Cybersecurity and human rights

Abstract

Since the first computer worm was unleashed in the late 1980’s to the recent 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment hack, the security and stability of cyberspace, including the Internet, are often cornerstones from which discussions around cybersecurity, Internet governance, and Internet freedom begin. Threats to cybersecurity can include computer viruses, spam, identity theft, data breaches, denial of service attacks, and cybercrime. Attackers can range from hackers to activists to petty criminals to businesses to national governments. With over 370 million people falling victim to cybercrimes each year1 and tens of thousands of known viruses in existence2, the threats to our security are real but so are the threats to our human rights online. Before looking at the human rights concerns in relation to cybersecurity, let’s take a quick look at the outward expressions of cybersecurity.