Security-by-Experiment: Lessons from Responsible Deployment in Cyberspace.

Area of Science:

• Technology Ethics
• Cyber Security
• Social Experimentation

Background:

• New technologies are often viewed as social experiments to manage potential harms.
• Current approaches primarily address safety-related risks from design and accidental events.
• Adversarial agents, particularly in cyberspace, pose significant, strategically driven risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the implications of adversarial aspects in technology deployment.
• To adapt the 'new technologies as social experiments' paradigm by incorporating cyber security insights.
• To highlight the critical role of adversarial considerations in responsible technology experimentation.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of existing cyber security practices for managing adversarial threats.
• Comparative study of probabilistic (safety) versus strategic (adversarial) risk factors.
• Conceptual framework development for integrating adversarial roles into social experiments.

Main Results:

• Cyber security effectively incorporates adversarial thinking into technology deployment.
• Strategic adversarial behavior requires different experimental conditions than probabilistic risks.
• Adversarial roles are crucial for understanding and mitigating undesirable technological effects.

Conclusions:

• The 'new technologies as social experiments' paradigm must evolve to account for strategic adversaries.
• Cyber security offers valuable lessons for responsible innovation in adversarial environments.
• Integrating adversarial analysis enhances the robustness of technology deployment strategies.