Is cybersecurity eating internet governance? Causes and consequences of alternative framings
| Published date | 11 September 2017 |
| Pages | 415-428 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-05-2017-0025 |
| Date | 11 September 2017 |
| Author | Milton Mueller |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information policy |
Is cybersecurity eating internet
governance? Causes and consequences
of alternative framings
Milton Mueller
Milton Mueller is
Professor at the School of
Public Policy, Georgia
Institute of Technology,
Georgia, USA.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between cybersecurity governance
and internet governance and to explore the effects of the current tendency for cybersecurity-related
discourse to dominate and change the way we approach the established problems of internet
governance.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper demonstrates the centrality of internet connectivity to
any definition of cyberspace and to cybersecurity, which clarifies the way internet governance and
cybersecurity governance are interdependent. Drawing on classic notions of a security dilemma, the
paper also argues for distinguishing between national cybersecurity and societal cybersecurity.
Findings –Major structural features of the governance problem in cybersecurity and internet
governance are analogous. Joint production of internet services and cybersecurity makes them heavily
interdependent. This means that cybersecurity governance and internet governance models need to be
compatible, and the approach we take to one will influence how we approach the other.
Originality/value –The interdependence of cybersecurity governance and internet governance has
not been carefully examined before, and the relationship is not well understood. These two strands of
thinking about cyberspace governance have not been properly connected. This paper bridges the gap
and makes policymakers more aware of the potential tensions between a cybersecurity perspective and
an internet governance perspective.
Keywords Global governance, Cybersecurity, Internet governance, Security dilemma
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to bring conceptual clarity to the relationship between internet
governance and cybersecurity governance. It discusses and evaluates definitions of
cyberspace, cybersecurity, national security, cybersecurity governance and internet
governance to sharpen our understanding of the relationship. It tries to develop an
understanding of the degree to which internet governance and cybersecurity governance
are interdependent, and hence the impact that the two fields have on each other. This
introductory section explains why I think such clarifications are necessary.
Prior to the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003-2005, the definition
of internet governance was largely confined to the management of internet identifiers –
what some might call “ICANN issues” because they reflect the work of the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). But WSIS broadened the
definition; for the first time, it focused the world’s attention on the entire internet-connected
world as an object of governance (MacLean, 2004;Mueller, 2010). No longer was the
policy space dominated by the internet technical community, the trademark lobby and a
few specialists focused on domain names and IP addresses. The WSIS process,
Received 22 May 2017
Revised 28 June 2017
Accepted 28 June 2017
DOI 10.1108/DPRG-05-2017-0025 VOL. 19 NO. 6 2017, pp. 415-428, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2398-5038 DIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE PAGE 415
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