Examining Cybersecurity Imaginaries through Fiction

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

There is a well-documented relationship between fiction and the construction of imaginaries, or how people perceive the world around them (Cave et al., 2018). Public perceptions of cybersecurity are strongly influenced by media representations (Gordon, 2010), and inaccurate portrayals can lead to misplaced anxieties, perceptions, and behaviours, expanding the gap between reality and fiction (Krapp, 2019). However, the crossover between fiction and cybersecurity remains relatively unexplored. This project maps cybersecurity portrayals in fictional media, studying how they have evolved over time and how they have shaped public imaginaries of cybersecurity. It aims to bridge the gap between the social and technical elements of fictional representations, considering both the technical accuracy and how this constructs a shared imaginary of cybersecurity to a largely non-expert audience.