#3 Cyberspace Defined

Cyberspace refers to the intangible computer generated virtual world, allowing users to share information, interact, exchange ideas, conduct business, and create media among many other activities. The term was initially introduced by William Gibson in his 1984 novel, Neuromancer, and he described it as;

“Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts... A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding...”.

National defence security systems, business and finance executives, trade networks, emergency services and other private and public government activities all rely on cyberspace to retrieve and store information. Therefore the control of cyberspace and who has access to its content is vital because its infrastructure is fundamental to the functioning of national and international systems.

For example, the United States developed a strategy for the security of cyberspace in order to prevent and respond to attacks on the Internet infrastructure, (Jennifer Bussell, 2016).

The opportunity for anonymous access to cyberspace creates a threatening environment for a broad spectrum of malicious activity. The threat commonly manifests itself in the form of cybercrime where individuals or specific companies suffer financial loss. An example of this occurred in April 2013 when a hacked Twitter newsfeed propagated a false report of an explosion at the White House. Within minutes the U.S. stock market plunged, reflecting a loss of over $130 billion. Yet while they recovered quickly, this incident provided a clear warning of our vulnerability to malicious cyberspace activity given the hyper-connected, information-driven nature of the business environment, (Armed Forces Journal, 2014).

(Image source: Divergent Options, 2017)

REFERENCES

Bussell, J. (2016). cyberspace communications. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/cyberspace [Accessed 21 Jul. 2017].

Williams, B. (2014). Cyberspace: What is it, where is it and who cares?. [online] Armed Forces Journal. Available at: http://armedforcesjournal.com/cyberspace-what-is-it-where-is-it-and-who-cares/ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2017].