Digital resiliency of high-profile individuals  in the light of modern hybrid threats: To what extent is Cyber Hygiene enough to protect  high-profile individuals against the hybrid risks they face?

The main question this thesis attempts to answer is: To what extent is Cyber Hygiene enough to protect high-profile individuals against the hybrid risks they face? Based on our research, we have defined the following 8 categories of high-profile individuals: public safety personnel, port personnel, politicians and government officials, civil servants, legal professionals, media contributors, scientists and representatives of interest groups. These high-profile individuals; 1) represent or symbolize an organisation or institution; 2) have access to an organisation’s ‘crown jewels’ (critical assets/targets ); 3) or (access to) power; and are, therefore, specifically interesting to various threat actors. It is not about task-oriented threats, threats by acquaintances nor about indiscriminate victims of threats of violence. There is an increase in individual threat levels, these threats increase in nature, severity and quantity. In this regard, there appears to be structural...Show moreThe main question this thesis attempts to answer is: To what extent is Cyber Hygiene enough to protect high-profile individuals against the hybrid risks they face? Based on our research, we have defined the following 8 categories of high-profile individuals: public safety personnel, port personnel, politicians and government officials, civil servants, legal professionals, media contributors, scientists and representatives of interest groups. These high-profile individuals; 1) represent or symbolize an organisation or institution; 2) have access to an organisation’s ‘crown jewels’ (critical assets/targets ); 3) or (access to) power; and are, therefore, specifically interesting to various threat actors. It is not about task-oriented threats, threats by acquaintances nor about indiscriminate victims of threats of violence. There is an increase in individual threat levels, these threats increase in nature, severity and quantity. In this regard, there appears to be structural incidentalism. The threats high-profile individuals face nowadays are quite diverse. We have identified the most common threats we have encountered in our research into a model, distinguishing between expressive and instrumental threats and their manifestations, whether they are physical or digital. All our described threats are currently used against high-profile individuals, have (potential) physical or informational consequences, and are all intentional. In the context of threats to high-risk individuals, we see the following threat actors: 1) angry citizens (with or without underlying mental health issues), 2) hacktivists, 3) extremism and terrorism, 4) organised crime, 5) insider threats and 6) State (sponsored) actors. If, in the future, threat actors would expand their TTPs, and, for example, make greater use of resources available to State (sponsored) actors. Then digital and hybrid threats could increase significantly in both severity and scale, with potentially very dangerous consequences. Not only for the high-profile individuals themselves, but also in maintaining our legal order. Cyber hygiene encompasses the habits and precautions users or organisations can implement to ensure that sensitive data remains organised, secure, and protected against theft and external attacks. Cyber hygiene is frequently compared to personal hygiene. Just as individuals adopt specific personal hygiene routines to uphold good health and well-being, cyber hygiene practices safeguard and maintain data security. Our research concludes that Cyber Hygiene, particularly Vishwanath's (2020) Cyber Hygiene Inventory, does not provide sufficient measures to protect high-profile individuals from contemporary physical, digital and hybrid threats. Keeping high-profile individuals resilient in the future requires not only additional measures but also a different approach and more research.Show less

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Digital resiliency of high-profile individuals in the light of modern hybrid threats: To what extent is Cyber Hygiene enough to protect high-profile individuals against the hybrid risks they face?