Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change.
Security mostly refers to protection from hostile forces, but it has a wide range of other senses: for example, as the absence of harm (e.g., freedom from want); as the presence of an essential good (e.g., food security); as resilience against potential damage or harm (e.g. secure foundations); as secrecy (e.g., a secure telephone line); as containment (e.g., a secure room or cell); and as a state of mind (e.g., emotional security).
Security is both a feeling and a state of reality. One can feel secure, while they aren't, but also feel insecure while they are secure. This distinction is usually not very clear to express in the English language.
The term is also used to refer to acts and systems whose purpose may be to provide security (security company, security police, security forces, security service, security agency, security guard, cyber security systems, security cameras, remote guarding). Security can be physical and virtual.
Etymology
The word 'secure' entered the English language in the 16th century. It is derived from Latin securus, meaning freedom from anxiety: se (without) + cura (care, anxiety).
Overview
Referent
A security referent is the focus of a security policy or discourse; for example, a referent may be a potential beneficiary (or victim) of a security policy or system.
Security referents may be persons or social groups, objects, institutions, ecosystems, or any other phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change by the forces of its environment. The referent in question may combine many referents in the same way that, for example, a nation-state is composed of many individual citizens.
Context
The security context is the relationships between a security referent and its environment. From this perspective, security and insecurity depend first on whether the environment is beneficial or hostile to the referent and also on how capable the referent is of responding to their environment in order to survive and thrive.
Capabilities
The means by which a referent provides for security (or is provided for) vary widely. They include, for example:
- Coercive capabilities, including the capacity to project coercive power into the environment (e.g., aircraft carriers, handguns, firearms);
- Protective systems (e.g., lock, fence, wall, antivirus software, air defence system, armour)
- Warning systems (e.g., alarm, radar)
- Diplomatic and social action intended to prevent insecurity from developing (e.g. conflict prevention and transformation strategies); and
- Policy intended to develop the lasting economic, physical, ecological, and other conditions of security (e.g., economic reform, ecological protection, progressive demilitarization, militarization).
Effects
Any action intended to provide security may have multiple effects. For example, an action may have a wide benefit, enhancing security for several or all security referents in the context; alternatively, the action may be effective only temporarily, benefit one referent at the expense of another, or be entirely ineffective or counterproductive.
Contested approaches
Approaches to security are contested and the subject of debate. For example, in debate about national security strategies, some argue that security depends principally on developing protective and coercive capabilities in order to protect the security referent in a hostile environment (and potentially to project that power into its environment, and dominate it to the point of strategic supremacy). Others argue that security depends principally on building the conditions in which equitable relationships can develop, partly by reducing antagonism between actors, ensuring that fundamental needs can be met, and also ensuring that differences of interest can be negotiated effectively.
Security contexts (examples)
The table shows some of the main domains where security concerns are prominent.
| Informational
| Physical
| Political
Monetary
|
The range of security contexts is illustrated by the following examples (in alphabetical order):
Computer security
Computer security, also known as cybersecurity or IT security, refers to the security of computing devices such as computers and smartphones, as well as computer networks such as private and public networks, and the Internet. The field has growing importance due to the increasing reliance on computer systems in most societies. It concerns the protection of hardware, software, data, people, and also the procedures by which systems are accessed. The means of computer security include the physical security of systems and the security of information held on them.
Corporate security
Corporate security refers to the resilience of corporations against espionage, theft, damage, and other threats. The security of corporations has become more complex as reliance on IT systems has increased, and their physical presence has become more highly distributed across several countries, including environments that are, or may rapidly become, hostile to them.
Environmental security
Environmental security, also known as ecological security, refers to the integrity of ecosystems and the biosphere, particularly in relation to their capacity to sustain a diversity of life-forms (including human life). The security of ecosystems has attracted greater attention as the impact of ecological damage by humans has grown.
Food security
Food security refers to the ready supply of, and access to, safe and nutritious food. Food security is gaining in importance as the world's population has grown and productive land has diminished through overuse and climate change.
Home security
Home security normally refers to the security systems used on a property used as a dwelling (commonly including doors, locks, alarm systems, lighting, fencing); and personal security practices (such as ensuring doors are locked, alarms are activated, windows are closed etc.)
Human security
Human security is an emerging paradigm that, in response to traditional emphasis on the right of nation-states to protect themselves, has focused on the primacy of the security of people (individuals and communities). The concept is supported by the United Nations General Assembly, which has stressed "the right of people to live in freedom and dignity" and recognized "that all individuals, in particular vulnerable people, are entitled to freedom from fear and freedom from want".
Information security
Information security refers to the security of information in any form. Spoken, written, digital, networked, technological, and procedural forms of information are all examples that may be covered in an information security management scheme. Computer security, IT security, ICT security, and network security are thus all subdomains of information security.
National security
National security refers to the security of a nation-state, including its people, economy, and institutions. In practice, state governments rely on a wide range of means, including diplomacy, economic power, and military capabilities.
Security concepts (examples)
Certain concepts recur throughout different fields of security:
- Access control – the selective restriction of access to a place or other resource.
- Assurance – an expression of confidence that a security measure will perform as expected.
- Authorization – the function of specifying access rights/privileges to resources related to information security and computer security in general and to access control in particular.
- Cipher – an algorithm that defines a set of steps to encrypt or decrypt information so that it is incomprehensible.
- Countermeasure – a means of preventing an act or system from having its intended effect.
- Defense in depth – a school of thought holding that a wider range of security measures will enhance security.
- Exploit (noun) – a means of capitalizing on a vulnerability in a security system (usually a cyber-security system).
- Identity management – enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times and for the right reasons.
- Password – secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity.
- Resilience – the degree to which a person, community, nation or system is able to resist adverse external forces.
- Risk – a possible event which could lead to damage, harm, or loss.
- Security management – identification of an organization's assets (including people, buildings, machines, systems and information assets), followed by the development, documentation, and implementation of policies and procedures for protecting these assets.
- Security seal
- Threat – a potential source of harm.
- Vulnerability – the degree to which something may be changed (usually in an unwanted manner) by external forces.
Perceptions of security
Since it is not possible to know with precision the extent to which something is 'secure' (and a measure of vulnerability is unavoidable), perceptions of security vary, often greatly. For example, a fear of death by earthquake is common in the United States (US), but slipping on the bathroom floor kills more people; and in France, the United Kingdom, and the US, there are far fewer deaths caused by terrorism than there are women killed by their partners in the home.
Another problem of perception is the common assumption that the mere presence of a security system (such as armed forces or antivirus software) implies security. For example, two computer security programs installed on the same device can prevent each other from working properly, while the user assumes that he or she benefits from twice the protection that only one program would afford.
Security theater is a critical term for measures that change perceptions of security without necessarily affecting security itself. For example, visual signs of security protections, such as a home that advertises its alarm system, may deter an intruder, whether or not the system functions properly. Similarly, the increased presence of military personnel on the streets of a city after a terrorist attack may help to reassure the public, whether or not it diminishes the risk of further attacks.
See also
- Peace
- Safety
- Security increase
- Security risk
- Security convergence
- Gordon–Loeb model for cyber security investments
References
- Schneier, Bruce. "The Difference Between Feeling and Reality in Security". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
- Online Etymology Dictionary. "Origin and meaning of secure". etymonline.com. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver, and Jaap de Wilde, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998), p. 32
- Gee, D (2016). "Rethinking Security: A discussion paper" (PDF). rethinkingsecurity.org.uk. Ammerdown Group. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- US, Department of Defense (2000). "Joint Vision 2020 Emphasizes Full-spectrum Dominance". archive.defense.gov. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- House of Commons Defence Committee (2015). "Re-thinking defence to meet new threats". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- General Sir Nicholas Houghton (2015). "Building a British military fit for future challenges rather than past conflicts". gov.uk. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- FCNL (2015). "Peace Through Shared Security". Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- Rogers, P (2010). Losing control : global security in the twenty-first century (3rd ed.). London: Pluto Press. ISBN 9780745329376. OCLC 658007519.
- "Reliance spells end of road for ICT amateurs", May 07, 2013, The Australian
- United Nations General Assembly (2010). "Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 2010". un.org. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- United Nations. "Hunger and food security". United Nations Sustainable Development. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- Food and Agriculture Organization (2013). "Greater focus on soil health needed to feed a hungry planet". fao.org. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- Arsenault, C (2014). "Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues". Scientific American. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- United Nations (1945). "Charter of the United Nations, Chapter VII". un.org. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- United Nations. "UN Trust Fund for Human Security". un.org. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- United Nations General Assembly (2005). "Resolution adopted by the General Assembly 60/1: World Summit Outcome" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- Newsome, Bruce (2013). A Practical Introduction to Security and Risk Management. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1483313405.
- Bruce Schneier, Beyond Fear: Thinking about Security in an Uncertain World, Copernicus Books, pages 26–27
- David Anderson QC (2012). "The Terrorism Acts in 2011" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- "What is femicide?". Women's Aid. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- "Don't Believe In The War On Women? Would A Body Count Change Your Mind?". Upworthy. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- "Violences conjugales: 118 femmes tuées en 2014". Libération.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-12-17.
External links
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Media related to Security at Wikimedia Commons
Security is protection from or resilience against potential harm or other unwanted coercion Beneficiaries technically referents of security may be persons and social groups objects and institutions ecosystems or any other entity or phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change Women s Army Corps 1941 1945 associated national security with avoiding conversations about war work Refugees fleeing war and insecurity in Iraq and Syria arrive at Lesbos Island supported by Spanish volunteers 2015 Security mostly refers to protection from hostile forces but it has a wide range of other senses for example as the absence of harm e g freedom from want as the presence of an essential good e g food security as resilience against potential damage or harm e g secure foundations as secrecy e g a secure telephone line as containment e g a secure room or cell and as a state of mind e g emotional security Security is both a feeling and a state of reality One can feel secure while they aren t but also feel insecure while they are secure This distinction is usually not very clear to express in the English language The term is also used to refer to acts and systems whose purpose may be to provide security security company security police security forces security service security agency security guard cyber security systems security cameras remote guarding Security can be physical and virtual EtymologyThe word secure entered the English language in the 16th century It is derived from Latin securus meaning freedom from anxiety se without cura care anxiety OverviewReferent A security referent is the focus of a security policy or discourse for example a referent may be a potential beneficiary or victim of a security policy or system Security referents may be persons or social groups objects institutions ecosystems or any other phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change by the forces of its environment The referent in question may combine many referents in the same way that for example a nation state is composed of many individual citizens Context The security context is the relationships between a security referent and its environment From this perspective security and insecurity depend first on whether the environment is beneficial or hostile to the referent and also on how capable the referent is of responding to their environment in order to survive and thrive Capabilities The means by which a referent provides for security or is provided for vary widely They include for example Coercive capabilities including the capacity to project coercive power into the environment e g aircraft carriers handguns firearms Protective systems e g lock fence wall antivirus software air defence system armour Warning systems e g alarm radar Diplomatic and social action intended to prevent insecurity from developing e g conflict prevention and transformation strategies and Policy intended to develop the lasting economic physical ecological and other conditions of security e g economic reform ecological protection progressive demilitarization militarization Effects Any action intended to provide security may have multiple effects For example an action may have a wide benefit enhancing security for several or all security referents in the context alternatively the action may be effective only temporarily benefit one referent at the expense of another or be entirely ineffective or counterproductive Contested approaches Approaches to security are contested and the subject of debate For example in debate about national security strategies some argue that security depends principally on developing protective and coercive capabilities in order to protect the security referent in a hostile environment and potentially to project that power into its environment and dominate it to the point of strategic supremacy Others argue that security depends principally on building the conditions in which equitable relationships can develop partly by reducing antagonism between actors ensuring that fundamental needs can be met and also ensuring that differences of interest can be negotiated effectively Security contexts examples The table shows some of the main domains where security concerns are prominent Informational Application security Communications security Computer security Data security Digital security Endpoint security Information security Internet security Network security Usable security Physical Airport security Corporate security Food security Environmental security Home security Infrastructure security Physical security Port security Supply chain security Security bag Security print Border security Security seal Political National security Public security Homeland security Internal security International security Human security Societal security Monetary Economic security Social security The range of security contexts is illustrated by the following examples in alphabetical order Computer security Computer security also known as cybersecurity or IT security refers to the security of computing devices such as computers and smartphones as well as computer networks such as private and public networks and the Internet The field has growing importance due to the increasing reliance on computer systems in most societies It concerns the protection of hardware software data people and also the procedures by which systems are accessed The means of computer security include the physical security of systems and the security of information held on them Corporate security Corporate security refers to the resilience of corporations against espionage theft damage and other threats The security of corporations has become more complex as reliance on IT systems has increased and their physical presence has become more highly distributed across several countries including environments that are or may rapidly become hostile to them Security checkpoint at the entrance to the Delta Air Lines corporate headquarters in AtlantaX ray machines and metal detectors are used to control what is allowed to pass through an airport security perimeter Security checkpoint at the entrance to a shopping mall in Jakarta IndonesiaEnvironmental security Environmental security also known as ecological security refers to the integrity of ecosystems and the biosphere particularly in relation to their capacity to sustain a diversity of life forms including human life The security of ecosystems has attracted greater attention as the impact of ecological damage by humans has grown Graffiti about environmental security Belarus 2016Food security Food security refers to the ready supply of and access to safe and nutritious food Food security is gaining in importance as the world s population has grown and productive land has diminished through overuse and climate change Climate change is affecting global agriculture and food security Home security Home security normally refers to the security systems used on a property used as a dwelling commonly including doors locks alarm systems lighting fencing and personal security practices such as ensuring doors are locked alarms are activated windows are closed etc Security spikes on the wall of a gated community in the East End of LondonHuman security Youth play among the bombed ruins of Gaza City 2009 Human security is an emerging paradigm that in response to traditional emphasis on the right of nation states to protect themselves has focused on the primacy of the security of people individuals and communities The concept is supported by the United Nations General Assembly which has stressed the right of people to live in freedom and dignity and recognized that all individuals in particular vulnerable people are entitled to freedom from fear and freedom from want Information security Information security refers to the security of information in any form Spoken written digital networked technological and procedural forms of information are all examples that may be covered in an information security management scheme Computer security IT security ICT security and network security are thus all subdomains of information security National security National security refers to the security of a nation state including its people economy and institutions In practice state governments rely on a wide range of means including diplomacy economic power and military capabilities U S Customs and Border Protection vehicle at the Canada United States borderSecurity concepts examples Certain concepts recur throughout different fields of security Access control the selective restriction of access to a place or other resource Assurance an expression of confidence that a security measure will perform as expected Authorization the function of specifying access rights privileges to resources related to information security and computer security in general and to access control in particular Cipher an algorithm that defines a set of steps to encrypt or decrypt information so that it is incomprehensible Countermeasure a means of preventing an act or system from having its intended effect Defense in depth a school of thought holding that a wider range of security measures will enhance security Exploit noun a means of capitalizing on a vulnerability in a security system usually a cyber security system Identity management enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times and for the right reasons Password secret data typically a string of characters usually used to confirm a user s identity Resilience the degree to which a person community nation or system is able to resist adverse external forces Risk a possible event which could lead to damage harm or loss Security management identification of an organization s assets including people buildings machines systems and information assets followed by the development documentation and implementation of policies and procedures for protecting these assets Security seal Threat a potential source of harm Vulnerability the degree to which something may be changed usually in an unwanted manner by external forces Perceptions of securitySince it is not possible to know with precision the extent to which something is secure and a measure of vulnerability is unavoidable perceptions of security vary often greatly For example a fear of death by earthquake is common in the United States US but slipping on the bathroom floor kills more people and in France the United Kingdom and the US there are far fewer deaths caused by terrorism than there are women killed by their partners in the home Another problem of perception is the common assumption that the mere presence of a security system such as armed forces or antivirus software implies security For example two computer security programs installed on the same device can prevent each other from working properly while the user assumes that he or she benefits from twice the protection that only one program would afford Security theater is a critical term for measures that change perceptions of security without necessarily affecting security itself For example visual signs of security protections such as a home that advertises its alarm system may deter an intruder whether or not the system functions properly Similarly the increased presence of military personnel on the streets of a city after a terrorist attack may help to reassure the public whether or not it diminishes the risk of further attacks See alsoPeace Safety Security increase Security risk Security convergence Gordon Loeb model for cyber security investmentsReferencesSchneier Bruce The Difference Between Feeling and Reality in Security Wired ISSN 1059 1028 Retrieved 2024 05 06 Online Etymology Dictionary Origin and meaning of secure etymonline com Retrieved 2017 12 17 Barry Buzan Ole Waever and Jaap de Wilde Security A New Framework for Analysis Boulder Lynne Rienner Publishers 1998 p 32 Gee D 2016 Rethinking Security A discussion paper PDF rethinkingsecurity org uk Ammerdown Group Archived PDF from the original on 2022 10 09 Retrieved 2017 12 17 US Department of Defense 2000 Joint Vision 2020 Emphasizes Full spectrum Dominance archive defense gov Retrieved 2017 12 17 House of Commons Defence Committee 2015 Re thinking defence to meet new threats publications parliament uk Retrieved 2017 12 17 General Sir Nicholas Houghton 2015 Building a British military fit for future challenges rather than past conflicts gov uk Retrieved 2017 12 17 FCNL 2015 Peace Through Shared Security Retrieved 2017 12 17 Rogers P 2010 Losing control global security in the twenty first century 3rd ed London Pluto Press ISBN 9780745329376 OCLC 658007519 Reliance spells end of road for ICT amateurs May 07 2013 The Australian United Nations General Assembly 2010 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 2010 un org Retrieved 2017 12 17 United Nations Hunger and food security United Nations Sustainable Development Retrieved 2017 12 17 Food and Agriculture Organization 2013 Greater focus on soil health needed to feed a hungry planet fao org Retrieved 2017 12 17 Arsenault C 2014 Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues Scientific American Retrieved 2017 12 17 United Nations 1945 Charter of the United Nations Chapter VII un org Retrieved 2017 12 17 United Nations UN Trust Fund for Human Security un org Retrieved 2017 12 17 United Nations General Assembly 2005 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly 60 1 World Summit Outcome PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2022 10 09 Retrieved 2017 12 17 Newsome Bruce 2013 A Practical Introduction to Security and Risk Management SAGE Publications ISBN 978 1483313405 Bruce Schneier Beyond Fear Thinking about Security in an Uncertain World Copernicus Books pages 26 27 David Anderson QC 2012 The Terrorism Acts in 2011 PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2022 10 09 Retrieved 2017 12 17 What is femicide Women s Aid Retrieved 2017 12 17 Don t Believe In The War On Women Would A Body Count Change Your Mind Upworthy Retrieved 2017 12 17 Violences conjugales 118 femmes tuees en 2014 Liberation fr in French Retrieved 2017 12 17 External linksMedia related to Security at Wikimedia CommonsWikiquote has quotations related to Security
