Article Review #2: 

Camren Young

School of Cybersecurity, Old Dominion University

CYSE 201s: Cybersecurity and Social Sciences

November 14, 2025

Introduction

The growing amount of cybersecurity threats within our governments and organizations raises concerns on how the general public may view these attacks. In the article “Going public about cyber attacks: public threat sensitivity and support for escalation in the United States and Russia” by Whitt, Shkliarov, and Mironova explore the impact of public sensitivity related to when governments go public with accusations of cyber attacks by rival powers.(Whitt et al., 2025) This paper will discuss the experiment results, the relationship between social science principles related to this experiment, marginalization, and cybersecurity awareness connection to society.

Data Used/Analysis/Independent variable/Dependent variable

This experiment used survey results that were conducted in the United States and Russia. The United States had around 1336 respondents and Russia had around 2000 respondents.(Whitt et al., 2025) The independent variable in this experiment is the decision of the government to share information publicly about a cyber attack. In the survey questionnaire, individuals were either told their government experienced a foreign cyber attack or not. This survey included a variety of dependent variables. These included threat sensitivity, support for policy responses, and response escalation. Threat sensitivity is dependent on if going public can increase or decrease public sensitivity to cyber threats.(Whitt et al., 2025)

Social Science principles and In Class Concepts

Empiricism is an important social science concept that is the scientific principle which states that knowledge can only come from observation and measurement. In this study, they conduct surveys to further understand the connection between awareness and cyberattacks. Another social science concept is determinism that explains that behavior is influenced by previous events. The correlation between past cybercrime history in an individual’s country can influence the trust they might have in the information given to them. Both the United States and Russia have different governments and this may influence media environments to influence an individual’s trust in that country. Cyber attackers have various motives whether it be for money or politics, this can determine the perception of the attack and how individuals may react. It is important to study these factors to further protect our country and citizens.

Connection to Marginalized Group

This study determined race, ethnicity, education, region, and other personal indicators to the study are not significant independent predictors of threat sensitivity but addresses awareness gaps and vulnerabilities of the general public.(Whitt et al., 2025) If a cyber attack were to occur the general public would need to be aware as it may affect everyday public services such as hospitals and banks. Being aware of this gap from the general public to government decisions.

Overall societal contributions of the study

This study provided insightful information to cybersecurity research, public policy, social and political sciences. It shows that when cyberattackers are publicly acknowledged, it can heavily influence the public view. The research also highlights the importance of the psychological factors that influence escalation preferences that can help policymakers determine how different communication strategies might escalate or reduce international tensions. Looking at the differences between the United States and Russia helps grasp how political systems influence how individuals respond to cyber incidents.

Conclusion

Overall, the study shows how government communication in cyberspace has significant effects on the public’s view and national security policy. The research gathered from this study provides effective insight on the differences of the United States and Russia’s view of cybersecurity. This study is a great source of information that will only help grow the cybersecurity realm.

Works Cited

Whitt, S., Shkliarov, V., & Mironova, V. (2025). Going public about cyber attacks: 

Public threat sensitivity and support for escalation in the United States and Russia. Journal of Cybersecurity, 11(1),

https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity/article/11/1/tyaf007/8115914?searchresult=1#