Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The “wicked problem” of cybersecurity policy: analysis of United States and Canadian policy response

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 19; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/11926422.2013.805152

2157-0817

Eloise F. Malone, Michael J. Malone,

Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies

Abstract This article analyses policy response to cyber security issues. By comparing U.S. and Canadian responses, the authors conclude that the nature of cyberspace, defined as a public good with market value as well as an offensive and defensive tool, does not correspond with prevailing public policy models. The authors arrive at this conclusion by a chronological review of technological development, an analysis of conventional models, and consideration of existing public policy. Keywords: cybersecuritycyberspaceinternethackingpublic policy Acknowledgements Views expressed in this article are the authors'. They do not necessarily represent the views of the United States Naval Academy, the United States Navy, or Betable Ltd. Notes The term was coined by French physicist Andre-Marie Ampere (1775–1836), a founder of classical electromagnetism. It is fair to say that Information Technology (IT) professionals would find it difficult to make any distinction between the Internet and cyberspace. For example, O'Harrow compares cyberspace to an organism and characterizes cyberspace policy as a “public health” problem (O'Harrow 2012b). DNS is a system of delegated authority where the owner of a registered domain (for instance, usna.edu) is able to specify the resolution of a subdomain (for instance, www.usna.edu) to an IP address. ICANN is able to manage and coordinate the domain name system by retaining control of the top-level domain space as well as the registration process. It is ICANN's infrastructure that instructs your computer to connect to the Naval Academy to resolve the usna.edu domain and Google for google.com. See (Flickr, 2007). Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol routes packets of information allowing computers to communicate. In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper shut down access to CAIRS (CBC News 2008). Harper's Conservative government argued that the CAIRS system was expensive and slow (Fenlon 2008). According to a 3 June 2012 Washington Post report written by Robert O'Harrow, Jr., an earlier hacking incident was launched by the United States against the Soviet Union in 1982. Through a KGB source, United States officials learned of Soviet efforts to buy American-manufactured computer equipment to operate a gas pipeline. American agents altered the computer software, causing the pipeline to explode. (O'Harrow 2012a). The five Canadian agencies include the Canadian Border Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Correctional Service Canada and the National Parole Board. Additional informationNotes on contributorsEloise F. Malone Eloise F. Malone, Ph.D. has spent her 30 year professional career as a political scientist working with and writing about computer technology. She joined the U.S. Naval Academy Political Science Department, in 1990. Michael J. Malone Michael (Mike) J. Malone is a technology professional working in San Francisco, CA. A graduate of Virginia Tech, he is chief technology officer at Betable, LTD. Email: malone@usna.edu