EXPERTS at Dundee University’s Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) have announced eight projects aimed at addressing some of the security threats facing the UK.

One of the projects, led by Professor Wendy Moncur, is aimed at understanding how people keep secrets online. The project hopes to develop the UK’s capacity to support people who keep secrets as part of their jobs.

Moncur’s Keeping Secrets Online project – which looks into how ordinary people use the internet when they are trying to keep secrets – for example, when escaping from intimate partner violence, having an affair, or buying illegal drugs – could help develop further understanding of human behaviour in a digital age beset by increasing security threats.

Moncur, interdisciplinary chair for digital living, said: “The internet is a great place for keeping secrets.

People use the internet to conceal things that they shouldn’t be doing, such as affairs and the purchase of illegal drugs, and to hide from people that they are afraid of.

“Understanding more about how ordinary people keep these kinds of secrets will allow us to give extra skills to people who have to keep secrets in their everyday jobs.

“Our team of interdisciplinary experts from across the University will bring together innovative new methods to contribute to UK efforts to diminish national security threats.”

The Dundee project is one of eight being launched with funding from CREST. After a rigorous review process, these projects, which are subject to contract, were selected from more than 80 applications to CREST’s recent commissioning call.

CREST offered £900,000 in funding for innovative economic, behavioural, and social science research relevant to mitigating contemporary security threats through protective security measures.

Dr Anna Gavine, co-investigator on the Keeping Secrets Online project, added: “Ultimately, by understanding how we keep things close to our chest, we will produce an ‘Illustrated Guide to Keeping Secrets Online’ with potential real-world applications.

“We are really excited to bring together a diverse mix of skills, across technology design, evidence synthesis, policing research and graphic design.

Dundee’s approach to interdisciplinary working creates a fertile space for this kind of innovation.”