Caden Reidy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
School of Cybersecurity, Old Dominion University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CYSE 201S: Cybersecurity and the Social Sciences<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Yalpi<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4\/15\/2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cyber Analyst and Cyber Space Evolution<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BLUF: The role of a Cyber analyst has evolved into a many factor career involving social science, economic models, mixing tech skills with human behavior analysis, psychological exploits, societal inequities, they defend the social thread of the cyber space.
As we enter 2026 cybersecurity has turned into a massive market and pillar of the online space. As tech becomes more advanced cybercriminals turn to exploiting the human factor of the devices, and as a cybersecurity analyst you are the first line of defense against such methods. They are in charge of network systems, how to respond to breaches, and finding flaws in their systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The social science principles that this job uses when working are Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and User Behavior Analysis. Like the Health Belief Model, they use this system to predict how people will react to a situation based on their levels in each certain field. Cybersecurity Analyst is rooted deep inside the social science programs since just system defenses are not enough to stop attacks like phishing. Through these social science principles they are able to create training that can teach users on how to realize if they are being manipulated into spilling information.
The main concepts of social sciences that apply to this line of work are as follows, the health belief model, cost benefit principle, information asymmetry, and negative externalities. The Health Belief Model (HBM) allows the analyst to assess a user’s compliance from the factor of perceived barriers, like if they use two step authentication. The Cost-Benefit Principle is applied from bug bounties that most companies set up. They pay ethical hackers to poke around their systems and find what the bugs are and a Cybersecurity analyst would fix or report the bug. Information Asymmetry is an economic concept that tries to explain why breaches happen in companies and an analyst would work to fix the holes. Lastly Negative Externalities, these are protocols that an analyst would set up to minimize the hidden costs of things like identity theft and fraud.
Due to cybersecurity not being a neutral field, marginalized groups can be targeted and not have the access to tech like others do and privacy issues. The way these happen are like biases in detection systems, as AI controlled tools that watch may target a certain demographic and lead to privacy issues for unprotected populations. Economical targeting is also a major issue with groups of less fortunate individuals, as students struggle to pay for college or families living paycheck to paycheck see a chance of becoming richer and become major targets of phishing attacks. Lastly is digital inequality, as people of low income areas do not have school computers or libraries that have working computers inside, which makes them more likely to fall for things like phishing scams. Cybersecurity analysts try to address these issues by creating policies for the company and also diversify their workforce to make sure security methods are there for all unique ways of living. Often in companies you would see a policy to try and hire as diverse of a workforce as possible so employees can share their experiences of tech.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A cybersecurity analyst is vital to the safety and stability of societal infrastructures. They protect things like the health care system, which ensures that patient records are kept private and that the machines needed to save lives are up and running. In the financial sector, analysts are even more important because they protect the economy from suffering massive damages by leaking information about a company or person. A public policy is mandatory breach notifications which forces companies to notify customers if a breach has happened. This policy builds a social trust with customers and the companies they use and when an analyst fixes a breach they are working against negative build up that a company would get from a breach happening.
There were 3 sources I used to find this information. The first was Gwenhure (2025) which explains how the HBM is applied to phishing scams. It points out that perceived importance and self efficacy are the most important factors in safe behavior. Second source was ScienceDirect \u201cSocial Cybersecurity\u201d made in 2025 which covers the STRIDE network. It supports my social science principles by comparing cybersecurity to \u201cSocial fabric\u201d to beat AI powered manipulation. The third and final source is an Oxford study about cybersecurity made in 2021, which analyzes the economic side of cybersecurity, especially with bug bounties. The study contributes to the understanding of career connections, it shows that ethical hacking is a great way to upkeep the less resource powered groups.
Conclusion: Cybersecurity analysts have moved on from just being on the computer screen. To be great at your line of work you must know levels of social sciences, understand psychological factors, and the pressure hackers have on the economy. By fighting issues of marginalization and using behavioral models like the HBM, they can make sure the workplace is a safe cyberspace. In the end, the cybersecurity space will continue to evolve and grow and the jobs inside and around it will need to too.\u00a0\u00a0
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GRC For Mere Mortals. (2021, May 7). What does a Cybersecurity Analyst Do? Salaries, Skills & Job Outlook<\/em>. YouTube. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iYtmuHbhmS0<\/a> Caden Reidy School of Cybersecurity, Old Dominion University CYSE 201S: Cybersecurity and the Social Sciences Mr. Yalpi 4\/15\/2026 Cyber Analyst and Cyber Space Evolution BLUF: The role of a Cyber analyst has evolved into a many factor career involving social science, economic models, mixing tech skills with human behavior analysis, psychological exploits, societal inequities, they… <\/p>\n
ScienceDirect. (2025). Social Cybersecurity as Digital Resilience: The STRIDE Framework for Countering AI-Driven Information Manipulation<\/em>.
Gwenhure, A. K. (2025). University students’ security behavior against email phishing attacks: insights from the health belief model<\/em>. Journal of Cybersecurity, 11(1). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/cybsec\/tyaf034<\/a>
—. \u201cUniversity Students\u2019 Security Behavior against Email Phishing Attacks: Insights from the Health Belief Model.\u201d Journal of Cybersecurity<\/em>, vol. 11, no. 1, 2025, academic.oup.com\/cybersecurity\/article\/11\/1\/tyaf034\/8313771?utm_source=chatgpt.com&login=true, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/cybsec\/tyaf034<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"