Unit 8 – “States, Statelessness, Sovereignty, and Cybersecurity”
15 Days
This unit explores how cybersecurity is both a deeply technical and a deeply political space. The unit begins with a focus on end to end encryption and The Cryptowars. Students learn about the National Security Council and explore competing social values and ideologies that are forces in The Cryptowars. Building on this foundation, students then dive into a deeper understanding of the values and tensions by participating in a simulation where they play different roles in the National Security Council tasked with making a recommendation to the President of the United States. A goal of the simulation is to reveal how cybersecurity practices are highly complex and variable causing tensions between what ethical duties are, to whom the ethical concern should be considered, and whose interests should be invested in protecting. The simulation engages students in analyzing the relationship between ethics and laws, and reflecting on their own personal values and beliefs. The unit then ends with a lesson on Cyber as an Instrument of Power where students extend the ideas explored in the simulation to an international stage.