In 1970, Robert Bierstedt argued that social sciences, followed the same principles as natural sciences. He argued that social sciences are just as scientific as natural sciences, and if Cybersecurity were to adhere to this theory, it could be viewed through the lens of a social science framework. The Principles of Science can be broken down into these components: relativism, objectivity, parsimony, empiricism, ethical neutrality, skepticism and determinism.

Relativism is simply the idea that all things are related. In Cybersecurity, different systems are utilized and are all connected. If one system changes, then any of the other systems would be changed. Objectivity is viewing or studying topics in a non-bias viewpoint. In Cybersecurity, one should be critical and neutral when researching data and shouldn’t let their own opinions get in the way when a morality decision is required.

Parsimony is keeping things simple. In Cybersecurity, there is a lot of jargon and terminology that might be confusing for non-IT personnel to understand, so it’s important to be able to get your message across without causing mass confusion. Empiricism is the idea that we can only study behavior when it involves our senses. In Cybersecurity, we shouldn’t rely only on our senses to make irrational conclusions or decisions and use our knowledge and objectivity to come to the best answers. Ethnical Neutrality is adhering to ethical standards which includes protecting the rights of individuals. In Cybersecurity, Ethical Neutrality allows us to view ethical issues. For example, when companies like Meta and Google collect user data, how much money do they make from it, or what do they do with our data? These are some of the ethical issues that can be explored through the lens of Ethical Neutrality. Skepticism is being curious and questioning claims based on evidence. In other words, one should be inquisitive when accepting a claim or statement. In Cybersecurity, one should be skeptical about any claims pertaining to security measures, threats etc. before accepting. This is how to avoid malware and other viruses. Determinism is defined as behavior that is caused or determined by preceding events. In Cybersecurity, a great example is hacking. Hacking is a mix of free will vs determinism and is in that morally grey area of how one’s morals and beliefs shape how they view hacking. These are the principles of science that relate to Cybersecurity if viewed in a social science framework. Cybersecurity is something that is very flexible in the sense that it’s not just one science but a combination of multiple. It’s what makes Cybersecurity great
as it offers opportunities in more than one category.