Scribd
Upload
3 views

Cybersecurity

The document discusses the complexities of the term 'cybersecurity,' highlighting its broad usage across various contexts and the lack of a unified definition. It argues for a theoretical exploration of cybersecurity, distinguishing it from related concepts and suggesting a taxonomy. The conclusion emphasizes the necessity of a critical analysis to understand the multifaceted implications of cybersecurity as a phenomenon.

Uploaded by

ranimughal0011
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
3 views

Cybersecurity

The document discusses the complexities of the term 'cybersecurity,' highlighting its broad usage across various contexts and the lack of a unified definition. It argues for a theoretical exploration of cybersecurity, distinguishing it from related concepts and suggesting a taxonomy. The conclusion emphasizes the necessity of a critical analysis to understand the multifaceted implications of cybersecurity as a phenomenon.

Uploaded by

ranimughal0011
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

The word ‘cybersecurity’ is widely used as a term for protection against malware and

hacker attacks. It is often used situationally, in the sense that an individual’s connected
devices can be under attack, a corporation can be hacked or government-run, essential
infrastructure can be at risk of attack. But it seems that the broadness of the term may
have made an exploration of the theoretical aspects of cybersecurity difficult. Not many
attempts have been made to understand cybersecurity from a higher level of abstraction.
In this paper, it is stated that the broadness of the term is indeed appropriate, as
cybersecurity is a multi-faceted phenomenon which nonetheless can be analyzed
theoretically across all levels. The meaning of the term is explored further and an
attempt to widen and deepen its reach as a concept is made. Cybersecurity is explored
from a critical security studies angle as well as a critical theory angle. A distinction of
the term from related concepts such as information security and computer security is put
forward, and a taxonomy of cybersecurity is suggested. It is concluded that
cybersecurity must necessarily be analyzed critically in order to fully understand the
impacts and implications it has as a phenomenon, but that this analysis will inevitably
lead to a multi-faceted, yet meaningful result.
WHAT IS CYBERSECURITY?
The word ‘security’ is defined in the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford
University Press, 2015) as “The state of being free from danger or threat”. However, that
simple
definition belies the complexity of the actual use of the word, and particularly when it comes
to cyber-
security. The latter term is used continuously by politicians, computer specialists, IT
managers, tech
entrepreneurs, health industry professionals and national security operators, a spectrum so
wide it
would seem almost impossible that so many people would agree on a definition. As it turns
out, there
are differing views on what cybersecurity is. The term is used to cover the measures
government
institutions take to protect the public and the institutions themselves from threats in the
‘cyber’-
domain, also known as ‘cyberspace’. Yet it is also used on a level that is somewhat closer to
the
individual, when it refers to protection against viruses and other malware on a computer,
whether this
is personally owned or used in the work situation.
The term itself also does not give any clues as to which threats, cybersecurity secures against.
Unlike
a term such as ‘national security,’ ‘job security’ or ‘environmental security’ which clearly
state that
the things to be secured are the nation, employment and the environment, cybersecurity is
less clear. Is
it ‘cyber’ that needs protection, or is the security put in place through means of ‘cyber’?
Since its
emergence in the years following the end of the cold war (see below), attempts at interpreting
and
defining cybersecurity have been made by many scholars. In the following I will provide an
overview
of the movement towards a more specific definition of cybersecurity, beginning with the
breakdown of
this composite into its two components, followed by a discussion of the term as a whole.
DECOMPOSING CYBERSECURITY
Most state-provided/ public definitions of cybersecurity can be classified as realist/positivist
as I will
explain below. This so-called traditional view on security writ large is mostly oriented
towards threats
at a systemic/collective level, rather than an individual level. This means that usage of the
term by
public officials or public communication outlets usually does not address the individual’s
need for
cybersecurity on his or her computer (or other device), but rather it addresses the
cybersecurity needs
of the nation, larger population groups, infrastructure critical to the population or to
businesses and the
general economy. This way of addressing the issue resembles the rhetoric surrounding
national
security in the offline world, and it is not surprising that there is a parallel between this
(particularly
the U.S. government’s) way of addressing cybersecurity and traditional/realist/ positivist
notions of
security as such.
An example could be US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Response Team), the
cybersecurity division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which offers both a
broad and
a more specific definition online:

You might also like