Cybersecurity Challenges in Social and Economic Systems: From Technical Vulnerabilities to Systemic Resilience

Abstract

Network security has changed from a technical problem to a major challenge that may destabilize social and economic systems. Connected digital networks create risks that may go far beyond the scope of a single organization. This review discusses how network security challenges change the way people manage, invest and build resilience, and applies the ideas of risk society theory, complex adaptive system and institutional economics. When we see the weakness of the system, we will shift from edge defense to zero-trust architecture, from post-event reaction to active construction of flexibility, from independent groups to governance covering the entire ecosystem. Special technologies-such as artificial intelligence for detecting threats, blockchain and zero-trust framework for ensuring transaction security-help to provide better protection. Applications in financial system, key infrastructure and platform economy all show protection benefits and persistent limitations. Challenges such as opaque supply chain, fragmented rules, asymmetric threats and high elastic costs are still severe. The outlook focuses on multi-stakeholder governance, standardization of elastic indicators and bringing network security into the macroeconomic risk framework. The conclusion of the analysis is that if the interconnected system is to remain reliable and trustworthy, network security must be regarded as a basic economic and social infrastructure, rather than a technical addition.