Politics of cybersecurity capacity building: conundrum and opportunity

A rapidly increasing uptake of Information and Communication Technologies across the globe, coupled with the uneven levels of readiness of societies to address security challenges associated with this process, has pushed the international community to deal with potential ‘safe havens’ and ‘weakest links’ around the world. Capacity building emerged in international cybersecurity debates as a possible remedy to this problem, also advocated by developing countries and emerging economies, thereby opening the cybersecurity policy community to development actors as well. The purpose of this article is twofold. By presenting conceptual underpinnings of cybersecurity capacity building (CCB), it aims to improve a general understanding of dilemmas and politics associated with its actors, drivers and processes. At the same time, by taking a critical view on the current pace and practice of capacity building in this field, it attempts to inject a more strategic reflection about the process. The article concludes by proposing some ideas for moving forward in establishing a strong CCB community. It highlights the need for institutional investment in ‘cyber knowledge brokers’ at all levels of government and across policies as well as the emergence of a principle-based approach to capacity building in cyberspace with a sustainable outlook towards closing the ‘cyber capacity gap’.