The Law and Economics of Cybersecurity [Paperback]

This 2006 book explores the nature of the cybersecurity problem for nations and addresses possible solutions.Cybersecurity is an enormous problem for our country because many of our nation's critical assets are vulnerable to cyberattack. Computers control major systems such as the air traffic control system and the electrical power grid. Foreign nations can cripple these systems by attacking the computers that control them. A cyberattack on these systems by teams of computer scientists, employed by enemy nations or terrorist groups, could disrupt and devastate modern society. This book explores the nature of our nation's cybersecurity problem and the solutions we have to deal with it.Cybersecurity is an enormous problem for our country because many of our nation's critical assets are vulnerable to cyberattack. Computers control major systems such as the air traffic control system and the electrical power grid. Foreign nations can cripple these systems by attacking the computers that control them. A cyberattack on these systems by teams of computer scientists, employed by enemy nations or terrorist groups, could disrupt and devastate modern society. This book explores the nature of our nation's cybersecurity problem and the solutions we have to deal with it.Cybersecurity is a leading national problem for which the market may fail to produce a solution because individuals often select less than optimal security levels in a world of positive transaction costs. The problem is compounded because the insecure networks extend far beyond the regulatory jurisdiction of any one nation or even coalition of nations. This book brings together the views of leading law and economics scholars on the nature of the cybersecurity problem and possible solutions to it. Many of these solutions are market based, but in need of aid, either from government or industry groups or both.Part I. Problems: 1. Private versus social incentives in cybersecurity, law and economics Bruce K. Kobayashi;lÍ