Information, Innovation and the Boogeyman

Abstract

Governments around the Western world are becoming increasingly concerned about cyber security. This paper uses the Hood et al. Risk Regulation Regime (2001) framework to describe Public Safety Canada's Cyber Security Strategy and analyze the social and economic pressures that will influence the manner in which the strategy will be operationalized. This paper recommends that government: takes a balanced approach to securing its own systems, recognizing the costs of an overly precautionary stance; continues to work and exchange information on cyber security with owners and operators of critical infrastructure while at the same time recognizing the market context in which they operate, which constrains this exchange; and helps Canadians to be secure online with enhanced public education programs that have a longer-term view and recognize people's desire for flexibility and convenience in the technology they use. The research in this paper is drawn from academic literature, media analysis and semi-structured interviews.