Cyber-sensorium: An Extension of the Cyber Public Health Framework

TL;DR

The paper addresses the need for standardized harm taxonomy and a health-centered assessment of cyberattacks amid rising digital threats. It synthesizes insights from CyberPeace and CyberGreen to introduce the cyber-sensorium as an extended health metaphor for cyberspace, defining cyberviolence and advocating data-driven, impact-oriented analysis based on the determinants of harm (intent, capacity, vulnerability). It formalizes the cyber-sensorium concept, extends health-oriented framing to cover structural and functional cyber harms, and outlines the creation of a harms database to enable accountability and preventive action. The work provides a conceptual foundation for policy, governance, and resilience-building by treating cyber threats as injuries to a global nervous system, with broad implications for societal well-being.

Abstract

In response to increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, a health-based approach is being used to define and assess their impact. Two significant cybersecurity workshops have fostered this perspective, aiming to standardize the understanding of cyber harm. Experts at these workshops agreed on a public health-like framework to analyze cyber threats focusing on the perpetrators' intent, the means available to them, and the vulnerability of targets. We contribute to this dialogue with the cyber sensorium concept, drawing parallels between the digital network and a biological nervous system essential to human welfare. Cyberattacks on this system present serious global risks, underlining the need for its protection.