Replication Data for: Public Opinion & Cyber-Terrorism

Research into cyber-conflict, public opinion, and international security is burgeoning, yet the field suffers from an absence of conceptual agreement about key terms. For instance, every time a cyber-attack takes place, a public debate erupts as to whether it constitutes cyber-terrorism. This debate bears significant consequences seeing as the ascription of a ‘terrorism’ label enables the application of heavy-handed counterterrorism powers and heightens the level of perceived threat among the public. In light of widespread conceptual disagreement in cyberspace, we assert that public opinion plays a heightened role in understanding the nature of this phenomenon. We construct a typological framework to illuminate the attributes that drive the public classification of an attack as cyber-terrorism, which we test through a ratings-based conjoint experiment in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel (N=21,238 observations). We find that the public (1) refrains from labelling attacks by unknown actors or hacker collectives as cyber-terrorism; and (2) classifies attacks that disseminate sensitive data as terrorism to the same extent as physically explosive attacks. Importantly, the uniform public perspectives across the three countries challenges a foundational tenet of public opinion and international relations scholarship that divided views among elites on foreign policy matters will be reflected by a divided public. This study concludes by providing a definitive conceptual baseline to support future research on the topic.

针对网络冲突（cyber-conflict）、公众舆论与国际安全的研究正蓬勃兴起，但该领域在核心术语的概念界定上仍未达成共识。例如，每当发生网络攻击时，公众便会就该攻击是否构成网络恐怖主义（cyber-terrorism）展开激烈辩论。这场辩论影响深远：一旦被贴上“恐怖主义”标签，相关攻击便可动用严厉的反恐执法权，同时还会加剧公众对威胁的感知程度。鉴于网络空间中普遍存在的概念分歧，我们认为公众舆论在理解这一现象的本质时发挥着更为关键的作用。我们构建了一套类型学框架，用以阐明推动公众将某一攻击归类为网络恐怖主义的各项属性，并通过在美国、英国与以色列开展的基于评分的联合分析实验（ratings-based conjoint experiment）对该框架进行了检验，本次实验共获得21238个有效观测值。研究结果表明：其一，公众不会将未知行为者或黑客集体发起的攻击归类为网络恐怖主义；其二，公众对传播敏感数据的攻击与物理爆炸式攻击的恐怖主义定性倾向并无显著差异。尤为关键的是，三国公众所持的统一观点，对舆论学与国际关系学界的一项核心原则提出了挑战——该原则认为，精英阶层在外交政策议题上的分歧，必然会反映为公众态度的分裂。本研究最终确立了一套明确的概念基准，可为该主题的后续研究提供支撑。