Article contents
The ontological politics of cyber security: Emerging agencies, actors, sites, and spaces
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2020
Abstract
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.
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- Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British International Studies Association
References
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37 Ibid.
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112 Manos Antonakakis et al., ‘Understanding the Mirai botnet’, p. 1094.
113 Ibid., p. 1100.
114 Christensen and Petersen, ‘Public–private partnerships on cyber security’; Christensen and Liebetrau, ‘A new role for “the public”?’; and Kristoffer Kjærgaard Christensen, ‘Corporate Zones of Cyber Security’ (PhD dissertation, University of Copenhagen, 2018) also explore the role of private companies beyond national security practices
115 Bruce Schneier, ‘We need to save the Internet from the Internet of Things’, Motherboard – Tech by Vice, available at: {https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ezpq3m/we-need-to-save-the-internet-from-the-internet-of-things} accessed 29 August 2019.
116 Cavelty, ‘From cyber-bombs to political fallout'; Hansen and Nissenbaum, ‘Digital disaster, cyber security, and the Copenhagen School’.
117 Dan Goodinn, ‘Creepy IoT Teddy Bear Leaks >2 million parents’ and kids’ voice messages’, Ars Technica, available at: {https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/02/creepy-iot-teddy-bear-leaks-2-million-parents-and-kids-voice-messages/} accessed 29 August 2019; Joanna Stern, ‘The connected medicine cabinet: Bluetooth pregnancy test makes debut at CES 2016’, Wall Street Journal, available at: {https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-connected-medicine-cabinet-bluetooth-pregnancy-test-makes-debut-at-ces-2016-1452045541} accessed 29 August 2019.
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126 Mol, ‘Ontological politics’, p. 82.
127 Schouten, ‘Security as controversy'; Walters, ‘Drone strikes, dingpolitik and beyond'; Rothe, ‘Seeing like a satellite'.
128 Buzan, Barry, Wæver, Ole, and de Wilde, Jaap, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1998)Google Scholar; Wæver, Ole, ‘Securitization and desecuritization’, in Lipschutz, Ronnie D. (ed.), On Security (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), pp. 46–86Google Scholar.
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131 Hansen and Nissenbaum, ‘Digital disaster, cyber security, and the Copenhagen School’.
132 See, for example, Amicelle, Aradau, and Jean Jeandesboz, ‘Questioning security devices’; Huysmans, ‘Critical methods in International Relations’, ch. 7; Monsees, ‘Public relations’.
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