Cybersecurity Career Professional Paper
Ayoob Ibrahim
CYSE 201
Professor Armistead
Date: 28 November 2022
Humans have been living in constant security concerns since the advent of life on planet earth. Although several laws have been made and enacted, and the security state today is much better than it was a few centuries ago, still the maximum budget of any country is spent on the protection of life, liberty, and properties of humans. This shows how concerned humans are for their life and belongings. It does not stop on material or physical things. With the advent and advancement of technology, data has also become a precious commodity. Nobody wants their data to be stolen or breached. This concern has given birth to the field of cybersecurity. The main job of cybersecurity professionals is to protect and retrieve stolen data. There are several branches and career paths in this field. One such career is Computer Forensics Analyst. The main job of a computer forensic analyst is to gather digital evidence and retrieve data in case of a cyberattack. To recover deleted, stolen and manipulated data is their job.
It is believed that cyber security experts deal with computers and devices. This is true apparently, but this is not the complete picture. The crimes are committed by humans so, in order to connect the dots and understand the nature and extent of crime, it is important to have knowledge of human behaviour and psychology. So a competent and professional cybersecurity expert always has the social sciences knowledge and relies on the research conducted in those fields.
In the case of computer forensic analysts, they have to rely a lot on the research conducted by researchers belonging to other fields of social sciences. For example, the forensic expert should have knowledge of the law and legal processes. For that, he must consult the research of scholars belonging to the field of law. New research in the field allows computer forensic experts to enhance their skills and tackle cyberattacks in a better way. Similarly, it is important to understand the mentality and psychology of the criminal. For that, research conducted in the field of sociology and psychology helps a lot. Criminology and cybersecurity go hand in hand. Criminology is a field of social science that deals with crimes in general, while cybersecurity deals with cybercrime. Both fields complement each other. Any research in one field benefits the professional in other fields.
Sociology helps in understanding the trends of crimes across different populations. It is important for forensic analysts to know the demographics in order to crack the case. Another important aspect in which social science helps the cyber security professional is ethics and morality. Ethics and morality play a very central role in the realm of cyber security and data protection. The research conducted in the field of ethics and morality helps data forensic analysts in retrieving and recovering stolen data.
In short, social sciences provide a framework for any cybersecurity professional. They not only set the contours for the field but also complement the research in the other fields. Computer forensics analysts play a huge role for the general public. They help in retrieving personal and professional data in case of theft or manipulation. Whenever an incident of cybercrime occurs, the victims look to the forensics expert for solutions.
Work Cited:
Carpenter, P. (2022, June 27). Council post: Cybersecurity: What can we learn from the social sciences? Forbes. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/06/24/cybersecurity-what-can-we-learn-from-the-social-sciences/?sh=17e4edea39f9
Dalleau, R., Bonfils, G., Deblock, F., Amos, Z., Coguic, D. L., Joos, T., Raffray, M., Coillet-Matillon, P., Auberger, C., Auxenfants, M., Benzaquen, M., Beyrouthy, A., Hearn, P. W., Stamboliyska, R., Przyluski, V., Dreidemy, P., & Biseul, X. (2021, September 2). Social Science and cybersecurity: A key challenge for the future. InCyber. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://incyber.org/en/social-science-and-cybersecurity-a-key-challenge-for-the-future/
Read “A decadal survey of the social and behavioral sciences: A research agenda for advancing intelligence analysis” at nap.edu. 6 Integrating Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Research to Enhance Security in Cyberspace | A Decadal Survey of the Social and Behavioral Sciences: A Research Agenda for Advancing Intelligence Analysis |The National Academies Press. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/25335/chapter/10