Prof Kerry-Lynn Thompon
Speaker
Prof Kerry-Lynn Thompon
Professor in the School of Information Technology,
Head of Department: Network Engineering
Nelson Mandela University
Professor Thomson is a Professor in the School of Information Technology, the Head of Department for the Network Engineering department and a senior team member of the Centre for Research in Information and Cyber Security (CRICS).She currently holds a National Research Foundation (NRF) C2-rating. She is the Chair of the international IFIP Technical Committee 11 Working Group 12 (11.12) – Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance. She has served as the Secretary and Vice-Chair of this Working Group for the past nine years. Professor Thomson is a senior instructor in the Cisco Networking Academy Program and is an industry certified Cisco Certified Networking Associate, and has achieved the CCNA Security certification.
Qualifications
DTech: Information Technology (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2008)
MTech: Information Technology (Port Elizabeth Technikon, 2004)
BTech: Information Technology (Port Elizabeth Technikon, 2003)
NDip: Information Technology (Port Elizabeth Technikon, 2002)
Certifications:
Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA)
Cisco Certified Networking Associate Security (CCNA Security)
Awards and Achievements
NRF Y2 Rated Researcher 2012-2016
Emerging Researcher of the Year for the Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology - 2010
Emerging Teacher of the Year for the Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology - 2009
Best Conference Paper Award at the 8th Annual Security Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
South African National Research Foundation Scarce Skills Scholarship 2002
Port Elizabeth Technikon Rector’s Bursary 1999-2002
South African National Research Foundation Prestigious Scholarship for Masters’ Studies 2003
South African National Research Foundation Prestigious Scholarship for Doctoral Studies 2004-2006
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Internal Research Bursary 2006
1998 East Cape Weekend Matric of the Year’ – awarded to the top all-round Matric in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
Professional Activities
Chair of IFIP 11.12 Working Group
Member of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA)
Professional Member of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (PMIITPSA)
Vice-Chair of the IITPSA Special Interest Group on Cybersecurity (SIGCyber)
Vice-Chair of the IITPSA Eastern Cape Chapter
In her capacity as a cybersecurity researcher, Professor Thomson has been invited as a guest speaker on cybersecurity awareness topics at various schools, career evenings, and leadership academies. She has published several research articles in journals, presented papers at national and international conferences, been an invited contributor for a security encyclopaedia and is a member of number international conference program committees.
Teaching Interests
I subscribe to the humanising pedagogical approach when it comes to Learning and Teaching, and I see this as building relationships between lecturers and students. I facilitate the learning and help students build knowledge through creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving.
In trying to foster this, I have employed concepts such as the Flipped Classroom approach for some of my student classes. The students work through the learning material that I provide to them before class and are able to work at their own pace. Then, in class, I answer questions, work through exercises, and use class discussions/debates.
My teaching is focused on communication networks and cybersecurity, with topics such as network device configuration, troubleshooting and secure network design.
Research Interests
Professor Thomson’s research is primarily focused on information and cybersecurity. Her research includes investigations into the fostering of information and cybersecurity culture through awareness, training and education, in an attempt to mitigate cyberthreats by reducing the human attack surface.
The research includes studies into the pervasive integration of information and cybersecurity into undergraduate curricula across multiple disciplines, including IT and Nursing Sciences, addressing security fatigue in organisations through user acceptance of cybersecurity, addressing cyberbullying through interdisciplinary cyberbullying campaigns at schools and cybersafety for school children, mitigation of social engineering, research concerning eduroam and SANReN, and using a personal informatics approach for internet self-regulatory efficacy in Universities.
Significant output from her research includes a model for information security shared tacit espoused values for cultivating an information security culture and promoting prosocial organisational behaviour.