More than 500 school and college students will hear a warning showing how your fridge can be hacked to send cyber spam.
For the fifth year, Abertay University will host the Christmas Lecture Tour covering all areas of online security.
Abertay lecturers Dr Lynsay Shepherd and Dr Gavin Hales are delivering a talk entitled “A Fridge Full of Spam”, discussing the Internet of Things and showing how easily a malicious hacker could take control of a smart fridge to send unwanted emails.
The event is open to school children aged S4 and above and college students.
Schools regularly sign up to the event to tap into expertise in ethical hacking and cyber security.
Dr Shepherd explained: “Computing is such a rapidly evolving subject area that it can be very difficult for teachers to keep themselves (and the curriculum) current and interesting for the kids.
“For many of the students it’s also an opportunity for them to see a lecture in a university setting which will hopefully inspire them to go to university.”
The Christmas lectures have been running since 2012 at universities across Scotland with the aim of inspiring a new generation into careers in the digital sector.
The project is supported by the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, SICSA, Young Scot, (ISC)2, BSides and Skills Development Scotland.
Focus is on the three themes that the new National Progression Award in Cyber Security are based on — Digital Forensics, Ethical Hacking and Data Security.
The Abertay lectures run on Wednesday December 14 from 10am to 12 noon and from 12.30pm to 1.30pm.
Both Dr Shepherd and Dr Hales will also travel to Inverness to deliver the lecture.
For more information and ticket sales visit christmascyberlectures.org.
