There are numerous parallels between the disciplines of science and Cybersecurity. Cyberspace has offered a new landscape in which humanity conducts business and socialize; all from behind their computer screens. These great advances however require professional strategies to protect its users from cyber threats. How can we relate social science principles to cyberspace and the efforts to create a more secure environment for its users?

Relativism

Relativism acknowledges that there is a general cause-and-effect for why events occur. The world of cyber technology has expanded into many aspects of life and is always advancing to keep up with social demands and fending off cyber threats. It would be irresponsible to not consider the events that led up to a cyber attack when looking to prevent future attacks. Relating events in the cyberworld to the events that took place in the real world is necessary.

Objectivity

When conducting any scientific or law enforcing procedures, it is best to proceed in an objective based manner. Relying on guesses or anecdotes will impede the accuracy of resolving conflicts. Cybersecurity requires a level of professionalism to accurately resolve cyber attacks.

Parsimony

Parsimony aims to keep explanations simple. Keeping explanations simple reduces the possibility of miscommunications between professionals. Discussions relating to technology can become complex for users. Cybersecurity is not only the responsibility of professionals, but also the responsibility of the users. Keeping explanations of how attacks occur and how to defend oneself simple, improves user adherence to proper cybersecurity behaviors.

Empiricism

Empiricism aims to improve the credibility of scientific procedures by minimizing the use of opinions and hunches. There are many social elements that are hidden when operating on the internet; body language for example. In terms of cybersecurity it is best to stay objective and work with the facts given without opinions to impede the credibility of the procedure.

Ethical Neutrality

Ethical neutrality aims to respect the rights and dignity of the users. The discussion of internet neutrality is big concern; especially pertaining to the use of censorship on social media. In terms of cybersecurity, we can ask: how can we minimize cyber crime without infringing on constitutional freedoms of the users?

Determinism

Determinism aims to offer an explanation for why an event may occur. Determinism is similar to how “Laws” are created in the field of science; we want to minimize the amount of context we have to explain to speed up the process of finding an answer. In terms of cybersecurity, having a solid baseline of how systems work or how network communications work improves efficiency of responding and resolving a cyber threat.