The Future of Cybersecurity Policy Lies in Civil Society

Current geopolitical events are putting state actors and military capacities at the center of cybersecurity policy. At the same time, cyber experts are increasingly advocating a human-centered conception of cybersecurity that focuses on digital human rights and reconsiders the role of civil society actors and individual citizens in shaping cybersecurity policy. Even in armed conflicts such as Ukraine or Afghanistan, civil society actors represent an important complement to military structures when it comes to protecting the population against cyber risks (Buzatu 2022, Hofstetter 2024).

Experts advocate a human-centered cybersecurity policy in order to be able to do justice to the increasingly complex threat situation in the digital space and expand it to include new policy areas (Weekes 2018). This not only emphasizes the role of digital human rights, but also sees the opportunity to involve a broader field of actors. This is often referred to as “citizen co-production” (Chang et al. 2018) or a “whole-of-society approach” (Porche 2022). In an international context, too, a growing field of actors is committed to the global expansion of the “civil cyberdefense” infrastructure. Civil society actors are already helping NGOs, activists and journalists to protect themselves against cyberattacks. Even in armed conflicts such as in Ukraine or Afghanistan, they represent an important complement to military actors when it comes to protecting the population against cyber risks (Buzatu 2022, Hofstetter 2024).