Meet our Experts: Dr Jonathan Crellin

Cyber security is about continual change. It's about new threats appearing all the time. When you look at a city like Ho Chi Minh City, it's continually changing. There are new routes, there are new ways of doing things, new ways of getting around things. And it's exactly like the problems that we face in cyber security. 

Meet our Experts 

Dr Jonathan Crellin 

Navigating digital frontiers and cyber security 

My name's Jonathan Crellin and I'm the Program Manager in Cyber Security in the School of Science, Engineering & Technology at RMIT University in Vietnam. 

So, my background is, as I came into this domain, my first degree was in psychology. And I developed an interest in computing, and I pursued a PhD in human computer cognitive ergonomics, to think about how people interact with machines. 

And after that I went to work in universities teaching computing students. 

So, whilst I worked as a lecturer, actually I started to teach in forensic information technology. 

And this is an interesting area. It's really about understanding how people use computers when they're committing crimes to facilitate criminal activity. 

Cyber security is a critically important activity for business and we have seen major attacks on large-scale industries in many countries. 

And as a rapidly developing technical industrial nation, Vietnam is also highly vulnerable to cyber attacks. 

Now, at the moment, we're seeing new technologies appearing, particularly artificial intelligence. 

It's an interesting technology with many media reports in the last year about the development of the large language models such as ChatGPT. 

So, on the one hand, AI can be used to make things more secure, to enhance security measures by, for example, detecting pattern changes within information systems. 

On the other hand, it also presents us with particular challenges because cyber criminals can use AI in much the same way to leverage their attacks. So, things like ChatGPT help criminals create more sophisticated and personalised phishing attacks. 

So, the future of cyber security is expected to be both reactive and proactive. 

Cyber security requires creativity to address constantly changing threats motivated by, you know, the biggest motivator, which is money. 

AI may play a role in identifying unusual activities within information systems, but integrating cyber security education more effectively into general computing programs for IT departments is essential to making sure that these fundamental threats are addressed. 

While my passion is exploring these kinds of interesting areas of technology, I'm also interested in looking around at the world around me. And one of the things that's very exciting is the bustling streets of Ho Chi Minh City. 

On my Brompton bicycle, I can cycle around, I can understand and see how the city has evolved. 

And it's actually worth noting that in the digital landscape, particularly in areas like cyber security, we're seeing continuous change just as we see change around us in the city.