Towards an analytical model for collaboration to secure cyber space

In recent years, information technology (IT) has grown from an enabling technology to an important technology we depend on in our everyday lives. For example, IT is required for the proper functioning of personal devices that store our personal information, but is also present in the on-board computers in pacemakers and systems controlling nuclear reactors. Next to the diversity in ways in which IT can be applied, interconnectivity of devices is also an important characteristic in the IT world. This is because interconnectivity between devices allows geographical distance to be immaterial for activities taking place in cyber space. The extent to which we have incorporated IT into our society, is illustrated by events in which incidents damaging IT structures have led to serious consequences for individual, organisational or even international Internet users. Recent information technology (IT) incidents like the Heartbleed bug illustrate how having the same Transport Layer Security/Secure Sockets Layer (or TSL/SSL) protocol vulnerability can result in serious consequences for these previously mentioned Internet users. Similarly, if incidents such as Diginotar had become widespread, the use of eGovernment services would have been put to a stop. This would have been done in order to protect the public from hackers, who would have used this opportunity to obtain personal information. Thus, cyber security now extends beyond physical borders because of the important place IT holds in influencing today’s society and the direct interdependence between different kinds of users and IT. The after effects of crimes and exploitations on the Internet harm individual users as well as government agencies, (non-) commercial industries and international institutions. Yet, because instances such as Stuxnet have not led to high impact incidents, the importance of IT security may not be evident to many of us. Although most incidents do not become widespread, protecting cyber space is st
Management of Technology
ICT Section
Technology, Policy and Management