The cyber security market is facing a huge problem due to economic issues and not technological issues. In the past 18 months, we have seen a lot of different things such as the prevalence of working from home, respect for healthcare professionals, and more importantly growth in cyber-attacks and scams. As all the employees of different sectors and domains were forced to work from home at very short notice, failures were introduced in the company networks. This had further led to cyberattacks after a cyber attack. Naturally, the very first thing which comes to mind in dealing with cyberattacks: tighten security, tighten cyber security?
How can someone tell that this cybersecurity package is a good one? We simply can’t trust someone and take it right. There is asymmetric information: where the software people will look for signs, traits, and behavior to determine a fact. George Akerlof, being the father of the Market of lemons, used the example of a second-hand car dealership with two things: peaches (Mercedes Benz) considering it a good reliable one, and lemons (Ladas) considering it a less reliable lower quality one. This is a piece of asymmetric information between the buyer and seller, where the seller knows which vehicles are reliable but the buyer is not aware which Vehicle is lemon and which is peaches.
Now comes some issues with this conception, that is a lemon market requires asymmetric information, that is a buyer must not know and the seller will know. In the technological age, with the number plate, a car’s detailed history could be found not very easy but it was possible.
Thus, cybersecurity is a good market for lemons. The lemon seller, which is a cybersecurity provider, knows everything about what they are selling, what solutions each package provides, and its provenance. The buyer knows nothing. This can lead to further scams and attacks which people do not even know will pay a thousand dollars for that particular thing. The customers cross their fingers thinking that the technology will work, and pay for it. Then the question arises what the company is doing? Why would the trust issues or hope come?
Sharanya Chakraborty
(Content Writer, WCSF)
Reading your article helped me a lot and I agree with you. But I still have some doubts, can you clarify for me? I’ll keep an eye out for your answers.