National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China, Beijing 100029,，China
Abstract： Solving cybersecurity issues requires a holistic understanding of components, factors, structures and their interactions in cyberspace, but conventional modeling approaches tend to prioritize technical aspects, lacking a macroscopic perspective on cyberspace security. This paper attempts to discuss the application of systems thinking approaches to cybersecurity modeling. Firstly, this paper reviews the systems thinking approaches and presents the relevant components, factors, and their interactions in cyberspace. Secondly, the systems theories and methods are provided for the challenges in cybersecurity modeling. Finally, an illustrative example of systems thinking frameworks for cybersecurity modeling is developed to help broaden the mind in methodology, theory, technology and practice. This article concludes that systems thinking can be considered as one of the powerful tools of cybersecurity modeling to find, characterize, understand, evaluate and predict cybersecurity.
Key words : cybersecurity modeling; science of cybersecurity; systems thinking; holistic approach
