Interview – Myriam Dunn Cavelty |
*Originally published in 2024 and preserved as part of our archive project. E-International Relations is free to read. We rely on reader support to make this possible.
Dr. Myriam Dunn Cavelty is Senior Scientist and Deputy for Research and Teaching at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. For more than twenty years, she has published on the intersection between technology and security, more specifically on how digital technologies influence political behaviour and societal values and on how and why specific arrangements to govern the use of digital technologies emerge. Since September 2023, she is one of the editor-in-chiefs of the journal Contemporary Security Policy. Her latest book The Politics of Cyber Security is forthcoming from Routledge this summer.
Where do you see the most exciting research/debates happening in your field?
Two distinct yet interconnected trends are particularly noteworthy in the field of cyber security research. Firstly, there is a surge of interest in integrating critical approaches from security studies into cyber security studies. This includes feminist perspectives, post-colonial lenses, innovative attempts to queer cyber security, and the application of Science and Technology Studies (STS) perspectives. In line with this, the use of ethnographic methodologies to study cyber security practices is unravelling some of the black boxes and myths surrounding the topic. The positive aspect of these developments is that these approaches, which focus on deconstructing traditional power structures, norms, and assumptions, help to make cyber security more accessible by lowering the perceived barriers to entry. I think this research shows that you do not need specialized technical knowledge to make important contributions.
Secondly, there is a compelling focus on scrutinizing the limits of cyber operations in a different segment of the field. In many ways, this continues work that criticized the “hype” around cyberspace and its game changing nature for national security in the 2000s. However, this time the critique is not from a securitization or discursive angle but more from a technological-material perspective, where the functioning of computing machines is at the centre of thought. Insights from the technically-oriented threat intelligence community have significantly enriched this understanding, fostering a more holistic comprehension of the evolving cyber conflict landscape. Overall, the convergence of diverse forms of knowledge facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations and paves the way for transdisciplinary explorations, which I believe are the future of cyber security research in many ways.
How has the way you understand the world changed over time, and what (or who) prompted the most significant shifts in your thinking?
The field of cyber security studies has itself profoundly shaped my understanding of the world, continuously challenging complacency and expanding my knowledge through "incidents"—disruptions to the normal functioning of computers and networks. These incidents offer glimpses into a normally hidden world due to the secrecy surrounding cyber operations. The landscape of cyber security underwent a significant transformation during the latter half of the 2000s, driven by evolving threat perceptions, emerging opportunities, and broader geopolitical and domestic issues. This transformation intertwined cyber security with broader strategic and political contexts, shaping major power dynamics and introducing a new form of competition.
From these experiences, several key takeaways have emerged, fundamentally altering how I study international cyber security politics. Firstly, viewing cyber incidents as isolated technical events overlooks their broader socio-political underpinnings and their role as instruments of foreign and security policy. Understanding cyber-attacks requires contextualizing them within larger political forces. Secondly, these incidents have spurred new avenues of inquiry while posing fresh challenges for researchers, necessitating evolving research methodologies to address the complexities of cyber security.
A critical realization has been that focusing solely on visible policy overlooks the impactful practices of hidden security actors. This has shifted the entire field towards the role of creators (mostly private entities) and exploiters (sub-, semi-, and non-state actors) of digital technologies. Furthermore, recent research increasingly recognizes that the political reading of cyber security cannot be divorced from knowledge practices in different communities. This has led to a growing focus on the role of cyber security companies and their influence on policy and practice.
Cyber-security has........