Cybersecurity as a Social Science
This course provides an overview of the field of cybersecurity. It covers core cybersecurity topics including computer system architectures, critical infrastructures, cyber threats and vulnerabilities, cryptography, information assurance, network security, and risk assessment and management. Students are expected to become familiar with fundamental security concepts, technologies, and practices. This course provides a foundation for further study in cybersecurity.
Learning Outcomes
After completing this class, students will be able to:
Compare how basic psychological, sociological, criminological, political, economic, and
legal theories and models explain cybersecurity
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of those theories in understanding the connections
between human behaviors and cybersecurity
Define key concepts including cybersecurity, cybercrime, cyber criminology, cyber law,
digital forensics, human factors, cyber policy, cyber risk, cyber threats, and cyberwar.
Identify how professionals in various cybersecurity careers apply these multidisciplinary
concepts in their daily routines
Describe how hypotheses and research questions are formed in studies addressing
cybersecurity through a social science lens
Describe how data are collected, measured, and analyzed in studies addressing
cybersecurity through a social science lens
Identify how marginalized groups have confronted challenges and concerns related to
cybersecurity as well as how these groups have contributed to our understanding about
the topic.
Explain how the application of social science theories, principles, and research strategies
have contributed to our understanding of cybersecurity at the societal level.