title: How Cyberattacks Terrorize: Cortisol and Personal Insecurity Jump in the Wake of Cyberattacks.
abstract: Do cyberattacks fuel the politics of threat? By what mechanism does it do so? To address these questions, we employ a technological and physiological experiment (2 × 2) involving a simulated cyberattack. Participants were randomly assigned to "cyberattack" (treatment) or "no attack" (control) conditions. We find that cyber-attacks make people more likely to express threat perceptions; we suggest salivary cortisol, a measure of stress, as the mechanism bridging cyber and the politics of threat. Contrary to existing evidence, salivary cortisol is the mechanism that translates simulated exposure to cyberattacks into political threat perceptions.
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Political Science, University of Haifa , Haifa, Israel .
authors.forename: Daphna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Canetti
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Political Science, University of Haifa , Haifa, Israel .
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Political Science, University of Haifa , Haifa, Israel .
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Waismel-Manor
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Haifa , Haifa, Israel .
authors.forename: Asaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levanon
authors.affiliation: 3 Head, Anxiety & Stress Research Unit, Division of Psychiatry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva, Israel .
authors.forename: Hagit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D016494:Computer Security; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D023481:Terrorism / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: cortisol; cyberterror; exposure; stress; terrorism; threat perception