01289nas a2200133   4500000000100000008004100001260001500042100001500057700001500072245006200087856007100149520092100220022001401141       2020                            d  c2020-09-011 aJoe Burton1 aClare Lain00aDesecuritising cybersecurity: towards a societal approach  uhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23738871.2020.18569033 aDrawing on the societal security concept established by the Copenhagen School of International Relations, we seek to reframe cybersecurity theory and policy. In the first section of the article we establish a theoretical approach to cybersecurity that emphasises the impact of cyberattacks on society, including on the health, energy and transport sectors. The second section draws on the history of cyberconflict to assess the ways the internet has been used to exacerbate societal tensions between identity groups and to create incohesion and societal security dilemmas. This section reinterprets the way the Kosovo War, Millennium (Y2 K) Bug, 9/11 and the WannaCry incident shaped and reflected cyber policy. The final section explores how a process of cyber desecuritisation might be achieved, including through discursive change and an enhanced role for the societal sector in the event of major cyberattacks.  a2373-8871