Cyber-sensorium: An Extension of the Cyber Public Health Framework

TL;DR

This paper introduces the cyber sensorium concept, extending the cyber public health framework to better understand and assess the impact of cyberattacks on critical digital systems, emphasizing a health-based approach.

Contribution

It proposes the cyber sensorium as a novel framework, drawing parallels with biological systems, to analyze cyber threats and improve cybersecurity strategies.

Findings

Framework aligns cyber threat analysis with public health principles

Highlights the importance of protecting digital nervous systems

Provides a basis for standardized cyber harm assessment

Abstract

In response to increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, a health-based approach is being used to define and assess their impact. Two significant cybersecurity workshops have fostered this perspective, aiming to standardize the understanding of cyber harm. Experts at these workshops agreed on a public health-like framework to analyze cyber threats focusing on the perpetrators' intent, the means available to them, and the vulnerability of targets. We contribute to this dialogue with the cyber sensorium concept, drawing parallels between the digital network and a biological nervous system essential to human welfare. Cyberattacks on this system present serious global risks, underlining the need for its protection.