Public-Private Partnerships: A Softt Approach to Cybersecurity? Views from the European Union

Abstract

This chapter addresses public-private partnerships (PPPs) in cybersecurity. PPPs allow the government and key Information and Communications Technology operators to pool their resources and know-how to tackle several aspects of cybersecurity, such as critical information infrastructure protection and the fight against cybercrime. The nature and functioning of these partnerships raise a number of questions. What are PPPs in practice and what is their rationale? Are they keeping up with their promise of increased security? Do PPPs have any adverse impact on society? This chapter offers answers to these three questions from a European Union (EU) perspective. Accordingly, I define the rationale for PPPs, and then, building on the taxonomy developed by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), I investigate examples of existing regional and international/transnational partnerships. As for the question as to whether PPPs are keeping up with their promise of better addressing cyber-challenges, I argue that it is necessary to analyse the complex landscape of the PPPs as a whole, taking into account the risk of ‘societal collateral damage’ and the partnerships’ contrasting objectives.