Cybersecurity & Social Science

This course addresses the social, political, legal, criminological, and economic dimensions of cybersecurity through a social science framework. Students are introduced to a human-factors approach to understanding cybersecurity threats. Attention is given to the social factors that contribute to cyber incidents and the political and legal mechanisms that are developed to control the behaviors of those who create risks and cybersecurity incidents. The class also explores how cybersecurity is studied by social scientists in various social science disciplines.

In this class, you will learn how to:

1. Describe how cyber technology creates opportunities for criminal behavior,
2. Identify how cultural beliefs interact with technology to impact cybersecurity strategies,
3. Understand and describe how the components, mechanisms, and functions of cyber systems produce security concerns,
4. Discuss the impact that cyber technology has on individuals’ experiences with crime and victimization,
5. Understand and describe ethical dilemmas, both intended and unintended, that cybersecurity efforts, produce for individuals, nations, societies, and the environment,
6. Describe the role of cybersecurity in defining definitions of appropriate an inappropriate behavior,
7. Describe how cybersecurity produces ideas of progress and modernism.

Course Material

In this course, I have completed a number of activities including an “Introduce Yourself discussion post, 2 article reviews, a weekly cybersecurity journal entry, a career professional paper, and one quiz and exam. We also had an extra credit opportunity by watching 10 videos on the Coastal Virginia Center for Cyber Innovation YouTube site and then I explained how they relate to social behavior.

Career Professional Paper

Below is my submission for my Career Professional Paper Assignment for this class near the end of the 2021 Fall semester. Here you can get a glimpse of what this class encompasses.

Career-Professional-Paper