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Emerging Threats to Internet Security: Incentives, Externalities and Policy Implications
Author(s) -
Van Eeten Michel,
Bauer Johannes M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of contingencies and crisis management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.007
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5973
pISSN - 0966-0879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5973.2009.00592.x
Subject(s) - botnet , incentive , externality , dominance (genetics) , computer security , the internet , cybercrime , business , enforcement , law enforcement , government (linguistics) , network effect , collective action , internet privacy , law and economics , industrial organization , economics , law , microeconomics , political science , computer science , politics , biochemistry , chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , world wide web , gene
Somewhere around 10% of all machines connected to the Internet are thought to be infected with malicious software. This has allowed the emergence of so‐called ‘botnets’– networks of sometimes millions of infected machines that are remotely controlled by malicious actors. Botnets are mostly used for criminal purposes, but they also enable large‐scale failures that might even reach disastrous proportions. We explain the rise of botnets as the outcome of the incentive structures of market players and present new empirical evidence on these incentives. The resulting externalities require some form of voluntary or government‐led collective action. Our findings have implications for the controversial debate on the appropriate policy measures, where two perspectives on cybersecurity fight for dominance: national security and law enforcement.