Course Description:

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.

Examples of coursework

Journal entry: Explain how the principles of science relate to cybersecurity.

Journal: Visit PrivacyRights.org to see the types of publicly available information about data breaches. How might researchers use this information to study breaches? Enter a paragraph in your journal.

Journal: Review the NICE Workforce Framework. Are there certain areas that you would want to focus your career on? Explain which areas would appeal the most to you and which would appeal the least.

Journal: Review Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and explain how each level relates to your experiences with technology. Give specific examples of how your digital experiences relate to each level of need.

Journal: Review the articles linked with each individual motive in the presentation page or Slide #3.  Rank the motives from 1 to 7 as the motives that you think make the most sense (being 1) to the least sense (being 7).  Explain why you rank each motive the way you rank it.

Journal 6

Can you spot three fake websites and compare the three fake websites to three real websites, plus showcase what makes the fake websites fake?

Upload this journal entry into your ePortfolio.

Journal 8

Watch this video and pay attention to the way that movies distort hackers.Hacker Rates 12 Hacking Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? – YouTubeLinks to an external site.

• After watching the video, write a journal entry about how you think the media influences our understanding about cybersecurity

Journal 9

Watch this Video:

Social media and cybersecurityLinks to an external site.

Complete the Social Media Disorder scaleLinks to an external site..  How did you score?  What do you think about the items in the scale?  Why do you think that different patterns are found across the world?

Journal 11

Watch this videoLinks to an external site..  As you watch the videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYtmuHbhmS0Links to an external site.

, think about how the description of the cybersecurity analyst job relates to social behaviors.  Write a paragraph describing social themes that arise in the presentation.

entry:

A cybersecurity analyst must be a skilled communicator.  One of the most important aspects of the job is their responsibility to report security threats back to their company.  They also often work in teams so it becomes even more important that they can work well in a social environment.  It is also important that a cybersecurity analyst is extremely alert, as their job is to closely monitor possible threats against the network.  It’s also important that a cybersecurity analyst is efficient and can follow directions, so that they can take proper security protocols into account and follow procedure in the event of a cyber attack. 

Journal 12

Read this https://dojmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/Glasswasherparts.com_.pdfLinks to an external site. sample breach letter “SAMPLE DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION” and describe how two different economics theories and two different social sciences theories relate to the letter.

Journal 13

A later module addresses cybersecurity policy through a social science framework. At this point, attention can be drawn to one type of policy, known as bug bounty policies. These policies pay individuals for identifying vulnerabilities in a company’s cyber infrastructure.  To identify the vulnerabilities, ethical hackers are invited to try explore the cyber infrastructure using their penetration testing skills.  The policies relate to economics in that they are based on cost/benefits principles.  Read this article https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity/article/7/1/tyab007/6168453?login=trueLinks to an external site.  and write a summary reaction to the use of the policies in your journal.  Focus primarily on the literature review and the discussion of the findings.

Journal 14

Andriy Links to an external site.SlynchukLinks to an external site. Links to an external site.has described eleven things Internet users do that may be illegal. Review what the author says and write a paragraph describing the five most serious violations and why you think those offenses are serious.

Journal 15

• Digital Forensics | Davin Teo | TEDxHongKongSalon– YouTubeLinks to an external site.Watch this video and think about how the career of digital forensics investigators relate to the social sciences. Write a journal entry describing what you think about the speaker’s pathway to his career.

Article Review #1

The article review should focus on (1) how the topic relates to the principles of the social sciences; (2) the study’s research questions or hypotheses; (3) the types of research methods used; (4) the types of data and analysis done; (5) how concepts from the PowerPoint presentations relate to the article; (6) how the topic relates to the challenges, concerns and contributions of marginalized groups; and (7) the overall contributions of the studies to society. 

https://www.cybercrimejournal.com/Links to an external site.   https://vc.bridgew.edu/ijcic/Links to an external site.    https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity

Please note the rubric that I will follow to grade your Article 1 Review is in the syllabus.   

Article review #2

We have completed Article Review #1 and now it’s the time for the Article Review #2. You have to select a different article from different Journal ensuring it is not the same as the one chosen for Article Review #1 and proceed with your review. Assignment will not be graded if the same article or Journal is chosen.

The article review should focus on

• Describe how the topic relates to the principles of the social sciences;
• Describe the study’s research questions or hypotheses;
• Describe the types of research methods used;
• Describe the types of data and analysis done;
• Describe how concepts from the PowerPoint presentations relate to the article;
• Describe how the topic relates to the challenges, concerns and contributions of marginalized groups; and
• Describe the overall contributions of the studies to society. 

Journals: 

https://www.cybercrimejournal.com/Links to an external site.

https://vc.bridgew.edu/ijcic/Links to an external site.

https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity

Please note the rubric that I will follow to grade your Article Review is in the syllabus.   

Guidelines or Requirements:

1. Your name and date must appear at the top of the page
2. The article review must have a clear and meaningful title ( Article review #2 and Title)
3. The article review must contain headings that guide the reader through your writing.
4. The article review must contain a clearly labeled conclusion
5. The article review must have references and corresponding in-text citations as needed – APA format preferred.

Career Paper