The Impact of Information Security Technologies Upon Society

This paper's aims are concerned with the effects of information security technologies upon society in general and civil society organisations in particular. Information security mechanisms have the potential to act as enablers or disablers for the work of civil society groups. Recent increased emphasis on national security issues by state actors, particularly 'anti-terrorism' initiatives, have resulted in legislative instruments that impinge upon the civil liberties of many citizens and have the potential to restrict the free flow of information vital for civil society actors. The nascent area of cyberactivism, or hactivism, is at risk of being labelled cyberterrorism, with the accompanying change of perception from a legitimate form of electronic civil disobedience to an abhorrent crime. Biometric technology can be an invasive intrusion into citizens' privacy. Internet censorship and surveillance is widespread and increasing. These implementations of information security technology are becoming more widely deployed with profound implications for the type of societies that will result

THE ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE (E-SIGN) IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

This paper deals with the legislative and technical aspects, concerning the electronic signature and examples regarding the implementation of the e-sign software security solutions in the information society. One of the major problems the IT developers for complex systems have to deal with, is to provide the security of data and the information administered by these systems, as well as to certify their authentication by the electronic signature. The certification procedures and the encryption algorithms, used for the electronic signature are needed in today’s information society.e-sign, software security, information security, Decision Support System(DSS)

Information security in modern society: Sociocultural aspects

The purpose of the work is to study the major conceptual socio-cultural features of the essence and ensuring the information security in an information society. The research methodology is based on a complex combination of philosophical (dialectical, hermeneutical) and scientific methods to study the problem of security in modern society, and especially empirical, comparative, analytical and descriptive. They are based on the principles of consistency and historicity that allows exploring contemporary socio-cultural processes and phenomena in the dynamics and in connection with the historical conditions of their development as well as with the security issues.  The scientific novelty of the work is in revealing key aspects of understanding the essence and ensuring the information security, in defining the most significant features in conditions of the the information society. Conclusions. Ensuring the information security in modern society depends on many factors, including how a person will behave in this or that stressful situation. The key risks factors for the information subsystem of the society are large-scale socio-communicative and socio-cultural transformations, which carry a number of negative social consequences. In recent years, disorganizing and dysfunctional trends, directly related to the high speed of information change are clearly recorded. The traditional practice of information security and security against the information become more complex due to the development of virtual social reality of cyberspace. Modern communication processes lead to the information redundancy and enhance the "fissure" between the virtual and real worlds, which affects the growth of the conventions of network practices of the information security. The overabundance of low quality information, which is observed at this stage of development of the information society is not the only problem of the information security. The problem of forming the appropriate level of information culture that would prevent the emergence of her stressful situations when working with information and information technology is also among such issues. Information security in the information society is the protection of information and protection against the information. Ensuring the information security is a necessity, which becomes an attribute of modern life of any social entity, and requires a tireless work with the information that involves interaction with a variety of expert systems, the delocalization of actions, ensuring freedom and minimizing risks

EU cybersecurity capacity building in the Mediterranean and the Middle East

Cyberthreats on the Rise The 2008 Report on the implementation of the European Security Strategy included “cybersecurity” for the first time among the priorities of the EU’s external action, stating that: “modern economies are heavily reliant on critical infrastructure including transport, communication and power supplies, but also the Internet.” If the EU Strategy for a Secure Information Society, adopted two years before, already addressed “cybercrime,” the proliferation of cyber-attacks “against private or government IT systems” gave the spread of cyber-capabilities a “new dimension, as a potential new economic, political and military weapon.” An EU Cybersecurity Strategy was adopted in 20132 followed, in 2016, by a first EU “Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems,” known as the “NIS Directive,” which harmonized the EU Member States’ legislations

The Legal and Regulatory Aspect of International Cybercrime and Cybersecurity: Limits and Challenges

The development of the internet and digital technologies represent a major opportunity for humanity in transforming businesses and providing new tools for everyday communication. Internet users are spending increasing amounts of time online and undertaking a greater range of online and social networking activities. However, just like a double edged sword, the internet also presents opportunities to cybercrimes in the Information society. The nature of some ‘traditional’ crime types has been transformed by the use of computers and other information communications technology (ICT) in terms of its scale and reach, with risks extending to many aspects of social life, such as financial transactions, sexual offences, harassment and threatening behavior, and commercial damage and disorder. Cybercrime is a transnational menace in the sense that it cuts across borders. The most critical challenges of the information society have been the security of digital data and information systems and the prevention of the malicious misuse of information communications technologies by cyber criminals, terrorist groups, or state actors. Measures to address these security challenges of the information society birthed a concept known as “cyber security”. Cyber security seeks to promote and ensure the overall security of digital information and information systems with a view to securing the information society. Thus, the concept is broadly concerned with social, legal, regulatory and technological measures that will ensure the integrity, confidentiality, availability and the overall security of digital information and information systems in order to achieve a high degree of trust and security necessary for the development of a sustainable information cyber space. This dissertation contends that, on the one hand, International laws are behind in providing proper regulatory coverage for cybercrime, while, on the other hand, existing regulations have largely been unsuccessful in containing cyber security threats primarily due to complications caused by the disharmonization of cyber security laws and regulation. This dissertation also attempts to discuss the legal and regulatory aspects of cyber security in International law. An analysis of international, regional and national regulatory responses to cyber security in both developed and developing countries was made. It calls attention to the limits and challenges of these regulatory responses in the promotion of cyber security and explores several regulatory measures to address the highlighted challenges with a view to promoting global cyber security. It suggests several regulatory measures to enhance global cyber security and also emphasizes the need for the collective responsibility of states for global cyber security

The Digital Society in the 21st Century: Security Issue

Digitalization is thought to be a key driver of recent economic, cultural, political, and society transformations, with these changes entailing both positive and negative consequences. The negative ones include various risks and threats for information security of both society and state. As a result, there has been growing impetus to rethink the concept of security in the digital age. In this paper the discourse of security is discussed in terms of dichotomy between soft and hard power in a digitalized society. This discussion involves the following issues to be considered: 1) how this soft/hard range of power can be applied to the security problem; 2) how different information threats could be countered within the discourse of the state security; 3) how the soft security could be implemented in a digitalized society. Structured analysis, discourse analysis and conceptual approach are mainly involved to provide research methodology for the discussion. It should be noted that our research is conducted within theoretical framework established by B. Buzan, J. Nye, with the acknowledgment of the results obtained from the previous studies of the authors of this paper. The concept of security was productively discussed in terms of soft and hard power vocabulary. As a result of this discussion, soft security was interpreted as the measure of protecting something from harm in invisible, unobtrusive ways, whether hard security was designed to oppose challenges and threats and it is traditionally associated with methods of force. It was particularly established that hard security measures are likely to be applied in the military sector, while soft security measures are commonly used in a non-military context. Due to the concept of soft security has not yet been clearly defined and has not received recognition as a scientific term, it is argued that further investigation is demanded. Within this investigation, information security is interpreted as a special category of soft security. The relevant distinction between information security and cybersecurity is made, with the different frequency of using these terms in official discourses of different states being explained. It is also considered that the problems of soft security insurance cannot be solved at the level of individual states due to the transnational nature of digital technology, so it requires international responses. Therefore, establishing the normative force (i.e. elaboration of international rules and institutions) can be an effective measure, while an international exchange of experience in countering information threats seems to be very useful. Educational programs aimed both at creating qualified personnel in the field of digital technologies, as well as at the general public (improving information literacy), also contribute to ensuring the safety of society and the state. Keywords: information security, digital society, soft security, international relationships, cybersecurit

Right of access to information and its limitation by national security in Nigeria: mutually inclusive or exclusive?

Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria guarantees freedom of expression, including the right to receive and impart information. Also, the domestication of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights' makes the Charter's protections for access to information part of Nigerian law. Indeed, sections 39(3) and 45(1) of the Constitution permit restrictions on access to information, but only by 'law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society'. Unfortunately, access to information in Nigeria is heavily circumscribed by statutes that confer absolute powers on the executive to classify information to protect vague 'national security' interests inconsistently with what is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society. Underlying this problem are a colonial legacy of administrative secrecy that disdains disclosure of official information and clumsy constitutional rights provisions that accentuate security restrictions rather than the right to information. Using democratic theory as an analytical tool, this thesis advocates for the right of access to information as not just a constitutional value, but also a minimum requirement for the functioning of a democratic society. In so doing, it aims to curtail abuse of executive powers under national security laws that permit limitations on access to information. The thesis uses African human rights standards of reasonableness to evaluate how national security laws that limit access to information measure against constitutional standards of reasonableness and justifiability in a democratic society. The thesis finds that constitutional protection and jurisprudential recognition of the right of access to information in Nigeria do not comply with minimum international law requirements. The thesis ultimately suggests that limitation of access to information on grounds of national security must be in the public interest. In striking a balance between access to information and national security, it recommends a sufficient legislative description of 'national security' and clear constitutional framework for access to information, subject to restrictions only where harm to national security is demonstrably greater than access to information

Information security economic systems in national security country

In today's world, information security becomes vital for ensuring the interests of man, society and the state and the most important, part of the whole system of national security. Doctrine considers all the work in the field of information based on the Concept of National Security of Ukraine. The doctrine identifies four main components of Ukraine's national interests in the information sphere