Author Description

Gives the reader a detailed account of how cyber-security in Switzerland has evolved over the years, using official documents and a considerable amount of inside knowledge. It focuses on key ideas, institutional arrangements, on the publication of strategy papers, and importantly, on processes leading up to these strategy documents. The peculiarities of the Swiss political system, which influence the way cyber-security can be designed and practiced in Switzerland are considered, as well as the bigger, global influences and driving factors that shaped the Swiss approach to cyber-security. It shows that throughout the years, the most important influence on the Swiss policy-approach was the international level, or rather the developments of a cyber-security policy in other states. Even though many of the basic ideas about information-sharing and public-private partnerships were influenced by (amongst others) the US approach to critical infrastructure protection, the peculiarities of the Swiss political system has led to a particular “Swiss solution”, which is based on the federalist structures and subsidiary principles, characterized by stability and resilience to external shocks in the form of cyber-incidents. Cybersecurity in Switzerland will be a stimulating read for anybody interested in cyber-security policy, including students, researchers, analysts and policy makers. It contains not only specific material on an interesting case, but also a wealth of background information on different variations of cyber-security, as well as on information-sharing and public-private partnerships.