Cybersecurity discourses and their policy implications

ABSTRACT

Since the end of the twentieth century, cybersecurity has become present in multiple sectoral debates in various fields and communities. This makes digital security a highly polysemantic domain. Simply put, there is no single universal understanding of cybersecurity. This paper analyses how different discourses on cybersecurity impact the policies and regulations introduced at the nation-state level. Taking the case study of Poland, it looks at the social and political dynamics between 2008 and 2020. Results indicate that two specific discourses on cybersecurity have been the most influential in terms of impact on public policy – technical and national security. The dominant role of the aforementioned narratives significantly limited the importance of cybercrime topics on the political agenda.

KEYWORDS:

• Cybersecurity
• discourse
• Poland

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland under the grant number: 2017/27/N/HS5/00871, „Dyskursy cyberbezpieczeństwa w świetle zagrożeń związanych z technologiami informacyjno-komunikacyjnymi w Polsce.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A detailed description of the research design available: Siudak, Robert. 2021. Research Design. Project: Cybersecurity Discourses and Their Policy Implications, Poland 2008–2020, 30.09.2021, Krakow. https://www.academia.edu/86440300/Project_Cybersecurity_discourses_and_their_policy_implications_Poland_2008_2020?source=swp_share.

2 Presented in this section, clear-cut distinctions between discourses and frames with their intersubjective processual dynamics, are epistemologically and analytically relevant, but on the level of researched social reality they have been mixing and merging as always when it comes to complex social phenomena. While trying to analyse and label them, researchers, including the author of this article, have to be aware that they are themselves participating in the process of meaning-making. Analytical or academic work is also part of the social universe.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland under the grant number: 2017/27/N/HS5/00871, “Dyskursy cyberbezpieczeństwa w świetle zagrożeń związanych z technologiami informacyjno–komunikacyjnymi w Polsce”.

Notes on contributors

Robert Siudak

Robert Siudak is a Lecturer and Ph.D. Candidate at the Jagiellonian University, Non-resident Fellow at the Cyber Collaborative, Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Founder and CEO of the Polish Cybersecurity Cluster #CyberMadeInPoland and Chairmen of the Sub-Working Group focusing on support to SMEs and startups at the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO). Author of two books and numerous publications on the intersection of emerging technologies and national security. His research focuses on the socio-technological dynamics of cybersecurity. In professional work, he coordinated numerous projects aimed at building local cybersecurity innovation ecosystems. Cybersecurity Fulbright Fellow and International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) Alumnus. Previously studied and conducted research at the Tel-Aviv University, Trinity College Dublin and the Kosciuszko Institute.