Entry One

How does your major relate to cybersecurity technology?

My major is cybersecurity, so it really has everything to do with cybersecurity technology. I transferred from a community college with an associate transfer degree in computer science. When I began college for this degree, which was just a few years ago, a major in cybersecurity was not readily available. I decided to change my major to cybersecurity after transferring because that is what my initial plan was for obtaining my degree. What drew me to the cybersecurity major are the diverse subjects that are covered within cybersecurity as a whole. Cybersecurity is related directly to information technology, business, computer engineering, computer science, criminal justice, and philosophy. Cultural beliefs and politics also have an influence on cybersecurity.

When you think about cybersecurity technology, it is impossible to separate the individual fields from cyber threats. Phishing attacks are an example of social engineering attacks that dupe the victim into clicking fraudulent links found in emails, text messages or instant messages. In this one example, the attacker may have criminal intentions, which would be a criminal justice matter. The technology used may be related to information technology, computer engineering and computer science. Businesses may be the targeted victim. This one example of a cyber threat has the potential to involve most of the fields which cybersecurity itself is comprised of.

The variety of cyber threats that exist are constantly evolving as our use of technology increases. Today, there are many new areas where technology has become part of our daily lives that twenty years ago did not exist. We are now able to ask a question to a room and have Google or Alexa respond. We are able to control our thermostats from anywhere using a phone app. We can respond to text messages or talk on the phone from our watches. Each new piece of technology that is connected to the internet exposes our lives to more areas where cyber attacks can occur. This is an example of how quickly technology is evolving, which demands that cybersecurity measures also evolve so users are protected.