Managing Information Risk and the Economics of Security

Security has been a human concern since the dawn of time. With the rise of the digital society, information security has rapidly grown to an area of serious study and ongoing research. While much research has focused on the technical aspects of computer security, far less attention has been given to the management issues of information risk and the economic concerns facing firms and nations. Managing Information Risk and the Economics of Security provides leading edge thinking on the security issues facing managers, policy makers, and individuals. Many of the chapters of this volume were presented and debated at the 2008 Workshop on the Economics of Information Security (WEIS), hosted by the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Sponsored by Tuck’s Center for Digital Strategies and the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P), the conference brought together over one hundred information security experts, researchers, academics, reporters, corporate executives, government officials, cyber crime investigators and prosecutors. The group represented the global nature of information security with participants from China, Italy, Germany, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the US. This volume would not be possible without the dedicated work Xia Zhao (of Dartmouth College and now the University of North Carolina, Greensboro) who acted as the technical editor.

The lifeblood of the global economy, information has become a source of growing risk as more firms maintain information online. With risks now fueled by sophisticated, organized, malicious groups, information security requires not only technology, but a clear understanding of potential risks, decision-making behaviors, and metrics for evaluating business and policy options.

Managing Information Risk and the Economics of Security, an edited volume contributed by well-established researchers in the field worldwide, presents the latest research on economics driving both the risks and the solutions. Covering the implications of policy within firms and across countries, this volume provides managers and policy makers with new thinking on how to manage risk.

Managing Information Risk and the Economics of Security is designed for managers, policy makers, and researchers focusing on economics of information security, as well as for advanced-level students in computer science, business management and economics.