Cybersecurity, defined as the prevention and mitigation of malicious interference with digital devices and networks, is a key area of contest for digitalized politics, especially in uncertain and turbulent situations. Nowhere is this more starkly illustrated than in states such as Egypt, where the period since the January 2011 revolution has seen several changes of government and the subsequent consolidation of executive power, increasingly strict limits on free speech, and extensive violence by Islamist groups against the state and civilian targets and by the state against protesters and dissidents. How, then, are cybersecurity policies, practices, and technologies deployed and contested in uncertain political environments? The article argues that cybersecurity provides a way for the Egyptian government and opposition activists to “manipulate uncertainty” to their advantage. Each side uses cybersecurity policies, practices, and technologies to restrict their adversary’s scope for action, seeking to make the other more predictable while retaining or increasing their own freedom of action. In addition to providing extensive empirical data on cybersecurity developments in Egypt, the article makes two theoretical contributions. First, it shows how political struggles between state and opposition movements assimilate the influential language and content of cybersecurity, generating distinct cybersecurity politics. Second, it highlights the role of uncertainty as a driver—among others—of cycles of innovation and response in contentious politics, including those that center on cybersecurity.

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操纵不确定性：埃及的网络安全政治

网络安全被定义为预防和减轻对数字设备和网络的恶意干扰，是数字化政治竞争的关键领域，尤其是在不确定和动荡的情况下。这一点在埃及等国家最为明显，自 2011 年 1 月革命以来，埃及政府经历了数次更迭，随后行政权力得到巩固，对言论自由的限制日益严格，伊斯兰团体对国家和平民目标，以及国家对抗议者和持不同政见者的攻击。那么，网络安全政策、实践、以及在不确定的政治环境中部署和竞争的技术？文章认为，网络安全为埃及政府和反对派活动家提供了一种“操纵不确定性”为自己谋利的方式。每一方都使用网络安全政策、实践和技术来限制对手的行动范围，力求使对方更具可预测性，同时保留或增加自己的行动自由。除了提供有关埃及网络安全发展的大量经验数据外，本文还做出了两个理论贡献。首先，它展示了国家和反对运动之间的政治斗争如何吸收网络安全的有影响力的语言和内容，从而产生独特的网络安全政治。第二，