In recent years, Cyberism has developed from an initial doctrine into a comprehensive research agenda organized around four disciplinary clusters: perception and interaction, society and civilization, cognition and security, and existence and meaning. This article presents the internal logic of that framework. The four layers are not a parallel taxonomy of topics, but an ontological ladder: beginning with embodied perception, moving through collective order, proceeding toward mental autonomy, and ultimately arriving at questions of meaning. Each layer is both enabled by (...) the preceding layer and constrains the one that follows. The article maps the disciplines of each layer, specifies examples of research hypotheses, and discusses representative cases. Methodologically, it proposes a three-level agenda for Cyberism, consisting of engineering and technological research, empirical social science, and philosophical reflection, and clarifies how these methods correspond to the four disciplinary layers. The article then examines Cyberism in relation to classical philosophy of technology and identifies its irreducible contribution: Cyberism does not merely describe how technology mediates existence; it diagnoses how existence itself is reconstructed when technology becomes the interface of being. It therefore marks Cyberism's transition from a named doctrine to a disciplinary framework, and from there to a stage of disciplinary institutionalization. (shrink)

Humanity has long lived within three basic spaces: physical, social, and thinking space. The rise of electronic computers, the internet, and artificial intelligence has created a fourth space of existence: cyberspace, which now reshapes human production, everyday life, identity, social relations, values, and cognition. This paper proposes Cyberism as a field devoted to the systematic study of human-cyberspace relationships. It examines the basic questions of cyber philosophy, cyber science, and cyberlogic; the forms of the "human" in cyberspace, including (...) cyborgs, digital humans, digital twin humans, and robots; technological issues such as sense-communication-computation-storage, data-information-knowledge-intelligence, ANI-AGI-ASI, human-machine integrated intelligence, and artificial consciousness; and social, cognitive, ethical, governance, disease, and health problems arising from life in cyberspace. The paper further outlines the disciplinary system of Cyberism and its implications for traditional academic structures, and considers its significance for human civilization, education, and technological innovation. (shrink)

The cyber domain is one of the newest and most rapidly evolving fields of knowledge which has led to the development of a new area of law—cyber law, that regulates the use of the Internet and activities performed over the Internet and other networks. The cyber domain is particularly dynamic: new concepts are constantly developed and need new terminological designations, which in turn need new counterparts in other languages. Formation of these designations and their counterparts often raises (...) terminological issues that are important to deal with in order to develop a coherent system of the cyber domain terms. The given paper focuses on the terminology that includes the lexical item cyber which may be considered as the main signifier of the cyber domain indicating its specific nature. The aim of the paper is threefold: to analyse the origin and development of the lexical item cyber, to investigate conceptual categories of the EU legislation terminology that includes the lexical item cyber and to establish the Lithuanian counterparts that are used for translation of the lexical item cyber in the Lithuanian equivalents of the English terms. For the purposes of the study, the ad hoc English and Lithuanian corpora of the EU legislative documents were compiled. Corpus-driven methodology was used to extract and investigate the terminology used in the corpora. The results of the research are believed to provide useful information to learners and teachers of the legal language and legal translation, as well as drafters of legislative and administrative documents and other professionals engaged in cybersecurity matters. (shrink)

In this article, I offer an outline of the papers comprising the special issue. I also provide a brief overview of its topic, namely, the friction between cyber security measures and individual rights. I consider such a friction to be a new and exacerbated version of what Mill called ‘the struggle between liberties and authorities,’ and I claim that the struggle arises because of the involvement of public authorities in the management of the cyber sphere, for technological and (...) state power can put individual rights, such as privacy, anonymity and freedom of speech, under sharp devaluating pressure. Finally, I conclude by stressing the need to reach an ethical balance to fine-tune cyber security measures and individual rights. (shrink)

From a sociological and anthropological viewpoint, the ability of complete strangers to carry out transactions that involve significant risk to one or both parties should be complicated by a lack of trust. Yet the rise of e-commerce and “sharing economy” platforms suggests that concerns that seemed prevalent only a few decades ago have been largely assuaged. What mechanisms have been used to facilitate trust between strangers online? Can we measure the extent to which users trust each other when interacting online? (...) This article reviews the existing literature on cyber trust and proposes directions for further research. (shrink)

Problem. The rise of cyberspace - the internet, artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and algorithmic governance - has opened a fourth existential space alongside the physical, social, and thinking spaces, reshaping identity, agency, truth, and value in ways inherited frameworks were not built to address. Cyberism, a philosophical field devoted to human-cyberspace relations, aspires to theorise this space; but a framework of Chinese origin claiming global reach must show that it can be enriched by, not merely applied to, other traditions. Approach. (...) This paper stages a systematic, multi-faith dialogue between Cyberism and the traditions of Bangladesh - Sufism, Tagorean humanism, Lalon’s Baul mysticism, Navya-Nyāya epistemology, Hindu dharma, and Christian relational ethics - mapping each onto the Cyber-Physical-Social-Thinking (CPST) four-space model. The resulting framework is named Su-Tai-La-Ny-Sai. The method is dialogical decolonial: decolonisation through dialogue rather than rejection or uncritical adoption, each pairing pressed for tension as well as convergence. Argument. These traditions hold rich resources for the digital age - Sufi eco-spirituality, Tagorean cosmopolitanism, Lalon’s embodiment, and complementary tools for cognition, justice, and dignity. What they lack is not insight but a systematic framework for cyberspace-specific challenges, the role Cyberism plays. Not every tension resolves: the dialogue with Lalon leaves Cyberism with a question it cannot answer from within. Significance. Framed as a programmatic mapping, the paper models a multi-faith, dialogical decolonial digital philosophy in which universality is earned through dialogue rather than assumed, offering Global South societies a way to meet digital transformation without abandoning their heritage. (shrink)

The use of cyber force can be as severe and disruptive as traditional armed attacks are. Cyber attacks may neither provoke physical injuries nor cause property damages and still, they can affect essential functions of today’s societies, such as governmental services, business processes or communication systems that progressively depend on information as a vital resource. Whereas several scholars claim that an international treaty, much as new forms of international cooperation, are necessary, a further challenge should be stressed: authors (...) of cyber attacks can be non-state actors, and identifying the party responsible for such a use of force, whether non-state actors or national sovereign states, is often impossible. Accordingly, several programmes on online security and national defence have been developed by sovereign states to tackle this menace and yet, the endurance of Western democracies and their aim to protect basic rights have already been tested by such programmes over the past years. The new scenarios of cyber force do not only concern the field of international law, since they may represent the main threat in the fields of national and constitutional law as well. (shrink)

For most people the internet has been a dream come true, allowing instantaneous access to a vast array of information, opinion, and entertainment and facilitating communication with friends and family throughout the world. For others, however, the internet has wrought a nightmare, allowing often anonymous enemies a platform for vicious attacks on the character of their victims and a means for revealing to the world embarrassing private information about them. To combat these attacks, victims and law enforcement officials in the (...) United States have employed both analogue remedies such as harassment and stalking laws as well as cyber-specific provisions. Since the attacks involve speech, however, all these remedies must comport with the First Amendment. The typical response of courts and commentators to the First Amendment issues raised in these cases is to ask whether the perpetrator’s speech falls within one of the limited and narrow traditional exceptions to First Amendment coverage, such as true threats, defamation, obscenity, or fighting words. This approach is understandable in light of unfortunate dicta in several United States Supreme Court decisions—that all content-based restrictions of speech other than speech falling within one of these exceptions are subject to “strict scrutiny,” a rigorous test that few speech restrictions can pass. This chapter argues that this approach to dealing with cyber harassment is misguided. This methodology often results in shoehorning the speech at issue into exceptions into which the speech does not fit, or worse yet, in a finding that the speech is protected by the First Amendment simply because it does not fall within a recognized exception. (shrink)

In the recent years, an alarming rise in the incidence of cyber attacks has made cyber security a major concern for nations across the globe. Given the current volatile socio-political environment and the massive increase in the incidence of terrorism, it is imperative that government agencies rapidly realize the possibility of cyber space exploitation by terrorist organizations and state players to disrupt the normal way of life. The threat level of cyber terrorism has never been as (...) high as it is today, and this has created a lot of insecurity and fear. This study has focused on different aspects of cyber attacks and explored the reasons behind their increasing popularity among the terrorist organizations and state players. This study proposes an empirical model that can be used to estimate the risk levels associated with different types of cyber attacks and thereby provide a road map to conceptualize and formulate highly effective counter measures and cyber security policies. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to try to identify the specificity and frequency of cyber-agression as a form of problem behaviour characteristic for the contemporary youth known as Generation Y. Analysis of the results of research conducted among schoolchildren aged 15–16 indicates that cyber-agression is a common phenomenon in the group. It raises the need for reconstruction and re-evaluation of practices and standards developed to date and implemented to address the problematic behaviour of young people through the (...) global network. In the paper, proposals for solutions in this area are presented, which can be used to create future prevention programs aimed at constructive online behaviour and foster rational choice-making regarding the use of the Internet and modern media. (shrink)

With the rapid expansion of cyberspace driven by electronic computing, networking technologies, and artificial intelligence, the human living environment has evolved from the traditional physical–social–cognitive structure into a coupled Cyber-Physical-Social-Thinking (CPST) space. This transformation has raised new challenges regarding the re-representation and governance of natural order. Against this backdrop, this study adopts Cyberism as its methodological foundation and draws upon the Daoist principles of Dao follows nature and wu wei (non-coercive action). Within the CPST framework, we reinterpret the natural (...) laws and generative order implied by the Dao and integrate a contemporary cyber-theoretical understanding of wu wei to propose four guiding principles: compliance, limits, self-reflection, and co-governance. Furthermore, focusing on representative technological contexts such as digital twins and artificial general intelligence (AGI), the study formulates ten philosophical propositions—time, space, representation, embodiment, identity, ethics, governance, ecology, knowledge, and risk—to reveal the fundamental tensions through which digital technologies reshape the structure of natural experience, the boundaries of subjectivity, and the logic of governance. To bridge theory and practice, a three-layer conceptual framework for Dao–Cyber synergy is developed, consisting of representation, interaction, and value. Finally, a set of Dao-consistent design principles is proposed to support the coordinated development of Dao and nature, providing both theoretical guidance and methodological foundations. These principles also offer practical insights for applications such as digital twins, intelligent governance, and emerging technological ethics, demonstrating the contemporary relevance of Chinese philosophical wisdom in addressing challenges in digital transformation and technological governance. (shrink)

Intelligence operations overwhelmingly focus on obtaining secrets (espionage) and the unauthorized disclosure of secrets by a public official in one political community to another (treason). It is generally understood that the principal responsibility of spies is to successfully procure secrets about the enemy. Yet, in this essay, I ask: Are spies and traitors ethically justified in using cyber operations not merely to acquire secrets (cyber espionage) but also to covertly manipulate or falsify information (cyber manipulation) to prevent (...) atrocities? I suggest that using cyber manipulation operations to parry atrocities is pro tanto morally permissible and, on occasion, required. (shrink)

From North Korea's recent attacks on Sony to perpetual news reports of successful hackings and criminal theft, cyber conflict has emerged as a major topic of public concern. Yet even as attacks on military, civilian, and commercial targets have escalated, there is not yet a clear set of ethical guidelines that apply to cyber warfare. Indeed, like terrorism, cyber warfare is commonly believed to be a war without rules. Given the prevalence cyber warfare, developing a practical (...) moral code for this new form of conflict is more important than ever. In Ethics and Cyber Warfare, internationally-respected ethicist George Lucas delves into the confounding realm of cyber conflict. Comparing "state-sponsored hacktivism" to the transformative impact of "irregular warfare" in conventional armed conflict, Lucas offers a critique of legal approaches to governance, and outlines a new approach to ethics and "just war" reasoning. Lucas draws upon the political philosophies of Alasdair MacIntyre, John Rawls, and Jürgen Habermas to provide a framework for understanding these newly-emerging standards for cyber conflict, and ultimately presents a professional code of ethics for a new generation of "cyber warriors." Lucas concludes with a discussion of whether preemptive self-defense efforts - such as the massive government surveillance programs revealed by Edward Snowden - can ever be justified, addressing controversial topics such as privacy, anonymity, and public trust. Well-reasoned and timely, Ethics and Cyber Warfare is a must-read for anyone with an interest in philosophy, ethics, or cybercrime. (shrink)

Cyber warfare has changed the scenario of war from an empirical and a theoretical viewpoint. Cyber war is no longer based on physical violence only, but on military, political, economic and ideological strategies meant to exploit a state’s informational resources. This means that a deeper understanding of what cyber war is requires us to adopt an informational approach. This approach may enable us to account for the two-dimensional nature of cyber war, to revise the notion of (...) violence on which war is premised and to understand to what extent the traditional ideas of ‘just war’ may apply to the scenario of cyber warfare. This point is crucial, since it concerns whether a cyber war is meant to restore a broken international political and legal order or to participate in its construction. (shrink)

Cyber-technology is a new and emerging area of dual use concern. Consider autonomous robots. On the one hand, autonomous robots can provide great benefits, e.g. providing for the health and safety of elderly invalids. On the other hand, autonomous robots have the potential to enable great harm, e.g. weaponised autonomous robotsWeaponised autonomous robots (so-called ‘killer robotsweaponised autonomous robotsKiller robots’). As we have seen, the intended great harm is typically delivered by a weapons system of some sort, e.g. chemical, nuclear (...) or biological weapons. Cyber-technology is apparently no different in this respect since, after all, there are so-called cyber-weapons, such as the StuxnetStuxnet virus virus used to shut down Iranian nuclear facilities. In this chapter the definition of dual use technology elaborated in Chap. 10.1007/978-3-319-92606-3_2 is modified in light of some distinctive properties of cyber-technology. This modified definition is applied to cyber-technology with a view to identifying cyber-technologies that are dual use technologies. It is concluded that weaponised autonomous robotsWeaponised autonomous robots, various forms of computer viruses, and ransomware are dual use technologies, but that the internet and other forms of cyber-infrastructure are not. (shrink)

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) show enormous potential for advancing personalized medicine. However, BCIs also introduce new avenues for cyber-attacks or security compromises. In this article, we analyze the problem and make recommendations for device manufacturers to better secure devices and to help regulators understand where more guidance is needed to protect patient safety and data confidentiality. Device manufacturers should implement the prior suggestions in their BCI products. These recommendations help protect BCI users from undue risks, including compromised personal health and (...) genetic information, unintended BCI-mediated movement, and many other cybersecurity breaches. Regulators should mandate non-surgical device update methods, strong authentication and authorization schemes for BCI software modifications, encryption of data moving to and from the brain, and minimize network connectivity where possible. We also design a hypothetical, average-case threat model that identifies possible cybersecurity threats to BCI patients and predicts the likeliness of risk for each category of threat. BCIs are at less risk of physical compromise or attack, but are vulnerable to remote attack; we focus on possible threats via network paths to BCIs and suggest technical controls to limit network connections. (shrink)

Current approaches to cyber-security are not working. Rather than producing more security, we seem to be facing less and less. The reason for this is a multi-dimensional and multi-faceted security dilemma that extends beyond the state and its interaction with other states. It will be shown how the focus on the state and “its” security crowds out consideration for the security of the individual citizen, with detrimental effects on the security of the whole system. The threat arising from cyberspace (...) to (national) security is presented as possible disruption to a specific way of life, one building on information technologies and critical functions of infrastructures, with relatively little consideration for humans directly. This non-focus on people makes it easier for state actors to militarize cyber-security and (re-)assert their power in cyberspace, thereby overriding the different security needs of human beings in that space. Paradoxically, the use of cyberspace as a tool for national security, both in the dimension of war fighting and the dimension of mass-surveillance, has detrimental effects on the level of cyber-security globally. A solution out of this dilemma is a cyber-security policy that is decidedly anti-vulnerability and at the same time based on strong considerations for privacy and data protection. Such a security would have to be informed by an ethics of the infosphere that is based on the dignity of information related to human beings. (shrink)

Cyber warfare differs from traditional forms of conflicts, both in the instruments used—computers—and in the environment in which it is conducted—the virtual world of the internet and other data communication networks.The purpose of the commentary is to discuss whether, even in cyber warfare, the concept of ‘direct participation in hostilities’ is still operative, with special reference to the laws related to it, and to assess its consequences with regard to the law of armed conflict. In particular, I will (...) consider whether in cyber warfare the distinction between lawful combatant and unprivileged combatant is still valid. Standing on the premises that this distinction does not apply to non-military combatants in the cyber domain and that any civilian who is taking part in cyber warfare takes direct part in the hostilities as an unlawful cyber combatant, this commentary dwells on the concept of continuous combat function and applies it to cyber combatants. This will offer the ground to.. (shrink)

Cyber technology gives states the ability to accomplish effects that once required kinetic action. These effects can now be achieved with cyber means in a manner that is covert, deniable, cheap, and technologically feasible for many governments. In some cases, cyber means are morally preferable to conventional military operations, but in other cases, cyber's unique qualities can lead to greater mischief than governments would have chanced using kinetic means. This volume addresses the applicability of traditional military (...) ethics to cyber operations, jus ad vim, the rights of the targets of cyber operations, cyber sabotage, cyber surveillance, phase zero operations, psychological operations, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic ethics. Uniquely, it includes a number of cyber incidents that do not currently exist as case studies and have not received much public attention. This volume has been designed to work as a handbook for military and security professionals involved in cyber training, teaching, and application. (shrink)

Recent debate on the relationship between cyber threats, on the one hand, and both strategy and ethics on the other focus on the extent to which ‘cyber war’ is possible, both as a conceptual question and an empirical one. Whether it can is an important question for just war theorists. From this perspective, it is necessary to evaluate cyber measures both as a means of responding to threats and as a possible just cause for using armed kinetic (...) force. In this paper, I shift the focus away from ‘war’ as such in order to ask whether some cyber threats might justifiably be characterized as a form of ‘violence.’ Some theorists argue that the term violence ought to be defined so as to encompass things like ‘structural’ harm or harm by neglect and thereby question implicitly the focus of just war theorists on armed force. This paper draws on a theory of violence I developed elsewhere as a defence of just war theory’s narrow understanding of violence. According to the ‘Double-Intent’ theory, a distinctive form of ‘Violent Agency’ is the factor uniting the category of violence while partly accounting for the peculiar moral connotations of the term. Here, I argue that the resulting definition of violence reshapes the category in a way that includes some forms of cyber-attack. This may help us to see where cyber might fit in relation to just war theory and the ethics of kinetic attack. (shrink)

Theories of cyber deterrence are developing rapidly. However, the literature is missing an important ingredient—warfighting for deterrence. This controversial idea, most commonly associated with nuclear strategy during the later stages of the Cold War, affords a number of advantages. It provides enhanced credibility for deterrence, offers means to deal with deterrence failure, improves compliance with the requirements of just war and ultimately ensures that strategy continues to function in the post-deterrence environment. This paper assesses whether a warfighting for deterrence (...) approach is suitable for the cyber domain. In doing so, it challenges the notion that warfighting concepts are unsuitable for operations in cyberspace. To do this, the work constructs a conceptual framework that is then applied to cyber deterrence. It is found that all of the advantages of taking a warfighting stance apply to cyber operations. The paper concludes by constructing a warfighting model for cyber deterrence. This model includes passive and active defences and cross-domain offensive capabilities. The central message of the paper is that a theory of victory must guide the development of cyber deterrence. (shrink)

Gender Violence is a form of violence which takes place against any individual on the basis of gender. Out of all forms of this violence, Cyber-bullying is one of the most prominent form of violence taking place in today’s world. It is a form of violence which has started taking place through online mode through social media. Social media has indeed brought the world closer and facilitated communication in an extensive manner. People communicate frequently with users who are known (...) to them or unknown to them. Violence against women has been taking place since time immemorial both via offline and online. Trolling and using derogatory comments are some of the forms of Sexual Abuse using digital technology. Social media has become a common platform of sending and receiving casual messages in the form of audio, video, live conversation in virtual form. Some of such free and casual conversations leads to online trolling, and bullying the other user which can be considered as Cyberbullying. One of the basic advantage from the point of view of the abuser of this form of violence is that the culprit is usually unknown who prefers maintaining anonymity. Taking its advantage, the abuser gets away with his/ her crime. This paper is an attempt to understand the concept of Cyberbullying, its types and its impact among the victims. (shrink)

This study explores the challenge of cyber security threats that e-commerce technology and business are facing. Technology applications for e-commerce are attracting attention from both academia and industry. It has made what was not possible before for the business community and consumers. But it did not come all alone but has brought some challenges, and cyber security challenge is one of them. Cyber security concerns have many forms, but this study focuses on social engineering, denial of services, (...) malware, and attacks on personal data. Firms worldwide spend a lot on addressing cybersecurity issues, which grow each year. However, it seems complicated to overcome the challenge because the attackers continuously search for new vulnerabilities in humans, organizations, and technology. This paper is based on the conceptual analysis of social engineering, denial of services, malware, and attacks on personal data. We argue that implementing modern technology for e-commerce and cybersecurity issues is a never-ending game of cat and mouse. To reduce risks, reliable technology is needed, training of employees and consumer is necessary for using the technology, and a strong policy and regulation is needed at the firm and governmental level. (shrink)

The emergence of sophisticated cyber weapons such as Stuxnet and Flame, and widespread offensive cyber-operations revealed in documents leaked byEdward Snowden, pose challenges not only to international security and civilian infrastructure, but blur the distinction between violence and nonviolence, confusing the ethical discourse of cyber war and muting public discourse and resistance. Rethinking cyber war as destabilizing nonviolence reveals the moralambiguities and contested ontology of cyber weapons, heightens awareness of their conflicted linguistic representation and challenges (...) the vantage point of “theresponsible actor” in justifying cyber war attacks. Such heightened awareness of the ontological and ethical complexity of cyber weapons makes room forreasoned public discourse and strategies of resistance to clandestine cyber war and to justified use arguments that defend cyber weapons as nonviolent. (shrink)

This paper introduces a set of terms that are intended to act as an interface between cyber ontologies (like a file system ontology or a data fusion ontology) and top- and mid-level ontologies, specifically Basic Formal Ontology and the Common Core Ontologies. These terms center on what makes cyberinformation management unique: numerous acts of copying items of information, the aggregates of copies that result from those acts, and the faithful members of those aggregates that represent all other members.

In this chapter, creativity is defined by focusing on the creative process as opposed to the creative product via the adoption of the dynamic definition of creativity, requiring potential originality and effectiveness. As a consequence, the dynamic universal creative process is introduced, in which both human and artificial creativity find a place. The cyber-creative process is intended as the collaboration between these two forms of creativity, with different roles assigned to the artificial agent (assistant, source of inspiration, idea challenger, (...) peer-to-peer collaborator, quality controller, manager). The creative process is then described through the DA VINCI model, comprising five mental states: DAV (Drive—Attention & Volition), I (Information), N (Novelty generation), C (Creativity estimation), and I (Implementation). This model can be utilized to describe a purely human creative episode, but it naturally applies to the cyber-creative process, too. In particular, generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) is assumed to be the counterpart to the human side, and a DA VINCI custom GPT (DV-GPT) is introduced as a fine-tuned version of ChatGPT, based on documents about the DA VINCI model. Possible forms of aid by the DV-GPT to the creative process are described for all of the five mental states of the DA VINCI process. Cyber-creative idea generation in the field of “Creative Ideas for Social Responsibility Start-Ups” is described as a guiding example. Whereas the DV-GPT is a general purpose tool, domain specific applications of AI are also briefly described for a cyber-creative process in the fields of education, journalism, design, fashion, music, considering legal implications in terms of intellectual property protection. (shrink)

Artificial Intelligence is becoming widespread and as we continue ask ‘can we implement this’ we neglect to ask ‘should we implement this’. There are various frameworks and conceptual journeys one should take to ensure a robust AI product; context is one of the vital parts of this. AI is now expected to make decisions, from deciding who gets a credit card to cancer diagnosis. These decisions affect most, if not all, of society. As developers if we do not understand or (...) use fundamental modelling principles then we can cause real harm to society. Recently more serious effects of AI have been observed. Dehumanisation is the human reaction to overused anthropomorphism and lack of social contact caused by excessive interaction with, or addiction to, technology. This can cause humans to devalue technology and to devalue other humans. This is a contradiction of the use of ‘social robots’ and ‘chatbots’, indicating that the negative effects of this technology would outweigh any perceived positive effects. Also, within cyberspace, anthropomorphism and similar techniques based on deep philosophical principles can, and are, being used to alter the behaviour of humans. These techniques are used to manipulate human behaviours at a basic level in the human mind. As these types of techniques are becoming more widespread, it is clear that we are entering unchartered territory that holds a vast array of consequences for society. (shrink)

Purpose: The research explored empirical evidence to assess the impact of cyber security and supply chain risk on digital operations in the UAE pharmaceutical industry. Methodology/Design/Approach: Based on responses from 243 personnel working at 14 pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Dubai, data were examined for normality, instrument validity and regression analysis. Cyber security and SC risk on digital operations were explored by applying convenient sampling and descriptive and analytical research design. Findings: The findings validated the significant positive association between (...) cyber security and supply chain risk with digital operations. Research implications and Limitations: The research model was developed with three variables evaluated only on the pharmaceutical industry in Dubai. Future research should focus on multiple manufacturing industries by covering a larger geographic area. Practical implications: When suppliers are highly concentrated, customer-focused organisations with uncertain levels of digital transformation could improve their ability to manage supply chain risk by diversifying their clients. Pharmaceutical firms may require a greater focus on technology-based manufacturing firms to build and maintain customer trust. Originality Value: To illustrate how the pharmaceutical industry has explored the relationship between cyber security, supply chain risk and digital operations, the research highlights the significant and convoluted consequences of the relationship model that have not been previously considered. (shrink)

The surge in threats aided by or carried out through cyberspace has placed significant pressure on the intelligence community to adapt or leave itself open to attack. Indeed, many in both political and intelligence circles argue for access to ever greater amounts of cyber information in order to catch potential threats before they become real. By collecting all our digital information, the intelligence community argues that it is not only able to detail what people have done or are currently (...) doing but also predict what their next move might be. However, the ethical implications are unclear and the backlash following Edward Snowden’s revelations have shown that such activities are not without controversy. This leaves the debate stuck between the important, ethical role that intelligence can play and the potential for its unrestrained use to cause undue harm. This paper will resolve this by giving greater detail to cyber-intelligence practices, highlighting the different levels of harm that the various intelligence operations can cause. The essence of this paper is not that cyber-intelligence should be banned outright, but that it can be justified given the necessary circumstances. Therefore, the paper will develop a specialised set of Just Cyber-Intelligence Principles, built on the just war tradition, to outline if and when such activities are justified. (shrink)

There were five kinds of cyber deterrence presented at the workshop on Landscaping strategic cyber deterrence, hosted at the Oxford Internet Institute. They were the well-studied areas of deterrence by ‘punishment’ and ‘denial’, and the novel concepts of deterrence by ‘association’, ‘norms and taboos’, and finally, ‘entanglement’. In the following workshop commentary, I present these five kinds of deterrence and explain them in light of recent developments in the academy and industry. I argue for analytical congruence between all (...) three novel concepts, since they aim to alter the behaviour of actors by adding a social cost in response to breaking norms and conventions. Throughout, I argue that we are beginning to understand how cyber deterrence works, both in theory and practice, and when all concepts are taken together, they become more than the sum of their parts. Finally, I point out an omission of the workshop, where computational modelling and simulation could be added to the landscape of strategic cyber deterrence. (shrink)

As part of the Issues in Military Ethics series, Cyber Warfare Ethics is an insightful anthology of cutting-edge articles that examine the potential and the hazards of cyber operations. Michael Ske...

OSINT stands for Open Source Intelligence, (O)SI for (Open) Social Intelligence, and PbD for Privacy by Design. The CAPER EU project has built an OSINT solution oriented to the prevention of organized crime. How to balance freedom and security? This chapter describes a way to embed the legal and ethical issues raised by the General Data Reform Package (GDRP) in Europe into security and surveillance platforms. It focuses on the indirect strategy to flesh out ethical principles through Semantic Web Regulatory (...) Models (SWRM), and discusses the possibility to extend them to Cyber Warfare. Institutional design and the possibility to build up a Meta-rule of law are also discussed. (shrink)

The rapid digitization of higher education has introduced complex ethical challenges that demand new forms of leadership. This paper explores the concept of cyber-ethical leadership as a critical response to evolving issues such as data privacy, AI-generated academic content, digital surveillance, and cybersecurity crisis management. Drawing from real-world case studies and institutional practices, we propose a practice-based framework that emphasizes ethical reflexivity, participatory governance, and multi- stakeholder engagement. By reframing leadership as ethical agency rather than hierarchical authority, this study (...) highlights how leaders in academia can navigate digital dilemmas through context-aware, inclusive decision-making. The findings call for the integration of digital ethics into institutional policy, leadership training, and crisis preparedness, contributing to a more resilient and ethically grounded digital transformation of higher education. (shrink)

Cyberwarfare emerges as a new and pivotal front in global conflict scenarios, extending the dynamics of traditional wars into the digital era. This dissertation delves into the intricacies of cyber warfare, focusing on specific cases of cyber attacks and manipulations, particularly those occurring in the context of the relationship between Russia and Ukraine. By analyzing employed tactics such as breaching power grids and utilizing ransomware, the consequences of cyber warfare on not only infrastructures but also the social (...) and economic fabric of involved nations are highlighted. Beyond technological implications, the work explores the concept of the “war among hackers” investigating ethical dynamics and the ambivalence of actions taken by groups like Anonymous. Emphasis is placed on the need for in-depth understanding and an ethical approach in managing cyber warfare, advocating for the role of “ethical hackers” as guardians of cybersecurity. In conclusion, the analysis proposes reflections on potential future directions of cyber warfare and underscores the importance of balancing digital security with fundamental ethical values. (shrink)

Since the advent of the internet, governments endeavored to shape its use for their strategic advantage. This ambition extends to military applications where control of the cyber domain has become a primary element of modern conflicts. Increasingly, military doctrine features cyber weapons not only as a tool to strategically prepare the battlefield, but also as a critical component of battlefield tactics. The significance of cyber weapons on both national defense strategy and battlefield tactics is so significant that (...) many military theorists have characterized it as a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), a tectonic shift in capabilities akin to the advent of manned flight or nuclear fission. This paper analyzes the modern uses of cyber weapons through the lens of recent RMAs, suggesting potential implications for policy and areas for further study by the academy. (shrink)

The purpose of this text is to address the issue of artificial intelligences and their impact on contemporary society. To do this, we will conduct parallel readings of the dystopian societies created by Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick. From these, we will identify some features present in our immediate context, focusing on three main axes: the society of surveillance and technological control, the problem of the natural in cyber-beings, and the vision of the 21st century in science fiction (...) to analyze whether it is illusory or, on the contrary, part of our immediate reality. All this with the aim of defining the genre as a mirror of our future, based on the reading of our present to interpret possible worlds and the future as a source of philosophical and technological reflection. In this article, we will broadly analyze the elements of science fiction by Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick, focusing on aspects such as the naturalness of individuals, societies of control, and the lines that separate the human from the artificial as bases for philosophical reflection. Through this exercise, we will examine various works by both authors, such as The Bicentennial Man (Asimov 2019a), Satisfaction Guaranteed (Asimov 2029b), The Last Question (Asimov 2019b), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Dick 2017), and The Man in the High Castle (Dick 2021). The objective is to identify elements that allow us to interpret the 21st century as a work of science fiction in constant development. (shrink)

Recent restrictions of movement during the pandemic have forced people worldwide, even neo-luddites, to turn to communicating online. The virtualization of social processes that we are witnessing today, suggests constant rethinking of the role of the Internet for humanity so that we could optimize conditions of our existence that seem to be irreversibly transformed by technology, and integrate every individual with a unique set of features in the life of society. The author deals with the notions of cyberinclusion, virtual ghetto, (...) isolation and alienation to come to the conclusion that virtual communication allows one to form communities based not on segregation criteria of socio-demographics, but on unifying grounds of shared interest. Cyber inclusion already exists, along with virtual ghettoization; for the former to prevail, people must be ready to communicate beyond borders, regardless of their socio-demographical characteristics, state of health, or immediate benefit. (shrink)

This study examined the effect of cyber-threat scenario realism, high-realism versus low-realism, within a digital simulation environment on Educational Technology students’ threat detection and digital incident response skills. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with two experimental groups was used. The sample consisted of 100 second-level Educational Technology students, with 50 students assigned to each group. The high-realism group learned through cyber-threat scenarios that included multiple evidence sources, appropriate ambiguity, incident progression, and decision consequences, whereas the low-realism group learned through (...) simpler and more direct scenarios addressing the same skills. The instruments included a core concepts test, two situational tests, two performance rubrics, an interaction analysis log, and a perceived scenario realism scale. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, independent-samples t-tests, ANCOVA, gain scores, and effect sizes. The results showed statistically significant posttest differences in favor of the high-realism group across all instruments. The strongest effects appeared in the performance rubrics and interaction analysis log, indicating that high-realism scenarios were particularly effective in developing applied and behavioral dimensions of detection and response. The findings suggest that scenario realism is a meaningful instructional design variable in educational cybersecurity simulation and can help Educational Technology students move from general awareness toward evidence-based and procedurally safe digital incident response. (shrink)

The boundaries of social acceptance and models of convergence of human and non-human actors of digital reality are defined. The constructive creative possibilities of convergent processes in distributed neural networks are analyzed from the point of view of possible scenarios for building “friendly” human-dimensional symbioses of natural and artificial intelligence. A comprehensive analysis of new management challenges related to the development of cyber-physical and cybersocial systems is carried out. A model of social organizations and organizational behavior in the conditions (...) of cyberphysical reality is developed. The possibilities of reconciling human moral principles and “machine ethics” in the processes of modeling and managing digital reality are studied. The significance of various concepts of digital, machine and cyber-anymism for the socio-cultural understanding of the development of modern cyber-physical technologies, the anthropological dimension of a smart city is revealed. The article introduces the concept of hybrid society and shows the development of its models as self-organizing collective systems that consist of co-evolving biohybrid and socio-technical spheres. The importance of modern anthropogenic research for sustainable development is analyzed. The process of marking ontological boundaries between heterogeneous modalities in the digital world is investigated. Examples of acute social contexts that are able to set the vector of practical philosophy in the modern digital era are considered. (shrink)

Looking at the digital–cultural–political means of resistance and media activism on the Internet, this article explores Internet art practices in South Africa as a manifestation of cultural dissent towards western hegemony online. Confronting the unilateral flow of online information, Afro Cyber Resistance is a socially engaged gesture aiming to challenge the representation of the African body and culture through online project. Talking as examples the WikiAfrica project, Cuss Group’s intervention Video Party 4 (VP4) and VIRUS SS 16 by artiste (...) Bogosi Sekhukhuni, this article attempts to demonstrate that the use of the Internet as a medium for digital cultural production and as a platform of dissemination is crucial to raise social awareness and defy African stereotypes and misrepresentation. Creating a unique visual language using the ‘global’ aesthetics of the Internet, yet rooted in African culture, these works deeply reflect on the social environment they spawn from and therefore act as cultural and visual resistance. (shrink)

In today’s postmodern world with the latest and top notch internet technologies in the market, if it has become easy and accessible for everyone to communicate with others sitting at the other corner of the world, it has also given rise to the cybercrimes including cyber terro rism which has not only provided grave threats to the whole world but also posed a question of whether with the manipulation of cyber space, cyber terrorists can damage or destroy (...) the physical infrastructure of its target. Owing to easy access to everyone and strong damage done as compared to traditional terrorism, today terrorists are relying on cyber terrorism as well. The Islamic State has emerged as one of the brutal and violent terrorist organization s which hired cyber experts and manipulated cyber space to the extent that today they are most active and professional cyber users’ terrorist organization of the world. The main focus of the paper is to highlight the basic definition of cyber terrorism, how often it is different from traditional terrorism, use of cyber terrorism, how cyber terrorism can be manipulated through various latest tools and techniques and how Islamic State is using cyber space to spread its message. (shrink)

Après le 11 septembre 2001, un ressort essentiel des politiques américaines de renforcement de la « sécurité nationale » a pris la forme d’une insistance quasi paranoïaque sur les menaces potentiellement catastrophiques constituées par le cyber-terrorisme. Un grand nombre de commentateurs politiques, militaires ou économiques, ainsi que d’universitaires et de journalistes, ont envahi..

This edited book explores the process of creating using the seven C's of creativity framework. It discusses the creative process as a collaboration between humans and Artificial Intelligence (AI), here identified as the cyber-creativity process. Through nine chapters written by leading scholars in the field, this collection delves into the rapidly emerging area of Generative-AI (Gen-AI) applications and sheds light on the parts of the creative process that will remain fundamentally human throughout the foreseeable future, as well as those (...) that will benefit more from AI-augmentation. Drawing on the dynamic definition of creativity, the contents encompass the Dynamic Universal Creative Process (DUCP) and the DA VINCI model, the design principles of Gen-AI algorithms, the cyber-creativity process in education, journalism, design, fashion, music, and its implications on intellectual property protection. A timely reflection on the complex and evolving relation between creativity and technology, this volume will interest academics, researchers, and students alike across humanities, social and hard sciences. (shrink)

The year 2017 has dawned in a new era. This is an era where cyber terrorism and cyber extremism are increasingly going to be significant factors in our day-to-day lives. Whether we like it or not, today social media platforms are infiltrated with cyber terrorists and cyber extremists. In addition, Cyber radicalization as a phenomenon is constantly on the rise.

This special issue gathers together a selection of papers presented by international experts during a workshop entitled ‘Ethics of Cyber-Conflicts’, which was devoted to fostering interdisciplinary debate on the ethical and legal problems and the regulatory gap concerning cyber conflicts. The workshop was held in 2013 at the Centro Alti Studi Difesa in Rome under the auspices of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence . This NATO-accredited international military organisation that has always placed a high (...) value on an interdisciplinary approach to cyber defence, uniting as it does perspectives from technical, policy, legal, and strategic domains. The Centre’s mission is to enhance capability, cooperation, and information-sharing between NATO, its member states, and partner countries in the area of cyber defence by virtue of research, education, and consultation. The workshop was one of the projects supported by the Centre to achieve this mission.Readers may .. (shrink)

A primer on legal issues relating to cyberspace, this textbook introduces business, policy and ethical considerations raised by our use of information technology. With a focus on the most significant issues impacting internet users and businesses in the United States of America, the book provides coverage of key topics such as social media, online privacy, artificial intelligence, and cybercrime as well as emerging themes such as doxing, ransomware, revenge porn, data-mining, e-sports and fake news. The authors, experienced in journalism, technology (...) and legal practice, provide readers with expert insights into the nuts and bolts of cyber law. Cyber Law and Ethics: Regulation of the Connected World provides a practical presentation of legal principles, and the book is essential reading for non-specialist students dealing with the intersection of the internet and the law. (shrink)

Cyber warfare is becoming a new reality with new battles fought everyday on virtual battlefields. For a century and a half, International Humanitarian Law has been a sentry for victims of wars guaranteeing their legal protection from the calamities of war, trying hard to respond to Clausewitz’s “chameleon of war”. Cyber conflict marks new chameleon’s colour together with the unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomic battle systems and other technologies deployed on battlefields. However, it would be greatly erroneous to claim (...) that the International Humanitarian Law may not apply to the new phenomena just because it is caused by the advanced technology. Even if the Geneva Conventions of 1949 are already sixty years old, the International Humanitarian Law in itself has at minimum customary response mechanism, granting, in a spirit of Marten’s clause, protection and authority of the principles of international law derived from established custom, from the principles of humanity and from dictates of public conscience (Protocol I). Notwithstanding, some more complicated fundamental issues also have to be addressed: how the use of cybernetic weapons and means may affect the classic notion of armed conflict? How it can be interpreted in the light of new technologies, i.e. can we still rely on a classic understanding of weapon’s kinetic effect as the main element, or shall we embrace effectsbased “Schmitt’s criteria”. If it so happens, will it make an act without apparent damage to a person/property equal to military hostilities, required by the armed conflict notion and justify the real-life response to it. The effective or overall control tests were used for the attribution of non-state actor’s activity to the state party of an armed conflict but these tests might not meet its purpose in the virtual battlefield of loose networks and open-source communities. If the concept of armed conflict is treated more flexibly, other changes (including issues of attribution) may follow, as well. Perhaps this is the way how the combatant institute will evolve. With classic combatant’s criteria impossible to apply on virtual battlefields, one of the options would be to elaborate concepts of “constant combat function” and “direct participation in hostilities” more precisely, as well as to reconsider state’s affiliation requirements. (shrink)

Prior to the year 2001, the phenomenon of Internet criminal fraud was not globally associated with Nigeria. Since then, however, the country had acquired a world-wide notoriety in criminal activities, especially financial scams, facilitated through the use of the Internet. This is not to say that computer-related crimes were alien to the country. It is, however, remarkable that the perpetration of cyber crimes involving Nigerians and traceable to Nigeria became so rampant that questions might be legitimately raised as to (...) why the problem became so pronounced from around that year. It is further remarkable that the attempt to launch Nigeria into the digital age coincided with the unprecedented rise in computer-related financial crimes in the country. In this paper, it is argued that the problem arose as a direct consequence of the lapses in the 2001 National Policy for Information Technology (NPFIT). The argument is based on an analysis of the various provisions of the Policy, with specific focus on the lack of proactive security provisions in it and in its subsequent implementation, in the wider context of global experiences of, and efforts to deal with, cyber security breaches as at the time of the formulation and implementation of the NPFIT. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Cybernetic attacks have been wrongly perceived as weapons of physical destruction rather than of disruption. Because modern, post‐industrial societies have become critically dependent on computer networks to function on a day‐to‐day basis, disruption of those networks could have serious social and economic consequences. In order to better protect society, policymakers will have to re‐orient their approach toward cyber security so as to emphasize the genuine cybernetic threat, which is network disruption rather than physical destruction.