Building the Cybersecurity Capacity of Nations

Abstract

Threats to and attacks on the security of the Internet—unauthorized access to digital resources, such as computer hardware, software, data, and data centers—have become a major global issue in the twenty-first century. One consequence is that policy-makers are focusing more attention on global strategies, given that nations without the capacity to maintain security can be exploited by malevolent actors in ways that undermine other states. And this strategy presents policy-makers with an opportunity to become more proactive in building national capacity to withstand threats to the security of the Internet, rather than addressing security breaches only after they occur. Bringing together data from multiple sources in 138 countries, this chapter provides an overview of global cybersecurity capacity building and examines whether these efforts actually enhance security for end users of the Internet.