Exploring Social Science Theories in Cybersecurity: The Glasswasherparts.com Data Breach
The “Sample Data Breach Notification” is a letter notifying patrons of glasswasherrparts.com that their third-party platform provider was compromised by malware. Data containing customer credit and debit card numbers, prior purchase history, names, addresses, and phone numbers have been stolen. This data breach directly relates to Rational Choice and Marxian economic theories, as well as the social science theories of determinism and empiricism.
Economic Theories
Rational Choice Theory states that individuals and businesses make choices in their best interest. Glasswasherpats.com chose to hire a third-party platform provider to host its website. This choice was most likely because it could not rationalize spending the money to create its own web hosting service. The choice was made to maximize profits, as web hosting is not part of their business model. This rational decision forced Glasswasherparts.com to trust the security of its website to a third-party company, which failed. It could also be inferred that the third-party web hosting company chose its profit margin over allocating more funding to cybersecurity. The rational choices differ in this respect, as Glasswasherparts.com must use a third-party web host. In contrast, that third-party platform host chose profit (pleasure) over ensuring a robust cybersecurity program, ultimately costing them pain.
Marxian economic theory focuses on the power dynamics within society. Those with power exploit those without power. The victimized customers of Glasswasherparts.com have less power than the powerful corporations they trusted with their information. The patrons are at a disadvantage and suffer from more powerful companies that take advantage of their information. The same can be said about the small company Glasswasherparts.com. They were exploited by the larger third-party web host’s inability to prevent cyber intrusion. The Marxian economic theory can also be applied to the third-party web host. In this example, the less powerful web host company was exploited by more powerful hackers. In all of these instances, those with power took advantage of those without power.
Social Science Theories
Determinism is a social science theory that suggests that preceding events influence behavior. The breach of the Glasswasherparts.com website resulted from the actions taken by the hacker’s ability to place malware on the provider’s server. This indicates that inadequate cybersecurity created vulnerabilities that led to the breach. A broader view of determinism can also be applied to this data breach notification. Considering what factors led to the data breach, like the economic conditions of all the parties involved and technological trends, all influence the outcome.
The data breach notification also reflects the social science theory of Empiricism, which emphasizes the importance of empirical research. The notification mentions that the platform provider hired a leading cybersecurity firm to help federal law enforcement investigate the data breach. This involves applying empirical research to assess and manage the cyber incident.
Conclusion
The “Sample Data Breach Notification” illustrates how Rational Choice and Marxian economic theories, along with the social science theories of determinism and empiricism, relate to cybersecurity incidents. These theories help understand the data breach by emphasizing the complex interactions between human behavior and technology.