Security-by-Experiment: Lessons from Responsible Deployment in Cyberspace

Journal Article (2015)
Author(s)

W Pieters (TU Delft - Energy and Industry)

D. Hadziosmanovic (TU Delft - Information and Communication Technology)

F Dechesne (External organisation)

Research Group
Energy and Industry
Copyright
© 2015 W. Pieters, D. Hadziosmanovic, F Dechesne
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9648-y
More Info
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Publication Year
2015
Language
English
Copyright
© 2015 W. Pieters, D. Hadziosmanovic, F Dechesne
Research Group
Energy and Industry
Issue number
3
Volume number
22
Pages (from-to)
1-20
Reuse Rights

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Abstract

Conceiving new technologies as social experiments is a means to discuss responsible deployment of technologies that may have unknown and potentially harmful side-effects. Thus far, the uncertain outcomes addressed in the paradigm of new technologies as social experiments have been mostly safety-related, meaning that potential harm is caused by the design plus accidental events in the environment. In some domains, such as cyberspace, adversarial agents (attackers) may be at least as important when it comes to undesirable effects of deployed technologies. In such cases, conditions for responsible experimentation may need to be implemented differently, as attackers behave strategically rather than probabilistically. In this contribution, we outline how adversarial aspects are already taken into account in technology deployment in the field of cyber security, and what the paradigm of new technologies as social experiments can learn from this. In particular, we show the importance of adversarial roles in social experiments with new technologies.