Human subjects, agents, or bots: current issues in ethics and computer security research

In this panel, we explore some of the issues surrounding the ethical review of computer security research by institutional review boards (IRBs) and other ethical review bodies. These issues include interpretation of legal language defining how ethical review is to be performed, the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on research methods and ethical analysis, how terms like "risk" and "harm" must be interpreted in the light of ICT. We examine two case studies in which these issues surface, and conclude by providing some ideas on the path forward.