CyberGreen has launched a working group on Cyber Public Health in conjunction with Indiana University’s Ostrom Workshop.

To join the working group, and learn more about our ongoing research, please sign up for the mailing list.

Details:

Public Health is responsible for doubling lifespans in the 20th century because it focused attention on a simple question: why do people die? Of course, it’s more complex than that, involves addressing the reasons, and more. Complementing medicine’s attention to individual health with attention to the health of a population has been tremendously powerful.

Today’s work in cybersecurity often focuses on an individual (either an individual human or an individual enterprise.) We believe there is a tremendous possibility in the frame, and that a diverse and broad community will have a tremendous impact. 

*APPLYING PUBLIC HEALTH THINKING TO CYBERSECURITY *

Adopting a public health-style perspective that embraces data-driven investigation, population thinking, and preventative approaches to shared risks would be transformative for the practice of cybersecurity. Experts could systematically test associations between risk factors and cyber threats, measure and compare the effectiveness of interventions, and adopt preventative measures that reduce both local and systemic risks to make the internet more secure and resilient for all.

*THE PATH TOWARD A SCIENCE OF CYBER PUBLIC HEALTH*

We are mobilizing a global community of experts, business leaders, and policymakers to work together on proposals to unlock other critical datasets and establish standards for the collection and reporting of key Data.

One element of this is that we hope to see a cyber public health lab at a major university by 2030.

Establishing a science of Cyber Public Health will require overcoming some significant challenges. The biggest challenge is data. We need to build the foundations of Cyber Public Health on vast quantities of high-quality data, but we have precious little of it. Arguably, Florence Nightingale and John Smith had access to more relevant, large-scale data than cybersecurity professionals today.

The second big challenge is building the infrastructure and institutions to support a mature practice of Cyber Public Health. For example, today’s public health infrastructure includes institutions at every level of government, international NGOs, academic institutions, and private organizations that play a role.

This is another area where coordination and collaboration among businesses, NGOs, academic institutions, and governments will be critical to navigating a path forward. The challenges are significant, but the opportunities are immense. Please join the initiative to make the science of Cyber Public Health.

Co-Leaders: 
Adam Shostack <[email protected]>
Yurie Ito <[email protected]>

To join the working group, and learn more about our ongoing research, please sign up for the mailing list.