Power and Security in the Information Age : Investigating the Role of the State in Cyberspace

The marriage of computers and telecommunications, the global integration of these technologies and their availability at low cost is bringing about a fundamental transformation in the way humans communicate and interact. But however much consensus there may be on the growing importance of information technology today, agreement is far more elusive when it comes to pinning down the impact of this development on security issues. Written by scholars in international relations, this volume focuses on the role of the state in defending against cyber threats and in securing the information age. The manuscript is captivating with the significance and actuality of the issues discussed and the logical, knowledgeable and engaged presentation of the issues. The essays intrigue and provoke with a number of "fresh" hypotheses, observations and suggestions, and they contribute to mapping the diverse layers, actors, approaches and policies of the cyber security realm. Introduction: Information, power, and security : an outline of debates and implications / Myriam Dunn Cavelty and Elgin M. Brunner Is anything ever new? : exploring the specificities of security and governance in the information age / Myriam Dunn Cavelty Meta-power, networks, security, and commerce / J.P. Singh Cyberspace and sovereignty : thoughts on physical space and digital space / Geoffrey L. Herrera Terrorist use of the internet and the challenges of governing cyberspace / Maura Conway Improving information security in companies : how to meet the need for threat information / Manuel Suter Concluding remarks : the role of the state in securing the information age : challenges and prospects / Myriam Dunn Cavelty and Victor Mauer. "This volume focuses on the role of the state in defending against cyber-threats and in securing the information age. The notion that is most uncritically accepted within the overall information security debate is that state power is eroding due to the effects of information and communication technology and that the state is unable to provide security in the information age. This volume challenges the unidimensionality of this statement. Without denying that new challenges for the state have arisen, authors in this volume argue that too much credence is often given to the spectre of an erosion of sovereignty."--BOOK JACKET Focusing on the role of the state in defending against cyber threats and in securing the information age, this volume intrigues and provokes with a number of 'fresh' hypotheses, observations and suggestions. It contributes to mapping the diverse layers, actors, approaches and policies of the cyber security realm