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The ontological politics of cyber security: Emerging agencies, actors, sites, and spaces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2020

Tobias Liebetrau*
Affiliation:
Centre for Military Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Kristoffer Kjærgaard Christensen
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

In this article, we show how Annemarie Mol's notion of ontological politics helps to open up the research agenda for cyber security in Critical Security Studies. The article hence seeks to further the debate about STS and Critical Security Studies. The article's main claim is that the concept of ontological politics enables an engagement with the complex and transformative dynamics of ICT and the new security actors and practices that shape security politics in the digital age. By examining the virulent attacks executed by the Mirai botnet – one of the world's largest, fiercest, and most enduring botnets – we point to four aspects of cyber security that attention to the ontological politics of cyber security attunes us to: the proliferation and entanglement of security agencies, actors, sites, and spaces. These aspects of cyber security, we argue, are becoming increasingly prominent alongside the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G network technology. In conclusion, we discuss the wider security theoretical and normative-democratic implications of an engagement with the ontological politics of security by exploring three avenues for additional conversation between ontological politics and Critical Security Studies.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British International Studies Association

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References

1 Undeniably, cyber threats and risks are presented as some of the most pressing security issues confronting contemporary societies. In 2018 the cyber threat was once again ranked among the biggest threats in the World Wide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community (Daniel R. Coats, ‘Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community’ (Washington, DC: Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 23 May 2017); Along the same lines, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker stated in his 2017 State of the Union Address that ‘Cyber-attacks can be more dangerous to the stability of democracies and economies than guns and tanks.’ Jean-Claude Juncker, ‘President Jean-Claude Juncker's State of the Union Address 2017’, European Commission (13 September 2017).

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35 Ibid., p. 118.

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38 Cavelty, ‘From cyber-bombs to political fallout’, p. 107.

39 Bendrath, Eriksson, and Giacomello, ‘From “cyberterrorism” to “cyberwar”, back and forth’, p. 61.

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41 This is further underlined, as Hansen and Nissenbaum state that they break with Ronald Deibert's claims regarding the importance of materiality and technology outside of sole discourse. See Hansen and Nissenbaum, ‘Digital disaster, cyber security, and the Copenhagen School’, p. 1162, fn. 6.

42 Balzacq and Cavelty, ‘A theory of actor-network for cyber-security’, p. 179.

43 For an overview of the engagement with the technologisation of security, see fn. 6.

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84 Balzacq and Cavelty, ‘A theory of actor-network for cyber-security’.

85 In 2016 approximately 17 billion IoT devices were connected to the Internet. By 2019 that figure has risen to approximately 25 billion. Statista, ‘Internet of Things (IoT) Connected Devices Installed Base Worldwide from 2015 to 2025 (in Billions)’, available at: {https://www.statista.com/statistics/471264/iot-number-of-connected-devices-worldwide/accessed 29 August 2019}.

86 The Mirai botnet embed a decentralised peer-to-peer architecture that turns every bot into a server that can handle instructions to other bots.

87 See fn. 9 for definition of botherder.

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98 Simon and de Goede, ‘Cybersecurity, bureaucratic vitalism and European emergency’, p. 80.

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103 Mol and Law, ‘Complexities’, p. 1.

104 Aradau et al. (eds), Critical Security Methods, p. 78; Bennet, ‘The agency of assemblages and the North American blackout’; Bennett, Vibrant Matter.

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110 Manos Antonakakis et al. ‘Understanding the Mirai Botnet’, p. 1093.

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112 Manos Antonakakis et al., ‘Understanding the Mirai botnet’, p. 1094.

113 Ibid., p. 1100.

114 Christensen and Petersen, ‘Public–private partnerships on cyber security’; Christensen and Liebetrau, ‘A new role for “the public”?’; and Kristoffer Kjærgaard Christensen, ‘Corporate Zones of Cyber Security’ (PhD dissertation, University of Copenhagen, 2018) also explore the role of private companies beyond national security practices

115 Bruce Schneier, ‘We need to save the Internet from the Internet of Things’, Motherboard – Tech by Vice, available at: {https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ezpq3m/we-need-to-save-the-internet-from-the-internet-of-things} accessed 29 August 2019.

116 Cavelty, ‘From cyber-bombs to political fallout'; Hansen and Nissenbaum, ‘Digital disaster, cyber security, and the Copenhagen School’.

117 Dan Goodinn, ‘Creepy IoT Teddy Bear Leaks >2 million parents’ and kids’ voice messages’, Ars Technica, available at: {https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/02/creepy-iot-teddy-bear-leaks-2-million-parents-and-kids-voice-messages/} accessed 29 August 2019; Joanna Stern, ‘The connected medicine cabinet: Bluetooth pregnancy test makes debut at CES 2016’, Wall Street Journal, available at: {https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-connected-medicine-cabinet-bluetooth-pregnancy-test-makes-debut-at-ces-2016-1452045541} accessed 29 August 2019.

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