The ontological politics of cyber security

Emerging agencies, actors, sites, and spaces

Bibliographic Data

ID13020522
AuthorsTobias Liebetrau (0000-0001-6996-9328, University of Copenhagen, corresponding author), Kristoffer Kjærgaard Christensen (University of Copenhagen)
Year2020
Volume6
Issue1
Pages25-43
Publication date2020-09-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of International Security (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2057-5637 • E-ISSN: 2057-5645
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/eis.2020.10
OpenAlexW3082787557
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited84

In this article, we show how Annemarie Mol's notion of ontological politics helps to open up the research agenda for cyber security in Critical Security Studies. The article hence seeks to further the debate about STS and Critical Security Studies. The article's main claim is that the concept of ontological politics enables an engagement with the complex and transformative dynamics of ICT and the new security actors and practices that shape security politics in the digital age. By examining the virulent attacks executed by the Mirai botnet – one of the world's largest, fiercest, and most enduring botnets – we point to four aspects of cyber security that attention to the ontological politics of cyber security attunes us to: the proliferation and entanglement of security agencies, actors, sites, and spaces. These aspects of cyber security, we argue, are becoming increasingly prominent alongside the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G network technology. In conclusion, we discuss the wider security theoretical and normative-democratic implications of an engagement with the ontological politics of security by exploring three avenues for additional conversation between ontological politics and Critical Security Studies

Computer security · Political science · Politics · Computer Science · Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies · Global Security and Public Health · Law · Public Administration · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence