Are you a GCSE or A-Level student interested in computing? Join us here at King's for our annual informatics schools lecture! Dr Kovila Coopamootoo will deliver the 2025 lecture, exploring the vital topics of cybersecurity and privacy, highlight research helping to keep us all safe online.

Talk title

Cybersecurity and privacy: it’s everyone’s business.

Talk description

The internet is present in almost every corner of our modern lives, with mobile technology giving us access almost anywhere at any time. Whilst this has made our lives better in many ways, it has also made us potentially more exposed to harms, for example from bad actors or from other online platform users.

Thankfully, computer scientists across the world are working against these bad actors, helping to enhance the safety of all internet users, and keep digital spaces safe and welcoming.

Join Dr Kovila Coopamootoo to explore the world of cybersecurity, privacy and online safety, to see how researchers at King’s are working to keep the internet safe. Kovila will explore the challenges in ensuring users' security and privacy online, in particular for at-risk users like children or migrants, and risky situations such as sharing your personal information and content online.

About the speaker

Dr Kovila Coopamootoo is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Computer Science within the Cyber Security Group at King’s College London. Her research is at the intersection of privacy, security, AI and human-computer interaction, with a keen interest in disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalised user communities. Her research has been published at top-tier venues.

Prior to joining King’s, Kovila was an Academic Track Research Fellow at the Secure & Resilient Systems Group at Newcastle University. She obtained her PhD in the area of usable privacy at Cranfield University (Defence & Security campus in Shrivenham), her MSc Information Security with distinction, at Royal Holloway University of London and her BEng Computer Science & Engineering with first class honours, at the University of Mauritius.

 

Schedule

15:15 - Event opens; registration, refreshments and computing activities

16:15 - Theatre doors open

16:30-16:40 - Theatre event starts; welcome and housekeeping

16:40-17:00 - Research talk from King's Informatics PhD student

17:00-18:00 - Dr Kovila Coopamootoo talk and Q&A

 18:00 - Event finishes

 

Important information

Attendance
This event is aimed at those aged 16+. Younger attendees are welcome, but please note that attendees under the age of 14 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. For school groups, tickets are limited to 20 students per booking, to ensure a larger number of schools can attend. If you are aged 14–18 and booking for yourself, please check with a parent or guardian before booking your place.

Registration for this event will take place in reception in the main Strand Building entrance. This is on the Strand, the opposite side of St Mary Le Strand Church from Bush House. Refreshments and activities will take place in teaching classrooms and the Lecture will take place in the Edmond J. Safra Lecture Theatre.

This event is organised by the Department of Informatics at King’s College London, together with the Faculty Outreach Team. If you have any questions or would like any further details, please email nmes-outreach@kcl.ac.uk.

For in-person events we operate a policy of overbooking, to help manage on the day drop-out rates. Please ensure you arrive in good time to avoid disappointment on the day.

Accessibility
This talk will take place in the Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, on the ground floor of the King's Building. The theatre is fully wheelchair accessible, with designated spaces for wheelchair users. There are accessible bathrooms on this floor. The refreshments and activities take place in classrooms directly opposite the theatre on the same floor.

Wheelchair access is via lift.The nearest step-free underground station is Blackfriars, but a number of bus routes stop a short distance from the Strand Campus.

Photography and privacy notice
The event you will be attending will have photography and/or videography. If you do not wish to appear in any recordings or photographs, please approach our registration team on the day of the event or email nmes-outreach@kcl.ac.uk beforehand. Photographs and recordings taken may feature in our publications or on the King’s website and social media channels. All personal data will be processed in accordance with King’s privacy policy available here.

We collect and process your personal information to help us manage and run the event. In accordance with the King’s College London Data Retention Schedule, we will keep your information until the completion of the event. To find out more about how the university deals with your personal information, including your rights, please see the university’s core privacy notice. Your personal information will be transferred to the United States via Eventbrite. Please read this article where you can find out more on how Eventbrite protects your data.