Facing cyberthreats in a crisis and post-crisis era: Rethinking security services response strategy

The recent years have witnessed two major events that have deeply impacted cybersecurity threats. First, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically increased our dependence upon technology. From individuals to corporations and governments, the overwhelming majority of our activities moved online. As the proportion of human activities performed online is reaching new peaks, cybersecurity becomes a problem of national security. Second, the Russia-Ukraine war is giving us a glimpse of what cyberthreats may look like in future cyberconflicts. From data integrity to identity thievery, and from industrial espionage to hostile manoeuvres from foreign powers, cyberthreats have never been that numerous and diverse. Due to the increase of the magnitude, of the diversity, and of the complexity of cyberthreats, the current security strategies used to face cybercriminality won't be sufficient in the post-crisis era. Therefore, governments need to rethink globally their national security services response strategy. This paper analyses how this new context has impacted cybersecurity for individuals, corporations, and governments, and emphasis the need to reposition the economical identity of the individuals at the center of security response. We propose strategies to optimize law enforcement response from police to counterintelligence, notably through formation, prevention, and interaction with cybercriminality. We then discuss the possibilities to optimize the articulation of the different levels of security response and expertise, by emphasizing the need for coordination between security services, and by proposing strategies to include non-institutional players.

Ensuring social acceptability of technological tracking in the COVID-19 context

With the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more countries are implementing large-scale technology-based tracking measures to monitor and prevent the propagation of the virus across the population. Yet, despite important efforts made by governments in terms of development and media campaigns, these technology-based tracking applications are globally failing to get the adhesion of the population. Indeed, the social acceptability of these technologies is problematic, since these applications are perceived as presenting a risk on individual liberties, resulting in very low levels of trust from the population. The aim of this paper is thus to analyze how technology-based tracking in the context of a pandemic can answer the needs and requirements of social accountability. We will first describe what kind of technological means can be used in a pandemic management context, from Internet control to implanted devices. We will then present some of the key factors that can impact the social acceptability of technological tracking, as well as some of the long-term challenges associated with massive technological tracking of the population. Finally, we will propose an operational framework to conceptualize social acceptability enforcement and to optimize population adhesion to these measures via specific practical actions that can be undertaken by governments, policymakers, decision leaders, and application developers to ensure that technological tracking is not only socially accepted, but also socially acceptable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Facing cyberthreats in a crisis and post-crisis era: Rethinking security services response strategy.

The recent years have witnessed two major events that have deeply impacted cybersecurity threats. First, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically increased our dependence upon technology. From individuals to corporations and governments, the overwhelming majority of our activities moved online. As the proportion of human activities performed online is reaching new peaks, cybersecurity becomes a problem of national security. Second, the Russia-Ukraine war is giving us a glimpse of what cyberthreats may look like in future cyberconflicts. From data integrity to identity thievery, and from industrial espionage to hostile manoeuvres from foreign powers, cyberthreats have never been that numerous and diverse. Due to the increase of the magnitude, of the diversity, and of the complexity of cyberthreats, the current security strategies used to face cybercriminality won't be sufficient in the post-crisis era. Therefore, governments need to rethink globally their national security services response strategy. This paper analyses how this new context has impacted cybersecurity for individuals, corporations, and governments, and emphasis the need to reposition the economical identity of the individuals at the center of security response. We propose strategies to optimize law enforcement response from police to counterintelligence, notably through formation, prevention, and interaction with cybercriminality. We then discuss the possibilities to optimize the articulation of the different levels of security response and expertise, by emphasizing the need for coordination between security services, and by proposing strategies to include non-institutional players.

Online Presence of the Funeral Industry: The Example of the Quebec Federation of Funeral Cooperatives.

The digitalization of modern societies has offered new tools for funeral industries to reach the communities they serve, ranging from using technologies in funeral planning, in commemoration of the dead, or to support the bereaved. The COVID-19 pandemic only pushed this need for online presence of the funeral industries further. We explore the digitalization of funeral industries through the example of Quebec (Canada), where many funeral institutions are regrouped under a federation of funeral cooperatives. We analyze how this influences the delivery of funeral services and allows the development of common services answering various needs of the population (e.g., a funding program for youth funerals, an ecological memorialization program, online grief support). Finally, we discuss how the federation's online presence contributes to its mission, and more largely whether it changes the perception of the industry.

Online residency training during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey of otolaryngology head and neck surgery program directors.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted healthcare and education systems, including resident education. The impact of the pandemic on the different types of pedagogical activities, and the displacement of pedagogical activities to online modalities have not yet been quantified. We sought to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on formal pedagogic components of otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery (ORL-HNS) residency, the switch to distance learning and program director's perceptions of the future of teaching and learning. METHODS: A nationwide online survey was conducted on Canadian ORL-HNS program directors. The use of standard didactic activities in-person and online, before and during the pandemic was rated with Likert scales. Perceptions of the pandemic were described with open-ended questions. RESULTS: A total of 11 of the 13 program directors contacted responded. The analysis were conducted using nonparametric statistics. There was a significant drop in overall didactic activities during the pandemic, regardless of the teaching format (3.5 ± 0.2 to 3.1 ± 0.3, p < 0.05). The most affected activities were simulation and in-house lectures. Online activities increased dramatically (0.5 ± 0.2 to 5.0 ± 0.5, p < 0.001), including attendance to lectures made by other programs (0.5 ± 0.3 to 4.0 ± 0.8, p < 0.05). Respondents stated their intention to maintain the hybrid online and in-person teaching model. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that hybrid online and in-person teaching is likely to persist in the post-pandemic setting. A balanced residency curriculum requires diversity in academic activities. The pandemic can have positive consequences if higher education institutions work to better support distance teaching and learning.

Ensuring social acceptability of technological tracking in the COVID-19 context

With the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more countries are implementing large-scale technology-based tracking measures to monitor and prevent the propagation of the virus across the population. Yet, despite important efforts made by governments in terms of development and media campaigns, these technology-based tracking applications are globally failing to get the adhesion of the population. Indeed, the social acceptability of these technologies is problematic, since these applications are perceived as presenting a risk on individual liberties, resulting in very low levels of trust from the population. The aim of this paper is thus to analyze how technology-based tracking in the context of a pandemic can answer the needs and requirements of social accountability. We will first describe what kind of technological means can be used in a pandemic management context, from Internet control to implanted devices. We will then present some of the key factors that can impact the social acceptability of technological tracking, as well as some of the long-term challenges associated with massive technological tracking of the population. Finally, we will propose an operational framework to conceptualize social acceptability enforcement and to optimize population adhesion to these measures via specific practical actions that can be undertaken by governments, policymakers, decision leaders, and application developers to ensure that technological tracking is not only socially accepted, but also socially acceptable.

COVID-19 and digital inequalities: Reciprocal impacts and mitigation strategies.

With more than three billion people in isolation, the status of digital spaces is switching from an amenity to a necessity, as they become not only the main way to access information and services, but also one of the only remaining vectors for economic, educational, and leisure activities as well as for social interactions to take place. However, not all are equals in terms of access to networks or connected devices, or when it comes to the skills required to navigate computerized spaces optimally. Digital inequalities were already existing, yet the COVID-19 crisis is exacerbating them dramatically. On the one hand, the crisis will worsen digital inequalities within the population. On the other hand, digital inequalities represent a major risk factor of vulnerability for exposure to the virus itself, and for the non-sanitary consequences of the crisis. Therefore, this paper aims at exploring the reciprocal impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and digital inequalities, and to propose operative solutions to help fight the nefarious consequences of the crisis. We first describe how digital inequalities are a determinant of health. We then investigate how COVID-19 can potentiate digital inequalities, and how digital inequalities potentiate vulnerability to COVID-19. Finally, in order to contribute to the mitigation of this crisis, we propose a set of multi-layered strategies focusing on actionability that can be implemented at multiple structural levels, ranging from governmental to corporate and community levels.

Cyberpsychology research and COVID-19.

•Research in cyberpsychology is needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.•COVID-19 elicits new challenges for cyrberpsychology research.•Online technologies will be part of the solution to mitigate the crisis.