Design framework for the creation of a cybersecurity policy observatory
Dupont B., Euvrard E., Majdalany C., McPhail S., and Joyce M. (2017), Design framework for the creation of a Cybersecurity Policy Observatory, Montreal and Seoul, International Centre for Comparative Criminology and Korean Institute of Criminology.
As governments, businesses and individuals start to grasp the pivotal role cybersecurity plays in our daily lives and understand the new digital risk landscape created by billions of connected devices, new knowledge is needed to assess what policies and approaches will be required to help citizens and communities stay safe online.
Despite the billions of dollars invested by governments and multinationals to enhance their online security posture, the limitations of a technological approach have become clear. In other words, cybersecurity and the prevention of cybercrime are now more than just technological problems. They have become social and policy problems that must be addressed through a broad set of intervention strategies and tools.
This report attempts to outline our knowledge needs in this area of vital importance for our digital societies. It makes a case for a more systematic cybersecurity policy monitoring platform, inspired by similar approaches in fields as diverse as public health, youth development and criminal justice. The purpose of policy monitoring is to systematically collect, analyse and disseminate information about policies implemented in various settings to better understand which ones are effective, efficient and those that do not deliver any outcome, or worse, produce adverse effects. This report highlights lessons drawn from an extensive review of existing policy surveillance platforms in order to lay out the principles that should guide the creation of a Cybersecurity Policy Observatory. We also provide an overview of existing cybersecurity monitoring tools, in order to avoid the unnecessary duplication of resources. Finally, we provide a sample of high profile cybersecurity policy summaries; to clearly illustrate the type of data such an observatory would make available to its users.
The benefits of this observatory are realizable at the global scale. Accordingly, the exercise must be truly international and go beyond the usual focus on English speaking countries to include all nations that are developing creative cybersecurity governance and regulatory approaches to combat cybercrime and foster innovation and economic prosperity.
In that sense, the collaboration between the Korean Institute of Criminology and the International Centre for Comparative Criminology that made this project possible is exemplary. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two institutions in August 2014 to foster joint research projects and academic exchanges. The extensive networks both centres have built and sustained over the years in Asia, North America, Europe, Africa and Latin America place them in a unique position to deliver a truly global perspective on what will prove to be one of humanity’s most complex challenges.
This content has been updated on September 6, 2018 at 11 h 57 min.