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New technologies provide the development sector with powerful tools to carry out its work more effectively, but they also introduce risks. Access to information technologies – such as mobile phones, the internet, social networking sites and video – can play a critical role in helping people hold governments and development agencies accountable. There is a growing understanding that privacy is an essential component of security. In order to decrease the probability of having data breaches, the design of information systems, processes and architectures should incorporate considerations related to both privacy and security. Cyber crime is only likely to increase, despite the best efforts of government agencies and cyber security experts. Its growth is being driven by the expanding number of services available online and the increasing sophistication of cyber criminals who are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with security experts. Technical innovation throws up new online dangers. For example, the migration of data to third-party cloud providers has created a centralization of data and therefore more opportunities for criminals to misappropriate critical information from a single target attack. Similarly, the emphasis on mobile services has opened up corporate systems to more users—multiplying the opportunities to penetrate security measures.

This Book ‘Privacy, Security, and Cyberspace’ provides a better understanding of the risks, perceptions, and myths that surround cyber security by looking at it from different levels of analysis. It addresses topics ranging from phishing and electrical-grid take downs to cyber crime and online freedom, sharing illustrative anecdotes to explain how cyberspace security works. This book is premised on the belief that computer science-based approaches, while necessary, are not sufficient to tackle cyber security challenges. Instead, scholarly contributions from a range of disciplines are needed to understand the varied aspects of cyber security. Policymakers and strategists will find this book to be an invaluable resource in their efforts to ensure national security and answer concerns about future cyber warfare.