Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2019, Vol. 74 ›› Issue (9): 1709-1722.doi: 10.11821/dlxb201909001

• Theoretical Frontiers •     Next Articles

The theoretical basis and technical path of cyberspace geography

GAO Chundong1,GUO Qiquan2,JIANG Dong1(),WANG Zhenbo1,FANG Chuanglin1,HAO Mengmeng1   

  1. 1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
    2. The 11th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security (PRC), Beijing 100741, China
  • Received:2019-08-26 Revised:2019-09-16 Online:2019-09-25 Published:2019-09-25
  • Contact: JIANG Dong E-mail:jiangd@igsnrr.ac.cn

Abstract:

As a new spatial form of human activities, cyberspace is the common carrier of human and information. Cyberspace security is an important foundation of national security. The scientific description of cyberspace is an important cornerstone of cyber event analysis, cyberspace governance and cyber security guarantee, and also a new field of geographic science research in the information age. In the context of rapid development and fierce competition in global cyberspace, it is urgent to strengthen the intergration of geography and cyberspace security, and to carry out theoretical and methodological innovations based on traditional geosciences, and to create cyberspace geography. Cyberspace geography is the extension of geoscience research content from real space to virtual space. Its theoretical basis has evolved from the traditional theory of man-land relationship to the theory of man-land-network relationship; its research contents include constructing the mapping relationship between cyberspace and real space, redefining the basic concepts of distance and region in cyberspace, constructing the language, model and method system of cyberspace visualization, drawing the cyberspace map and exploring the evolution laws of the structure and behavior of cyberspace; its technical path includes the data collection and fusion of cyberspace elements, the visualization of cyberspace and the intelligent cognition of cyberspace situation and behavior. The intelligent cognition covers the assessment of cyberspace situation, transmission and traceability analysis of network hot events, situation simulation and risk prediction of cyber events, etc. The establishment of cyberspace geography will certainly provide a new perspective for the scientific cognition of cyberspace, the discipline construction of geography and cyberspace security science, as well as the prevention and control of national cyber security and the construction of a community of common future in cyberspace.

Key words: man-land-network relationship, cyberspace map, cyberspace, geographical space, visualization