Special Issue on the Economics of Security and Privacy: Guest Editors’ Introduction

This editorial introduces the special issue on the economics of security and privacy. The global adoption of the Internet has transformed economies and societies. However, Internet technologies have also resulted in heightened societal concerns about information security and privacy. Insufficient safeguards—actual or perceived—have become a barrier to certain economic activity, and a source of downside risk to growth and sustainability, with possible systemic impact. Scholars have long realized that choices pertaining to security and privacy affect the world in ways that are not captured within the narrow modeling of engineering systems. In essence, these choices are strategic decisions. Thus, the analysis that is performed should incorporate the models and methods developed in economics and, where applicable, in the behavioral sciences