Cybersecurity and its discontents: Artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and digital misinformation

The future of cybersecurity is in flux. Artificial intelligence challenges existing notions of security, human rights, and governance. Digital misinformation campaigns leverage fabrications and mistruths for political and geostrategic gain. And the Internet of Things—a digital landscape in which billions of wireless objects from smart fridges to smart cars are tethered together—provides new means to distribute and conduct cyberattacks. As technological developments alter the way we think about cybersecurity, they will likewise broaden the way governments and societies will have to learn to respond. This policy brief discusses the emerging landscape of cybersecurity in Canada and abroad, with the intent of informing public debate and discourse on emerging cyber challenges and opportunities.