Green Security: A Framework for Measurement and Optimization of Energy Consumption of Cybersecurity Solutions

Information and communication technology (ICT) is playing an expanding and critical role in our modern lives. Due to its proliferation, ICT has a significant impact on global energy consumption, which in turn contributes to air pollution, climate change, water pollution, etc. The proliferation of ICT has been accompanied by the emergence of cybersecurity technologies and solutions, which play an integral role in society's digitalization. Wherever there is ICT, there is a need to secure it, resulting in an increase in global cybersecurity energy consumption as well. This paper discusses the energy-related aspects of cybersecurity solutions and defines a “Green Security” taxonomy. We highlight the inefficiencies stemming from various cybersecu-rity practices, such as processing the same data repeatedly. Within this context, we analyze cybersecurity solutions in common use cases, demonstrating the inherent energy consumption inefficiencies. In addition, we propose a method of measuring the energy consumed by cybersecurity solutions and present several optimization strategies that reduce their energy consumption. We evaluate our proposed optimization strategies and demonstrate their ability to reduce energy consumption while considering the organizational risk profile and maintaining the required security level.