The Private Sector in Cyberspace: Threats and Risks to International (In)Security

私营部门拥有超过90%的网络空间，这使得科技公司在传统上仅限于国家行动者议程的地缘政治事务中拥有前所未有的权力。例如，微软开设了联合国事务办公室，Facebook提出了“全球数字货币”，“地缘政治”是苹果公司在2022年公司文件中最常见的主题，以及大型科技公司在俄罗斯-乌克兰战争中发挥了重要作用。私营部门在“伊斯兰国”中的日益增多，可以说是不可避免的存在，在国家和非国家行为体之间创造了一种复杂的关系，因此，网络空间中责任的模糊，使应对“伊斯兰国”挑战所需的公私互动变得复杂。至关重要的是，国家的国家利益必须与市场驱动、道德模糊、基本上不受监管的私营企业的商业需求相平衡。本文试图提出和评估的问题是：私营部门的国际安全网络机构面临的威胁和风险是什么？该方法将是定性的和政策驱动的，目的是为国家风险评估工作的方法以及网络空间私营部门的法规提供信息。

The private sector owns over 90% of cyberspace, giving tech firms unprecedented power in geopolitical affairs traditionally confined to the agenda of state actors. Cases in point are Microsoft opening a United Nations (UN) Affairs Office, Facebook proposing a 'global digital currency', 'geopolitics' being Apple's most common theme in 2022 company filings, and Big Tech playing a significant role in the Russia-Ukraine war. The increasing, and arguably inevitable, presence of the private sector in IS has created a complex relationship between the state and non-state actors, whereby a blurring of responsibilities in cyberspace has complicated the public-private interactions required to tackle IS challenges. Crucially, the national interests of the state have to be balanced against the business imperatives of market-driven, ethically ambiguous, largely unregulated private corporations. The question this thesis seeks to problematise and evaluate is: What are the threats and risks of the private sector's cyber agency for International Security? The approach will be qualitative and policy-driven, with an aim to inform methodologies for national risk assessment exercises as well as regulations for the private sector in cyberspace.