Cyber Transfer : A study on problem representation and policy transfer in the information and cyber-security area

During recent years, cyber-threats has become an increasing problem in society. Incidents during the previous decade has shown that cyber-attacks can cause severe consequences for states, businesses, and organisations all over the world. There has also been an increase in cyber-crimes like phishing and other types of scams and extortion, which threatens the general public. As a result, information and cyber-security has become a hot topic among technology developers as well as in policy discussions. This paper studies an EU-common policy and a Swedish national policy on cyber-security to find out how cyber-threats are represented as a problem within the EU and in Sweden. The study then applies a theoretical framework of policy transfer to explain how the represented problem has changed in the transfer from European to Swedish context. The study finds that in the transference the scope of the represented problem has widened, both in terms of what is considered a threat as well as in who the policy aims to protect. This study aims to increase the understanding on how governance based on discursive visions, affects the solution a problem receives