Cyber(in)security

Krzysztof Szczypiorski

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present three theses – (1) a cultural one: cyberspace is an advanced technical and cultural creation – it is an embodiment of dreams of numerous creators, inventors and engineers; (2) a technical one: security and cyberspace are inseparable components (hence cybersecurity); (3) and a paranoid one: complete security, if achievable, is not a permanent state (hence cyber(in)security). Cyberspace is conceived as a set of digital techniques used to exchange information but also as a new type of social space, partially virtual, which may constitute a being entirely separated from a physical one. A pivotal date for arising of cyberspace may be considered the year 1968 in which routing in the ARPANET network appeared and so did the first programmable logical controller (PLC). For cyberspace this will be the year 1976 – publishing of the key agreement protocol by Witfield Diffie and Martin Hellman. Development of security is correlated with warfare and armament – the military sector has historically made the most significant investments in this area.