The Securitisation of cyberspace in South Africa : the tension between national security and civil liberties continues

The concepts of national security and civil liberties have had a conflictual relationship throughout the history of human societies. Most societies have always strived to create a form of government that will maximise the security of individuals within the society while allowing each member to pursue their goals without encroaching on the rights and lives of others. This tense relationship between the two concepts came to be heightened by modern developments such as technology, mass migration and transnational terrorism. In particular, the development of cyberspace as technology advanced in the 20th century had a profound impact on the concepts of national security and civil liberties across the global political landscape, as states’ critical information infrastructures and private businesses have increasingly come to rely on cyber systems. Cyberspace, particularly with the arrival of the Internet in the late 1980s, created a virtual space for all members of society to interact and conduct social, political and business activities within and across borders. While this has had a positive impact in terms of economic and other opportunities for most people, it has also provided an innovative way for criminals and other actors to conduct illegal activities, with potential destructive consequences on businesses and state institutions as cyberspace proved to be plagued by security vulnerabilities. The overall response by most states to the potential national security threats posed by cyberspace has been the securitisation of the cyberspace domain, which has come to have negative implications on citizens’ civil liberties. Since 2010, South Africa has also gradually been implementing and drafting cybersecurity policies that have followed the typical securitisation trajectory. This study analyses the securitisation of cyberspace in South Africa. The research will contextualise the concepts of national security and civil liberties in relation to cybersecurity. The study will also examine the development of cybersecurity in South Africa and how it has impacted on the civil liberties of citizens and the country’s national security. In highlighting the various cyberattacks and consequences suffered in the country, this study will analyse the cyber-securitisation processes in South Africa, how it has affected civil liberties, how national security and civil liberties in South Africa can be balanced through cybersecurity, and whether securitisation of cyberspace in South Africa is necessary or not.Political SciencesMSecurity StudiesUnrestricte

Will cyber war happen? Conceptualisint cyber warfare as acts of war

Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common as a tool for conducting foreign and security policy. Despite cases of real damage inflicted on states by such attacks, however, a cyber-only attack has never triggered a conventional military response. This may lead observers to assume that a robust norm exists to the effect that a cyber-only attack cannot clear the threshold to qualify as an act of war rendering conventional military response legitimate. This thesis seeks to question the robustness of any such assumption. It proposes a framework for understanding inter-state actions that highlights the scope for divergent state interpretations regarding the parameters of legitimate response to a cyber-attack, and consequent risk of inadvertent provocation of conventional response. Using two historical cases as illustrative examples, the thesis examines the expectations of states in deploying cyber attacks, especially that of contained risk, as well as how the attack was interpreted by the state that has been acted upon. It then discusses the range of potential modes of response open to the victim government in the aftermath of the attack's discovery. In critically assessing these, the thesis judges that the factors inhibiting the response were contingent and primarily prudential. In alternate circumstances, it is quite conceivable that a state might consider conventional military action as falling within the scope of its legitimate response to a cyber attack, if the attack were of sufficient severity, and prudential calculations permitted. We should be cognisant that the threshold for judging an 'act of war' to have been committed is a construction based upon states' respective, and potentially divergent, interpretations of actions taken by and against them. As such, prevalent understandings regarding the thresholds for war and the parameters of legitimate response may be subject to change in light of advancing technology and the resulting scope for forms of aggression without precedent

Cyber Conflicts as a New Global Threat

In this paper, an attempt is made to analyze the potential threats and consequences of cyber conflicts and, in particular, the risks of a global cyber conflict. The material is based on a comprehensive analysis of the nature of cyber conflict and its elements from both technical and societal points of view. The approach used in the paper considers the societal component as an essential part of cyber conflicts, allowing basics of cyber conflicts often disregarded by researchers and the public to be highlighted. Finally, the conclusion offers an opportunity to consider cyber conflict as the most advanced form of modern warfare, which imposes the most serious threat and whose effect could be comparable to weapons of mass destruction

Cyber Conflicts as a New Global Threat

In this paper, an attempt is made to analyze the potential threats and consequences of cyber conflicts and, in particular, the risks of a global cyber conflict. The material is based on a comprehensive analysis of the nature of cyber conflict and its elements from both technical and societal points of view. The approach used in the paper considers the societal component as an essential part of cyber conflicts, allowing basics of cyber conflicts often disregarded by researchers and the public to be highlighted. Finally, the conclusion offers an opportunity to consider cyber conflict as the most advanced form of modern warfare, which imposes the most serious threat and whose effect could be comparable to weapons of mass destruction