{"title":"Trust at Risk: The Effect of Proximity to Cyberattacks","authors":"Miguel Alberto Gomez, Ryan Shandler","doi":"10.1093/jogss/ogae002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n Proximity is a core feature of theories of political violence, with the effects of attacks rippling outward so that geographically proximate individuals experience more severe effects than those more distant. However, this model of proximity and exposure is unlikely to recur for cyberattacks. The incorporeality of cyber incidents and the absence of a physical epicenter constrain the mechanism coupling physical distance with harm. To empirically test the relationship between proximity and cyberattacks, we conducted a field study involving 707 German respondents following a ransomware attack in Düsseldorf. We find that the classical “ripple effect” is reversed, with political trust highest among people closer to the attack and lowest among those geographically distant. We postulate that in the absence of firsthand exposure to its effects, geographically distant individuals employ abstract conceptions of the consequences of cyber incidents that do not align with actual events. Consequently, distance does not confer security, and it can even amplify the adverse effects of exposure. This finding highlights the need for governments to actively work to assuage public fears following cyberattacks.","PeriodicalId":1,"journal":{"name":"Accounts of Chemical Research","volume":"95 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Accounts of Chemical Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogae002","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Proximity is a core feature of theories of political violence, with the effects of attacks rippling outward so that geographically proximate individuals experience more severe effects than those more distant. However, this model of proximity and exposure is unlikely to recur for cyberattacks. The incorporeality of cyber incidents and the absence of a physical epicenter constrain the mechanism coupling physical distance with harm. To empirically test the relationship between proximity and cyberattacks, we conducted a field study involving 707 German respondents following a ransomware attack in Düsseldorf. We find that the classical “ripple effect” is reversed, with political trust highest among people closer to the attack and lowest among those geographically distant. We postulate that in the absence of firsthand exposure to its effects, geographically distant individuals employ abstract conceptions of the consequences of cyber incidents that do not align with actual events. Consequently, distance does not confer security, and it can even amplify the adverse effects of exposure. This finding highlights the need for governments to actively work to assuage public fears following cyberattacks.
期刊介绍:
Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance.
Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.