Increased connectivity and open access to the Internet provide malicious actors with novel opportunities for intelligence gathering, attacks on vulnerable targets, and shaping mass perceptions and behavior. In the editorial article to this edition of Connections, the issue editors review recent and emerging security-related challenges and responses. The focus is on the increase in cybercrime, corruption, the spread of hate speech, propaganda, and disinformation. In addition, the contributors elaborate on prospective solutions such as strengthening the legal regimes, including international norms, instituting confidence-building measures, and enhancing cyber skills, as well as the challenges for defense posed by the advances in quantum computing.
Countering Crime, Hate Speech, and Disinformation in Cyberspace
Two of the papers in the Fall 2013 issue of Connections look into the legitimacy in the use of force in cyber space in three recent cyber attacks and the engagement between NATO/U.S. and Russia in the cyber domain. Another article treats the dilemma of transparency vs. confidentiality in the oversight of security agencies and the experience with pa...