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We should all have realised by now that "cyber" issues don't only encompass technical and legal issues. Human beings have merged with all the technological devices that accompany them, and 5G has further strengthened this relationship. The Internet of Things (IoT) is not a recent issue as it is thought to be, it is already part of the past when we apply Moore's Law and take into consideration the speed in the cyberspace-time relationship. 

The current Internet paradigm, which focuses on infrastructure, is not the right way to deal with an emerging scenario that presents us with a wide range of digital applications processing personal data and other sensitive information. All this requires a new Internet paradigm called the Internet of People (IoP). Humans, together with their devices, are not only seen as end users, but as active elements in the network due to the symbiosis of all actors. Note that the IoP does not replace the current Internet infrastructure, but exploits the legacy services of the Internet for end-to-end connectivity on a global scale. That said, Cybersecurity issues must be addressed in a multidisciplinary manner across three pillars: people, processes and technologies.

Regardless of the technological advances, they will all be based on the Internet which is not secure in its genesis. We may then ask: is cutting edge technology developed based on an insecure infrastructure? Yes, in practice that is what happens. The Internet emerged with the purpose of enabling communication and information sharing between systems. It was not developed or designed with security issues in mind, much less privacy issues that concern us so much nowadays. The Internet is anything but secure, it is the technologies and protocols developed over time that have added layers of security to the Internet.

The Internet, with all its imperfections, has enabled actors with criminal intentions to migrate from the real world to cyberspace, giving rise to cybercrime, but also the possibility of offensive actions in cyberspace for strategic purposes. We have reached the point where offensive actions in cyberspace can force governments, individuals and organisations to yield to the will of external actors, which cannot always be typified by their physical appearance, size or identity. The history of recent years shows us that the Internet is being used by actors with strategic purposes that can range from the appropriation of corporate data, personal data, industrial espionage, among others. In more extreme cases, acts of cyber warfare can take place against states, as has happened in the past against Estonia and Georgia, and more recently against Ukraine. Not forgetting also the creation of the Flame and Stuxnet malware. Today, we are witnessing a veritable plague of ransomware using increasingly aggressive and disruptive tactics that have a major impact on the organisations affected.

Cyberspace has brought a greater awareness of the right to access information and knowledge, allowing the perception of cyberspace as a new common space - Global Common - joining the existing ones. A common space can be defined as an area that is not under the jurisdiction of any State or National Sovereignty, and that can be accessed by all actors, States, non-States or individuals. NATO considers the competition and denial of use of cyberspace as one of the greatest threats, considering the increasing sophistication of cyber-attacks whose damage can affect the proper functioning of government systems, businesses, economies, transportation networks, as well as other critical infrastructures.