Surviving the Wild Wild Web: A User’s Playbook to Navigating the Internet’s Trickiest Terrains

The information security arena is often vague and confusing for internet users, both young and old. New traps are being devised daily, and falling into them can take legal, ethical, financial, physical, and mental tolls on individuals. With increasing cases of fake news, identity theft, piracy, spying, and scams surfacing, this book explains the risks of the internet and how they can be mitigated from a personal and professional perspective.

Surviving the Wild Wild Web: A User’s Playbook to Navigating the Internet’s Trickiest Terrains is a readable guide addressing the malicious behaviors within internet cultures. Written in simple and jargon-free language, the book describes ten pillars of information security risks faced by all internet users. Each pillar will be detailed as a story, starting with the roots of the problem and branching out into tangential related issues and topics. Each chapter ends by detailing ways a user can avoid falling victim to cyber threats. It uses a combination of news articles, topical current events, and previously published academic research to underpin the ideas and navigates how users interact with the World Wide Web. The book aims to create a generation of internet-literate readers who can spot the pitfalls of the internet in their personal and professional lives to surf the web safely.

This guide will appeal to any individual interested in internet safety, with a potential readership extending to students and professionals in the fields of computer science, information systems, cybersecurity, business, management, human resources, psychology, medicine, education, law, and policy.

Marton Gergely teaches in the Department of Information Systems and Security at the United Arab Emirates University. He was born in New Delhi, India, and grew up in Budapest, Hungary. He holds a PhD in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Information Technology, from the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA. His current research interests include digital piracy, social and cognitive psychology in technology use, cyber law and ethics, social desirability bias, as well as emerging technologies.

Dr. Ian Grey was born and raised in the wilds of Co. Waterford, Ireland. He holds a BA and a PhD. in Psychology from the National University of Ireland (Cork) and a DClin. Psych from Trinity College Dublin. He holds additional postgraduate qualifications in Applied Behavior Analysis and in Forensic Psychology. He is currently Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Cognitive Science, United Arab Emirates University where he teaches courses on clinical psychology practice. His research interests include cognitive vulnerabilities, neuro-developmental disorders and determinants of mental health.

Heba Saleous is a Palestinian-American currently working towards earning her PhD in Information Security at the United Arab Emirates University under the supervision of Dr. Marton Gergely. She holds an MSc in Information Security from the same institution. Her current research interests include digital forensics, video game forensics and security, cybercrime and terrorism, cybercriminal behavior, and malware.