph Bugeja 