Cyber-security has been approached by various disciplines. Information technology experts, lawyers, strategists and state officials have enriched the debate about the nature of cyber-security. The dominant trend-regardless of its theoretical origin-is state-centric. This approach is to a large extent legitimate, but at the same time inadequate. Cybersecurity relates directly to the threats posed to the nation’s critical infrastructure, but should not be limited to the traditional concept of national security. The militarization of the cyber-security discourse has produced a security dilemma, which is not addressing sufficiently the needs of the people. The purpose of this paper is to highlight this shortcoming and view cybersecurity, through a human-centric prism. The paper will address the way state and non-state practices violate human rights in cyberspace. Over the past years, the development of internet censorship techniques and Edward Snowden revelations about the global surveillance carried out by the United States National Security Agency (NSA), vividly demonstrate that Internet freedom, anonymity and data protection are constantly under attack. The challenge ahead is to establish a governance regime for cyberspace that successfully addresses human rights norms and standards.