IT Security Policy Research Articles

Cyberplagues, IT, and Security: Threat Politics in the Information Age

The swiftness and considerable political impact of the widespread conceptualisation of IT as a security problem makes it a particularly fruitful case for analysing threat politics – how and why some threat images but not others end up on the political agenda. A conceptual framework combining theories of framing, securitisation, agenda setting and policy diffusion is developed, which is applied to the case of IT security policy in Sweden. The analysis emphasises the impact of the end of the Cold War, the uncertainty following the breakthrough of the information age, the tradition of focusing on information and technological development in military affairs, the adaptability to ‘widened security thinking’ within the military‐bureaucratic establishment, and the lack of opposition to the securitisation of IT.

Developing firewall technology: Hardwall — White paper

The key to a successful IT security policy is to find a solution that offers the user the appropriate level of protection, while at the same time allowing a disciplined user to operate within its control without feeling unduly restricted. Hardwall technology outlined here has advantages over the traditional approach in: • • The unlimited access it allows the user to the PC functionality. • • The ease of reset to the as-installed operating system. • • The high level of security the solution offers. The technology is finding applications in public access PCs, training machines and the education sector. Small offices and home offices will benefit from the security levels established by the Hardwall technology which are normally only available in a large company environment.