The Internet has entirely transformed human society and has become deeply embedded in our societal fabric, influencing every aspect of our lives. These redeeming features have made it a jewel-eyed not only by the government and Big tech corporations but also by cybercriminals, giving birth to a significant threat to netizens’ privacy and national security.
Critically analyzing the language used to describe the global view and communicate our opinions, it will become apparent that at the core of poor policy decisions and polarization are the communication breakdowns and ambiguous language. This ambiguity has caused Big Tech companies to be misunderstood by the government, which is constantly trying to curb their influence to maintain their authority over the commercial cybersphere. This Digital tug of war between the Big tech juggernauts and government has led to laxness in cyberdefense. This remissness had always been cataclysmic; the WannaCry Outbreak of 2017 is one of the prominent instances of such laxity. The ransomware attack locked the system files of more than 200,000 computers in over 150 computers demanding ransom and caused behemoth financial losses. Cyber-extortion is another example of a cyber pandemic affecting many entities ranging from government agencies to international corporations.
A brand new front for advanced warfare is described by its fluidity and elusiveness, which poses a significant challenge in the present times. A recent study by the heritage foundation flagged concern over rampant insider trade, cyber espionage, cyber-terrorist activities, and disruption of military communication conducted in the cyber realm. All these pressing issues called for effective regulation of the cyber domain. This realm is also a common point of interest between Tech giants and the government. The tech corporations are obliged to safeguard their users’ privacy, and the government is duty-bound to enhance national defencein the cyber domain. Hence cyberspace has opened a whole new avenue for these two entities to collaborate and work together.
Recently many Tech Giants such as Google and Amazon had expressed their desire to cooperate with the government to enhance cybersecurity through huge investments; however, the effectiveness of such assets is difficult to predict. Big tech and government are working together by prioritizing cyber defenceover their interests, giving netizens a ray of hope. With its fiscal dexterity, gleaned from the girth of industry and unique relationship with the use of cyberspace, Big Tech is skillfully positioned to contribute to the state substantially led a drive to secure cyberspace.
Moreover, training and educating employees about cybersecurity is also a practical approach to generate awareness and amplifying the industry’s united concern over their capability and capacity to tackle cyber hostilities in the future.
Reviewed – Mr. Hrishikesh Bedi, Consultant, CyberPeace Foundation
