Abstract

A green technoeconomic paradigm (TEP), based on emerging information and communication technologies (ICT), has been proposed as a basis for feasible models for sustained, environmentally friendly economic growth in developing nations. There has been very little discussion of cyber security, which is a major shortcoming in such models. Given the borderless world that such an ICT based paradigm promotes, the pursuit of these ICT based models opens doors to cyber security issues of an unprecedented scale that could potentially paralyse global commerce. This paper explores such cyber security problems. Firstly, it explores regional trade agreements (RTAs) that have immense global spread, and finds that little attention is paid to formally addressing cyber security within the RTAs. An empirical study indicates that reported cyber security issues are spiking in developing nations within the RTAs examined, while there are no such spikes in a developed nation in the same RTA. A second empirical study indicates little attention being paid to cyber security issues in private enterprises, with accountants being the first to detect cyber incidents in many cases. Based on these findings, some policy recommendations are offered for addressing cyber security issues that are particularly suitable for resource strapped developing economies.

Key words: Sustainability, information and communications technology (ICT), green TEP, developing nations, free trade agreements (FTAs), regional trade agreements (RTAs), cyber crime.