HolistiC digitAl SeCurity AnD privacy framEwork for SMEs (CASCADE)

(i) Relevance The proposal targets the H2020 call topic Digital Security and privacy for citizens and Small and Medium Enterprises and Micro Enterprises ID: SU-DS03-2019-2020; sub-topic (b): Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Micro Enterprises (SMEs&MEs): defenders of security, privacy and personal data protection. (ii) Concept and Objectives The rise of online services, e-commerce, IoT, smart devices, etc. and the introduction of new data analytics techniques create an urgent need to rethink the way in which online services are designed, putting privacy and cybersecurity at the core of the design process. An estimation of marginal cost and benefit is applied by individuals and organizations when deciding about the implementation of cybersecurity measures. In addition to frequently biased perceptions and decisions and low awareness about potential losses and damages due to cyber threats and insufficient compliance, this individual marginal analysis typically does not include external cost and benefits. On a system level, network insecurity exhibits classical properties of negative externalities, in that people who connect insecure machines do not bear the full consequences of their actions. This may also be true in terms of the decisions made to adopt more secure hardware within a device that leads to higher costs for organizations, without the accompanying savings made by reducing costs that are already externalized. Finally, due to the length and complexity of supply chains, the externalities may run far and deep. Therefore, the CASCADE project sets out to raise awareness about individual (private) benefits from increasing cybersecurity and data privacy protection, but also about external costs of digitally unsafe behaviour. Achieving “herd immunity” in the SME and ME ecosystem will, therefore, through positive externalities benefit organizations and individual users along with all layers in the digital economy.