Cybersecurity in Humanities and Social Sciences

Introduction

Why a methodology book?

Before the concept of cybersecurity was introduced, in the 1960s, computer security was referred to as the “protection of computer programs and data against unauthorized access” [PAY 83]. In the 1990s, the concept of “cybersecurity” emerged. This mainly refers to computer protection in its technical dimension, and some even see it as one of the major challenges for security policies for the coming decades: “One of the biggest challenges for strategic leaders in the 21st Century will be cyber security – protecting computers and the links between them” [JOH 95]. In much of the literature, “cyber” or “computer” technologies are first and foremost imperfect objects, which must be repaired to produce security. However, cybersecurity has a broader remit than computers: the security of cyberspace.

For the past 10 years or so, the human and social sciences (HSS) have been concerned with cybersecurity. Political [DEI 10, QUI 12, CAV 19], legal [GRA 04], strategic and economic readings have been proposed. Journals dedicated to the study of cybersecurity provide human and social science disciplines with spaces for discussing research from multiple viewpoints. These include the Journal of Cybersecurity (Oxford University Press)¹, the Journal of Cybersecurity Research (JCR)², the International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime (IJCIC)³, the National Journal of Cyber Security Law⁴ and the Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security