Preface - WSCS 2012

The Program Chairs are pleased to welcome attendees to the second workshop on Semantic Computing and Security. This is a new area of research focus, and the papers accepted by the reviewers represent some of the several dimensions that exist in the intersection of the two areas. The program committee and all reviewers worked hard to complete the reviews by the extended deadline, and we thank them for their diligence. We had at least 3 reviews for each paper, and we were able to accept the papers with average to excellent ratings. The workshop goal is to find new ways to improve security and privacy in computer systems using semantics. The papers approach this from several viewpoints, such as looking at novel application areas ("Privacy in Online Review Sites"), using information in new ways to protect users ("Towards a Semantics of Phishing"), or ensuring privacy and security in semantically rich environments ("Privacy control in smart phones using semantically rich reasoning and context modeling"). It is an honor to have Jeannette Wing as the keynote speaker for our workshop. Her acumen and experience set the tone for the exploration of ideas that we hope for in a workshop like this. The workshop program was enriched a panel on a groundbreaking concept: "Embedding Social Trust Policies in Operating Systems or Browsers," chaired by Daniela Oliveira.