Brandon Pearson
CYSE 201S
11/27/22
Career Paper
In the field of cybersecurity, there is a wide range of careers that someone can pursue. Cybersecurity is an interdisciplinary field that incorporates many aspects from different disciplines. This is one of the many reasons there is a wide range of jobs in the field. Allowing professionals across multiple backgrounds and skill sets to apply their knowledge to cybersecurity. Professionals with criminal justice, computer science, law, sociology, and psychology backgrounds are all needed to create a comprehensive understanding of cybersecurity. All careers in the cybersecurity field rely on the use of social science concepts and principles to some extent. Some careers rely on social sciences more than others while some rely heavily on it. One popular career that many cybersecurity professionals strive to attain is a cyber forensic analyst. The professionals in careers related to cyber forensics rely heavily on the principles of social science.
The career of a cyber forensic analyst is a complex job that requires skills of all sorts to be a professional. A cyber forensic analyst’s job is to investigate cyber incidents. Making use of investigation tactics to uncover or recover information from a computer. Unlike other cybersecurity jobs, cyber forensics typically deals with incidents that have already occurred. Going back through to determine how, why, who, and what caused the breach to occur. This is all done in the hope of tracking down information or the criminal that committed the attack. Reporting the findings to other engineers so they can fix the breach. United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency states “This role analyzes digital evidence and investigates computer security incidents to derive useful information in support of system/network vulnerability mitigation.” (CISA).
Social sciences are classified as a branch of science that focuses on how all aspects of society interact with each other. A strong emphasis is placed on how individuals play a part in society. University of Florida’s Anol Bhattacherjee states “social science is the science of people or collections of people, such as groups, firms, societies, or economies, and their individual or collective behaviors. Social sciences can be classified into disciplines such as psychology (the science of human behaviors), sociology (the science of social groups), and economics (the science of firms, markets, and economies).” (Social, p.1). Using and understanding social science can drastically affect how someone approaches situations. It allows an individual to analyze situations at a deeper level which helps solve problems more effectively.
When it comes to professionals in cyber forensics, they use social science in many ways. One of the main goals for a professional in cyber forensics is trying to determine why someone may have committed the crime they did. Looking past just that it happened but wanting to gain a deeper understanding of why someone did. This allows for a better understanding of how to defend against such an attack in the future. Professionals in this field look towards scientific principles to attempt to see why the incident happened. Principles such as determinism, relativism, objectivity, and parsimony are used as a basis. Reflecting on these concepts from social science to derive a reason for the incident. Additionally, looking at the human factors that play in why a potential incident occurred. Understanding theories such as the Cognitive theories, Psychodynamic theories, Behavioral theories, and Personality theories help create a well- rounded professional. Neutralization theory is “The lens of analysis we feel is best suited to this analysis is the theory of neutralization which explains how otherwise law-abiding individuals justify their deviant behavior and avoid self-blame.” (Harris p.766). This theory is a major theory that describes why someone commits crimes. Overall, knowing how certain factors can lead to an individual seeking out to do a cyberattack leads to someone who better knows how to deter cyberattacks. A cyber forensic analyst uses all these skills to protect the network and assets of a company. Understanding how past incidents happened helps to know how to manage future attacks. Professionals in this career also interact with law enforcement and aid in incidents that law enforcement needs help with. Therefore, professionals in this career must understand how law enforcement interacts with society and individuals.
This career helps protect people from various cyberattacks. Cyber forensic analysts assist in cyberbullying cases when information such as a dialogue needs to be recovered. Helping bring justice to victims of cyberbullying or their families. Getting the evidence that could provide proof of what led to a situation or what had been said. Additionally, forensic analyst help prevents child pornography from being distributed. When an incident arises, and a computer or hard drive needs to be analyzed, a forensic analyst can retrieve the files. Providing proof that the subject had such files on their computer. Overall, cyber forensic analysts help victims in many cases such as terrorism, cyberbullying, stalking, or harassment. The main challenge that is posed when it comes to this career is maintaining ethicality. Someone in this career must act in good faith and can’t overstep laws or policies that are set. This can prove to be a frustrating and hard\ task when getting information for a case can be time sensitive. Yet, a professional in this career must maintain ethics in all areas of the job.
This career helps prevent many cyberattacks or violations that could have taken place. Without cyber analysts, many cyber incidents would go unresolved or not be addressed. Leading to the same cyberattacks happening repeatedly. Due to the quick development of technology, job positions are needed to be filled in the technological department. Therefore, cyber analysts are needed and there are many jobs out there for cyber analysts. Additionally, due to the rapid development in technology cyber analysts are always going to be needed. This is because technology is created and keeps changing at a rapid pace. Which creates the issue where cybersecurity is needed. Cybersecurity is typically 3-7 years behind in having updated prevention methods. This only leads to the need for more skilled workers in careers such as cyber forensics analysts. Overall, the more professionals in this field the safer cyberspace becomes.
Bhattacherjee, Anol, “Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices” (2012).
Textbooks Collection. 3. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3
CISA Cyber Defense Forensics Analyst. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.cisa.gov/cyber-defense- forensics-analyst
Harris, L. C. (2022). Breaking Lockdown during Lockdown: A Neutralization Theory Evaluation of Misbehavior during the Covid 19 Pandemic. Deviant Behavior, 43(7), 765–779. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.odu.edu/10.1080/01639625.2020.1863756