Public Opinion and Cyberterrorism

Bibliographic Data

ID6367676
AuthorsRyan Shandler (0000-0002-0931-2014, University of Oxford), Nadiya Kostyuk (0000-0003-0596-5752, School of Public Policy and the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, Georgia Institute of Technology Assistant Professor, , Atlanta, GA, US), H Oppenheimer (0000-0002-4500-0712, Harvard University)
Year2023
Volume87
Issue1
Pages92-119
Publication date2023-04-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Opinion Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-362X • E-ISSN: 1537-5331
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/poq/nfad006
PMID37113998
OpenAlexW4362591733
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited52

Research into cyber-conflict, public opinion, and international security is burgeoning, yet the field suffers from an absence of conceptual agreement about key terms. For instance, every time a cyberattack takes place, a public debate erupts as to whether it constitutes cyberterrorism. This debate bears significant consequences, seeing as the ascription of a “terrorism” label enables the application of heavy-handed counterterrorism powers and heightens the level of perceived threat among the public. In light of widespread conceptual disagreement in cyberspace, we assert that public opinion plays a heightened role in understanding the nature of cyber threats. We construct a typological framework to illuminate the attributes that drive the public classification of an attack as cyberterrorism, which we test through a ratings-based conjoint experiment in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel (N = 21,238 observations). We find that the public (1) refrains from labeling attacks by unknown actors or hacker collectives as cyberterrorism; and (2) classifies attacks that disseminate sensitive data as terrorism to a greater extent even than physically explosive attacks. Importantly, the uniform public perspectives across the three countries challenge a foundational tenet of public opinion and international relations scholarship that divided views among elites on foreign policy matters will be reflected by a divided public. This study concludes by providing a definitive conceptual baseline to support future research on the topic

Computer security · Cyberspace · Hacker · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Public relations · Scholarship · Sociology · Terrorism · The Internet · Computer Science · Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies · Social Media and Politics · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence · Law

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