Kathryn C. Seigfried-Spellar
"Analyzing the Ashley Madison Dataset?"
Thursday, September 24
STEW 206: 1:30 - 2:30 PM
Ashley Madison is an online dating website for individuals who are married or in a committed relationship and are interested in having an affair; their slogan is “Life is short – Have an affair.” In August 2015, the Ashley Madison website was hacked and customer information was publically posted on the Internet for the world to see. Journalists, researchers and bloggers began downloading and analyzing the breached data, but for some, ethical concerns were raised. By viewing the Ashley Madison dataset, are we legitimizing the manner in which the dataset was obtained, and are we as a society encouraging future data exploits?
Bio: Kathryn C. Seigfried-Spellar, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Technology at Purdue University. Dr. Seigfried-Spellar has multiple publications, book chapters, and conference paper presentations, including international presentations in India, Ireland, Russia, and South Korea on the who and why of cybercrime. Specifically, she studies the personality characteristics and socio-legal factors associated with cyberdeviance, including Internet child pornography use, hacking, cyberbullying, trolling, and cyber threats via social media. As a Forensic Research Psychologist, she is also interested in the role of ethics in digital forensics and Internet-based research.